Either I totally suck at this game or monsters have been buffed

Hey hey! I just connected for the first time tonight (last night) via RetroArch. I think it's amazing that we can still play this game online via emulation. So I created my level 1 character, picked up a job, and went straight to the forest.

Now, last time I played this game was on the actual Dreamcast way back when I had WebTV and couldn't really connect it online. So I played solo offline. I don't remember having much trouble getting past the Goombas in the first area.

So you could guess how surprised I was to see that:

1. My lightsaber swings kept missing.
   
2. Each time I missed, I opened myself up for attack.
   
3. The lowly Goombas could kill me with a mere three hits.

I ended up using all of my healing potions and dying continuously, having to come back for my meseta like a Dark Souls game. It didn't help that this game doesn't have any camera controls whatsoever. So my strategy of getting distance and running back to poke and run didn't work because I would end up running towards the camera, not able to see my enemy until it was too late.

Were enemies beefed up for this server? Is there a special reason the very first enemy can kill with three hits? Or did I do something wrong? I created a password-protected team before setting out. Is there a way to play solo without creating a team? I'm thinking maybe the act of creating a team may have bumped up the difficulty curve.

In any case, keep up the great work! This is awesome!

You know you can press L to center the camera, right? Online monsters are stronger than offline ones. If you don't know what you're doing, either team up with other people or play the offline quests to get some help from NPCs that you can use as meat shields.

Thanks! Is it possible to take an offline character online? Or are they exclusive to each other? As far as meat shields go, are there any available in the very beginning? As far as I remember, I didn't see any hireables when I ran around everywhere and talked to everybody.

I swear I pressed every single button on my X360 controller. Next time I play I'll try to center the camera again. If it doesn't work I'll double-check the keybindings.

Yes, your character works both online and offline. Talk to the desk in the Hunter's Guild to start a quest.