Dungeon Fighter Online is an action-MMO lover's dream. We've been putting the game through its paces and have a few thoughts to offer by way of review. Read on and then leave your thoughts in the comments.

Dungeon Fighter Online originally was released in Korea and Japan, in 2005 and 2006 respectively, developed by Neople and currently published by Nexon. Planned to be a small game, and developed within five months, the public's response to this game greatly surprised the developers, and so the game was expanded. Assumedly, because of the overwhelming popularity of the game, an English version was planned and released June 9, 2010, by Nexon America. Using 2-dimensional "beat-em-up" gameplay and detailed sprite-style graphics, Dungeon Fighter boasted 300 million registered users as of May 25, 2011.

Read more of Jason Turqman's Dungeon Fighter Online: Our Official Review.

Checking out the game now ;)

Theres a nit I have to pick.

You can never 'find' avatars barring nigh useless capes.

I also want to add that DFO is much easier to play for free than many other 'pay to get stronger' games because you can earn the money to become strong by being smart and being skilled. Although you'll probably find yourself doing a few 'surveys' in order to increase your storage vault size.

Actually, I highly suggest everyone avoid this game. 

For whatever reason, DFO has more hacking issues than all of Blizzard's games put together, probably because it's one of the top MMOs in Asia. It's funny, many people will have an account with characters in several of Nexon's games, but they'll somehow get hacked and ONLY this game's characters will be stripped. This isn't about visiting the wrong sites or anything like that, either. Nexon's security is absolutely terrible, makes Sony look like a saint. They've had several security breaches just in the last 10 months, and each time they send out a notice that, supposedly, no relevant information was taken, and yet each breach follows tons of threads and complaints about people losing all their items.

Check their BBB rating, it was (probably still is) the number one reason their ratings are so low.

Originally posted by gaeanprayer

Actually, I highly suggest everyone avoid this game. 

For whatever reason, DFO has more hacking issues than all of Blizzard's games put together, probably because it's one of the top MMOs in Asia. It's funny, many people will have an account with characters in several of Nexon's games, but they'll somehow get hacked and ONLY this game's characters will be stripped. This isn't about visiting the wrong sites or anything like that, either. Nexon's security is absolutely terrible, makes Sony look like a saint. They've had several security breaches just in the last 10 months, and each time they send out a notice that, supposedly, no relevant information was taken, and yet each breach follows tons of threads and complaints about people losing all their items.

Check their BBB rating, it was (probably still is) the number one reason their ratings are so low.

To be fair, the main hacker wave that plagued the game occured about one year ago; last summer to be exact. I've been playing for almost 3 years now, and can honestly say that i love this game and the people i've met in it. Albeit, i'm probably a lucky one for never having been hacked, but i'm sure that there are others who feel the same way as I do. We all despise nexon, as an inconsistent and unreliable publisher, but we deal with what we have to in order to  continue playing the game we love. 

If there was one thing i could wish for, it would definitely be for the game to become more known and popular. As it stands now, too few people play the game for it's key aspects, such as otherverse and pvp, even the economy to thrive. As i've said before, i love this game, but no one knows about it. And it doesn't seem like nexon is at the point where they're willing to advertise and market for a game that doesn't appeal to majority of the modern population's tastes in gaming.

nice game but those graphics are such a huge turn off for me

one thing tho i noticed in there review they basing a game this old on innovation is silly  considering how rediculisly old this game is at one point it was a single player game ~.~

     I did spend some time with this game a while back and i have to admit, It is one of the better F2P games out there. I can understand why it has as many fans as it does.

What are you talking about? DFO has always been online, thats part of the name dude. The only thing singleplayer is the demo for it on the site.

You can't get avatars as drops, but you can buy them on the auction house. There is no cash shop divide between players, non-paying players can become completely equal.

The hacking was done on a large scale, on multiple sites (not just nexon), by north korea. It has nothing to do with this game and it has nothing to do with this point in time. Please ignore that poster.

At level 18, you can jump right into PvP. You get put at max level and everyone has the same gear. Avatars don't function in the arena, but titles and pets do (barely noticeable). From where you start at rank 1->10, your build is pre-set so that everyone can learn on an even more equal playing field. Here is a video of PvP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqjKuMEpuPo (korean version, same thing as ours)

The one and major fault with this game is that connections are peer-to-peer. That means that there can be lag issues if someone you are trying to connect to has a horrible connection. This isn't very noticeable in PvE, but in PvP it can suck.

Your character doesn't really come into it's own until post-60, so it's very difficult for any reviewer to give an accurate review. I've played pretty much every online game there is. Just trust me when I say that this is the best MMO out there, including pay-to-plays.

It's quite a cute game, much more relaxed but fun. I haven't played it in a while but I have a mid-level Launcher as my main and some other chars that I tested out. I might go back into it...

Would just like to correct the author on a small thing

Regarding Avatars and Pets. While Avatars and Pets are primarily found on the Cash Shop, players can also buy those same items from other players through the auction house or player shops (of course a player must first have bought the avatar from the cash shop for him to be able to sell it to other players). However, you cannot acquire Avatars as Drops. As for Pets, the same applies as Avatars, however you may also acquire pets from certain Events OR by acquiring 4 Skeleton Key Fragment (very rare drops but more common during events) and turning them into a Skeleton Key. With this key, you will be able to open chests that will give you a chance at acquiring an Egg amongst other things (Eggs are the tradeable form of Pets, they cannot be traded after they are hatched by a player).

Otherwise, a fair review.

I swear though, every preview and review of DFO uses the worst screenshots and footage possible.

I could get into the game and take a more interesting screenshot or sixty right now.

Hey everyone. I play this game, and I'll be very, very honest with everything in this game.

The social aspect of this game is a bit lower. Yes, getting into random parties is REALLY fun, it's amazing what you can do with a team of decent people who understand their skills and know the basics. By disabling monsters using status effects like immobolize, stun, or just by grabbing them, you can work together as a team to make a tough dungeon fast and enjoyable. That's what the game offers at best.

However, the biggest problem in DFO is the lack of population. The north american version doesn't get ANY advertising from nexon, and so very few people enter the population. And of course, some people move on with life, or just find new games, so there's always an amount leaving the population. This has been going on for a long time, so the population is becoming a concern.

What this means is that sometimes, you'll find there aren't parties for the dungeon you need. This gets solved more at later levels, but at low levels, you may have a harder time finding a party if you struggle with a dungeon. It's just that no one is willing to wait for a party, since many people that are more skilled can solo most dungeons. So population is a bit of an issue early on.

This game offers a lot. Every class is unique, having a different set of skills. They've all got different uses, from outright damage to grappling monsters so they can't move and letting your teammates attack the helpless things. Every class has unique gameplay and unique skills, and nexon has perfected a cooldown formula that lets you blend low level and high level skills into your combat naturally.

Combos in PvE. That sort of makes me laugh, not many people use them, but it's true they're useful. Simple things like juggling an enemy with your skills so you don't need to use your skills one after another on a grounded enemy so they get a chance to fight back. Combos are simple, but you don't need elaborate ones to do well. Still, it's fun being able to figure out new ways to chain together attacks using your skills, and every class is different.

Combos in pvp are very advanced. It starts simple, a game of getting in your opening hit to a combo, and whatever it takes to get there. Some classes use small summons to help distract enemies, some classes use zoning and wide range AoE's to get the enemy from a safe distance. Some classes can close distances in a moment's notice, or have long range in general. This creates an interesting and exciting "poking" battle in which both sides attempt to get their opening hits in, using whatever counters or super armor moves they have, while dodging the enemy's.

Once they get their opening hit, usually a standing combo follows. Do around 20 percent of the enemy's HP before launching them. Any more, and they will fall over and you'll go back to poking. Once launched, the enemy will drop to the ground faster depending on how much damage they take in the air. Eventually, they become to heavy to juggle (~40 percent of their HP makes them drop like rocks), and you move on to OTG attacks to squeeze out a bit more damage, using whatever you have. Warp grabs are common, warp grabs happen when you cancel to a grab skill the instant one of your hits registers. It's very difficult, but very impressive.

Any time, they'll use a skill called quick rebound to recover into invincibility, and some classes can use a skill to get them right out of that, but it's rare and difficult and unpreditctable. It's also possible to stun or freeze a person during the last bits of a combo, but that's usually not simple and only works on a low chance, but can further extend a combo.

All in all, it's a really fun game, a great concept, and I enjoy it a lot. But it's got a company behind it that won't advertise it, so it doesn't have the population it should be able to attract.

My IGN is shadesteps, toxicstep, or wavestep in this game. Contact any of those 3 if you have a question on DFO, I'll be happy to answer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWZ6I956agM A video of me playing DFO.

I'd love to play DFO, but due to their security breach I was hacked and they only gave me half my total NX back. I lost everything I had that I had bought, and I also lost a lot of promotional stuff.

They're ignoring me now. If anyone has a suggestion PM please. =/

Is it available for Europeans now? 

If you're a fan of Capcom 2D fighters and side scrolling beat em ups, you should check this game out. Play it with a gamepad for best results.

Originally posted by jayarte

Is it available for Europeans now?