"A negative review on Duel Links? From someone with 50 hours in the game on Steam alone, who has created a community guide and logged over 120 consecutive days in the past year on the mobile version? BLASPHEMY!"



Yeah, I know, but let me explain myself before you crucify me.



Duel Links isn't a bad game. In fact, it's a great game that I've loved playing and that I've enjoyed from day one. Despite the microtransactions and sometimes unforgiving meta, Duel Links has been arguably the best Yu-Gi-Oh! game ever made, and Konami has shown dedication to both supporting its players and to regularly updating the game with fresh and exciting content. As a whole, I applaud Konami and what they've managed to accomplish in the year since Duel Links' global release.



This review isn't about the quality of the game, though; rather, it's about my personal experiences playing Duel Links religiously for a year and why I've decided to take a step back from the game going forward. Long story short? I think I've been addicted.



I mean it when I said I've played this game religiously. That's the attitude that both the game and the community promote if you want to stay in the competitive scene and keep up with the constant barrage of new cards being added to the game. You are regularly encouraged to log on daily, spending a couple hours here and there to grind for XP and reach the max level with your duelists, which is the main way to earn the in game gem currency needed to buy more cards. You'll spend hours auto-dueling npcs while pretending you can focus on other tasks in between, when really your mind is preoccupied with how you'll soon have to queue up your next duel and how much longer it'll take you to reach the next level or stage.



I got into this game because I loved Yu-Gi-Oh! as a kid, and the idea of a free to play mobile game that was regularly updated and supported felt exciting and nostalgic beyond words. But I never expected to spend almost every day of the past year playing this game, or logging in for over 120 days straight, or how I would soon make excuses to play Duel Links when hanging out with my friends or going on coffee dates or even when just relaxing on the couch with my girlfriend. When the game is always in reach, your phone always nearby, it becomes so easy to log on to check on the cooldown on standard duelists, or to find yourself playing yet another pvp duel. People around me starting complaining, saying I was on my phone all the time, but I insisted it wasn't a problem and that I was still present and engaged in the conversations that would go on around me, even if it wasn't fully the truth. At work, at school, at home, on the bus - I played everywhere, anywhere.



But venturing onto the Duel Links subreddit a few weeks back, I discovered that I wasn't alone in struggling to balance my time spent on Duel Links with my everyday life and responsibilities. So many other people have had these issues and multiple threads have been created to try and seek help from other players who didn't even know they shared these problems. Duel Links had become more than a daily routine for me, and these posts were a wakeup call: I had a problem.



I'm still kind of taken aback by the whole experience, and I'm not expecting everyone here to understand, but as someone who's played video games all their life, I never thought a game could have the kind of hold on me that Duel Links has. I felt compelled to open the game daily; I HAD to so that I would continue my log in streak, so that I could continue to earn more gems so that I could feel like I was keeping up with other players. I hesitate to use the word addicted, but my Duel Links habit had become downright unhealthy.



Sunday was the first day in 123 that I did not log in to Duel Links. It was a normal, quiet afternoon. I went to Starbucks, lounged around the house, played Overwatch on my PS4. It wasn't until after midnight had passed that I realized I hadn't played Duel Links in 24 hours, and the understanding that my streak had ended and that I didn't have to log in every day anymore if I didn't want to was cathartic beyond words.



I know that not everyone will experience Duel Links the same way, or the way that I have. I'm not going to stop playing altogether, either; I meant what I said about Duel Links being the best Yu-Gi-Oh! game on the market, and I've met some amazing people in the community that I've bonded with over our ridiculous shared love for a children's card game.



But since you can't leave a neutral review on Steam, I have to give it a thumbs down, if just for the regret I feel knowing how much of the past year I spent glued to my phone. This isn't meant to discourage anyone from playing Duel Links, and as I've said, I highly recommend this game. But please, please be aware of how much time you spend on the game, and don't let it impact other areas of your life the way it impacted mine. It's okay to believe in the heart of the cards - just don't let them consume you.

"A negative review on Duel Links? From someone with 50 hours in the game on Steam alone, who has created a community guide and logged over 120 consecutive days in the past year on the mobile version? BLASPHEMY!" Yeah, I know, but let me explain myself before you crucify me. Duel Links isn't a bad game. In fact, it's a great game that I've loved playing and that I've enjoyed from day one. Despite the microtransactions and sometimes unforgiving meta, Duel Links has been arguably the best Yu-Gi-Oh! game ever made, and Konami has shown dedication to both supporting its players and to regularly updating the game with fresh and exciting content. As a whole, I applaud Konami and what they've managed to accomplish in the year since Duel Links' global release. This review isn't about the quality of the game, though; rather, it's about my personal experiences playing Duel Links religiously for a year and why I've decided to take a step back from the game going forward. Long story short? I think I've been addicted. I mean it when I said I've played this game religiously. That's the attitude that both the game and the community promote if you want to stay in the competitive scene and keep up with the constant barrage of new cards being added to the game. You are regularly encouraged to log on daily, spending a couple hours here and there to grind for XP and reach the max level with your duelists, which is the main way to earn the in game gem currency needed to buy more cards. You'll spend hours auto-dueling npcs while pretending you can focus on other tasks in between, when really your mind is preoccupied with how you'll soon have to queue up your next duel and how much longer it'll take you to reach the next level or stage. I got into this game because I loved Yu-Gi-Oh! as a kid, and the idea of a free to play mobile game that was regularly updated and supported felt exciting and nostalgic beyond words. But I never expected to spend almost every day of the past year playing this game, or logging in for over 120 days straight, or how I would soon make excuses to play Duel Links when hanging out with my friends or going on coffee dates or even when just relaxing on the couch with my girlfriend. When the game is always in reach, your phone always nearby, it becomes so easy to log on to check on the cooldown on standard duelists, or to find yourself playing yet another pvp duel. People around me starting complaining, saying I was on my phone all the time, but I insisted it wasn't a problem and that I was still present and engaged in the conversations that would go on around me, even if it wasn't fully the truth. At work, at school, at home, on the bus - I played everywhere, anywhere. But venturing onto the Duel Links subreddit a few weeks back, I discovered that I wasn't alone in struggling to balance my time spent on Duel Links with my everyday life and responsibilities. So many other people have had these issues and multiple threads have been created to try and seek help from other players who didn't even know they shared these problems. Duel Links had become more than a daily routine for me, and these posts were a wakeup call: I had a problem. I'm still kind of taken aback by the whole experience, and I'm not expecting everyone here to understand, but as someone who's played video games all their life, I never thought a game could have the kind of hold on me that Duel Links has. I felt compelled to open the game daily; I [i]HAD[/i] to so that I would continue my log in streak, so that I could continue to earn more gems so that I could feel like I was keeping up with other players. I hesitate to use the word addicted, but my Duel Links habit had become downright [i]unhealthy[/i]. Sunday was the first day in 123 that I did not log in to Duel Links. It was a normal, quiet afternoon. I went to Starbucks, lounged around the house, played Overwatch on my PS4. It wasn't until after midnight had passed that I realized I hadn't played Duel Links in 24 hours, and the understanding that my streak had ended and that I didn't have to log in every day anymore if I didn't want to was cathartic beyond words. I know that not everyone will experience Duel Links the same way, or the way that I have. I'm not going to stop playing altogether, either; I meant what I said about Duel Links being the best Yu-Gi-Oh! game on the market, and I've met some amazing people in the community that I've bonded with over our ridiculous shared love for a children's card game. But since you can't leave a neutral review on Steam, I have to give it a thumbs down, if just for the regret I feel knowing how much of the past year I spent glued to my phone. This isn't meant to discourage anyone from playing Duel Links, and as I've said, I highly recommend this game. But please, please be aware of how much time you spend on the game, and don't let it impact other areas of your life the way it impacted mine. It's okay to believe in the heart of the cards - just don't let them consume you. Check this box if you received this product for free (?) Do you recommend this game? Yes No Cancel Save Changes