KotOR II: A Question

[AndreaDraco]

I'm about to finish the first Knights of the Old Republic and, without a single doubt, it has become one of my favorite games ever!

The story and the characters are wonderful and the plot development superior to everything I've played since 1999 (Gabriel Knight 3). I'm really, really loving it and now that I'm nearing the ending (I'm currently finishing some minor quests on the Unknown World), I'm wondering:

Would you recommend KotOR II? As Tawmis reminded me, it has been made by a different developer (Obsidian) and I'm thinking of getting it, of course, but I don't want it to ruin my enjoyment of the first chapter. So: is it good? How well does it compare to the first game? How's the story? Do you recommend it?

Thanks!

[DeadPoolX]

I felt that KoTOR II's game dynamics were much better than the first game. You could modify weapons and armor to a greater extent and even create items, plus your team would change along with you. In other words, if you progressed closer to the Dark Side, so would your team; the reverse is true too.

Having said that, the story is poor. It's certainly not the worst story I've ever seen, but it's lacking in a lot of areas. I never really cared about the characters. Probably the worst part is that many areas of the game and story were cut due to time constraints and the ending is horrendous.

I wouldn't recommend getting it UNLESS you can find it for an extraordinarily cheap price.

[Tawmis]

Having said that, the story is poor. It's certainly not the worst story I've ever seen, but it's lacking in a lot of areas. I never really cared about the characters. Probably the worst part is that many areas of the game and story were cut due to time constraints and the ending is horrendous.

This is my main issue with it. Bioware, are like gods of game development in my eyes. They are, what Sierra used to be. If not better, since Bioware has a flawless record in my eyes. That said, Obsidian Entertainment is a set of great people (I had the good fortune of meeting and working closely with a lot of the programmers and writers when we got brought on to do the Atari NWN2 machinima). That said, I also loved the original Neverwinter Nights. And while Neverwinter Nights 2 had so much more in terms of choices, the toolset was beyond amazing for custom world making, the graphics were superb by miles and miles and miles over the original Neverwinter Nights game - however, I found the story a little bit weaker in NWN2 than I did in the original NWN.

So I think Obsidian Entertainment has it where it counts, for programming and such. I just don't think they have the incredible writers that Bioware has. If Obsidian could lock in some excellent writers (Hey, Obsidian, I am up for hire, just so you know!) to write some of their games, I honestly think that would give Obsidian a big push.

All that to say - I agree with DPX (Lords! The world is sure to end soon!) in that I would get the game - if you can find it cheap. I am a completionist - so I, of course, would recommend the game. (And being that it's a much older game, you should indeed, be able to find it cheap!)

/end ramble

[AndreaDraco]

I've just left Peragus and my first impression of the game isn't very bright.

Compared to the battle on the Endar Spire and the exploration of Taris in the first game, the tutorial and the first scenario of KotOR 2 left me pretty cold: the environment was uninteresting and dull and the character interaction slightly unsatisfactory. I particularly can't stand (at least for now) Kreia, whose misty, senile attitude really bothers me.

I really hope that the game gets better now that I've left the ravaged Peragus.

[DeadPoolX]

A lot of it seems rehashed from the first game. That probably makes sense as it draws from similar source material and uses the same engine.

Once again, I really like the amount of modification and creation you can do with items, armor and weapons. It's too bad that didn't occur in KotOR1.

Something I didn't mention in my previous post was the addition of prestige classes. You can get those later on (although you don't HAVE to take any of them) and your choices revolve around your Force alignment. In other words, you couldn't choose Sith Lord if you practice the Light Side of the Force.

The prestige classes for both sides resemble each other. They're more or less copies, but slightly changed to fit the Force path you've chosen.

I played on the Light Side (I followed the Dark Side in KotOR1) and chose a Jedi Consular as my beginning class and then went with Jedi Weapon Master as my prestige class. I know those two sound contradictory, but a Consular is more Force reliant and a Weapon Master engages more in physical combat. I thought the two would complement each other and overall, I was right.

[AndreaDraco]

For the time being, I put aside KotOR II. First, Jade Empire came and sucked me in and now I'm giving a go to Neverwinter Nights: it must be the fourth time I begin it, and I always drop it because I found it really hard. This time, though, I'm highly motivated to finish it

[Tawmis]

For the time being, I put aside KotOR II. First, Jade Empire came and sucked me in and now I'm giving a go to Neverwinter Nights: it must be the fourth time I begin it, and I always drop it because I found it really hard. This time, though, I'm highly motivated to finish it

You doing all the expansions with NWN?

[Maiandra]

If you're playing NWN, make sure you play Hordes of the Underdark. It has a lot of features that Adventure fans can appreciate as well RPG fans. Remember you can always lower the difficulty of the games as well. That means you can play through for the story without having as much frustration in combat.

[DeadPoolX]

Bah. I hate NWN.

I used to host a NWn server for a few people I know (most of them from the Sierra boards), but I only did that because it was a good excuse to get to know Maia.

For some reason, my microphone broadcast my voice with a loud and booming echo. Orion dubbed that the "voice of god" mostly because I was the DM and host. He still does that from time to time.

[AndreaDraco]

Yes, I have all the expansions installed. Currently, I created two characters and I intended to play an hour or so with both of them before deciding which one I'll use for the whole game:

1. Elf, Sorcerer with Dexterity and Charisma very high
2. Human, Barbarian with Strength and Charisma very high...

... Yes, I know Charisma will be pretty useless for the barbarian, but I like the idea of roleplaying this type of character, sort of a gallant barbarian, a poet's soul trapped inside the tough body of a wild warrior

[AndreaDraco]

I dismissed both the characters.

Usually, I'm a loyal fan of magic users, but there's something in Dungeons & Dragons about them that I can't really appreciate (the ridiculous concept that I can cast a spell only a certain number of times? The spells themselves?), plus they require too good a strategy, and given that I found the control system a bit awkward (I'm not used to isometric views), the sorcerer wasn't the best choice for my first playthrough. Maybe I'll use one in the two expansions.

The barbarian, on the other hand, got too few dialogue options, and I found his skills and feats a bit restrictive. So I dismissed him too.

I created a fighter with just a pinch of bard/rogue, with high charisma and a very swift persuade, a decent constitution and massive strength (although, ridiculous dexterity and wisdom). I like the addition the bard brings in, and I like the role-playing idea of the character (note: this is another thing I don't appreciate about D&D: the rigid class system, which was done way better in other RPGs, like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying or, on PC, KotOR)

[Maiandra]

I love playing characters with high persuade. My Dragon Age character already has the "persuasive" achievement. It makes things so much easier. Both my KOTOR and NWN characters had the ability as well.

[DeadPoolX]

I hate D&D's class system, too. I've commented numerous times about how both classes and alignment are poorly constructed and unnecessarily limiting.

Yeah, Maia usually opts for the diplomatic solution and use whatever "persuade" abilities that are available. I like intimidating other people or simply killing anyone who annoys me.

[AndreaDraco]

Yeah, Maia usually opts for the diplomatic solution and use whatever "persuade" abilities that are available. I like intimidating other people or simply killing anyone who annoys me.

Why I'm not surprised?