Note: the official tracklist is in French. The English meanings are provided in parentheses.

This exclusive arranged CD for DOFUS, the French MMORPG with turn-based strategy combat, is one of the coolest bonus items a company could possibly release. The album takes all twelve of the character class' music themes, as well as two other main themes related to the game, and strings them together as though we were listening to one long musical suite. There is no break from start to finish. It feels like a live orchestral concert, except for the fact that it is mostly synthesized. The music sounds lifelike, but everything sounds too perfect and too consistent, so you know it's not "the real deal." But that's fine, the music is still great.

Seriously, it's an improvement even over the DOFUS OST, which was actually higher quality music than what is found in-game. A lot of TLC was put into this album to make sure it sounded great. And, indeed, it pays off. The music I already loved sounds even better (Pandawa, Sacrier), and some songs that didn't impress me on the OST are now among my favorites (Cra, Iop, even Xelor... which is a weird piece of music).

Comparatively, if you like the European-style music of the Professor Layton series, then you ought to get a taste of the real thing from a real French composer. It's a great experience. Though there is real "ethnic" music outside of the European scope here, there is a lot of traditionally European, and traditionally French, instrumentation and harmonic structure to be found on this soundtrack.

The album was released as a bonus item, specifically within France, for purchasers of the collector's edition of DOFUS 2.0. Personally, I hope the music goes retail or is released elsewhere, somewhere, because it's certainly worth it. VGM collectors better have some connections in France in the meantime, though.

Reviewed by: Patrick Gann