Kotor II was a broken game, but not because of Obsidian. Basically, Obsidian had five more months to go, and then BOOM! Lucasarts suddenly gives them month to finish it, for a Christmas release. So they had to cut about a third out the game, some of which included vital plot stories.
So, not really Obsidian's fault. And to be fair, the TSL was a good game, even then!
Yes Braz you can, aswell as certain members of your recruited party.
I've searched around a bit and have come across a mod that iss trying to reinstall these missing areas of KOTOR 2 and complete the game. It was a while ago so i can't get you a link, but there are people out there capable of completeing KOTOR 2. Apparently alot of the missing content exists with the game, yet it was not put into the story etc.
I have never been convinced that KOTOR II would have been that much better with more development time. I trhink what flaws it had were engrained deep. Ok, so the end was a mess due to time constraints, but all the IMPORTANT bits they wanted went in- and didn't work that great.
But lets have some perspective here- KOTOR II is FAR from a lousy game; you will have played far worse in your life. It certainly wasn't a waste of my money either. There are just issues.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
I have never been convinced that KOTOR II would have been that much better with more development time. I trhink what flaws it had were engrained deep. Ok, so the end was a mess due to time constraints, but all the IMPORTANT bits they wanted went in- and didn't work that great.But lets have some perspective here- KOTOR II is FAR from a lousy game; you will have played far worse in your life. It certainly wasn't a waste of my money either. There are just issues.
No, Ushgarak, most of the important bits were out.
Further romance options, More dialogue regarding Revan, Canderous dialogue, the endgame.
Genoharadan et cetera. A fair portion of the game was cut, Ush.
What so these were not central to the plot?:
M4-78, an entire planet was cut!
Master Lonna Vash and her Padawan. They provided information on your force bond and possibly why you don't die when you kill Kreia on Malachor V.
Further exploration of the Sion-Nihilus relationship. It also displays Nihilus' power.
The Droid factory, which not only provided an extra three hours of gameplay but explained many things. Like the presence of the HK-51 in the mining base. It also provided some extra information on Revan too, and his motives.
The Malachor betrayals. It shows how Malachor V can corrupt people so quickly. Not only that, it adds further to the romance options, like Atton dying or whether or not you love Visas or the Handmaiden.
Atris as Darth Traya. It explained a lot about katarr, with Atris possibly having betrayed the Jedi at Katarr. Also, it showed that Kreia was not beyond redemption.
Extra lines for the Jedi Masters before Kreia kills them. Kreia tells them all about their respective failings.
The Genoharadan on Nar Shaddaa. You had to destroy them.
Extra lines for Canderous.
Extra lines for all of the party members.
Possible Handmaiden - Kreia relationship.
More ways to sacrafice Visas.
Lots more stuff for the endgame. More cutscenes and deliberating on wha the exile does after traya's defeat.
More inclusion of the locked navicomputer scene.
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That's only the tip of the iceberg anyway. Lots more things that were central to the plot were discarded.
I see what Ush is saying, but it was the extras, the sideline quests, like Traya said, what made KOTOR so damn good.
It would add small pieces of the jigsaw that, in turn created such a deep gaming experience that you half expected yourself to wake up repeating ancient japanese philosophies to yourself.
Yes the game does have flaws ingrained into it, some which were evident in the first game, yet with the inclusion of a great, seemless story you only noticed on close inspection. On the second game, because there was a lack of cohesion in the story, you saw these flaws.
Err... sorry, but everything Traya posted is just fluff. It still wouldn't have solved core problems KOTOR II had- unbalanced combat, repetitious plot, poor backgrounds, uninspired locations etc.
I don't think any amount of more stuff like that would have obscured these issues. KOTOR II was a poor advance from the original.
Compare the triumphant advance from BG to BGII- and this was at a fundamental level.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Err... sorry, but everything Traya posted is just fluff. It still wouldn't have solved core problems KOTOR II had- unbalanced combat, repetitious plot, poor backgrounds, uninspired locations etc.I don't think any amount of more stuff like that would have obscured these issues. KOTOR II was a poor advance from the original.
Compare the triumphant advance from BG to BGII- and this was at a fundamental level.
But the overall picture of KOTOR made these flaws less of a hindrance.
The flaws that KOTOR 2 gained from its predecessor would probably have not allowed the game to gain the improvement that BG 2 recieved had it been given the full developement plan, but it would have still been improved.
The locations in KOTOR 2 were certainly uninspiring as you say, Nar Shaada with a population of 6 peopple anyone? An almost exact replica of Dantooine? This represents probably the main fallability of KOTOR 2 excluding the missing content. Obsidian's mistake I feel was using merely an improved engine of the first game.
Another flaw of the KOTOR franchise I feel is that each location has its main priorities in creating a unique location, different from anything else in the SW Universe. This may seem like a great idea, but it also takes emphasis away from the reality and detail a place would need...e.g. Telos. A flashy piece of girder work, but the inside was just plain and dull.
If the franchise needs to continue then KOTOR 3 needs to be something special and different, breaking the mold or either going back to it's roots and creating a smooth and involving experience.