We analyze Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution in its versions for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch. Switch version update 2019.
On March 24, 2020, Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution, by Konami and Other Ocean for PC (on the digital distribution platform Steam), PS4 and Xbox One. This is an update to the video game that was released in August 2019 on Nintendo Switch ( and analyzed by our partner Sergio C. González), which, in turn, was an update of the original Legacy of the Duelist, released in 2015 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and in 2016 on PC. Although this seems gibberish to you, it is really simple. Here we leave you with our Reviews of Link Evolution:
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution – PC, PS4 and Xbox One Review
The title screen shows different iconic monsters from the saga
As we have said in the first paragraph of this Reviews, we are before the definitive version of Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist. The roadmap for this video game has been as follows:
- 2015: Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist is released on PS4 and Xbox One in digital format
- 2016: Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist is released on Steam in digital format
- 2019: Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution is released on Nintendo Switch in digital and physical format
- 2020: Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution is released on Steam, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in digital format
All the famous characters from all the sagas are here; Yugi and Kaiba could not be less
Needless to say, there has not been a relaunch of the game as such on Nintendo Switch, but it can be updated to this latest version completely free of charge through a patch. However, for PC, PS4 and Xbox One players who already had the original Legacy of the Duelist, there is no benefit whatsoever, since this Link Evolution is considered a totally independent video game although in broad strokes it is the same game but with more content.
Changes and news in Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution 2020
The "Link Evolution" tagline is no accident; Invocations by Enlace are the big news compared to the original from 2015
Now that we have the cards on the table (sorry for the bad joke), we will go into a bit of detail, especially for the novice, about what the TCG of Yu-Gi-Oh! And what differences and novelties are there in this latest version of Link Evolution with respect to the one already seen on Switch in 2019.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a card game for two players in which the following rules exist:
- Each player has a deck of 40 to 60 cards, and you can only have three copies of the same card per deck (sometimes less, depending on official lists of prohibited and limited cards).
- There are three types of cards: monsters, magic cards, and trap cards.
- In turn, the players unfold the cards in the corresponding part of the field and carry out the actions they deem necessary.
- Each player starts the game with 8,000 LP (life points); To win, we must reduce the opponent's life to 0, make him run out of cards, or we can win with alternative and specific victory conditions of a card or series of cards (such as having the five pieces of Exodia in hand).
This series of simple rules makes both the card game itself and Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution a title that follows the philosophy promoted by Quake III Arena at the time: "easy to play, hard to master". That is to say; Learning to play is easy, but mastering complex strategies with which to overwhelm your opponent takes a long time. And this is part of the charm of the collectible card game genre. Although, yes, when learning to play, the different tutorials that exist for the different existing game mechanics help a lot. And yes: just as it happened in the original, in this one we can also play the single player mode with super illegal decks that will allow us to annihilate our opponent. This way we will better understand why letters like Yata-Garasu have been banned for more than fifteen years.
The deck editor allows us to use illegal cards (like the infamous Pot of Greed) to use without restriction in single player mode
This new 2020 year version of the game brings a handful of new cards (the total is over 10,000) not seen in any previous version, and updates the video game with the real-life card game until April of 2020. In fact, this is another one of his great novelties: Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution brings with it the Master Rules of 2020 (this video game being the first official way to play with these new rules that will be released on April 1) thanks to which the Fusion, Synchrony and XYZ monsters can be summoned back to the main monster zones without the need for a Link monster targeting these zones.
For the rest, as we say, it is an update to the content of the Switch video game but treated as a new release on the other platforms. As such, it carries exactly the same strengths and weaknesses as before.
The new rules allow us to summon Fusion, Synchrony, XYZ, and Pendulum monsters to the main monster zones without the need for a Link monster targeting them.
At a graphic level we cannot expect much considering the genre to which this video game belongs. The interface is the same as in the 2019 title; something more defined, clear and clean than in 2015. To tell us the story of the different Yu-Gi-Oh! (ranging from Duel Monsters to Vrains, this latest campaign being a novelty in this 2020 version, and also including all the previously published DLC) official characters arts are used. However, some decisions in this regard denote laziness, as the outfits of some of the protagonists do not correspond to those they wore at that time in the manga / anime.
The "scenarios", which are technically game tables, although varied, are erroneous and not well worked. The animations when summoning certain emblem monsters such as Blue-Eyed White Dragon, Talking Decoder, or Number 39: Utopia are fine, although somewhat upgradeable.
The store is that bare; it is impossible to know what cards we will get with each pack
The music is still the same as in the 2015 original. It's not bad, though it pales compared to Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, the other great title in this Konami saga for mobile and Steam. The poor selection of tracks doesn't help either; Let's take into account the fact that a game can last up to 15 or 20 minutes, and listening to this time the same audio track that lasts 3 at the most tires sooner than later.
Focusing again on the game itself, we have quite a bit of single player content, although to create a custom deck we will have to spend many hours. And here is one of the big problems that Legacy of the Duelist has: we do not know what cards we will get from each package that we can buy, so there is no way within the video game itself to know if we are investing our digital money efficiently. To avoid pulling our hair out, we must resort to tools created by fans like TheCardHub. In Duel Links this does not happen, since the player is informed of the exact content of each package, including how many envelopes remain to be opened, how many copies of each letter remain to be drawn in the batch, and we are even given the possibility to restart the lot if we have already obtained everything we wanted from it.
Some animations of certain monsters, although upgradeable, are still spectacular. Exodia, ANNIHILY !!!
Given that creating custom decks is part of the game, and is essential if we want to have a chance in the unforgiving online mode, it is still incomprehensible that this definitive version of Legacy of the Duelist continues to have this very serious defect, especially when in Duel Links ( it's not from the same developers, but it's still a Yu-Gi-Oh! game after all) this doesn't happen. From this we understand that what there is is lack of will, or proper planning.
Some kind of crossplay is also missing. The occasion was perfect for it, since with this launch all versions are compared in terms of content.
Translation has improved; Here in the original it said, as is, "Your friend made a costly mistake of dueling against me. And now, I'm afraid he's paying the final price."
To finish, we must say that the Spanish translation is perfect … in the letters, both in their names and in the text regarding their effects. It is all taken as is from the real card game. The in-game translation (the story mode dialogues) has minor misprints, although most have been corrected from the original, where there were some insane cases. An improvement in this regard.
This Reviews has been carried out thanks to a review code provided by Konami Spain.
THE BEST
- It is the Yu-Gi-Oh! more complete; the entire history of the saga and more than 10,000 cards
- On Nintendo Switch there is a free update that improves it to this new version
- It is updated regarding TGC; brings with it the Master Rules of April 2020
- Includes multiple tutorials to learn how to play correctly
- Playing single player mode with illegal decks is tremendously fun
- Includes all previously released DLC
WORST
- The presentation is still improvable; pales compared to Duel Links
- There is no type of crossplay
- If we already have Legacy of the Duelist on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, it's time to checkout again
CONCLUSION
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution is a good Yu-Gi-Oh! which is not as polished as it deserves. He makes rookie mistakes, and carries incomprehensibly unsolved issues since the base version launched in 2015. However, his immense amount of content, and the fact that he is up to date with the real-life JCC rules make it a pretty attractive product, especially for veteran players. This is the Yu-Gi-Oh! most complete to date, but not for that reason it is the best.
Well
It meets the expectations of what is a good game, it has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
