I've been on and off with this game for literal years so in my never ending quest of clearing my always filled backlog I decided to play a Yu-Gi-Oh game, expecting something along the line of the later entries.
Boy was I in for a jump of quality.
The game is ok, the rules for the game are the GX era so no Synchros and Tuners, the setting is fun and the characters are well presented, but it's a GRIND. The game doesn't give you much money and your starter deck sucks which means you grind for money, EXP and you have no clue how to start any events; you don't even have a main mission, just go to class and hope something happens after you duel everyone a lot.
I think the Dueling Academy has a lot of potential as a setting, with something along the lines of Persona where you build up your character as both a student and a Duelist, going on adventures with Judai and Co.
Here you just duel a bunch to see how your character kinda fits in the overall story of early GX.
Honestly the 5D's era games are better, with in my opinion more fun duel mechanics, a tight story, a better character creation and overall better quality.

It's not a bad game, but not great. It certainly showed me how spoiled I got from Stardust Accelerator.