Review : Dofus
Full disclosure here :
I did an internship at Ankama, the developer/publisher of
Dofus,
for a couple months back in 2007. One of the reason I got it at all
was that I loved the still-young game and had actually checked if
they were offering such opportunities.
More than 5 years later,
not even the disappointment of no being picked up for a permanent
position could diminish my love of Dofus. First and foremost, there
is some jingoism going on there : it was a passion project by 3
penniless Frenchies and it just happened to launch its beta at
perfectly the right time (2003) to offer a French-speaking, cheap,
multiplatform alternative to Asia-originated Free-to-play like
lineage and expensive title like WoW.
So, Dofus is a Flash
game, originally playable in your browser, now client-based, that can
thus be played on any platform; when you thought a Mac would be
better for your journalism studies or when you think Linux is the
only worthy OS, finding even one good game that works on your
computer is a boon. Plus, free download of the very-light,
very-easy-to-install client, indefinite trial period with only a
level cap, and a mini-price of 5euros per month once you wanted to
get more.
The art style is very
anime-like and cute, which explains its popularity with both genders,
leading to one of the most well-balanced community in that regard. On
the other end, that same community's average age is in the teens. To
round up the aesthetics, the musics are really well-down and have
even been collecting into CDs.
Actually, the marketing
and abundant merchandising, like the mangas, plushies, or magazines, are
what explains the popularity with high-schoolers. Some say the IP is
being corrupted by this overly corporate approach... I can understand
that, but I think the owners have done a good job of keeping it low
cost. The game suscription itself has transitioned to a system like
Eve Online : you can still pay with your real-life money, or you
can accumulate enough soft currency (kamas) to buy the hard currency
(Ogrines) and pay with the latter; inversely, you can buy Ogrines
with dollars or euros and resell it in game to get more kamas, which
let you buy ressources or equipment in the auction houses. So this game can be entirely free-to-play if you know how to "farm" enough kamas - which isn't that difficult. And all that with weekly updates.
The in-game economy is
entirely player-driven, even with the addition of the Ogrines.
Anything can crafted, if you have the right profession and the
adequate level in said profession; likewise, if you want to augment
the initial stats of the equipment. All ressources for the crafts can
be looted in game – or bought from someone who looted it.
The ultimate loot, the
ones who give their names to the game, are the Dofus, magical dragon
eggs with some very-sought-after properties. Nowadays, there are
equipements that gives some of the same advantages, but the Dofus are
in a different quipment slot, allowing to stack the bonus. On of the
appeal of Dofus is that all of the 14 classes (some suscriber-only)
have several viable builds. Oh, each of these build has its preferred
equipent, so you'll end up looking like a lot of other players –
Unless you use some « living items » to hide what you
wearing and thus how you fight.
Apart from the
aesthetical aspect, hiding can be very useful in PvP, one of the
better aspect of the game. You can play solely against the
environment if you choose; but, in addition to passing opportunities
for experience, kamas, and special equipment, the combat system is
conducive to actual strategy and not to just mindlessly wailing on
your opponent. Why that? It's a turn-based, mouse-controlled (though
keyboard shortcuts exist), 2D/third-person system that even people
with zero experience in gaming can pick up easily, thanks to the
tutorial zone.
Remember how I talk
about PvP, different builds, crafting and all that? You can safely
experiment, reset and start anew in that zone, up to the level 16. If
the fact that the client is free to download, the trial period is
indefinite, and the
colourful screenshots, aren't enough to make you
try Dofus out, than you are not as lazy or girly as me.
