I'll be going Dark Side if I ever play it again. Mira's story felt like it fell flat. Like it was building up to something extremely relevant to the overall story (hence, Kreia's involvement) like Visas' role against Nihilus. But it just wound up those two fighting. And in that game, one more fight doesn't equal good story.
Well, it's been awhile since I played the second game but I generally beat the tar out of it, and I'm replaying the first (but with mods, because **** Taris). My opinion is this:
Story:
1. New character gets embroiled in some Serious Shit(tm). Goes on a quest to take down the Big Bad with a band of misfits. Finds out he's really a badass the whole time, but he forgot, which is like playing Clue and finding out you killed the victim but you had no recollection. Pivotal scene where you decide to be truly dark or light, and then hasty conclusion complete with Epic Battle.
2. You start off in a boring locked down mining asteroid, finding out that there's a bounty on your ass and your former Jedi teacher is entirely strange. You then set off on a quest to pull the Jedi circle out from under their beds so you can fight off Sith Lords who cannot be killed without extreme plot devices. You manage to get the Jedi killed, but thankfully you are the plot device for both Sith Lords and you overcome them. And then you own your teacher before riding off into the sunset. Plus, this is all dark and shit.
Characters:
1. Carth is kinda whiny, but his voice actor is talented so you can tend to overlook the fact that he's worse off than a woman left at the altar. Bastila wants you, but she's kind of stuck up. Mission is bratty and worthless after Lower City, and only Jolee and Canderous hold any interest because they have interesting backstories. Revan is kind of a blank slate in many ways, but he's badass, and Malak is a prick. The droids, of course, rule.
2. Atton is mysterious and cranky, and has some interesting training. He's more than meets the eye and it's difficult pulling the truth out. Kreia is also cranky and mysterious, but her motivations are obvious, as was pointed out, and you find it hard to like her. The Handmaiden is naive, but fun to manipulate, while the Disciple sucks hardcore and it's a ***** to get any influence with him. And he's not exactly fun to talk to anyways. Mira seems like she might be deep, but it's never explored, and Mandalore doesn't get enough exposure. Hanharr sucks because **** Wookiees or anything that doesn't speak Basic in a Star Wars game. The Sith Lords are kind of boring because they cannot be construed as fallen or formerly good guys; Sion is a Franken-Sith with no real backstory other than he became evil at some point and Nihilus could very well be Barney under that mask and it'd be deeper than the story he's really given. The droids, as expected, rule.
Gameplay:
1. NWN 1.5. On the console, it's painful, but the PC is very fun to play. Exactly what you expect of a NWN clone with SW abilities.
2. Great updates, including prestige classes, new Feats and abilities, lightsaber fighting styles, better robes, etc. 2 stomps all over the first one with tons of improvements, no more to be said.
Best Moment In-Game:
1. Finding out you are Revan.
2. Getting the **** off of Peragus so you can not be playing one character at a time. (Force suggesting that one guy to jump into space on Nar Shadaa comes second)
Worst Moment In-Game:
1. Getting lost on Dantooine and having to do all those stupid FedEx quests there.
2. Leaving Peragus to find you're stuck on Telos for another two hours.
Aspect which most needs improvement:
1. Lacking advanced skills and stats with crappy level cap. Combat was simply too boring.
2. Missing entire planets and segments.
If you can read it as a loving tribute to bad fanfic (which the author assures us it is meant to be) then Revan is the best character.
Originally posted by RagingBoner
Yep, because darker = cooler. 🙄You are so obviously
homosexualemo.
No, well written = well written.
Its almost as if Chris Avellone played Kotor and thought, 'God this wookie is bland as ****. Imma make a wookie thats the complete opposite of that.' Which to be fair he probably did. Hanhaar's pretty much a deconstruction of the whole 'life-debt' thing that Zaalbar had going on.
Thats > every other wookie I can name.
Originally posted by Nephthys
No, well written = well written.Its almost as if Chris Avellone played Kotor and thought, 'God this wookie is bland as ****. Imma make a wookie thats the complete opposite of that.' Which to be fair he probably did. Hanhaar's pretty much a deconstruction of the whole 'life-debt' thing that Zaalbar had going on.
Thats > every other wookie I can name.
That's Avellone's trademark, deconstructing tropes and writing badass games like Planescape: Torment
Originally posted by Nephthys
No, well written = well written.Its almost as if Chris Avellone played Kotor and thought, 'God this wookie is bland as ****. Imma make a wookie thats the complete opposite of that.' Which to be fair he probably did. Hanhaar's pretty much a deconstruction of the whole 'life-debt' thing that Zaalbar had going on.
Thats > every other wookie I can name.
Didn't like Hanhaar but he was definitely a well realized character. He lived by very harsh and stark principles. A great ally for a philosophical dark sider.
As for the thread: Kotor 2's characters and the superior script made it a little better than Kotor for me.
I think both games had dull beginnings. Peragus + the first stage of Telos for Kotor 2 and Taris for Kotor.
The basic plot device structure of both games were also similar: Star Maps and Lost Jedi. But Kotor 2's structure was a little more plausible or involved less suspension of belief - it's puzzling that Malak never destroyed the Star Maps.
All in all Kotor 2 was slightly better.
First Post!
Between the two of them, I can't pick a favorite. It really came down to 4 major differences.
Gameplay: I much preferred the gameplay in KOTOR II. The Force powers were much improved, with newer, and more advanced Force Powers. The lightsaber forms also were useful. The Prestige classes were something that I feel provided more character development, as well as enhanced the Character's abilities.
Influence: Again I liked KOTOR II more in this. With KOTOR, it was not difficult to develop NPCs, and to determine their backstories. In less than 10 hours, I found it possible to complete the quests about Bastila, Carth, Mission, Juhani, and Canderous. In KOTOR II on the other hand, you have to pay attention to character personalities, and gain influence with them to develop them. If you did not pay attention to their personalities, or were a complete jerk to them, then they would not progress. In the first one, you could be extremely rude to the NPCs, and still complete their quests.
DS/LS development: Again, I must say KOTOR II was superior. KOTOR II revolved around you accepting/rejecting Kreia's teachings. KOTOR I was, in my opinion, a bit lacking in this regard. It was basically just 'slap the little kid or give him food'. Much more obvious Dark/Light progression. In KOTOR II, there were many times where you cannot tell what is light side and what is dark side, and have to use your best judgement.
Storyline: This is where KOTOR I really strikes back. The storyline of KOTOR I is much better than the storyline of KOTOR II. The revelation by Malak that you are actually Revan is so unexpected, but fits in so well with the storyline that it will easily go down in Star Wars video game history. All of the sudden plot twists, side quests, and depth of the character storyline is much greater than KOTOR II. KOTOR II was so expected that once you met all the characters, you could pretty much figure out what the rest of the plot was. In KOTOR I, there was basically three different parts to it - Taris (Sort of boring, but quick if you know what you're doing), Main Quests (Heck of a lot of fun, and huge character development), and Final Quests (You know the end is close, you know what it's going to come down to, but still a lot of fun). The way these were designed was close to perfect. KOTOR II did sort of have three parts, but they weren't as in depth as KOTOR I. With KOTOR II, it was Initiation (Really boring levels), Main Quests (How did Atris manage to get a list of the locations that the other Jedi were at, anyway), and the Final Battle (Way too easy to beat Kreia).
KOTOR II did win in three of the four categories, but the storyline of KOTOR I was so superior that I can't name a favorite. They were both great games.
SG