Very little is currently known about the new project
Arc System Works was already looking pretty busy in 2021 where they will be supporting Guilty Gear Strive, Dragon Ball FighterZ and Granblue Fantasy: Versus, but it looks like they have added even more to their board.
During the Dungeon and Fighter Universe Festival in South Korea, Neople announced a new fighting game developed by Arc System Works called Dungeon and Fighter Duel / Dungeon Fighter Duel / DNF Duel.
DNF Duel is a new spin-off title in the Dungeon Fighter Online world that seems to take the beat ’em up style MMORPG and translate the action into a more traditional 2D fighting game.
Dungeon Fighter Online was launched in 2005 and has since become one of the most popular video games in the world with over 700 million players and grossing over $ 15 billion as of May 2020.
As for DNF Duel, the game seems to run on a similar engine to another ArcSys-developed fighting game in Granblue Fantasy: Versus with all the anime aesthetic flare you expect for the company right now.
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Rather than using individual characters, DNF seems to use fighters based on the 16 main classes and 60 Advencements in the MMO, five of which appear in the trailer.
The characters so far seem to be using the Advencement version of classes with the Berserker, Ranger, Grappler, Striker and Inquisitor all showing off gameplay here.
There’s little going on in terms of gameplay mechanics, but there seems to be some sort of special cancellation or something like that where characters can flash at different points before making a move.
Eighting, the former developers of Bloody Roar and Marvel vs. Capcom 3, will also work to help make the game, although the extent of their involvement is still unknown.
The project is seemingly led by Ryosuke Kodani in the director’s chair, who previously worked as the lead planner in Dragon Ball FighterZ, was the assistant director for River City Girls, and previously worked with Arcana Heart 3.
It’s unclear how many fighting game teams Arc System Works is operating right now as they have three other projects in progress, but two of them are just in DLC seasons and Eighting helping here probably helps lighten the burden on the developers.
No platforms or release date were mentioned in the first trailer, but the previous record of ArcSys fighting games will likely come to PlayStation 4 and PC at the very least.
Submitted by FrozenFacade.