If there's one thing that can be said about diehard Yu-Gi-Oh fans, it would be that they're incredibly loyal to the series they've loved for years. While it can be said that the first series' viewers may have stopped checking into the franchise once the original anime ended and Yu-Gi-Oh GX began, others kept watching until the very end. To coincide with many of the anime's releases, Konami developed the Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force video game series. These games brought the themes of each individual YGO anime to the forefront while also giving fans a fun look into the trading card game alongside their favorite characters. The series was beloved by many fans, yet somehow ended rather abruptly where only one more title would have made the 7-game series feel far more complete.
The Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force games started with one featuring Yu-Gi-Oh GX in 2006. From there, every year forward saw the release of a Tag Force title for the PSP, with a later release reaching the PlayStation Vita. The titles used the overseas presence of the franchise to reach overseas, English-speaking markets until Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds finished its run. The Tag Force games were well-received with fans, until suddenly with the end of 5Ds, development on the titles seemed to cease. A seventh title was made four years later with Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V Tag Force Special, but the title never reached international fans.
What Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force Offered to Fans
As Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force 1-6 were released to coincide with the broadcast of the anime, they also took the direction of later Yu-Gi-Oh video game adaptions and made its story deal with the show's plotlines directly. These games would feature the same cards that the series had recently released in its physical sets for players to use to take on series antagonists such as Yubel and the Dark Signers. As the anime made its way through certain seasons each year, a game would be released to handle those same plot elements for that specific season currently airing.
The games didn't make players experience the story of the show as the protagonists of the spin-offs, however. They were instead given the chance to play as their own character in the world of the YGO anime. This gave fans the chance to meet with their favorite duelists and get to know them, experiencing the anime alongside the cast rather than just watching the events unfold. Through this, players could give their favorite duelists gifts and earn their favor to have that character become their tag duel partner throughout the entire playthrough. This applied to nearly every character in the show, which made these Yu-Gi-Oh games highly replayable in particular. The Tag Force series was incredibly well-received by their player base, considering how many sequels it was given as a result.
Where Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force Ended
Ever since the last Tag Force game, Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V Tag Force Special, released in Japan, the franchise as a whole has shifted to other endeavors. Choosing to focus on the more simplified Rush Dueling TCG, the latest anime has left the core Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game behind. Even without the anime to help advertise the latest cards, however, the TCG is still going strong. Far as video games are concerned, long-term fans finally got the proper card simulator they had been craving for years with Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel. The new game, at the same time, marks a departure from using the anime as the franchise's main image.
However, something needs to be said regarding how Master Duel has fallen flat in catering to the more casual Yu-Gi-Oh fans out there who desired the card game simulator. Currently, all online players who seek matches are in the same pool. Casual players will easily run into heavily competitive players, making it hard for those playing to reap the rewards of their playtime. There's an unspoken demand for a better solo experience beyond just Master Duel's story mode, and considering how Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V Tag Force Special has been translated by a very dedicated fandom, one final Tag Force game would be perfect for filling in that void.
Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS' Tag Force Game
Through Arc-V Tag Force Special, all the anime spin-offs for Yu-Gi-Oh were represented. However, only one anime never got a chance to shine in the series and that happened to be Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS, which was the last proper show to focus on the full YGO TCG. The lack of a VRAINS Tag Force game has left many fans rather disappointed. The show's themes dealt with connections and the protagonist opening up to those around him, which means that since Tag Force is already about letting players bond with their favorite characters, VRAINS would work wonderfully with its mechanics.
However, Konami seemed to be unreceptive towards giving VRAINS the Tag Force treatment, opting to make Yu-Gi-Oh Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution instead. However, Link Evolution fell flat on many aspects of its content, including the additional content for VRAINS. For instance, almost every one of the franchise's shows was played out with cutscenes in Link Evolution except for VRAINS, which had a majority of its content added in with one singular update to the game. It also only updated once, and never updated with the final YGO TCG set for VRAINS, leaving it with incomplete cards, as well.
The only features Link Evolution had were playing with other players online and experiencing the game's story mode. In the shadow of what Tag Force gave to players, it left a lot to be desired. In the wake of Legacy of the Duelist: Link Evolution not performing very well due to its many shortcomings, Master Duel learned from it and became the exact game series loyalists had desired for years, but that doesn't mean Master Duel didn't have flaws itself. If the opportunity to still make a Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force game exists, Konami should take it in order to fix two problems it made for itself.
One of the biggest issues the series faces right now is most definitely the lack of separation between casual and competitive matchmaking in Master Duel. But there's also the fact that many fans have a bitter taste in their mouth over how VRAINS was treated during its run to this day. Both of these are problems Konami could fix by giving the final anime its own proper video game adaption. Not only would it fix the problems at hand, but it would also send off a beloved series of video games in the best way possible. A Tag Force VRAINS game would finally make it that any Yu-Gi-Oh fan could live out their favorite anime, as every single one of them would have a game. Unfortunately, considering Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS ended back in 2019, Konami may very likely never revisit the Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force series again as the series has more or less moved on.
