As usual, screenshots of the game look very much more impressive than the same views seen from within the game itself. There's that odd flattening and stretching you never seem to see in Western MMOs, where surfaces close by seem to be almost featureless but scenery far away looks lush and detailed. I don't mean the settings or the environments or the architecture (although all of the usual cliffs, waterfalls, pagodas and flower fields are present as expected) so much as the textures and surfaces. Having played a number of Eastern MMOs over the last few years there's a particular graphic quality I've come to recognize. I didn't try the latter options so I can't vouch for their implementation but the regular version, called "Keyboard Control" in the game, works perfectly. I like WASD movement, Hotbars and tab targeting.Īs soon as you step out of character creation you're offered a choice - the system I prefer, the traditional Eastern "click to move" or the action MMO option with reticule targeting. As a traditional MMO player I strongly - very strongly - prefer traditional MMO controls. Most impressively, the developers have chosen to do what I believe all developers should, namely offer a wide choice of controls to suit a wide range of tastes. Yes, it's busy, with too many pop-ups, but I've seen a lot worse. The UI is easy to follow and to alter and adjust. This is where I give RO a huge thumbs up. I was expecting a pet class but although there is a tiny, floating creature that hangs around near your shoulder, that turns out be your "weapon" rather than a traditional pet that tanks for you. It had possibly the most confusing description, which I think I may have misunderstood.
I went with The Spiritshaper (Difficulty Rating 3* out of five, equal easiest with Gunslinger). There's a decent explanation of what you might expect from each in terms of gameplay and there's also a difficulty rating. There are six - Blademaster, Vanguard, Swordmage, Occultist, Spiritshaper and Gunslinger. The game does a bit better when it comes to Classes.
RO doesn't even the usual option of "human with cute animal tail and/or fur" or "human with pointy elf ears". Unlike Western MMO players, a significant subset of whom like to play non-human and even - *gasp* - ugly races, the Eastern market apparently demands humans, humans and more humans. You can be a human or a child-like human and that's that. The other problem, about which nothing will ever be done, is the utter blandness of the "races" you can choose.