I went back and forth on whether to recommend this game or not, but ultimately I do recommend it.
Pros:
* It's free-to-play, genuinely.
* It's Yu-Gi-Oh! online, officially.
* It's the smoothest, most beautiful and consistent simulator.
* Great crafting system. 3 unwanted cards = 1 card (of your choice) of the same rarity.
Cons:
* You need to know what you want or the F2P economy will be tough.
* Everything gets the UR (rarity) tax.
* It has been 4.5 years since release and there has been no more permanent modes to play. Ranked or nothing.
* It's Yu-Gi-Oh! online, officially.
TL;DR: The game is great, but it's not 2004 Yu-Gi-Oh!. Don't expect it to be. Cards will fly from both sides the second a duel starts.
I've played YGO off-and-on over the years. I started at the beginning just collecting cool cards and played YGO with friends, then stopped. I picked it back up in the synchro era and had a blast doing silly things, then stopped. Came back again for the Xyz era and still had fun, then stopped. Many years, and multiple master rules, later I came back with Master Duel's release. That gap completely changed the game. Many people hate the game's general direction and others love it. I struggled with it for quite awhile, but eventually I got on board.
For new, new players I have a hard time recommending MD due to the F2P economy along with Yu-Gi-Oh!'s complex wording and gameplay on newer cards. The solo-mode really does not prepare you to play YGO in the current year, and tries to lure you into purchasing bad cards/archetypes early on. You can't just "try a deck", every new deck will have at least 2 UR cards often played at 3. If you're completely unfamiliar with the game I would recommend both a friend to guide you, and either "Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution" or another online simulator. Start with some 2004 decks and play through the different summoning mechanic eras (maybe skip pendulum, they're not super relevant).
Onto things about the game itself. The polish on this game is insane, and hopefully that trajectory continues. The summoning animations, the effect animations (such as Zeus), the winning attack/effect animations (Blue-eyes, Dark Magician, Exodia) and the lingering effect, well, effects on your deck when you get drolled/mulcharmy'd. They're all fantastic. I want more of these. It cannot be understated how good it feels to wipe the board with Zeus when that animation plays, or when you end the game with a BEWD. How crushing it can be when you handtrap someone only to get laughed at by their alt-art Called by the Grave.
Yu-Gi-Oh! has been moving more and more towards in-archetype "handtraps" that allow turn 0 plays (both players are actually playing, regardless of whose turn it is). This has made for some very fun and interactive games. This is a direction I hope continues compared to generic handtraps. Dracotail, Hecahands, K9, Labrynth, Tearlament and Vanquish Soul. These are all examples of archetypes with unique play patterns that can play on turn 0, with more to come and more I'm sure I missed already available. For generic handtraps I've been liking the trend of making actual handTRAPS rather than just monsters that say "(Quick Effect): Discard this card..." Especially ones that really make you think about deckbuilding such as the Dominus traps.
The card pool available and the banlist is unique to Master Duel and has created its own format, for better or worse. I desperately want parity between MD and paper, TCG (west) or OCG (east) either one would be fine. This drip feed of cards has created interesting formats, but also leads to almost nothing truly feeling fresh. If you see something come out in paper that looks cool, don't expect it for a year in master duel at least.
Konami are often far too lenient with the banlist, letting problem cards run rampant for too long. Frequently even hitting enablers while letting the actually frustrating cards live. That being said, Konami is at least fair with how they handle cards getting hit on the forbidden & limited list. If a card gets hit then you get a full refund for that card essentially. If you own 3 copies of a card and it gets semi-limited to 2 then you can dismantle one for a full refund. You own 3 and it gets limited to 1? Two full refunds. When banned you get a full refund on as many copies as you owned before the banlist was announced. This is a very honest way of handling cards being hit IMO.
This has been a bit of a ramble-y mess, but it's hard to truly put into words the high-highs and low-lows YGO can offer. As well as the complexity of the game itself... At least in a review rather than a textbook. Overall would recommend.
