A flash-based MMORPG originating in France, Dofus certainly is different.
A flash-based MMORPG originating in France, Dofus certainly is different. I was quite sad when I saw the download wasn't compatible with Windows ME because I really wanted to try it, but then at the bottom of the page it stated that I could actually run the game. It didn't take long for me to load it up and make a character.
There are 11 classes to pick from (male and female characters for each), and it's easy to pick something you like since there is a detailed description of each class and their respective spells at the character selection screen. The problem is the developers could have used a good dose of imagination for this. I mean, come on! Eniripsa is Aspirine backwards; Sadida is Adidas; Xelor is Rolex... is this subliminal advertising, or just a big lack of creativity? And by the way, Osamodas stands for S&M backwards.
The game begins by taking you to a very slow tutorial. It's really helpful if you're starting for the first time and you will gain a few items to equip yourself with. You can speed up the tutorial by using the little stop button on the top left of the screen. It will move you to the next chapter, it's really more of a fast-forward button.
My first bit of "silly Dofus" started with the tutorial, when I received my first item ever: the Farter. You wear it on your head. No, I'm not joking. Yes, I laughed myself stupid.
I spent my first day exploring and running everywhere I could just to see the sights. The world map is huge, and there is a large variety of areas and monsters. The artwork is quite nice too, and I especially like the details on the buildings and inside them.
Throughout my adventuring with my "aspirine" class (which is a little fairy that happens to be the healer class in the game) I found I couldn't do much by myself, and by now you know how I hate depending on a group to do things. So I changed classes and tried out the Iop, which seemed like a sort of warrior. I liked this class better and developed it a little more by learning a job.
When my Iop turned out to spend too much time recovering from getting her ass kicked and not enough time baking because I didn't have the resources, I made a third character. Third time is a charm it seems, because I really like the Sadida class. My character has ranged spells, poison and summons pets to disable or block enemies. Leveling up was pretty easy, so I stopped at level 16 and took on the farmer job. Much easier to develop than the baker, there are large crops where we can harvest and she is now a lvl 35 farmer. This is a nice way to make money too, since you have lots of resources and bakers need your flour otherwise they can't raise their skill. I had constant orders from bakers for wheat flour in stacks of 100. And since I was past level 30 on my first job, I decided to take on a second: Alchemist. I quite like it, I get to make healing potions and all sorts of other potions, even some that allow you to forget a job. My Alchemy profession is now level 30.
There are many different kinds of jobs in the game: baker, jeweler, miner, hunter, fisherman, farmer, tailor, smiths, carvers, etc. Each job has its own resources and skills, and this is a very time-consuming but important part of gameplay. You can have up to three jobs, but if you find a forgetfulness potion you can "unlearn" them.
Each of these jobs has specific skills and recipes. A farmer harvests wheat or other cereals and grinds it into flour. A hunter kills animals for their meat and makes preserves. An alchemist gathers herbs and creates potions. Obviously, there is a workshop for each of these professions, several of them spread out all over the world map.
Variety is a strong point in the game. Aside from the 11 classes (and you can have up to 5 characters with a common bank, woo hoo!), something like 30 jobs, hundreds of monsters and NPCs, thousands of items, there are tons of quests to do all over the world. There is also a guild feature, property acquirement, and some sort of faction wars with territory control between the good and evil cities. If you're into PVP you should know you can run around randomly challenging everyone. The best feature of all in the game is that you can set one of your characters as a merchant and log off, since this character stays on the server as if it was an NPC. There is a limit to the number of merchants in one area though, only 6 are allowed which results in people all over the world map selling their goods. Finding an item you want or need is a matter of luck, since there is no way to search but to inspect each and every merchant.
I do have a few issues with the game. Although I am very fond of the tactical turn-based battle system, I don't like the way anyone can join a fight that you have started. The first time this happened to me, "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my battle screen?" was my instant reaction.
Apparently this is the only party system in the game. Not much of a party is it? This is especially annoying when a quest monster is involved, and the only way to get around it is to click the "Ready" button as soon as possible.
Players can also join a fight as a spectator if they wish, but there is a feature that lets you boot both spectators and players if you want.
If you want a different MMORPG with a really weird sense of humor, you should give Dofus a try. Be sure to inspect items in your inventory or for sale on other player's merchants, you'll be surprised how much a bad translation can amuse you. You can learn that oats cause abdominal winds, that magical testicles can be covered in a soft down, that tofu has feathers, that the coast of Amakna is called Asse's Coast, that sunflowers have smelly feet… there's a giggle in almost every corner. I secretly wish the "translation issues" in the text aren't fixed, it makes it all so much more amusing.
False Quaquacks, Still Ball Potions, Fecalizers, magical testicles, the strange Kicked Ass Order of shoemakers and an NPC that calls you an a-hole right to your face will be waiting for you in Dofus. No, I'm not kidding. Yes, I still laugh myself stupid every time I think about it.
Review text part of Grrlgamer.com. Full text and screenshots at:
http://www.grrlgamer.com/review.php?g=dofus
Silly in-game item screenshots can be found at this thread:
http://www.grrlgamer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1522