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KotOR 2 is one of the best games ever made

Texas Red

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Since first playing KotOR 2 I was immediately fascinated by the game. Now I'll try to form this amazement in to words and perhaps let Obsidian earn a few more respect points.

I'm playing it now and I believe, would there not be the stupid engine and consolized interface, it would be on par with other classics. Yet the greatness of Sith Lords lies naturally in the setting, the story and the characters that for me overrode the mechanics.

KotOR 2 manages to be on par with actual books. Unlike KotOR 1, you have secret identities to discover, find out about your past and unravel other mysteries, such as the Exchange or the assassin droids. The first rule of writing a short story is to captivate the reader from the first paragraph; KotOR 2 does that with introducing the cryptic Kreia and the bond, giving a glimpse of Sion whose physique only raises more questions and a little fun death mystery of Peragus.

The setting is charming: all of the jedies appear to be dead and you're the last one! You are hunted by several adversaries and the odds appear to be stacked against you. All of the worlds you visit are tragic and this sets in the sad mood of the game.

The characters couldn't possibly be done better. The player is driven by desire to find out more about the enigmatic characters for which enough answers exist yet questions are still raised, which makes for a perfect balance. All of them are somehow identifiable and unique but they manage to stay original and interesting in a high sci-fi setting, something which most other games have failed to achieve. One of the most memorable lines was when Visas took the mask off of her master and said that he's "just a man", a statement which drove everyone nuts to have a glimps at him after the built up of his apparent awesomeness.

You have 2 evident villains and, most notably, Revan. Revan is yet again one of the central mysteries that leaves you wanting to have a dialog with him. Aside from the villains, there are a bunch of other cool characters, such as Atris, a jedi who is corrupted through and through yet doesn't realize that.

They say that KotOR 2 is butchered yet there is more content in it than in most games. You can replay it more than just 2 times because your choices affect which companions you get and their dialogs. You just wanna get them all!

Now compare the game to KotOR 1. Malak raises no questions and gives an impression of a baffoon who laughs "evily" at his own plans. They forgot to give him a mustache that he would twirl. Or how about a 14 year old worm face with her "tragic" past that resembles more home emo drama. The story in KotOR 1 literally ends in the beginning after the "unpredictable" twist: there are no further twists or resolved questions through the game. etc.
 

Wyrmlord

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Erm, there are some issues that I had with the game.

Such as having to find those Jedi Masters. The player doesn't necessarilly have any real reason to find them at all. Sure one might be curious, but what if one isn't? There just didn't seem like there was any real compulsion to do so. Atleast in MotB, you are cursed, and you're only trying to survive.

But here, the player is told he has to find the Jedi Masters that he sees in a the hololog, and the game assumes that he cares. It's just as bad as KotOR 1, which sends you to find those Star Maps, even if you couldn't care less about saving the galaxy or weren't the altruistic type.

Most of all, people came to your ship and bunked up on it, whether you wanted them to or not. And even if you tried to piss them off, they would stay with you on the ship. It was YOUR ship, for heaven's sake.

Worst of all was how at certain points you were virtually forced to bring a party member along, and that too one that you may have barely used, and may be unequipped, because you sold his items off. Just on Telos, during the siege, Atton came with you, and on the ship, Mandalore and Visas came with you. And it happened on short notice, without you being able to prepare for it.

The game imposes so much on the player, it feels like it's trying to choke you.
 

Darth Roxor

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I'm currently replaying KotOR2 for the fourth time I think and I also find it neat how you discover new things every time you play depending on how you play.

But I will never forgive the devs for cutting out the planet with the HK droid factory.
 

Texas Red

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Wyrmlord said:
Erm, there are some issues that I had with the game.

Such as having to find those Jedi Masters. The player doesn't necessarilly have any real reason to find them at all. Sure one might be curious, but what if one isn't? There just didn't seem like there was any real compulsion to do so. Atleast in MotB, you are cursed, and you're only trying to survive.

But here, the player is told he has to find the Jedi Masters that he sees in a the hololog, and the game assumes that he cares. It's just as bad as KotOR 1, which sends you to find those Star Maps, even if you couldn't care less about saving the galaxy or weren't the altruistic type.

Most of all, people came to your ship and bunked up on it, whether you wanted them to or not. And even if you tried to piss them off, they would stay with you on the ship. It was YOUR ship, for heaven's sake.

Worst of all was how at certain points you were virtually forced to bring a party member along, and that too one that you may have barely used, and may be unequipped, because you sold his items off. Just on Telos, during the siege, Atton came with you, and on the ship, Mandalore and Visas came with you. And it happened on short notice, without you being able to prepare for it.

The game imposes so much on the player, it feels like it's trying to choke you.


There are plenty of reasons as to why you would want to find the jedies. First of all they hold the knowledge of your past and the force bond you share with Kreia. They have answers. If you're playing a light jedi then you need to find them to stop the Sith. Basically, what Obsidian did was combine a personal story with a more "epic" tale - a perfect combination.
 
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Dark Individual said:
I'm playing it now and I believe, would there not be the stupid engine and consolized interface, it would be on par with other classics. Yet the greatness of Sith Lords lies naturally in the setting, the story and the characters that for me overrode the mechanics.

In other words, it's a bad game and you're a Star Wars fanboy.
 

Texas Red

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Emotional Vampire said:
Dark Individual said:
I'm playing it now and I believe, would there not be the stupid engine and consolized interface, it would be on par with other classics. Yet the greatness of Sith Lords lies naturally in the setting, the story and the characters that for me overrode the mechanics.

In other words, it's a bad game and you're a Star Wars fanboy.

Nope, disliked SW and didn't get KotORs at first just because of it. Love KotOR 2 though, the story is a lot better than of the movies.
 

Darth Roxor

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Wyrmlord said:
Such as having to find those Jedi Masters. The player doesn't necessarilly have any real reason to find them at all. Atleast in MotB, you are cursed, and you're only trying to survive.

And in KotOR2 you have a force bond that can kill you, so it's pretty much the same deal.

Lestat said:
The HK factory is located on Telos. The planet they cut is M4-78.

You mean that military base with the shuttle that takes you to Atris's place? I think I read somewhere that the HK factory was supposed to be on a whole different planet that was cut out. But still, my point is that removing the HK plot is an outrage.
 

gamefan

Scholar
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
187
Kotor 2 is average, the planets sucked though. The only good planet in the game was the first one after peragus, and then onderon and nar shadda were ok.

What the hell was with dantooine and korriban, they sucked. Then the end of the game fell apart big time.

The writing in the game was pretty good but i hate forced companions. Forced companions were really stupid but at least the companions were better then say, NWN 2.
 

Darth Roxor

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Lestat said:
And in KotOR2 you have a force bond that can kill you, so it's pretty much the same deal.
It can't. Kreia lied about that.

Yes, but you don't know about it for quite a long time, which is enough of a motivation to go find the jedi.
 

Wyrmlord

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Dark Individual said:
You can replay it more than just 2 times because your choices affect which companions you get and their dialogs. You just wanna get them all!
I am not saying that you are lying, but...

Well, being male or female meant getting the Disciple or the Handmaiden, and choosing Vogga or Goto meant getting Hanharr or Mira. But that's about it.

Choices affecting dialogue? Having more influence meant getting more dialogue from them, but I don't think there was any alternate dialogue that you had with them. And all it did was reveal their past and convert them to Jedis, but I personally don't feel like this was a satisfactory consequence.

I have played the game three times, because I wanted to gain influence with the party members, and find out more about their past. But when it happened, I thought, "That's it?" No new quests opened up. No alternate options opened up. Just a little more background. Only significant thing was the training from Kreia and Handmaiden.
 

OSK

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Jedi_Learner said:
Matt7895 said:
Indeed. With the ending restored, it could be even better.

The combat will still be crap.

Well, fortunately some people play RPGs for things other than combat.
 

Jedi_Learner

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OldSkoolKamikaze said:
Well, fortunately some people play RPGs for things other than combat.

No shit Captain Obvious. Got anymore pearls of wisdom for us you stupid fuck?
 

RK47

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Doubt you have to 'play' it very much. Set difficulty to easiest and just spam force lightning or let the AI buff and kill everyone on sight.

If T-Gizka ever made a full fix, it'd be a very very good game, but at its unfinished state, can't really recommend it much. Has some great writings but it doesn't make up for the lackluster ending.
 

Jasede

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The ending is exactly as Avellone intended it - though if by ending you mean the whole Malachor part, yes, a lot is missing there - mostly cutscenes of your party-members being killed off.

Remember that KOTOR 2 is just PS:T in space- it has a Ravel, it has a Trias, it has a nameless one and the ending is exactly the same - you get split up from their friends, they die one after another, lack of a big revelation (an Avellone trademark) & bossfight, fin. If you think the ending is lacking (the ending movie) I disagree. It's a fitting ending. It's a PS:T ending- the nameless one / exile goes off to the Blood War / to find Revan, -fin-, roll KOTOR 3.

Sadly, it's going to be a fucking MMORPG. Obsidian should have made KOTOR 3.
 

Volourn

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No. It's not the best game ever. It's okay. Just like KOTOR1. They ar eboth 'merely' 75-80ish %.
 

racofer

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What killed K2 for me was the fact everyone could become a Jedi. WTF! Now all your party could become a force sensitive and master the Force and Lightsaber technique in a flash. I was already asking myself when T3 would become a Jedi Droid and spam force lighting all over the place.
Obsidian simply pissed on the SW lore for good.
 

Jasede

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There are excellent reasons in-game for everyone becoming a Jedi. Still, yes, they did piss on that retarded SW lore, which is, for the record, awful. Not the pissing, mind you; the lore.
 

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