First Impressions...

Darth Itchy · Post by **Darth Itchy** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 4:43 pm

Alright, so we've all read the reviews from Gamespot and IGN, but what matters to me is what you guys think of the game so far. I confess I haven't picked up my copy yet, as I'm waiting to see if I get it for Christmas. However, I would love to hear any and all opinions (sans spoilers, please) of how Sith Lords turned out. Thumbs up or down, folks. What'll it be?

KrazyJedi · Post by **KrazyJedi** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:14 am

[QUOTE=Darth Itchy]Alright, so we've all read the reviews from Gamespot and IGN, but what matters to me is what you guys think of the game so far. I confess I haven't picked up my copy yet, as I'm waiting to see if I get it for Christmas. However, I would love to hear any and all opinions (sans spoilers, please) of how Sith Lords turned out. Thumbs up or down, folks. What'll it be?[/QUOTE]

I don't have it yet (and won't until at least February since I need the PC version), but from nosing around IGN I do have a few observations:

Unfortunately the designers have reverted to the tired "Jedi semi-amnesiac" opening for the main character. Granted, the rather definitive endings of KOTOR 1 make starting a sequel challenging, but come on, we did this in round 1. A little more creativity would be in order. Take some unknown, upset and angry at the destruction of his world, who falls in with the Sith and starts to become a Dark Jedi. Then tempt him to become a LIGHT Jedi (without mindwiping him in the process). We also have the "absolutely last Jedi until all the rest show up" plot. It's been done in far too many books already. Point being, at first glance there are some story elements that appear a bit too rehashed.

I like the idea that your Force Alignment is more consequential in party makeup and behavior. They become much more than merely extensions of the main character. Some won't even *join* unless you're a certain alignment - nice touch.

T3 returns and there's another wisecracking HK droid to replace the one so near and dear to our hearts. Thankfully the designers have avoided the Threepio-Artoo syndrome with these two. I hope KOTOR 2 will take T3 beyond the "key to the Sith base front door" mold he fell into in KOTOR 1.

A new character, Bao-Dur, looks like Canderous Ordo with Darth Maul's head plopped on and some computer slicing abilities added in (so much for my hope T3's lot will improve). Another newbie, Atton, sounds like a Manic-Depressive Carth with a Big Dark Secret. Maybe Malak got Revan's mind-wipe treatment this time? Kreia sounds like a cross between Bastila and Jolee. Self-absorbed, lovestruck Jedi wench with a bond (one more Force 'bond' shows up and I'm whipping out my 007 imitation, I swear) meets wise old Jedi curmudgeon.

There are a bundle of new lightsaber crystals (Good Thing) and gadgets for upgrading sabers, and new Lightsaber "Forms" or fighting styles for use in different situations. Hopefully this will help make lightsabers more than just glowing melee weapons. OTOH, it could serve to bog down combat. We'll see.

We get to see Carth's home planet, Telos, under reconstruction by the Ithorians, and Korriban apparently underwent some kind of meltdown. No more bratty Sith children running amok, but some potential hits in the continuity department. In KOTOR 1, you pretty much either wiped out the Sith Academy or you left on good terms with Uthar Wynn, who even invited you back for a Dark Side refresher course. Korriban's fate would make a bit more sense in the first case, less so in the second. I hope the game provides a satisfactory explanation either way.

Ultimately, of course, the proof is in the playing. Living up to the original is never easy and sometimes near-fatal (memories of Jedi Outcast <<shiver>>). Here's hoping the game can avoid some potential pitfalls and really make a welcome addition to the Star Wars universe.

I yield the soapbox...

fable · Post by **fable** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:00 am

Guys, could we keep this thread focused on reviews? Meaning, responses of people who have actually played the game. There have been months to comment here on what was in the game, without having tried it. Thanks.

ajdaha · Post by **ajdaha** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:33 am

What I want to know is why is this forum so quite?

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:43 am

[QUOTE=ajdaha]What I want to know is why is this forum so quite?[/QUOTE]
Well i know that Xbox players arent as eager to look things up on the internet for their game as their PC counterparts.
(i know this from a gamemagazine poll)
So i think that can be the reason.

But let's stay on topic, i'm curious how people experienced this game, compared to part one.
I hope the story is just as good or better, but i owuld love to see some more roleplaying, and a thinner line between good and evil.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:44 am

[QUOTE=ajdaha]What I want to know is why is this forum so quite?[/QUOTE]

Because many hasn't purchased SW:Kotor 2 yet

- and I'm a non X-Boxer, so I'm waiting for it to be released on PC in Denmark. And even then - I'm not 100% sure I'll rush out and buy it, untill I find out more about the game.

ajdaha · Post by **ajdaha** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 2:26 pm

Well then their dumbasses. I don't care if they don't have the money, just ask me, i'll give it to you. GO BUYYYY That GAMMME

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:23 am

Watch the language and don't insult people simply becasue they do not feel the same way about a computer game as you.

I'm uncertain of SW:KotOR 2 because of the first one, thus I'll not buy it untill I know if it is more RPGs-ish or still mearly an action game .... does that make me a "dumbass"? (No it dosen't that makes me a critical comsumer that dosen't blow his money on every hype that comes along)

supergreat · Post by **supergreat** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 11:56 am

The reason none of us have posted is cause we're too busy playing the game!

It starts out a lot slower than the original, more story and completion tasks than action. But hopefully the game will pick up as the story progresses. There are a lot of new powers and feats that are pretty cool. Hopefully there will be a lot more chances to use them.

ajdaha · Post by **ajdaha** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:51 pm

Xandar, you know I'm joking

ajdaha · Post by **ajdaha** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 1:54 pm

/Ajdaha is pointing to the 'supergreat' man at the other side of the rooooom.
"Heee, heee has the gaaaame"
Strugling to spit out his thoughts ajdaha screems in a desperate way
"Geeeeet Hieem"

darthquervo · Post by **darthquervo** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:07 pm

rock on

If you liked the style of the first game, you'll like this one even more. Its more complicated, more choices, better graphics, new aliens, new beasts, better upgrades, a new crafting section, better items. Got the picture?

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 4:15 pm

Sounds more like a publicity blurb than a review. I can't even tell from that whether you've played the game.

ajdaha · Post by **ajdaha** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 4:51 pm

What I want to know is, when your character goes evil, does he/she look like a sith. You know like the girl sith from the animated series of starwars. The one that fights anakin? Hired by Dooku? With the white face. That looked pretty cool. I wouldn't mind turning al my party members into dark jedi. Fully dark, so we look like a gangster squad of dark jedi. Also I hope that leather jedi robes are in the game, like black leather.
Tlaking about jedi though, can we persuade others to becaome jedi, from our team. Also how evil or good can a party member get, is it possible to get each one to fully evil or good. Also, once the chaacter is fully evil or good do we get the bonuses for light or dark side mastery, ie the +3 charisma if fully good conselor, etc.
I personally don't like the leveling classes proposed for Kotor II, as I felt that the first game really had hit the nail on the head with the non-jedi classes. It gave the character a bit more depth, instead of just being, a jedi! But what I really do not agree with is the going above levels of 20 even 30. Since famous role-playing characters like Yoda and Vader are all at levels 18 and 20, about, it would be just wrong if one could get to level 40 or 50. So what is the max level anyway, please tell me there is one!
Final comment. What I don't agree with in Kotor are the force powers. The D&D rules make the force seem like some sort of a arcane magicv system. Force, as I understand is not supposed to involve healing, draining life, or plaguing someone to death. The only force powers I think should vbe involved when using the force are powers like force jump, force wave, force shield. All these are physical/magical. Not like plague which cannot even be explained. How does the force cause Plague. I don't even agree with force lightning, but I suppose since its in more than one starwars film then I cannot debate its existance in the starwars universe. I think that Obsidian has walked too far down the path of D&D with Kotor. Backtrack for the next game please guys.
So anyway, if someone who has the game could answer my questions, it would be great.
pS: what kind of downloadable content is there? From Xbox Live?

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:24 pm

i just bought it, will have to wait til tonite to play it...

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:18 pm

@Ajdaha: Keep in mind, that for the KotOR games, they actually used (I and I use this term loosely) the Star Wars D20 system. So, pretty much what you see in the game, is from the book and system, adapted for a CRPG. So, Obsidian is not really taking it the 'DnD' route. It's taking the game the Star Wars D20 route.

ajdaha · Post by **ajdaha** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 12:26 pm

Well, all I can say is that its wrong to have force powers which don't make sence. I mean, as I said before, its the force. Surely the definition of the force is not 'an arcane/divine form of MAGIC'

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 2:04 pm

[QUOTE=ajdaha]Well, all I can say is that its wrong to have force powers which don't make sence. I mean, as I said before, its the force. Surely the definition of the force is not 'an arcane/divine form of MAGIC'[/QUOTE]
Actually, that is how George Lucas intended it during it's creation. It was the mystical/magical side of star wars, just not in the same guise as traditional magic.

ajdaha · Post by **ajdaha** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 2:15 pm

Really? Well thats a shame in my opinion. Maybe not in your's.

KyLewin · Post by **KyLewin** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 11:49 am

**There really aren't any spoilers here other than the first 10 minutes or so of the game, but if you don't want to even know that much, consider yourself warned**

Well, I rented the game yesterday and stayed up until almost 3 am playing it (I just couldn't bring myself to go to bed until I got off the first planet). So far, I have kind of a mixed veiw of it.
First the good, it's Knights of the Old Republic, it looks and plays pretty much just like the original. So I have to like it for that if nothing else. This odd undead Sith Lord is pretty freaky looking and seems like a bit of a bad ass. I'm also enjoying the interaction between Kreia and Atton, some of their comments to each other have been pretty funny already. I played the PC version of the original, so I don't know if the menu (character stats, inv, etc.) is different than the original on the XBox, but it's taken me a little while to get used to. The ability to change between two different weapon setups is a godsend and you can get some force powers pretty quick (thank goodness).
The things that have bugged me so far are mostly story related. In the first, your past didn't seem to have much to do with anything until you actually discovered WHAT that past was. In this one, the main character's past seems pretty key, and he knows what it is, but I have to wait for conversation options to reveal it to...er, myself. I guess there's no real way around this, it's just a little annoying. Also, the whole 'force bond' thing has come up again (pretty early in the game too). I don't know what else these jedi were doing 4,000 before the Empire, but it seems like they should have spent more time fighting the Sith and less developing special bonds with each other.
The last thing (and probably biggest) that I've disliked so far is that I'm not REVAN. I loved that guy (or girl). At the end of the original I was pretty much a jedi god, I could take anyone and anything without batting an eye, but now the whole universe hinges on the choices of some has-been? If I were the Sith I'd be worried about the former Dark Lord of the Sith and not some washed up former Jedi that can't even use force push. Now I'm sure that the designers have some reason why Revan and Bastilla (who could probably win any war the Republic needs won) aren't around and saving the day. Perhaps they didn't want to fall into the trap that the books have where the only people who do anything to save the universe have the last name of Skywalker or Solo, but I miss them so far.
Anyway, I'm sure it will be a great game and hopefully the things that I find slightly annoying so far will eventually be the things that endear the game to me. Well, now that I've whined and cried about the lack of Revan and Bas, I suppose I shall have to go play and see if I can figure out what happened to them...oh yeah and do whatever this destiny of mine is that Kreia keeps going on and on about

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