TheYu-Gi-Oh!franchise has seen a quiet resurgence in the gaming world in recent years with titles likeYu-Gi-Oh!: Master DuelandYu-Gi-Oh! Cross Duelfinding success among card game fans. WhileYu-Gi-Oh!: Master Duelis solid for PvP, a full-fledgedYu-Gi-Oh!RPG inspired by the original anime has the potential to be a huge hit. Other recent RPGs based on animes likeOne Piece Odysseyshow that a similarYu-Gi-Oh!game could find success among fans nostalgic for the original series.
They heyday of single-playerYu-Gi-Oh!games saw consistent releases primarily on handheld consoles like the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. Games such asYu-Gi-Oh! The Eternal Duelist SoulandYu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadourtook the card game formula and successfully translated it to a single-player adventure experience. Although these titles were limited in scope by the handheld consoles they appeared on, a modernYu-Gi-Oh!RPG could take advantage of the capabilities modern platforms afford to create a much more immersive and in-depth experience.
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The First Season of the Anime Provides the Perfect Blueprint for a Yu-Gi-Oh! RPG
WhileYu-Gi-Oh!gameshave seen both wholly original stories and stories more in line with the anime, a new game should stick to the established plot of the first season of the anime for the best chance of success. This season involves Yugi and friends traveling to Duelist Kingdom, a mysterious island where Maximillion Pegasus has set up a tournament for the world’s top duelists to compete for a chance to duel the creator of the game himself. Yugi competes with the hope of freeing his grandpa’s soul, which Pegasus captured as a way to lure Yugi to the tournament.
The plot of this arc of the anime alone is enough to create an engaging video game story, but the game’s location is the perfect setting to create a variety of side quests as well. Duelist Kingdom would make a great open world for players to explore, challenge other NPC competitors, and work their way through the main quest while discovering smaller quests along the way. This would fit right in line with the subplots that evolve over the course of the anime’s season and could serve to round out the game’s story. The game could even draw inspiration from a game likeThronebreaker: The Witcher Taleswith its use of both card game and RPG elements.
There could even be dungeons for players to explore within the world of Duelist Kingdom, as the anime already provides some perfect candidates for locations. The cave where Joey has to duel Bonz in the episode “Arena of Lost Souls, Part 1” would make a perfect dungeon-based quest. The following plot line that seesYugi and friendsescape from the cave and into the Paradox Brothers' dungeon is another great example of how this game could feature dungeons scattered throughout an open world.
There is a lot of potential within the originalYu-Gi-Oh!anime to create not only a solid open-world RPG and card battler, but also capitalize on nostalgia for the original series at the same time. WhileYu-Gi-Oh!: Master Duelhas been a great way to tide fans over in the meantime, it doesn’t capture the same feel as the classicYu-Gi-Oh!games of the Game Boy Advance and DS era. Hopefully with the success ofYu-Gi-Oh!: Master Dueland popularity of other single-player anime games,Konamijoins in the trend and creates a true modernYu-Gi-Oh!RPG.
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Master Duelis available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS.
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