A beat 'em up mmo
A beat 'em up mmo. That really says it all. If you don't like brawlers, then there's no point in going any further. This is a straight up brawler, streets of rage style. And it's a good one too. Leaving everything else aside, it is fun to wander around and beat up stuff. The mmo trappings are just gravy as far as I'm concerned.
The basic beat 'em up controls are there. Movement is 2d with a psuedo z-plane, there's a punch button, a jump button, and a special attack. Double tap left or right to dash. That's it. That right there is inherently fun, and it's available at 1st level. I'd say the game starting out ranks above Double Dragon or Golden Axe (ok WAY above golden axe) but below Streets of Rage 2 or Final Fight. A competent brawler. But that's just the start.
As you level up you gain skills that translate to more special moves. You get new equipment, consumables, quests, travel to new dungeons. A whole rpg layered on top. Simple but effective.
Mmo's always have a problem with being grindy, but DFO handles it pretty well. Brawlers are already sort of a grind as all you do beat people up over and over again. So instead adding grind to some other genre's gameplay, it is actually taken an already repetitive activity and adding a reward system in.
I like mmo's, I just don't play them. They take up too much time and I don't like subscriptions. DFO solves both problems. It's free, and it's very easy to do in short chunks. A dungeon usually takes 10 minutes or so.
The cash shop is very optional. There is no content walled off, no must have items. Just a few potions and some mainly decorative clothing items. The clothing is purchased in a randomized fashion, which I suppose is how they are going to make their money. It just puts me off. I would like to give the game a few bucks for the fun it's already given me, so I guess I'll get whatever random purple do-rag the game spits out for me in exchange for my contribution.
I really can't say whether the basic mechanic of the classic brawler is universally fun, or if you had to grow up in the era that they were introduced in the arcade to appreciate it. But I do know that if you find brawlers fun, you should find Dungeon Fighter Online a very pleasant diversion.
