Yu-Gi-Oh! Duels Its Way Into New York Comic Con - Article

Tweet

The KONAMI booth was rocking at this year's New York Comic Con. Dedicated to all things Yu-Gi-Oh!, it incorporated multiple demo stations for video games Rush Duel, Master Duel, Cross Duel, and Duel Links, plus a photo booth, several tables for competitive card game matches, a gacha machine with prizes, and, due to all of the above, a long line of attendees that wrapped around the whole thing. While other guests waited in line to try Cross Duel, or attempted to win one of several prizes — including a brand new Switch OLED — I was lucky enough to receive a guided tour of the entire booth, courtesy of Billy Brake, R&D Associate at KONAMI. 

Our first stop was the demo station for Rush Duel: Dawn of the Battle Royale, a Switch exclusive set in the world of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens anime. Featuring characters and settings from the show, plus 350 cards, it's an ideal match for fans familiar with Sevens. At the same time, it features a tutorial mode that gently eases new players into the complex rules of the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card universe. It's "good for an entry level game", said Brake.

Up next was the free-to-play title Master Duel. Available on PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Android, and iOS, it's "the closest thing to our trading card game that you can play in a digital form on all platforms" according to Brake. Thanks to a significant solo mode, a handy tutorial, and online play that supports both casual and ranked matches, the game has amassed a whopping 40 million downloads. "I know that everyone's been really happy with how well Master Duel's been doing", continued Brake. "We had a lot of people streaming on Twitch when it first came out. For me, personally, I just want to see people enjoying the game. I'm a huge fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! to begin with, so if people can find a way to enjoy that with each other and play online against each other... that's my line [of success]. We did a good job if people are having fun."

Our third destination was the game I was most curious about: Cross Duel. The newest addition to the Yu-Gi-Oh! video game family, Cross Duel represents a first for the series: four-player multiplayer. Here's how it works: each of the four players, on their tablets or smart devices, will deploy their cards from their home base into one of several lanes. Each character or monster on the card will march toward other incoming creatures, deployed by rival players, and attempt to defeat them. Alternatively, you can tap a card to set a defensive posture to protect your HQ. After a set number of rounds, the last player standing with a preserved base wins. "I've been enjoying it a lot," remarked Brake. "You can see all these Yu-Gi-Oh! aspects, but in a brand new way. You can use the cards like you've never used them before."

The last stop was Duel Links, the oldest game of the group. Although it launched back in 2016, it's far from stale, thanks to a major update that went live two weeks ago. That update brought the virtual universe of the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime to the game, alongside Link Summoning and new missions and cards. Brake attributed these additions to a recent resurgence in the game. "As soon as the VRAINS world came out, a lot of people started playing, wanting to check out the new cards."

From my conversation with Brake, a mixture of new games and frequent content updates seems to be the name of the game for the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. And while he couldn't preview specific titles or the timing of future post-launch updates, he was confident KONAMI would deliver a steady stream of content. "I can tell you we're always working hard on keeping things excited for our players, and making sure they have stuff to do on all of our titles. Nothing gets left behind."

After my time at the KONAMI booth, I feel like the landscape of Yu-Gi-Oh! video games is as rich and rewarding as it's ever been. It's also incredibly diverse, due to the accessibility of Rush Duel, the depth of Master Duel, the innovation of Cross Duel, and the reliability of Duel Links. In Brake's words, "There are more ways to play Yu-Gi-Oh! now than there ever have been before."

More Articles