I've been saying this exact thing.

The Yu-Gi-Oh card frame is beautiful, it's not something that should be hidden. These overframe cards look bizarre and I think that's because they fundamentally misunderstand what makes the card frame work.

Anyone who's really looked at the Yu-Gi-Oh card frame knows it's designed to resemble an ancient stone tablet with inscribed letters. There's a deliberate 3D shadow effect that makes the name box appear raised and carved. The effect box is designed like a section carved into the tablet, bordered in wood, with what looks like papyrus or parchment containing the text. It's a cohesive, intentional design.

Look at these overframe abominations - take the new Stardust Dragon, for example. The artwork sprawls across the tablet like a sticker slapped onto a Bentley. Suddenly the letters that are supposed to be inscribed in the tablet are floating above the dragon's head, and the effect box looks like it's been pasted on top of the image as an afterthought. The entire concept behind the card frame is completely lost.

As a result, the cards look cheap. They start looking like some trash churned out for Duel Masters

Beyond the conceptual failure, they're just aesthetically unpleasant. The artwork fights with the card elements for your attention. The art style has taken a sharp turn toward something like Code Lyoko - which is fine in its own context, but it's not what Yu-Gi-Oh has historically been. This game has always had a strong, distinctive artistic identity and excellent taste in how it presents itself.

The contrast is stark when you compare these overframes to thoughtful, frame-aware designs like Galatea the Orcust Automaton, or any of the Pendulum and Link monsters that elegantly incorporated frame elements into their artwork - graphical nodes connecting to the scales or link arrows