Dungeon & Fighter — Arcade Beat 'em Up Action Turned Online RPG

Dungeon & Fighter (often shortened to "DNF," or "Deonpa" in Korea) is an online action RPG developed by Neople. It began its open beta in August 2005 and is known for gameplay like the side-scrolling beat 'em ups of old arcades, where you advance sideways and knock down swarms of monsters. Overseas it's known as "Dungeon Fighter Online," and in Japan as "Arad Senki."

Dungeon & Fighter achieved enormous success beyond Korea in China, becoming one of the highest-grossing games in history. According to Nexon, as of June 2023 it had more than 850 million registered users worldwide and more than $22 billion in cumulative revenue.

In this post, we cover how Dungeon & Fighter was made, how it plays, why it's considered a classic, and the series and how to play it today.

At a Glance

Origins

A Project That Started as a Small Game

Neople was originally a small company running a few casual online games on its own game portal. According to English Wikipedia, Dungeon & Fighter was also initially planned as a small game, with only about five months spent on the whole development. But the response was far better than expected, so the budget was increased and the game's scope expanded.

From Fighting Game to Beat 'em Up

The initial concept was a versus fighting game like Tekken or The King of Fighters. But Neople dropped that direction, judging that players wouldn't want to keep playing if there was a large skill gap with their opponents. Instead, inspired by arcade beat 'em ups such as Warriors of Fate and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, it switched to an RPG with the satisfying feel of a fighting game.

Deliberately Choosing 2D

Many new games at the time were 3D, but Neople deliberately chose 2D. It believed 2D wasn't a disadvantage for gameplay, thought it would be hard to capture the feel of the original character illustrations in 3D, felt casual users could get in more easily, and above all, the company was more familiar with 2D games.

Three Closed Tests

Before its official launch, the game went through thorough testing. Three closed beta tests were held — in December 2004, February 2005, and June–July 2005 — each accepting only 999 participants and limiting daily play time to 100 minutes. The content was revised daily based on tester feedback. When the open beta began at 3 p.m. on August 10, 2005, concurrent users exceeded 15,000 by 11 p.m. that night. The service was initially run through Hangame.

How It Plays

Arcade-Like Feel

Dungeon & Fighter resembles 2D side-scrolling action games like Golden Axe and Double Dragon. You choose a dungeon from town, enter it, and fight hordes of monsters as you pass through 2D screens connected as multiple rooms. You can play solo or form a party with other players to run dungeons together. There are also guilds and an arena (PvP).

Hotkeys and Command Input

Skills can be registered in hotkey slots at the top of the screen and used with a single button. At the same time, like a fighting game, you can also input them manually by pressing directional keys in a set order and then the skill key. Inputting via commands reduces MP cost and slightly shortens cooldowns. The design lets those who want it easy play with hotkeys, and those who want feel and efficiency play with commands.

Some skills can be used right away by canceling out of a normal attack, enabling combos that link basic attacks and skills. Chaining attacks and skills seamlessly is a big part of the fun of DNF combat.

Classes and Awakening

Characters start from base classes such as Slayer, Fighter, Gunner, Mage, and Priest, then advance into various subclasses. The "Awakening" system was introduced in a July 2006 update, and Awakenings were later added to each class in turn. Even within the same line, male and female characters often have different class lineups, and new classes and dungeons were added steadily with each update.

Why It's a Classic

Low Barrier to Entry, Deep Skill Ceiling

DNF can be fully enjoyed with hotkeys alone, but learning command input, canceling, and combos lets you fight much more flashily and quickly. A major strength is that it offered familiar feel to the generation that grew up on arcade games and an easy start to newcomers at the same time.

The Character of 2D Pixel Art

Sticking with 2D pixel graphics at a time when 3D was the trend actually became DNF's distinctive identity. Just as the developers hoped, the mood of the character illustrations comes alive in the game.

Global Success

Dungeon & Fighter's success is clear in the numbers too. According to English Wikipedia, it set the following records.

• Passed 300 million registered users worldwide in May 2011
• Recorded a peak of 3 million concurrent users in China alone in August 2012
• Earned $1.6 billion in 2017, the second-highest PC game revenue that year
• Passed $10 billion in cumulative revenue by the end of 2017
• More than $18 billion in cumulative revenue for the original PC game and more than 850 million registered users as of December 2021

Nexon also stated that the revenue DNF earned in a little over 10 years since launch exceeded the combined box office of Star Wars, the biggest film franchise at the time. It's a rare case of a 2D action game born in Korea becoming a hit on a global scale.

Series and Influence

Dungeon & Fighter spread under different names and publishers in each country. In Japan it was called "Arad Senki," and in China it was operated by Tencent. In North America, Nexon America officially launched it on June 9, 2010, but closed the service on June 13, 2013; a global version operated directly by Neople then reopened in 2015. The global version is also available as a free download on Steam. The name "Dungeon & Fighter" was changed to "Dungeon Fighter Online" overseas because it sounded awkward in English.

DNF's influence can also be seen in the genre. It showed that you can make an online game loved for years through feel and combos, even without 3D or a flashy graphics engine. It's also a leading example of how big a success a Korean online game can achieve in the Chinese market, and it greatly influenced the overseas business direction of Korean game companies.

How to Play Today

Dungeon & Fighter is still in service on PC.

• Korea: You can download and play it for free from Nexon's official Dungeon & Fighter website.
• Overseas (global): You can start for free from Neople's official "Dungeon Fighter Online" website or on Steam.
• Mobile: If you want to play on a smartphone, there's Dungeon & Fighter Mobile.

If you're just starting, we recommend playing comfortably with hotkeys at first, then learning command input starting with the skills you use most. You'll quickly feel why DNF is called a game of "feel."

References

• Dungeon Fighter Online – Wikipedia
• Dungeon & Fighter - Wikipedia (Korean)
• Dungeon & Fighter Official Site (Korea)
• Dungeon Fighter Online Official Site (Global)