DNF Duel burned through its entire dopamine reservoir in the first month. It had the end-state fireworks of a developed meta like Marvel, but skipped all the groundwork that made Marvel worth learning.

Here’s how it fell into that trap:
1. Started at Endgame Power Levels
Characters had fullscreen buttons that led to half or full life combos.
Defensive tools were weak, movement was limited.
Result: Matches were about who pressed first, not who played better.

That works in Marvel because of:

Team mechanics (DHC, assists, synergy)
Insane movement tech (wave dashing, flight, air dashes, tri-jumps)
Match knowledge expression

But DNF Duel was 1v1 with clunky grounded movement, no air blocking, and no assists to mix things up. You pressed a button, and either you died or they did.
It's like watching a fireworks finale... without the actual show beforehand.

2. Stiff, Inert Movement
Lack of good dash-blocking, no defensive air control
Rolls and Guard Cancel didn’t offer enough safety
Characters had big normals but couldn’t reposition meaningfully, so footsies were fake

Movement is the backbone of fighting game expression, not just flash.
Marvel has magneto tri-jumps
GG has IADs and airdash feints
SF has walk speed mindgames
DNF had... walk forward and pray

3. Low Depth, Low Ceiling

Once players labbed out optimal routes, there was little left to explore:
No real system mechanics to expand on
Conversion system was interesting but underutilized
MP Regen = Meta gate. All decisions boiled down to "Do I have meter yet?"

Compare that to:
BlazBlue's drive system (unique for every character)
UNIST's GRD tug-of-war
Guilty Gear's risk gauge, RRC variations
DNF had too little to reward long-term mastery — just fat buttons and auto routes.

4. Balance Patch = Just More TODs
What can you even add in DLC?
Another character with full-screen pressure into 70% combo?
New normals that are slightly fatter?

(cont.)