Worth buying?

theFirstPaladin · Post by **theFirstPaladin** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 9:32 pm

Hello,
veteran lurker, first-time poster

I have read that KOTOR uses the NWM engine. I found the combat in NWN a little dry and boring, but would have been tolerable if the story kept me and engaged.... which it didn't. Is the combat in KOTOR engaging? Do you basically watch your character fight a lot? Is the combat similar to NWN? Also, is the story more engaging, does it force you to make choices and such? Will I like this game if I was lukewarm about NWN?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Adm. Pellaeon · Post by **Adm. Pellaeon** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 9:56 pm

It depends on your defintion of boring. If you think that anything less than controlling your shots and blows first-hand is boring, then you'll find all RPGs dry and unexciting. Combat in RPGs is strategic, rather than tactical. You control generalities, and you have to let your characters "roll" their results without direct control from you.

Obviously, anyone who responds to this message in the Gamebanshee forum is going to come out emphatically in the positive, regardless of the current spate of bugs. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is truly an excellent game. Story-wise, this game is fantastic, and it's been declared by many reviewers to utterly surpass the plots of the two newer Star Wars movies, as well as pretty much every single other Star Wars game in extant.

You're going to watch your character fight. You can choose whether he/she takes a sniper or power shot, but whether he/she hits or misses is up to the electronic dice. If you've played RPGs before, you have to understand that this is the mechanic of the genre. You're never going to contol aiming to the degree of a First-Person Shooter (FPS). That's not the RPG experience.

As for choices, you only have to read the posts in the forum. The battle between the Light Side and the Dark Side wars within your character (as you could glean from the box), and everything you do affects your path. As for whether your choices close off whole arms of the story, no, they don't, but Bioware has made about 97.5% of the story available to each and every character (full access is dependent on certain choices).

Did you like Baldur's Gate? What about Fallout? If you didn't like the pacing, you won't like KOTOR. But if you enjoy deep and rich storylines, then Bioware games (and those of the late and lamented Black Isle) are the Be All and End All of RPGs.

theFirstPaladin · Post by **theFirstPaladin** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 10:17 pm

Thanks Admiral.

The BG and Fallout series are my favorite RPGs but NWN... not so much. I found it to be tedious what with the endless barrels and chest to look in to find.... a gold piece. I could have trudged through NWN if the story was there but... Since I've haerd that KOTOR has an excellent story, I think its a buy. Thanks Admiral.

Aegis · Post by **Aegis** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 11:39 pm

Just on a side note, NWN uses the Aurora engine, while KotOR uses the Odysessy engine (which is a tweaked version of the Aurora engine). KotOR also is much better graphic wise, and physics wise. NWN was a sham of a game, the only thing saving my review score of that particular piece being the sound, and multiplay.

fable · Post by **fable** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 11:58 pm

I'd agree with Aegis. Just about every game publication bought into Bioware's publicity for NWN, and it was the Emperor's clothes, as far as I'm concerned: there simply was little there to praise. By contrast, KotoR has quite a bit going for itself. Read down on this page's threads; someone else asked a similar question (but with different emphasis) to yours, and was given many responses about how good KotoR was.