Working day and night on tactical MMORPGs such as Dofus and Wakfu, French studio Ankama has always had the benefits of low competition and outstanding artistic prowess. However, these are no easy genres to dive into, especially not for an independent studio. Their projects have met with countless management, design, and stability issues across the years. Dofus still being their most prolific product after 20 years, it’s only natural Ankama has decided to give it a fresh coat of paint, Dofus 3.0.
Calling Dofus 3.0 a fresh coat of paint is, perhaps, a bit of an understatement. It is effectively a transition from Flash to Unity, which brings an endless sea of opportunities with it. The user interface is highly customizable, scenarios are now animated, player characters and spells boast new animations, the soundtrack has been reorchestrated, and an HD texture pack will soon be available. In many ways, these changes take Dofus beyond Wakfu to the same technical level as Waven, making it more future-proof and drawing in new players to Ankama’s most fleshed out work.
All existing characters have been carried over to this new version, while newcomers are encouraged to join the brand new Pioneer servers. Surprisingly, the launch experience has been swift despite the high influx of players on the game. Many of the complaints from the Beta have been addressed and battles progress very smoothly — a detail those who have played other Ankama games before will sure come to appreciate.
Dofus’ 20 year worth of open world content proves itself easy to grasp thanks to the sandbox nature of the game and features such as in-game guides, but player interactions changed along the way. We would advise you not to join the World of Twelve expecting deep social interactions. It’s not an MMO you can play solo from start to finish, and you will sure find solace in joining an English-speaking Guild. However, this is still a game with a time-efficiency focused and mostly French-speaking player base. Talkative Old School RuneScape players may find it strange that in Dofus the General chat is quite empty. Admittedly, the new player experience does feel soulless until you start grouping and interacting with other people rather than just seeing them run up and down as if you weren’t even there.
When it comes to combat content, Dofus is a lot more similar to Wakfu than Waven. Character progression is gradual and it takes some time until more complex battle mechanics take place. Combat leveling is done mainly through questing and achievements (comprised mainly by dungeoneering and mob hunting). But there are also gathering/crafting professions to master, gear sets to collect, and many places to explore. This allows players to familiarize themselves with the game’s world and become closer to their characters. On the other hand, it is not ideal for those looking to get into exciting content right off the bat. For the late game mechanics, however, think not of TRPGs such as Final Fantasy Tactics, but of an elemental chess with modifiers, build variety, and long setups. It’s hard to put it into words for those unfamiliar with Ankama’s content, but their creativity leads to enjoyable battles.
What’s easy to spot across the board, however, is Ankama’s dark humor and gorgeous art style, animations, and soundtrack. From unique key arts and character designs to environments with a signature countryside feeling to them, the studio’s art team is nothing short of extraordinary, and dare I say it the reason it is still in the industry. The transition to Unity breathed new life into already charming and memorable settings.
So, what Wakfu features could still be added to Dofus to make it even better? Not much. Wakfu’s core mechanics (ecosystems and Wakfu/Stasis) wouldn’t have a place in Dofus, and most of the Wakfu features that Dofus could take advantage of have already been implemented before the arrival of 3.0. That said, we’d sure love to see the Smithmagic system reworked, Wakfu’s day/night cycle added to Dofus, and it’d be downright impressive if Ankama ever managed to convert the grid-based world into a stitched together version of it with seamless transitions.
Either way, it’s impressive how far Dofus has come despite Ankama’s struggles and considerable lack of focus. Their persistence on working on their own ideas rather than chasing trends is admirable to say the least, and as far as we’re concerned, they have done a great job with Dofus 3.0.
Final Thoughts
8 (Very Good) according to the reviewer
Just like most MMOs, Dofus is not for everyone. However, it’s latest version is a much needed leap towards modern standards, not to mention one of the most welcoming TRPGs to date. It makes it so people interested in giving the World of Twelve a try don’t have to jump through hoops to experience Ankama’s attractive art style and unique world building. Moreover, it assures their main project remains relevant for as long as they continue dedicating themselves to it. If you’re even slightly interested in the game, try it out — it is free to start and you can even exchange the free in-game currency for a paid subscription if you work hard enough.
Now it’s up to Ankama to further explore the new possibilities, and if you ask us, we wouldn’t mind them halting development on their other games and focusing all efforts on this exciting and promising version of Dofus. But that obviously wouldn’t be fair towards players, so we look forward to what Dofus 3.0 will mean to the developer’s resource management.
This game was reviewed with a digital copy acquired by the reviewer.
