What Happened To DNF Duel? - The Anime Fighter That Got Abandoned

What is DNF Duel and why is it regarded as one of greatest modern fighting game failures?
Dungeon Fighter Online is one of the most popular video game franchises in the world and is one of the highest-grossing video games of all time along with the likes of Pokemon and Call of Duty.
In December 2020, it was revealed that a fighting game spin-off, DNF Duel, was in the works in collaboration with Arc System Works. With a massively popular IP such as this and one of the top fighting game developers working on the project, DNF Duel was shaping up to be a massive success.
Instead, the game failed to garner much attention upon launch, and player numbers plummeted. So what happened and how did the game become a flop so quickly?
Today we take a look at how DNF Duel failed to live up to expectations.
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[@Akshonesports]

Hey everyone! As many of you pointed out, one thing we neglected to talk about in this video was Nexon’s involvement as DnF Duel’s publisher, which is one of the reasons the devs took so long to put out any post-release content. With better preparation, it’s possible that 8ing would have been ready to announce content on release, rather than leaving fans with radio silence. We have adjusted the title and thumbnail to reflect this better. As for including UNI as an ArcSys title… that was a dumb mistake on our writer’s part. He says he’s very sorry. (We've cut this bit out) 🙏

[@notstylekatarn]

The title still feels misleading. Can the game qualify as "abandoned" when we're about to get another character release?

[@NRobbi42]

​@notstylekatarn It was abandoned for a year. By that point most people had already moved on which is a shame because the new characters look neat, but I'm probably not going to play ranked any time soon.

[@Jack_Horner_is_a_hero]

Just delete the whole fucking video and make a new one

[@-Fraud]

Arc System Works did not make Under Night In Birth. The team French Bread did, Arc Sys was just the publisher.

[@Mclucasrv]

yeah blazblue would be a better example.

[@exec_rigveda8299]

@@Mclucasrv or granblue vs. Or battle fantasia (may it rest in peace).

[@Zeboki]

Damn. If they can screw up that obvious detail, wonder how many more went under the radar.

[@someaccount5200]

​@@Zebokia lot

[@jasonlee1337]

Arcsys also didn't develop DNF Duel! Well, not entirely. 8ing was the lead developer, although Arcsys is obviously the bigger name here. But they aren't slouches; they did Ultimate MvC as well

[@notstylekatarn]

Fan of the channel's work, but this doesn't feel as well put together as other videos. A lot of the blame for issues in this video is put on 8ing, but I don't think that's fair. They were a contracted developer, and can only work on the game if the contract accounts for it. The silence and length of time between updates was absolutely the biggest factor for this game's drop in player base, but 8ing aren't responsible for that. ArcSys, as the publisher, and to a larger extent, Neople, should be held responsible. It's been stated that the Neople didn't pay ArcSys much for this project, and ArcSys was only able to work with what they were given. Same issue happened with Dragonball, but that game's IP was able to carry it.

[@dieptrieu6564]

DBFZ clearly had a lots of budget putting into it compared to Dnf duel, tho

[@Eggroll3s]

8ing is great, but they're always fucked over by budget or conflicting ideas

[@notstylekatarn]

@@dieptrieu6564 Oh, totally, I'm sure the budgets weren't at all equal. I'm using Dragonball as an example due to how long it took for the netcode update to happen, as that's a somewhat similar scenario to how DnF Duel went down. ArcSys were obviously able to implement rollback into Dragonball much sooner, but if Bandai didn't give the okay and the budget to make it happen, it was a moot point.

[@benilinshingoseth2086]

I'm still playing the game, so, "failure" is relative. The game is still good, even though the "community" plays the game less than others. But, the game is gold for what it is !

[@cptncutleg]

​@@benilinshingoseth2086100%, I regularly cart it out for local vs games with friends and family

[@paulpangilinan6671]

Despite the game's failure, I still find it kind of endearing that they are still releasing DLC despite the extremely low playerbase rather than just stopping outright. Kind of matches with how older Guilty Gear games used to not really be successful sales wise but ArcSys still chose to make games out of passion. I don't really have much hope for the game but I still think it's kinda cool.

[@666slateran666]

It's stupid. It's been a dead game and it's all their fault

[@NRobbi42]

​@@666slateran666 8ing and Arcsys will develop as long as the Nexon money's coming in. It's not their fault.

[@alyasVictorio]

@666slateran666 Go ask NeoPle and Nexon instead for failing this game. Both 8ing and ArcSys at least tried their best to make each games as best as they can, plus DNF Duel dev 8ing is also the same dev of both MvC3 and their upcoming game HxH Nen Impact

[@666slateran666]

@@alyasVictorio I've played alot of nexon/neople games in my day. Trust me I put my hours into Dragonest, vindictive, and DFO. All those games went down the drain and full of even more predatory microtransactions then was there back in the day. They aren't helping. But the core gameplay is still too kusoge for me and 8ting is notorious for degenerate gameplay

[@crucialstormxyz9352]

​@@666slateran666Ahh, I do try a few of those from Nexon and NeoPle. That's makes me wonder, anyone know about Hyper Universe? I actually find it an interesting moba game, and I find that cool. Sadly, it's discontinued now despite the things you mentioned also.

[@Zeboki]

Pinning blame on the devs rather than the IP holders who has more say & push on the matter. Screwing up that Under Night is made by French Bread NOT Arc Sys. Bare minimum research & no interviews. Barely 8 minutes. This was just a quickie filler video.

[@Half_Bl00d_H3R0]

I blame the FGC as well.

[@RyuNoZero]

Isn't this Akshon Esports in a nutshell?^^

[@Zeboki]

@@RyuNoZero I mean at the very least they had videos where they interviewed devs & players who run tournaments or at least at discord life support. This was just a whole lot of nothing. Not even mentioning the now more recent dlc despite showcasing the dlc characters in B-roll.

[@gaminglakitu]

I think it's unfair to put the blame on 8ing, or even ArcSys. 8ing probably tried to make the best fighting game they could with their budget and ArcSys probably knew that they needed more support. NeoPle and Nexon (the *actual* publisher btw) did not think they needed to support this game long term for success, when people these days have the shortest attention spans for games now. So they waited to start a fund for DLC, but it was already too late. It wasn't anything 8ing or ArcSys could do. Also it's unfair to say that "the game not being balanced" is why it died because A. Most people don't care about balance unless they lose a lot, and B. 8ing made MvC3, one of the most broken Capcom fighters along side Jojo Heritage for the Future. I think balance should be a non-point here

[@pelinaattori2000]

Balance was absolutely one of the big reasons why the game died, swift master was straight up busted when the game released, the game lacked almost any kind of defensive mechanics to get you out of corner and such, people would literally be oppressed permanently to a corner and there was NOTHING they could do about it, most characters were just bad because SM and hitman were so good, so balance absolutely is a fair reason to say why the game died so fast, people were just tired of facing SM and hitman constantly cause after a while people knew they were the best characters by a mile

[@shadowmaksim]

It's actually amazing how many fighting games ASW are attributed in making that they straight up didn't. "DNF Duel", "Under Night", "Chaos Code", "Arcana Heart", etc. At most, they maybe helped publish an entry or two (usually poorly with bad ports) but, otherwise, had nothing to do with. But i guess i shouldn't be surprised. Most of the smaller fighting game devs might as well not exist to the FGC so these kinds of mistakes are abundant. Certainly doesn't help with credibility, that's for sure.

[@Fabsu93]

Sadly, when one makes a mistake of confuse publisher and developer all together that mistakes just get spread on the Internet.

[@ViApp0]

I also don't get the "dude massive playerbase drop in a month" because it's not indicative of the game's quality. Most games have that drop, even more so fighting games not from MK or SF series. And "FGC" influencers are the worst offenders in that regard as they'd hype any new release only to drop it and hype the next big release so of course the player retention is abysmal because people either stick to their old niche games or only play the big 2.

[@DisastrousCake]

In this case, ArcSys did help with development though. They worked on all of the visual aspects of the game. 8ing worked on everything else. They were both contracted developers though from my understanding.

[@RasenRendanX]

Big 2? We just gonna ignore tekken? ​@@ViApp0

[@clearandsweet]

I'm a long time player of Dungeon fighter online and put hundreds of hours into DNF duel. While nothing here is technically incorrect, I don't think it throws enough shade on Neople, which is a very slow to react Korean company that is very out of touch with what modern fighting game players want. Since they were the ones funding the project, a lot of this can be blamed on their slow reaction time. I would also like to say that the game became much much better with DLC and the added systems in the update. Even if you can still get two tapped and lose a round.

[@tavianfloyd6589]

The failure of DNf really has nothing to do with arcsys and I am skeptical it had anything to do with 8ing. They were basically just tasked with making the game the same as dbfz with bandai namco. If Neople doesn't pay for them to create a good roadmap of dlc or balance patches post release or understand marketing to fighting game fans it's not arcsys' job to do that for them. The game had aggressive marketing at the start but no clear direction for ongoing support and dlc in an age where that is required by even indie studios.

[@666slateran666]

8ting made a kusoge. Nice cope though. Also a old dfo player and fgc head who HATES how dnf duel played. The pvp in dfo is more fun lmao

[@666slateran666]

​@@tavianfloyd6589the game itself was not fun and they barely had any defensive options. That's 8ting fault

[@tavianfloyd6589]

@@666slateran666 the game was updated since then to add defense and balance characters but it was too little too late and that is on the Neople. All fighting games are unbalanced at launch.

[@666slateran666]

@@tavianfloyd6589 I've played it again since all the patches and it's still not enough there is a reason why games with crazy combos like guilty gear or KI have burst mechanics. I'm telling you it's still a kusoge, and it's the dlc that's too little to late. Again I'm a actual dfo player who plays almost every fighting game. They messed up appealing to its core audience. Instead they aimed it towards degens like maxdood who love awful grimy kusoges

[@groovygorgar8408]

Yeah dawg this had holes galore. Neople not only gave Arcsys little funding, but they also immediately had rights issues. It was hysterically long before they had a dlc character, not for lack of developer love or attention or whatever, but because their hands were tied by a brand who abandoned them when numbers faltered. They could'nt come out and point fingers, that's bad business and for a team that is making plenty of IP games, you're not gonna loudly tell everyone the dnf brand is being difficult

[@RIPCrazyFrog]

ArcSys did not make DNF Duel, they only published and produced it. 8ing made it.

[@broadWayy]

They didn't even publish it. Nexon (who's also publisher of the original DFO) is the publisher for DNF Duel. ArcSys got only called in for the visuals.

[@Kaimax61]

even then 8ing had to always wait for Neople and Nexon first.

[@redica_val8805]

Wasnt 8ing the main dev behind the game and arcsys was just a codev

[@Galiaverse]

At the least the fighting system absolutely reeks 8ing design. Conversion is pretty much the Baroque system from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (which made it very frustrating that only a few characters could actually harness its full potential).

[@exec_rigveda8299]

arcsys provided the engine/graphics, 8ing designed the battle system, but it feels like 8ing was severely restrained, look at theyr other games and they are all much faster and complex.

[@dieptrieu6564]

@@exec_rigveda8299 Blame it on neople, lol.

[@Kaimax61]

8ing isn't "main dev". the main blame is still on neople as 8ing can't move without neople green light.

[@KTP200]

@@exec_rigveda8299 if you think arcsys provided the graphics, take a look at the credits of the game. count how many arc sys employees were directly involved, graphics or otherwise.

[@someaccount5200]

Aksys did not make uni, it was French bread DNF Duel was made by the developers of DFO and co developed by 8ing

[@someaccount5200]

Arcsys only published uni

[@Gamersgoinblind]

I thought Aksys published Under Night

[@someaccount5200]

@@Gamersgoinblind you are right, it was aksys, not arcsys

[@broadWayy]

ArcSys only really did the visuals for DNF, 8ing did the gameplay. So it's not really fair to call it specifically "ArcSys' Failed Fighting Game". Also with these licensed games, the developer is usually powerless with what stuff they want to implement. They can try to echo the feedback of the players, but in the end, the publisher decides if or when the game gets updates. So, in my opinon, Nexon (DNF's publisher) just didn't care enough about the game initially, and didn't have a season 1 planned pre-planned at all (this is speculation), and that's why it took so long for actual new characters to arrive. Also ArcSys didn't develop Under Night, French Bread did. ArcSys is the publisher there.

[@matts8715]

It’s not 8ing’s fault it’s the publisher lmao

[@thegoose8663]

"Whos your favorite character in DNF duel?" "Grappler." "Which one?" "Grappler."

[@jasonngo1966]

Enough time has passed, DNF Duel just surpassed Kagura Bachi in sales, can we now all admit that DNF Duel is 1000% peak fiction?

[@pingpong5877]

Not even LegacyOfKaiser could save it.

[@MikuruX]

A few corrections need to be made here: - Under Night In-Birth was not developed by Arc System Works, it was only published by them. The developers are French-Bread (Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax, Queen of Heart series, Glove on Fight series) - Neople is not the publisher of DNF Duel. DNF Duel is funded & published by it's Korean publisher & owner "NEXON" - Dungeon & Fighter (Dungeon Fighter Online) is developed by Neople but its publisher & owner is also "NEXON". Neople is only the publisher for the Global version of the game since the game failed years back on Nexon's global service. Because NEXON is the publisher of the game, a lot of the game shortcomings was their responsibility, not 8ing nor Arc System Works. This is typical for Nexon as they have a tendency to do nothing when they think their IP name alone will carry their products on over time. This can be vouched by anyone who has played their games for a very long time (like myself). Arc System Works & 8ing can't really do anything outside of what Nexon wants them to do. I'm shocked that they didn't just pull the plug after the game player base dipped into oblivion.

[@SkyVoid]

I really thought they were gonna cook. They baked. Underbaked.

[@premsinha9415]

This video was really light when it came to actually delving into the reasons behind the game's failure. There was basically just a single reason talked about at length and everything else was ignored. It also continued to use Maximilian Dood's channel as the sole representative of the fighting game community it was in fact a big deal that the game received heavy advertisement from several big names until they all suddenly stopped talking about the game when the promotional period ended.

[@glad16252]

The problem imo came down to a few things. 1: Neople more so advertising Dungeon Fighter Online to the West For those who never heard of DFO before DNF Duel came out, you're not alone. It's pretty much only known about in South Korea, despite being a massive and long running MMO. Fact of the matter is, I personally believe this was entirely done to try and advertise the Dungeon Fighter IP to a western audience so they could maybe go towards their MMO. 2: Basically no patches For those who remember, it was like 3 months until we got our first patch for the game. And they were all nerfs on 3 characters. 2 of them getting only nerfs in their touch of death combos, the other being Swiftmaster being heavily nerfed. 3: Dying in 2 combos isn't fun The game was high damage and relatively low health. It would take someone who did all the in game combo trials to basically just do 2 combos to win the game. 4: Boring design For those who haven't looked into DFO, each character has awakenings. idk how they work, but imagine if in the fighting game you could build a meter and then go into your next form. Have a nearly entirely new move set and stay in your higher form for the rest of the match. This would also mean all the amazing designs of the Neo Awakenings would be in the game, which all look amazing

[@ezcore5368]

They have a mobile version of Dfo sadly they ain't confident enough to release it in Sea only in KR and China I think

[@KyosukelGauche]

no, its not only known in KR, it's an insanely big IP in China because they are the biggest cash cow that made DNF revenue skyrocketed. DNF in China is absolutely phenomenal, it's also big in KR but compared to China server the difference is too massive. but yeah this game is just a tool for marketing and a bad one at that. DFO players will probably just gonna play pvp in the MMO instead of trying this because it's less kusoge and not locked behind $50.

[@Kaimax61]

Why is this video putting so much blame on 8ing and Arcsys, when they can't take action because of Neople and Nexon?

[@ghostling170]

It's honestly alot weirder because, at least from their wording, they don't really blame arcsys, they put it solely on 8ing which is completely unfair.

[@Gang3rs]

I know its no point, but i still have a small bit of faith that this game can come around and be great. i really wanted this out of all FGs i played to be really good. all i can hope for now (though very unlikely) is this to have the GBVSR treatment to give it a 2nd chance.

[@KTP200]

just like with that first akshon e-sports video covering mvci, i think releasing a video titled this way is irresponsible.

[@lukeamparo6586]

1:33 damn, mentioned Guilty Gear twice while Blazblue is left out. I can understand Undernight is obscure since Cross Tag was their most notable appearance. But Blazblue was there to fill Guilty Gear’s place when Arc Sys lost the rights to GG. Being a BB fan is depressing nowadays.

[@RasenRendanX]

Yeah insteAd of a BB strive here's a rougelike no one asked for

[@mcbill7352]

​@RasenRendanX which is a great game in itself. At least bb is still alive as an IP, which means there might be another game

[@BriBri317]

Developers can’t promise anything without the publishers paying them and greenlighting the job.

[@PirateCommando]

850 million players world wide for the base game? 12k player peak for a spin off game? That’s not even a 10th of a percent. Is that not concerning? Who was this game for?

[@AnthanKrufix]

Game felt like a singleplayer game.. Featuring almost every character having genuinely fullscreen normals, 30+ second long combos, and a complete lack of literally any defensive mechanic... It really felt like it was a game designed to beat up a CPU, like you would play devil may cry.. Orrr an MMO like DFO.. It also has the most egregious comeback mechanics I've seen in a fighting game.. With a few characters completely changing their whole gameplan as soon as they get into awakening mode. Fights usually went the way of one person landing a stray long range hit, converting it into a combo which does 80% of the opponent's health over the first third of the round timer... And now it's about an even game because the opponent got put into comeback mode and can now ToD provided there's enough round timer left to finish the combo.

[@melon3109]

@4:16 based on the comments on the inaccuracies, I'm not so sure on this claim.

[@Blacknight6577]

I remember having so much fun with the game when it came out and kept playing for a good 3 weeks. After that I fell off of it and haven’t picked it up since. I did saw the recent new character and honestly it’s making me go back to the game when she comes out. NGL I forgot how to play the game so I’m going to have to refresh my memory of it. I know part of the reason why I dropped it was because my life gotten more busy and I do play other games, but this happens with almost every game out there especially fighting games.

[@potatodealer5337]

imo this game has one of the best 3D model Arcsys puts out (the other one being DBFZ). Normally with Arcsys 3D games, the high detailed models are only used in the cinematic finisher, and we got a really goofy looking low detail models for most of the interaction. This game as far as I can tell uses the same high detailed model for all the interaction. Although the model itself loses in comparison to highly detailed models used in Strive and Granblue (because the character's base design are just not as detailed), it more than makes up for it in gameplay since I don't have to look at goofy low poly models other games uses.

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@DistraughtK]

Whose gonna tell this man French Bread developed Under Night?

[@AntomicTeal]

I didn't expect to see my Reddit post on this video, but yeah, I still hold the same opinion to this day. On top of the lack of communication, the unbalanced characters (though I found it hilarious at times), the first DLC character to be announced MONTHS after the game was released, and the declining player base, the ArcREVO tournament basically killed DNF Duel. I understand why they didn't add any updates or changes outside of small bug fixes. It's like introducing a new rule during a major sporting tournament. It has the potential to throw off the strategy or the meta for the players. However, the game didn't need a tournament to begin with, rather it needed a reason why people should care to play this game. It needed updates, balance changes, a roadmap, something that can keep the attention of players and something to be excited about in the future. Putting DNF Duel in ArcREVO was great as that was being promoted next to Guilty Gear Strive, but I think it hurt DNF Duel more because there wasn't any to expect during or after the tournament. Why be hyped about a game that doesn't even have a DLC character in the works? I LOVE DNF Duel. I wanted a fighting game for Dungeon Fighter for so long as I'm a huge fan of the MMO. I was there when the first teaser came out, watched all of the videos for the game, played the betas, and even joined the Discord channel the moment I saw that someone made it. I was HYPED for the game! But over time, even my interest died down as well as my hope. I'm still glad that the game is now getting support with DLC characters and there are still dedicated players. But that year one of the game was extremely rough as it felt like everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

[@someaccount5200]

Adding only buffs is a terrible idea

[@hotdog5927]

if those buffs went to movement and neutral and defensive mechanics and defense/health you would say otherwise

[@sockbat25]

I imagine since Guilty Gear has legacy from it being a long series and DBFZ is...well Dragonball whilst DNF, as far as I know, was mainly big in Asia? Also I would guess that the people who played DNF Online are probably not interested in a fighting game version of their favourite game, which is still niche i guess?

[@TheMixedPlateFrequency]

Many players who engaged in PvP in DFO always wanted or wondered about a fighting game for DFO. A significant number of DFO players are fans of fighting games. However, I believe that the touch of death mechanics and the significant comeback factors drove players away. Additionally, I don't think the characters released were quite popular among DFO players. I believe they should have used the Female Grappler instead of the Male Grappler and the Male Striker instead of the Female Striker. The Ranger was perfect. The Female Launcher was acceptable, but they should have used the actual Female Launcher art design instead. However, I think the Male Launcher would have been better. They should have included the Weapon Master instead of the Berserker first. The Monk/Boxer should have been included before the Priest. The Male Brawler was acceptable, but they only used 5% of his exclusive moves, making it seem like they didn't really finish the character and just released him as quickly as possible. The same issue occurred with the Monk. I also feel this game would have been better with a 6-button system and a playstyle similar to Capcom vs. SNK 2, featuring a groove or style system like Capcom vs. SNK 2 and MKX. Each character could pick 3 or 4 different variations or groove system, and it would have been beneficial to replace the roll/dash mechanic with a dodge mechanic like in Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Samurai Shodown, to emulate side-stepping as in the original DFO. For new fighting game players, they could maintain the 6-button system but make all supers one button, and perhaps include a 7th button that, when held down, allows each button to function normally but, when mashed, executes an optimal auto combo route whether standing or crouching. If they had implemented these changes, they would be well-prepared for success. Regarding the female mages, the first one introduced was good, but they should have released the Witch as DLC instead. Other DLC characters they should have included are Soul Bender, Necromancer, Asura, Female Nen Master, Female Mechanic, and Exorcist. Inquisitor and Kunoichi were good choices, but I think Dragoon would have been a better initial choice than Vanguard. They could have used the actual character NPC names instead of just the job class names, as the NPCs are part of the storyline and clearly represent their job classes. Names like Chobung "The Grappler" or Kiri "The Ranger" would give the characters more personality and possibly increase interest among DFO players. Also Lost Warrior was a waste of character slot lol, they could have put a far better character in his place as a playable character. So I guess in general I feel like this games combat system should have been much more similar to Hokuto no Ken PS2 fighting game and Capcom v.s. SNKL 2, but far more balanced.

[@YukiFubuki.]

dfo pvp already plays similarly to a fighting game in a sense so there was a bit of overlap and overall there was actually little hook for actual dfo players too - sure we get to see some classes as 3D models in a fighting game but if thats just it then its just gonna last until the novelty wears off and even though the lost warrior was unique there was practically no hype behind him since even within dfo lore hes just a footnote in its story so like you got some mysterious powerful individual yet no one knows who he is nor are the players of the source game even interested in him since he only showed up to get absorbed by carloso the creator god of the dnf/dfo universe as 1 of his lost fragments causing some reality altering earthquake in the process - it wouldnt bold well if the character were too detached from the original but there was also little in ways of reimagining of class skills and abilities because for the majority of it the skill or ability were identical to their original sans being tweaked for a fighting game and some classes even failed to capture what made the original unique too - the actual story in dnf duel is very detached from the actual story of the source game, as someone who does play the base mmo my circle of friends were wondering what sort of story mode would have for the characters if it would have if at all like some of us expected some sort of prequel to the main events or simply just covering the events of mirror arad if not the beginning of the story to a certain point instead because of the maps so we were disappointed to find out that it has its own original story that all ends with nemyr trying to summon carloso but failing and getting his fragment instead

[@bloodbandittv]

I still dabble with this game from time to time in arcade and training mode. I don't play much because none of my friends are interested, or even like the game. It's a shame, because this is one of my top 10 favorite fighting games. The way i describe this game, is that its a mix of SF2T and UMvC3. The game is fun and have some characters that i can't find in other games.

[@patonnight]

The game was bad, slow moving, and boring. Characters could barely move around the screen, it was just seeing a monologue of combos from one player. Plus, nobody would care about generic 'class' characters who don't even have a name. And it is a shame, because the game looks gorgeous; but couldn't carry its awful game design and lack of content.

[@clairemadeinheaven]

Game isnt bad at all it's just overshadowed by the big 3 (street fighter 6, Tekken 8 and mortal Kombat)

[@zin2828]

Really devastated to see the game fail like this. Loved DFO a lot and was hyped af for DNF, shame.

[@alexpimentel7170]

remember when the optimal way to play hitman was to down-back until you got chipped down to awakening? and how the 'nerf' turned what made him busted into a 50/50 for lifebar instead of a true block string?

[@ogredanhibiki]

Well, another big reason it didn't do well is that the game it's based on is a free to play game, and they released DNF Duel as a $50 game with barely any content at all.

[@JcgLounge]

I don’t play it often. But I still play it to this day. I love this game

[@BeeLy1011]

I think the game is fun, but GOD this has to be one of the most frustrating post-launch support I've seen a game have. With that said I have to shout out the community, as small as it is, they're VERY passionate. I included DNF in a charity stream I did last year and the players who showed up for it were easily the most active. I also found out that a tournament a while back had a Matcherino that reached a pot of over _$1000_, which, regardless of how you feel, you can't deny that that's INSANE for a ""dead"" game Overall, as much as I'd love for this game to have a resurgence, that'd only happen with a Granblue Rising level sequel or in like 7 years when people look back on it again

[@void_soup]

4:16 yeah quality content because when think quality, it’s the video I’m watching right now.

[@TheRecklessDark]

I've heard some people say this was nothing more than advertising for DFO. I can't deny this didn't work, as I gave DFO a go after playing DNF and I absolutely love both games. After playing DFO and delving into that universe, I don't think it was advertising for DFO - it seems more like a gift to the DFO fanbase. Like a much more advanced, premium version of the combat system, with better graphics - for those who are willing to pay for it.

[@tedjomuljono3052]

8 ing is known mostly because they will take on any kind of work, from top tier games like MVC & TVC, to nonexistent budget kusoges that Bandai Namco burdened them with during the PS2-PSP era when an 8-ing game's quality dropped or doesnt look like it had one to begin with (like the upcoming HxH Nen Impact game), it's mostly because they didn't have the budget and time to make it as good as possible, some publishers just wanted a fast, quick buck

[@maziio646]

8ing was the main dev while Arcys helped with the visuals......also...did they say DNF was simpler than Strive? geeeeeez This video was really something else

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

as someone who hates both DNF and Strive, DNF is simpler lol

[@exec_rigveda8299]

dnf is simpler than strive lol

[@someaccount5200]

Same

[@666slateran666]

Strive has actual counterplay. Here you just get combo/juggled for 20+ seconds until you die. Not having burst in a anime fighter is the most regarded design decision

[@maziio646]

@@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz We can agree to disagree , no issues there

[@muffinblend3149]

consider duelist of eden video:) good vid lov it

[@tripleaces659]

Me actually excited wanted to try this new anime game then at 5:26 is exactly my reaction when I choose Dragon Knight as my main (since she is kinda similar with Jooey from GBVS) and immediately dropped it as the combo makes me go like wtf 😭 and then I continue investing my time playing TEKKEN 7/8 and DBFZ 😂

[@morales1190]

Nexon was dumb for letting that Cash Cow die so easily! DNF had so much hype and promise before release! And then it died! smh

[@MetaSynForYourSoul]

Also this game lacked content! Beyond story to unlock Lost Warrior, training and online what do you got? There's no other fun modes to keep you engaged, you would think they'd have a mini section of the RPG to play through to cross fighting game players over but naw. I mean it was just noting to do. Besides that, I think they could still save the game. It would take MASSIVE WORK, a commitment none of the companies involved have time or resources for, especially ArcSys who technically have like 10 or 12 games constantly running. You need, another giant balance patch with new sauce for everyone, maybe even a new universal mechanic, a new season of characters, at least 1 free as a reward for sticking with the game this long, new dlc, story continuation for everybody, and the big thing, A NEW SINGLE PLAYER MODE or/and A NEW MULTILAYER MODE. put the game on sale and say anybody that purchases BEFORE the patch goes live gets the free character, everybody else has to pay and boom! If the do good, we're back in business, baby! Cuz there was nothing wrong with the core game. It was well designed, just not well balanced. Honestly I wish this was how modern controls were implemented in SF6. Instead of a storage control scheme, make it so they both work at the same time just that you're drive gage comes back faster with motion. I know that wouldn't work because of the proximity normals, but something to where it's just a lil more advantage to use classic, ya know?

[@Younghoon15]

FGC players new and old didn't like how punishing and momentum heavy the game was. The poor communication, balance, lack of consistent support from the devs killed the game. It sucks because the system mechanics are cool and interesting. The loose mechanics makes the game unique akin to older fighting games

[@joe_mama__]

Why did I bought this game on launch😭

[@drenerd510]

7:00 All they need to do was just add a new character and just make the tournament be played on the previous build of the game. They acting

[@ragna3023]

1:36 Arc System works is not the developer of Under Night, only the publisher. The developers are French Bread

[@NotLard]

idk if this was the move chief. some good points were there i guess but idk the whole thing feels kind of misinformed or not framed in the proper light. feels like neople had u at gunpoint through most of this vid lmao

[@Hotcakes0007]

Loved the game when it came out hope it makes a comeback

[@h2_]

I don't think it's fair to blame 8ing for what happened there. They make one-touch laden kusoge, that's what you hire them for. The issue was the lack of content and communication, and I don't think it was 8ing's fault, it was probably Nexon at fault, taking their sweet time to approve anything.

[@catgaming381]

Thank you very much

[@NinjaSpicoli]

BRO LETS SAVE IT!! This game is SEVERALLY underrated! Who wants games?!

[@diamondhamster4320]

Not releasing with all the Classes from DFO as Fighting game charaters at launch and no banger music and stages from DFO... Also quite a lot of people don`t like Eighting style of fighting game design approach...

[@1wayroad935]

Even today, I can't tell if this game is fun or not. I guess it's on brand considering the source material and how that has developed over the years.

[@TheAzulon]

I think that what killed the game were the mechanics. If the game had tighter mechanics it would have held a lot better. Damn, street fighter 3 third strike is part of the main lineup of this year EVO and it was released decades ago. When I heard that the game would allow you to cancel specials into specials I got worried because you would need a lot of defense mechanics to make it work, and then the game came out and it didn't have those defense options. As soon as people figures out the optimal combos we ended up with 1 touch kills, that no one likes. Yeah, the lack of communication and patches were a problem, but if the game had better balance it would have survived.

[@partymantis3421]

This was a very strange take by Akshon when they usually arebetter than this, Nexon holds far more blame than Arcsys or 8-ing. With hardly any marketing & poor communication with the devs. Plus Nexon should have accounted for that most of their existing audience from dungeon fighter online are used to free to play. The existing fighting game playerbase were too buisy with other games while the DFO base werent used to paying before playing

[@YukiFubuki.]

while i agree with what’s said i also think that the fighting game community as a whole alos had a hand in it too even at its brief peak i wpuld see and hear things in the comments just passing the game off as something daring to compete with establish fighting game IP and people trying to insult every aspect of it because even if some complains were valid it would still reek of ignorance like the common complain of how come the characters do not have names thinking theyre stand in for generic archetypes or something like sure berserker, grappler and dragon knight brings to mind certain character archetype yet names such as ghostblade, spectre and troubleshooter do not sound like a generic label and even one such as vanguard and striker are a bit more board in their specification to be a character archetype too all it takes a bit of simple google search yet even this seems to be too much since even now you can still find someone who knows about dnf duel but no idea that its based off of another game

[@Gamersgoinblind]

Might wanna fix the title, you can't blame Arcsys when 8ing is the dev, and you can't blame 8ing when the DFO holder is the one who's telling 8ing what they can or can't do.

[@Radec_G]

This game is the proof that easier and busted fighting games IS NOT the key to sales, popularity and reaching mainstream audiences

[@zechariahcaraballo8765]

Another thing is this game was announced and released around the time project l was getting a bunch of info like the game being free to play and since dfo was free there was a slight misconception that dnf was gonna be free, and with the devs never saying anything it did get a few ppl including myself disappointed that it was not f2p

[@zerotymn]

You know it was bad when it was a free game on the epic games store.

[@malik2978]

I 100% believe that years down the line people will look back at this game and be like "wow what a hit in gem this is" and that's gonna piss me off cause I always loved this game people just couldn't handle what they were askin for all these years 🙄

[@blackZ34all]

I would still buy the game because it does look fun and because of it being easy for new players. Since O know nothing about DNF online, I don't mind the lack of DLC characters. The only downaide is the lack of players and that forces me to buy it when it's at a great discount.

[@MrTekhnical]

Nexon/Neople are to blame for the failure of DNFDUEL not 8ing. 8ing was the main developer while ASW most likely provided the graphics engine and rollback netcode. Funny how you guys don't really mention Nexon or Neople, the ip holders and ultimately the ones making the decisions.

[@lordtraxroy]

To be honest its ok to let a game there as it is someday this game will become viral again or what so ever we all remember how many fight games used to be abondond but got a second life again through the community

[@DigiMatt52]

The game was and is all flash with no substance. Communication ain't gonna change that.

[@RyuNoZero]

This Game just needs an Air Dash to be more Fun. Infact This Game nails their fundamentals the Best way in the Fighting Game space and that it launched without DLC Characters made me happy because A Fighting Game launching with a Complete Roster? Nice but no.. also the Final Boss of Arcade is just aggrevating Bullshit. But that's my Only Critizism about it. If DNF Duel is considered a Failure SFV would be an Insulting Abomination. But then again, Fighting Game Players are fine with Incomplete Roster Launches pre-release DLC announces and Season Pass Waiting Games.

[@Mizticall]

I can tell you right now without watching the video the reason it failed is because that title makes it sound like some sort of gacha card game. If I see that title and the art of some guy with a gun/sword on the marketing I'm just going to write it off as that and immediately forget about it

[@Rainb0wFur]

"Why was it abandoned* Common Nexon L. They really did my game wrong. I used to play DFO (Dungeon Fighter Online), so DNF Duel was gonna be one of the only fighting games I was excited for. Then they decided "let's give them less than the bare minimum." Nexon and ArcSys L.

[@nixiedreamstar]

The comments were more informative than the video. Thank you commenters for the content. If I were you I would press that subscribe button and ring the notification bell for the comment section.

[@kevinsean8718]

Shame no one plays this game only the die hards. I enjoyed it more than Sf6, Tekken 8, Mk1, and Guilty Gear.

[@sillylily5828]

most broken moves in fighting games? just play soul caliber 2 and pick Raphael or xangxia or talim

[@DanDennisRobloxman]

💀 I thought DNF was an original IP from arc

[@morales1190]

Hopefully, 8ings next project gets more love! (HxH Nen impact)

[@mcbill7352]

nen impact looks boring af. BRING BACK DNF DUEL

[@morales1190]

@mcbill7352 Honestly, I couldn't agree with you more. But people played it, say it's fun! I just we'll see!

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

8ing*, not arcsys. and it's demise was obvious from the start, the game design was the worst of any game made post ps2 and it's content doesn't exist. it only got a strong start because it looks insanely good and it feels good at a shallow level before you get frustrated by all the BS. turns out people don't actually play kusoges. they just like mahvel cause it's mahvel. and no, it's not just the lack of support. better old games have 10 times as many players as DNF and they've been unsopported for years.

[@Eggroll3s]

The first thing people need to do is stop putting this under the mantle of Arc Sys. Team Red (GG creative team) did not work on this game, so it's nothing like GG, it's by 8ing. They made tons of gsmes you've probably played tons of their games, but they made tons of fighting games like Bloody Roar, TVC, UMVC3, etc. People need to stop putting the mantle on companies like Arc Sys, and giving them all the credit for every positive. The same thing happens with UNIB

[@samuraibeastwarrior2886]

This game is super underrated

[@crisgit_g]

For me it's simple: The game has no soul

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa731]

another strive killer bites the 5D lmaooo

[@rinzle3r]

As 2 hours after the release of this vídeo DNF Duel has a peak of 32 players on steam, this game is F dead guys

[@redxnightwalker]

uh ok. So this is my opinion on the matter and feel like a more rational reason on how things work. Archsystem got money thrown at them to make a game, they made the game. To update or add more content is not up to them until receiving money to do it. Why was the game made? to expand the brand reconition of the mobile game to make more money despite the fighting game ooperating at a loss. The fighting game was very clear what it was when it first came out. Its a easy to pick up and play game, characters are all broken but fair. each character in that game was doing fighting game crimes to eachother. The game was like pizza, pizza is good, but not a good food choice to have everyday. I don't think its fair to say the pizza was bad though. I think its just people don't play it often because its not that type of game. The gameplay is something that leads to long breaks with the game. People look at the numbers and say its a dead game leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy with even lower numbers.

[@Thermalfusi0n]

There are a couple uninformed, simply wrong facts in this video.. even calling DFO an ArcSys game is a stretch

[@PandaVsGames]

My desire for content has only begun to be sated. My gluttonous void craves for your nourishment. Feed us more, akshon... MORE great vid as always 😊

[@CanvaMira]

I'd play dnf duel if it released on xbx

[@zeroniTDX]

what an opening

[@GhibliNova]

It sold really well, it didnt fail 😂 it just isnt a high priority game for them and never has been

[@waifuenthusiast789]

honestly u guys should just take down this video and reupload a new version with the corrections because this is just filled with misinformation

[@chickrepelant]

bummer, that is a great lookin' game

[@burningprodigy]

Except DNF Duel is an 8ing game, and UNI is made by French Bread. ArcSys only assisted with the online and the aesthetic. That said, the brunt of the blame should be given to Nexon.

[@gizoid5526]

Video is kinda misleading since 8ing did more dev work on dnf than arcsys

[@level3xfactor]

Man... this video doesn't feel nearly on the same level as your other content. Lots of oversights and missed information.

[@Asdayasman]

"Most popular franchise in the world"? Bro I'm a hardcore life long gamer and so are all of my close friends and not one of us have heard of "Dungeon Fighter Online". I had to go look it up to find out it's mobile-tier predatory MTX sloppy trash. Making a lot of money from gambling addicted whales is much harder than making money from avid fans of a one time purchase. Get ArcSys to make a Final Fantasy fighting game and then you'll see what it REALLY means to be a popular franchise. If anything it's a wonder DNF did well at all, and I can bet that's all due to the ArcSys name, not the what was it Dungeon Fighter Online name.