Dungeon Fighter Online

Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO)

Logo for Dungeon Fighter Online by Neople
Genre Beat 'em up
Game
Developer Neople
Publisher Neople
Genre Action MMORPG
Engine Unreal Engine 3
Platform Microsoft Windows
Released
Anime television series
Slap-up Party: Arad Senki
Directed by Takahiro Ikezoe
Produced by Kim Bong-suk
Studio GK Entertainment, Gonzo
Network TV Tokyo, TVh, TVQ, TV Aichi, TSC, TVO, AT-X
Original run April 3, 2009 – September 25, 2009
Episodes 26
Manga
Arad Senki: Slap-up Party
Written by Kiku Ueda
Published by Gentosha
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Monthly Comic Birz
Original run June 2009 – November 2009
Volumes 1

Dungeon Fighter Online is a multiplayer PC beat 'em up video game developed and published by Neople, previously published by Nexon and originally published by Hangame. The game was originally released in Korea as Dungeon & Fighter (던전앤파이터) and in Japan as Arad Senki (アラド戦記 Arado Senki, lit. War Records of Arad). Closed Beta for an English version of the game ran from July 28, 2009 to August 3, 2009. Early access has begun on September 15, 2009. Open beta started September 22, 2009. It was featured in WCG 2009, and is still a popular televised program in South Korea, where a league is active. Dungeon Fighter had a 300 million registered users celebration on May 25, 2011. It was announced on April 2, 2013, that the North American version of Dungeon Fighter Online would be shutting down on June 13, 2013.[5] On May 15, 2014, Neople began an alpha test of a global version of Dungeon Fighter Online using the last English version hosted by Nexon, which has since ended. On October 10, 2014, Open Beta Testing was announced, set for March 24, 2015.[6]

Gameplay

Dungeon Fighter Online is similar to classic 2D side-scrolling arcade hack and slash games, such as Golden Axe or Double Dragon.[7] Players will traverse 2D screens while fighting hordes of monsters. Characters have two meters, the HP meter and the MP meter; the HP meter decreases when the player gets struck by enemies and the MP meter decreases upon using a skill, while items can restore either or both at once. The player can move in eight possible directions, and attacks/jumps/uses skills. Skills can be designated upon an upper row of hotkeys, that can be further expanded by the decision of the player. However, a player can choose to manually input the command to perform a certain skill; for example, a Blade Master can choose to press the assigned hotkey for the skill Draw Sword, but can also choose to perform its direct input. Directly inputting the skill (done by pressing the arrow keys in a certain sequence and then pressing the basic skill key) makes the skill cost less MP and lowers the cooldown of the skill (the time needed to wait to use the skill again) by a small amount. Skills are usually performed separately from normal combos; however, some skills are "cancellable," meaning that those skills can be used in the middle of normal attacks. There are a number of social aspects to Dungeon Fighter Online, including Guilds, PvP Arenas, Party Play, and Mentorship.

Development

Dungeon Fighter Online was developed by a South Korean company called Neople who previously only published a number of casual online games through their own game portal site.[8] It was originally planned as a small game as the entire game was developed in five months based on the forecasted life expectancy. However, the response was better than they expected so the budget was increased and the game was expanded.[9]

Extensive testing took place before the premiere launch in Korea. Three closed beta periods were held between December 17–31, 2004, February 1–13, 2005, and June 28 – July 11, 2005. Neople accepted only 999 players per test and allowed only one hundred minutes of gameplay per day.[10][11][12] Content was fine-tuned and updated daily throughout the test period based on testers feedback.[9] After a short hiatus, open beta commenced on August 10, 2005 at 3 pm. By 11 pm, there were over 15,000 concurrent users[13]

Even though many games being released at the time were 3D, Neople decided to create Dungeon Fighter Online in 2D because they didn't believe it affected gameplay, they didn't feel a 3D game could capture the look and feel of the original illustrations of the characters, the ease of casual players getting into the game, and they had more experience with 2D games. Hi-res is not a likely path the game will take because director Yun Jong Kim's main focus is "efficiency".[9][14]

North American release

Five years after the original release in Korea, Nexon America revealed plans for an English version of Dungeon Fighter Online at the 2009 Game Developers Conference in late March.[15] The title was renamed from Dungeon & Fighter to Dungeon Fighter Online because of the awkwardness to say "Dungeon and Fighter".[16]

Thousands of applicants were accepted into closed beta, which held for seven days between July 28 – August 3, 2009.[17] Open beta plans were announced at Penny Arcade Expo 2009. Early access to open beta, available for players who received a beta key, proceeded on September 15, 2009. Open beta began a week later on September 22, 2009.[18] Dungeon Fighter Online officially launched on June 9, 2010.[19] The game servers in North America were shut down on June 13, 2013.[5]

On May 15, 2014, Neople held an alpha test for a global version of the game. [20]

As of October 10, 2014 Neople announced a closed beta test for Dungeon Fighter Online, scheduled for release around March 2015, due to them moving their office to the island of Jeju, located off the south-west coast of South Korea. However, it is now an open beta test because the Facebook page for the game had reached a specific number of "Likes", something that had been previously promised by Neople when it was still planned for a closed beta test.[21]

On January 19, 2016, Dragon Fighter Online Season 2 was released.[22] On August 9, 2016, the game was released on Steam as free-to-play, offering achievements and paid DLC.[23]

Performance

On August 24, 2012, Nexon reported that Dungeon Fighter Online recorded a peak activity of 3 million concurrent users in China alone.[24] The game grossed over $2 billion in revenue as March 31, 2012.[25]

Media

Anime

An anime adaption of the game was announced by Gonzo at the Hangame 2008 Summer Festival event on August 24, 2008. Titled as Slap-up Party: Arad Senki (スラップアップパーティ −アラド戦記− Surappuappu Pāti -Arado Senki-, lit and titled in original Korean as Dungeon and Fighter: Slap-up Party (던전 앤 파이터 슬랩업 파티). Slap-up Party: Record of the Arad War), it is produced by Gonzo and GK Entertainment and directed by Takahiro Ikezoe.[26] The anime premiered on TV Tokyo on April 3, 2009 and ran for twenty-six episodes.[27] It is loosely based on material from the official webcomic, The Vagrants in Arad (Korean: 아라드의 방랑파티, Japanese: アラドの放浪パーティー, lit. The Wandering Party of Arad), and features several of the same characters.[28][29]

Main Voice Cast

Manga

A manga based on the game titled Arad Senki: Slap-up Party (アラド戦記 −スラップアップパーティ−), written and illustrated by Kiku Ueda was announced on April 30, 2009. It premiered on May 30, 2009 in the June issue of Gentosha's Monthly Comic Birz magazine.[30]

Music

The first opening theme of the anime, "Party Play" by Sakura Nogawa, and the ending theme "Hateshinai Sekai" (果てしない世界, lit. "Endless World") by YMCK were used from episodes 1 to 13. From episodes 14 to 26, "Sokujin no Pandora" (塞塵のパンドラ, lit. "The Pandora of Dust ") by Sakura Nogawa was the opening theme while "LEVEL∞" by Akiko Hasegawa became the ending theme from episodes 14 to 25.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Neople History". Neople. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
  2. ↑ "[Dungeon Fighter] Set the launch date for Taiwan". ThisIsGame Global. July 16, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Dungeon Fighter Online officially launches June 9". ThisIsGame Global. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Nexon Today Launched Dungeon Fighter Online". mmosite.com. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "DFO Closing FAQ". Nexon America. Retrieved April 2, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Dungeon Fighter Online". Facebook. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ "GDC 2009: Dungeon Fighter Online, A First Look". GameSpot. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Tencent Obtains Exclusive License to Operate Dungeon & Fighter in China" (PDF). Tencent Holdings Ltd. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 "Interview: Dungeon Fighter Online Creator On Korean Hit MMO's Western Transition". Gamasutra. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  10. ↑ 던전앤파이터, 17일 클베 시작 [Dungeon & Fighter Close Beta Starts On The 17th] (in Korean). GG Game. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  11. ↑ 던전앤파이터, 2차 클로즈베타 테스터 모집 [Dungeon & Fighter Recruits 2nd Closed Beta Testers] (in Korean). GG Game. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  12. ↑ 던전 앤 파이터 [Dungeon & Fighter] (in Korean). Game Spot. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  13. ↑ 던전앤파이터, 오픈베타 첫날 동시접속자 1만명 돌파 (in Korean). GG Game. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  14. ↑ "Interview: Herb Yang, Managing Producer for Dungeon Fighter Online". 2D-X. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  15. ↑ "GDC 2009: Dungeon Fighter Online, A First Look". GameSpot. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Exclusive Interview with Nexon's Min Kim". Ten Ton Hammer. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Dungeon Fighter Online Heads to Closed Beta". Warcry Network. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Nexon America Establishes Early Access Beta for Dungeon Fighter Online.". GamersHell.com. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
  19. ↑ "[UPDATE] Dungeon Fighter Online Official Launch Countdown – Clean Slate Event". Nexon. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Dungeon Fighter Online returns from the dead". Massively. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Dungeon Fighter Online". Facebook. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Season 2 - Act 01. Reborn | Dungeon Fighter Online". www.dfoneople.com. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  23. ↑ "Dungeon Fighter Online on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  24. ↑ "Dungeon Fighter Online passes 3 million concurrent users". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Nexon Investor Presentation - FY2012 Q2" (PDF). Nexon. 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Gonzo to Animate Korean MMORPG Dungeon & Fighter". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  27. ↑ "Episode List" (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2009.
  28. ↑ "액션쾌감!!! 던전앤파이터". nexon.com. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  29. ↑ "[The Vagrants in Arad]". Arad.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Arad Senki Fantasy Game/Anime Gets Manga Version". Retrieved August 21, 2009.
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