There are several different quality lines of Duralast and I imagine their supplier changes often (every few years), so it's hard to offer specific comments.
When it comes to choosing brake pads, about the only consistency is that there is NO consistency. There's love/hate opinions even about highly regarded Akebono. And, a certain brand might have excellent pads for one car model, but the same pad brand for a different make/model might be horrible. It's quite the guessing game.
Did we have these challenges a few decades ago?? Maybe the internet amplification is confounding everything??