Early access beta has officially ended, and Dungeon Fighter Online is starting its open beta period today.

"Video game fighting has never been so fun in an online environment," said Min Kim, CP of Marketing for Nexon America.

"Dungeon Fighter Online is like a Molotov cocktail of fun, mixing the fast and furious action of arcade fighting games with an online community and the customization features found in role-playing games."

And Kim has every right to make these claims, given the game's overwhelming popularity in Asia -- more than 10 million players in South Korea since August 2005, and 1.5 million concurrent users recorded in China.  Now DFO is on the verge of its North American launch, and this open beta gives gamers of all ages the chance to try it out.  Nexon has noted before that the age demographic of the closed beta is somewhat higher (18-20) than seen in their other titles.

Must be the arcade-style play bringing out the kid in us.  Hey, even the Neoseeker staff can tell you this game is unbelievably fun, but we're also above the previously mentioned age group.

Anticipating the increase in new players, Nexon America released a skill sheet briefly going on each character's style and unique skills.  If you're more of a visual learner, the screenshots below should be of great interest to you.

The kinds of skills you learn depend on the character class you choose to be: Slayer, Fighter, Gunner, Mage or Priest (but since you can create multiple characters, you can explore the entire breadth of skills that Dungeon Fighter Online has to offer). Below is a small glimpse at the wide range of skills available to each character class.

A Slayer derives his/her power from the demon Kazan, who possesses a Slayer’s arm. Each of a Slayer’s skills then, at its core, contains a kind of furious demonic energy that, when unleashed, spells destruction for a Slayer’s foes. In fact, one of the skills, KAZAN, summons the demon itself to create a magical area in which you and your party’s stats increase. GHOST SLASH endows your sword with a vengeful spirit which strikes at your foe in a purple arc of power. And ARIEL CHAIN SLASH delivers multiple slash attacks while you are in mid-air.

A Fighter loves hand-to-hand combat, and so her/his skills focus on the art of the fight. The ever-popular SUPLEX brings an enemy down on his neck. With SEISMIC PUNCH a Fighter leaps into the air to come down with a forceful punch to the ground, causing enemies in the vicinity to topple over. And BRICK BUSTER allows you to toss a good, hard, painful brick right into an opponent’s face.

A Gunner hails from the land of Empyrean, where the lack of magic there has allowed its population to develop incredible weapon technology. GATLING GUN tears enemies to pieces as its spinning barrel spits out heavy duty bullets. FIRE PILLAR lets lose an awesome burst of flame to flambé the poor souls unfortunate enough to be in its path. And AIR COMBOT MECH TEMPESTER calls upon a mech to take care of any troublesome foes while you sit back and watch.

A Mage comes from Pandemonium, which thrives on magical energy. PALM BLAST lets loose a forceful bust which does damage to and repels the enemy. MANA SHIELD allows you to take MP damage instead of HP, helping you to prolong your life in a pinch. And STABBING WHEEL tosses an enemy over your shoulder while also creating a shockwave which damages surrounding enemies as well.

A Priest is a warrior driven by faith, and therefore derives skills from a divine source. BLADES OF PURITY calls forth a cross-shaped blade with which you slash the villainy before you. HEAVEN’S HARMONY increases the Maximum HP and MP of all of your Party Members within the skill's range. And EXQUISITE COMBO unleashes several skills at once.

As mentioned above, all Active Skills can be triggered either with a hotkey…or through button combos, just like you do it in the Arcade. Left, Left, X; Up, Down, RIGHT Space; LEFT, UP, Z. Combos add to the arcade-excitement in a way that no other MMO has!

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