DNF Duel

DNF Duel is a fantastic fighting game for newcomers and veterans alike, and is absolutely gorgeous to boot.

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"DNF Duel" is a 2.5D action fighting game based on the popular RPG "Dungeon and Fighter." Choose from 16 unique characters, each with distinct skills and personalities, and engage in online or local modes such as Ranked Match, Player Match, Story Mode, and Survival Mode. The game offers a variety of modes and features, including Training Mode, Tutorial, Player Profile, Replay Library, Gallery, and Glossary, allowing players to delve into the world of DNF.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

65%

Audience ScoreBased on 4,962 reviews

gameplay210 positive mentions

stability46 negative mentions

Fun and easy to pick up, making it accessible for new players.
Great visuals and character designs, with a unique art style.
Fast-paced gameplay with satisfying combos and mechanics.

Severe balance issues, with some characters being overpowered and dominating the meta.
Lack of defensive options, making it difficult to counter aggressive playstyles.
Limited single-player content and minimal post-launch support from developers.

gameplay
710 mentions
30 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "DNF Duel" is characterized by its fast-paced, accessible mechanics that are easy to learn but can become repetitive over time. While many players appreciate the unique character designs and flashy visuals, there are significant criticisms regarding balance issues, limited defensive options, and a lack of depth in gameplay mechanics, which can lead to one-sided matches. Overall, the game is seen as fun and engaging for newcomers to the fighting genre, but it may not satisfy more experienced players seeking complexity and variety.
- “Fast gameplay, big normals, easy to pick up and learn.”
- “Gameplay is very different from other traditional fighting games; the moves really do make the fighter with this one.”
- “The gameplay is superb; it looks good and it feels good.”
- “The visuals look great, but there are some issues with the mechanics and how inputs are handled.”
- “Characters have fairly limited move sets from what I tried out, which would be fine if there was more to the gameplay, but there really isn't unless you just want to do online matches with a really small player pool, and even then, I do lean towards single player content in a fighting game, and this doesn't provide anything except some combo trials and your standard arcade mode with no endings.”
- “This game is a huge disappointment; gameplay fucking sucks and is boring to no end.”
story
258 mentions
14 % positive mentions
75 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The story mode in "DNF Duel" has received largely negative feedback, with many players describing it as repetitive and lacking depth, often feeling like a generic tournament arc with minimal character development. While each character has a unique story that lasts around 30 to 45 minutes, the overall narrative is criticized for being linear, boring, and poorly executed, leaving players wanting more substantial content. Despite some interesting character designs and lore, the story mode is seen as an afterthought, making it less appealing for those seeking a rich single-player experience.
- “Story mode does a good job telling the different characters' backgrounds and stories; it's basically half an hour long per character and unique for each character, and aside from that you have the usual arcade and survival modes.”
- “Each character has a small story series of fights.”
- “The story is pretty good for fighting game standards.”
- “But I found DNF Duel's story mode to be offensively lazy.”
- “Everyone has to fight everyone else as strangers; they are eliminated after they lose, etc. Character motivations don’t matter and there is no meaningful plot to speak of.”
- “The biggest negative this game has is a horrible, and I mean capital H, horrible story mode.”
graphics
234 mentions
69 % positive mentions
28 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning visuals, beautiful art style, and impressive animations, consistent with the high standards set by Arc System Works. Many players appreciate the character designs and the overall aesthetic, noting that the visuals enhance the gaming experience, even if some gameplay mechanics and balance issues detract from it. Overall, the game's graphics are considered a major highlight, contributing significantly to its appeal.
- “Stunning visuals and incredible animation.”
- “The visuals and quality are insane, expected from Arc System Works.”
- “They made a fantastic game with some of the best visuals ever for any game, period.”
- “With no fullscreen option, lackluster graphics options around the board, and no frame data, there are some serious omissions.”
- “As well, many visuals are completely fake and the hit and hurtboxes often make no sense.”
- “The graphics and ease of use are the only things saving this game, honestly. As someone who played Guilty Strive and Street Fighter competitively, I can wholeheartedly say that there is no real competition in this game to be had.”
music
186 mentions
51 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the soundtrack as "amazing" and "banger," while others find it generic and lacking in variety, especially compared to other titles from the same developer. Many players appreciate the integration of music with the game's visuals and character designs, but express disappointment over the limited number of tracks and the absence of unique themes for individual characters. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's atmosphere, there is a strong desire for more diverse and memorable compositions.
- “Characters and movement feel solid, game is beautiful, and the music kicks loads of ass.”
- “The artwork and soundtracks are amazing to say the least, and not to mention multiple voice acted options are a plus!”
- “The soundtrack is pretty fire and every character is awesome, never have I had a game where I want to play everyone and it’s so simple, the combos are great and it’s tutorial system really knocks it out of the park.”
- “One thing I particularly don't like about this game is how the music often feels simple and tends to loop the same parts too often.”
- “The music is honestly rather forgettable, which is a shame when compared to Guilty Gear, BlazBlue, Granblue, and FighterZ.”
- “The extras are bare bones, with only 8 songs and stages (despite so much more from the IP they could pull from), arcade, survival, and vs. It certainly seems like this was a fighting game built on a budget.”
character development
78 mentions
69 % positive mentions
27 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is highly praised for its stunning and diverse character designs, which are described as unique, stylish, and full of personality. Players appreciate the visual aesthetics and the variety of playstyles each character offers, although some express disappointment with gameplay balance and mechanics. Overall, the character designs are a significant highlight, contributing to the game's appeal despite some gameplay criticisms.
- “Character design is awesome, and each fighter has so much personality.”
- “The character designs are amazing, and the combos and supers are fun to perform.”
- “The character designs are pretty awesome, and each of them feels very unique.”
- “Like the character designs but matchmaking seems a bit yikes and the player base doesn't seem very alive.”
- “The character designs are amazing, sadly how they play is really weird.”
- “For example, the Vanguard's entire character design is about breaking guards while lacking proper mixup, but he requires roughly 3 blockstrings normally or 1-2 in his awakening.”
humor
70 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players finding it consistently funny due to absurd character abilities, hilarious translations, and charming voice acting. Many reviews highlight the enjoyment of pressing "funny buttons" and the comedic elements of gameplay, although some note that the humor can wear thin during competitive play. Overall, the game is described as a lighthearted and entertaining experience, perfect for casual play with friends.
- “It's absolutely hilarious how this is the best fighting game to release this year.”
- “I find the hilarious translations and voice acting charming, and a lot of the characters make me laugh with how ridiculous they are, like with Inquisitor's wheel special or just anything Crusader is doing.”
- “Perfect fighting game for when you just want to click the funny buttons with friends.”
stability
48 mentions
4 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
96 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting frequent freezes, particularly during online matchmaking and ranked matches, leading to significant frustration. Many players experience performance issues, including stuttering and crashes, which detract from the overall experience. Despite some positive remarks about offline play, the persistent bugs and lack of timely fixes have left many feeling that the game is in a "buggy mess" state.
- “Having a lot of fun so far, the game runs great and feels great.”
- “I can't rematch in ranked, the game takes obnoxiously long to connect to the online server, and sometimes while waiting for a match in training mode, the game freezes.”
- “There is no excuse for this to remain after a full month. If it takes them this long to fix something as basic as ranked match rematching, I imagine this game will remain a buggy mess until it dies, as the player count gets lower every day.”
- “The game works fine offline, but when you play online, especially in ranked, the usage of the CPU skyrockets (probably due to a bad implementation of the rollback network), making the game freeze when you find a match for so long that it is impossible to accept the match before the timer runs out. Even during a match, the game freezes and stutters, and after the match finishes, there is a bug where you can't rematch the opponent, so you have to wait 30 seconds to return to matchmaking.”
optimization
32 mentions
25 % positive mentions
56 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag, with some players praising its smooth performance and beautiful art style, while others report significant issues such as increased load times, high CPU usage upon connecting to servers, and frequent stuttering and freezing during online play. Despite occasional maintenance updates, many users feel that the game requires further optimization to enhance the overall experience and address performance problems. Overall, while there are moments of excellent performance, the inconsistent optimization detracts from the enjoyment for many players.
- “Beautiful art style and runs smoothly on top of that.”
- “Ran smooth like butter on ultra settings even on a mid-end gaming laptop, feels like it's optimized better than Strive.”
- “I never really liked MVC, but this game integrates a character's full kit into optimization rather than waiting for an opening and pressing the super button.”
- “But these features are poorly optimized, drastically increasing load times in between matches.”
- “Online play is full of stuttering, stopping, and other disconnection issues and bugs.”
- “I played the game last night around midnight and it played great; today is another story. I am experiencing stutters and the game is freezing my entire system so badly that when I click online, it freezes. The beginning intro is stuttering badly, and I was so hyped for this game I had to uninstall it and get a refund. Sadly, missed opportunity from Arc System Works. Fix your game, please; until then, I cannot recommend this game.”
monetization
14 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, with many reviewers feeling that it prioritizes profit over quality and player experience. Despite some hope for free content updates, the overall sentiment suggests that the game feels unfinished and serves more as an advertisement for Dungeon Fighter Online than a standalone product.
- “However, even despite that, it really does show that it is merely a cash grab at this price.”
- “I think it's time we finally admit this game is nothing more than an advertisement for Dungeon Fighter Online.”
- “All that being said... maybe this 'game' is by design just a simple, stupid cash grab from loyal DNF fans; in that case, they did everything right.”
grinding
8 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, primarily driven by the need to climb the ranked ladder with limited incentives beyond that. The online system is criticized for being barebones, leading to frustrating wait times for matches, while the lack of defensive mechanics can result in punishing gameplay experiences. However, the satisfaction of executing combos can make the grind worthwhile for those who enjoy competitive play.
- “Pricey at launch, barebones for online system, seemingly no incentive to keep players at it save for grinding the ranked ladder.”
- “But with this system comes a bit of a tedious flaw; if the only fitting lobbies for you have people already dueling, then you are kind of stuck waiting around for one to get off or another to join.”
- “The lack of defensive mechanics makes for some tedious or irritating matches sometimes, as whiffing a move or incorrectly blocking a single mix-up makes you fall into a 20-second cutscene of your opponent comboing you for 60% of your health.”
emotional
6 mentions
67 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for its repetitive and nonsensical storytelling, which detracts from the overall experience. While some players find the gameplay enjoyable, the lack of engaging narratives leaves them feeling disconnected from the characters.
- “It's literally the same boring story for every character that didn't even make sense.”
replayability
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
-25 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Players appreciate the replayability offered by the unique stories of each character, which encourages multiple playthroughs. However, some find the gameplay mechanics, such as limited defense options and long move start-ups, can lead to frustration, potentially impacting the overall enjoyment of replaying the game.
- “Each individual character has their own story, offering significant replayability.”
- “The grand update has made this game more playable, enhancing the overall experience.”
- “The variety of character stories adds depth and encourages players to revisit the game.”
- “However, each individual character has their own story, offering some replayability.”
- “After the grand update, this game became more playable, but I still find defense options too limited, making it frustrating. The long start-ups on most moves are also an issue, especially when playing against Dragon Knight, who often just spams ranged attacks.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is described as heavy and intense, with each character contributing uniquely to the overall experience. Players must remain vigilant, as unexpected dangers, like flying axes, can arise at any moment, adding to the tension.
- “The game has a very heavy atmosphere, and every character plays it differently, but you may get hit by a flying axe across the screen at any moment.”
- “The neutral has a very heavy atmosphere in this game, and every character plays it differently, but you may get hit by a flying axe across the screen at any moment.”