I feel like I'm one of the only old school Yu-Gi-Oh! players who enjoys the new additions to the series such a Pendulum summoning and Link Summoning. I'm still very much a casual player and can admit that the series has been plagued with severe power creep.

Loved the games re-play ability and the options of having a great single player or multiplayer experience.

The Good: This game is a love letter to Yu-Gi-Oh fans, nailing the vibe of the original series and Yu-Gi-Oh GX with the precision of a Blue-Eyes Dragon blast. The campaign mode lets you relive iconic duels, from Yugi’s smug smirk to Jaden’s “Get your game on!” energy, with card animations so crisp you’ll feel like you’re flipping real cards. The card pool is deeper than Kaiba’s ego, letting you build decks that’d make him jealous and the AI puts up a fight worthy of a Shadow Game.

The Bad: With every so-called "expansion," the game nosedives faster than a Harpie Lady getting yeeted by a Dark Hole trap card. Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS itself is a steaming pile of Kuriboh droppings. Forget the game’s execution—VRAINS is like someone took the sacred art of dueling, threw it in a blender with a bad sci-fi flick, and called it “innovative.” Link Summoning feels like doing taxes while riding a unicycle, and the story is so dull it makes ZEXAL look like Shakespeare. The characters? Cardboard cutouts with less personality than a face-down Monster Card. It’s a crime against card games, and this game just had to drag its sorry carcass along for the ride.

The Ugly: The game’s design flaws are uglier than a face-down Trap Card in a clutch moment. The worst offender? The frozen screen bug when your opponent hold too many cards. It’s like the game screams, “TOO MUCH MATH!” and takes a coffee break. The UI is clunky, with menus that feel like navigating a labyrinth designed by Pegasus. And don’t get me started on the slow loading times—waiting for a duel to start feels like watching paint dry in the Duelist Kingdom.

The Verdict: 7.5/10, Card Battling