I haven't had a chance to play either Dofus or
Wakfu just yet, but in an artistic sense the games left a really great impression. The turn based MMO series (Think Final Fantasy tactics online) first caught my attention during a trip to Paris, where I witnessed a ton of colorful promo work plastered around the city for Ankama's flagship title. While its not well known here in the US, the game has attracted over 11 milliion players worldwide. Fast forward a few years later and I had the chance to meet the Ankama folks at PAX, and noticed that they were selling art books for their heavily stylized series which I picked up. Despite there being a stable of artists working on the title, it appears that an artist called Xavier Houssein (Aka XAXA) was the main man behind the distinct style of the game.
His style could be best described as a very successful hybrid, mixing elements of bande dessinee, anime and a few other styles mixed with extremely vibrant, harmonious color palettes that just pop off the page. Xavier's characters are always fluidly drawn and animated in their poses, capturing their essence in a fun manner. The result is nothing short of pleasing to the eye, especially on a cloudy day. Ankama's franchise has celebrated a great deal of success worldwide, spinning off into TV shows, comic books and even an upcoming 2013 movie adaptation. Check out some more of Xavier's awesome work after the break, with a mild heads up for some risque images (He sure loves his females).
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