Final Score

8.2

Pros

Player Economy  Strategic Turn-Based Play  Well Designed

Cons

Lack of Mount Breeding Space  Lack of Player Housing Space  RMT Bots

The Economy

My experience with the Dofus economy left me very satisfied. From day one I was able to generate revenue by killing small mobs and selling my loot to high level craftsmen. I have also found it very useful that the game has well organized markets, both player run and town run, in which every single item or piece of equipment can be bough and sold by players.

Ankama has done an amazing job in making sure that everyone can take part and benefit from being part of the larger economic picture. Small contributions of new players truly matter to higher level players because basic resources are essential to craft training, and also can be exchanged for much desired and expensive characteristic scrolls which add extra bonus statistics to a character.

Every profession has a practical and real use as well. Even taking the simple job of a baker has tremendous financial reward for a player patient enough to spend their time harvesting resources and baking bread, something that is consumed in large quantities in the world. Bread comes in many varieties and recovers players health as well as energy points lost due to death.

The Professions

All Dofus professions are divided into two categories, gathering or crafting. Crafters who reach high enough level have an option to become a magus, which allows application of magic runes onto equipment in order to modify its statistics. For example a tailor who has reached level 65 can become costume magus, this being granted the ability to improve hats, cloaks and bags of other players.

Here is a full list of all crafting professions, which for most part are self-explanatory:

Baker, Butcher, Fishmonger, Jeweler, Shoemaker, Tailor, Handyman, Bow Carver, Staff Carver, Wand Carver, Axe Smith, Dagger Smith, Hammer Smith, Shovel Smith, Sword Smith, Shield Smith.

Here is a list of all gathering professions used to collect non-loot world resources:

Alchemist, Farmer, Fisherman, Hunter, Lumberjack and Miner. Alchemist is actually a dual profession that allows both gathering and mixing of herbs into potions.

Ownership

Players can own, buy and trade various forms of property, including houses, workshops and breeding paddocks. Paddocks allow for mount breeding, which is a rather complicated trade of its own and involves crossbreeding ridable mounts into new species. There is actual mating involved here and based on the mount type and generation a lot of different outcomes are possible. Riding mounts can modify all major character statistics and also gives extra storage capacity to a player.

I found it a bit disappointing that no houses or paddocks could be purchased due to the simple fact that they were all bought up by players, and asking prices were astronomical. It would be nice to see more housing and breeding areas maps added to the game. Many players hope that this issue will be solved with release of Dofus 2.0, which also promises to completely revamp game's graphics.

The Graphics and Animation

For a Flash based game that has been around for some time, Dofus isometric view 2D anime influenced graphics are extremely fresh and appealing. It seems that a lot of work has gone into making the world look and feel high-quality. Everything from maps, to gear and each individual drop in the game has a unique beautiful graphic associated with it. Even such small details as spell icons were given a very nice treatment.

Character animations, emotes, effects and battle actions all have distinctive animations associated with them. These are all very well done and look great (again, for a flash-based 2D game). Overall I have found the visual feel of Dofus very charming and pleasant to the eye. It is hard to believe that Ankama is working on upgrading all existing graphics to brand new with upcoming 2.0

User Interface

Design aspect and user friendliness of Dofus interface is a true blessing. It seems as if a lot of thought has gone into making playing the game as easy as possible and even a new player will not find it hard to get used to it. Everything appears well organized and in the places where you would expect it to be. Rather then using words, well designed visual icons make buttons that grant access to various menus. Ankama has taken a minimalist approach and reduced or hidden less needed functions in order to avoid clutter. This has worked very well, and makes playing the game a real pleasure.

Conclusion

Dofus is a hidden gem in today's clutter of the MMO game genre. The impression I have gotten is that Ankama, this game's developer, is very well aware of player needs. The game is well polished, thoughtfully designed, looks great, runs perfectly even on low end systems and is extremely fun to play. I feel that there is a lot of something here for everyone, and considering the no catch free-to-play option it is definitely worth checking it out. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised!