Who's Next?—DNF Duel
DNF Duel: Who's Next?, typically shortened to DNF Duel, is a 2.5D fighting game adaption of Dungeon Fighter Online. Being co-developed by Neople, Arc System Works, & Eighting and published by Nexon, it released worldwide on PlayStation 4, PlayStastion 5, and on Steam on June 28, 2022. A Nintendo Switch port was released on April 20th, 2023.
Gameplay
Akin to traditional 2D fighters. Players select a character to use and fight against their opponents, winning by either completely depleting the opponent's HP or by having more by the end of the round. This can be done using the variety of unique moves that each playable character possess.
Unique to DNF Duel is the MP Gauge system, which allows characters to use MP moves so as long as they have the gauge for it. MP Moves can be done with either simple or traditional inputs, with traditional inputs refilling the gauge faster. The MP Gauge can also be use for other moves such as Guard Break additionally.
Upon reaching a certain amount of HP, players will automatically enter Awaken, which grants passive buffs unique to each character. Players are also able to use their Awakening Skill as well when their Awaken is active, but upon usage it will remove the buff regardless if hit, blocked, or whiff, so it should be used with caution.
Characters
DNF Duel has 21 playable characters consists 16 base and 5 DLC rosters. Each character offers their own unique moveset and playstyle that players can play with to their liking.
DNF Duel's playable characters are derived from the numerous playable classes & advancements of the original source game. Both male and female variants for some of the classes are present within the game (eg. Inquisitor and Crusader originating from the Female and Male Priest class respectively). There are also playable characters that share the same class, but are of different advancements (eg. Berserker and Ghost Blade being different advancements from the Male Slayer). Presently, every playable character so far is based on the 1st awakening of their traditional paths, though some of them, particularly the DLC characters are based on their 2nd awakening. The exception to this is Lost Warrior, who was an NPC from the original game.
Game Modes
DNF Duel offer different game modes split between Online, Local, Practice, and Story.
Local and Online Mode are the main ways with being able to match up with other players, respectively offline and online. Local offers different gameplay modes too such as Arcade and Survival. Online allows players to either play ranked matches with others of similar skill levels, or set up lobbies to play with particular people in mind. Players can also set up a profile to display their main character, avatar, titles, etc.
Practice is the main way of honing one's skill in battle. This is available through either Training Mode (allowing you to try out anything that you would like) or the Tutorial Mode (learning the game through the available in-game guide).
Story Mode allows players to dive in into the world of DNF Duel for those intrigued by the characters, setting, etc. There is also an in-game glossary available to learn more about the lore of the game. There is a gallery mode present, which players can spent Gold to purchase artwork, music, etc.
Trivia
- Unlike other Arc System Works titles, DNF Duel don't have character themes, instead, we have stage music for the battles.