You left our a few key things.
IMO, the biggest problem with the game is that you can't play in the most popular online mode unless you first beat the same scenario offline or in the weak online mode that nobody likes. That basically rules out a bunch of newbs running around not knowing what to do, which is really the most fun part. (That isn't quite true, you can play play without beating the level first but you can't create the game, which means no password and it's a pain in the ass to play with friends)
Agreed. I forgot to mention that.
Instead you learn what to do by playing the scenario offline first, and then just go through the motions online. It's kind of pointless really, considering beating a scenario is 90% trial and error. Once you know what to do in what order there isn't really much else to it. That discovery process being offline really hurts the game IMO.
This is mostly why I play on the downtown server. The only problem is that no one who uses the hard drive plays on the downtown server, so I usually have to switch reading back to the DVD to get into a game with PEOPLE. The Offline mode is just not fun. The AI is barely passable, and unpredictable at times.
If you get caught by the moth on Below Freezing Point you'll be lucky if the AI comes and saves you, and for some reason the AI really doesn't like helping you if you mess up the roof jump on Outbreak. My first experience playing the game offline pissed me off royally since everything was going great up until the roof. I messed up the jump, called for help, and the AI character just kinda stood there while I tried to pull myself up...then a crow pecked me, making me fall and die. Lame.
The most obvious way to play the game is to round up some friends and play together scenario by scenario, figuring them out online as a group. But you can't really play that way. You can't play as a group easily unless someone beats the level offline first, and in addition there are different servers and you have no control over which one you join.
Supposedly Capcom is working on getting the different servers to work as one. At least that's what the announcement board reads when you log on. Nevermind it has said that for the last 2 weeks.
And I have no friends online or offline who own the game AND the broadband adapter. Sucks ass. Two of my closest friends own PS2s, but one doesn't have the broadband adapter and is broke as a joke, and the other is enthralled with FF11 and doesn't feel like buying outbreak.
No one seems to be setting up games for it at the PA or GameFAQs forums either.
Also, I dunno if you've looked at the rooms lately, but there's a LOT of newbie hostility in this game. Every other room is "FAGGOT NEWBS KEEP OUT!11!1!11ONE", or very hard runs with speedrunners trying to get into the national rankings.
My friend owns the game and plays with his friend, and they end up spending a half-hour calling each other trying to get on the same server.
Holy shit, it's that hard to get on the same server?
Any MMO game tends to have players form subgroups of people they know and like. (Guilds, linkshells, friend lists, etc) REO makes this next to impossible.
Cool idea, but annoying execution. Also I would point out that graphically it really sucks compared to the Gamecube games.
You can register up to 50 or so people in a "buddy" list, and search for player names, but that's about it as far as grouping goes.
The graphics are decent IMO. The GC titles just blow it away because the backgrounds are pre-rendered, freeing up polys for the character models.
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