Knights of the old republic II: worth playing?

[Aris Khandr]

For me, KotOR II was nothing short of awful. I played it twice, and am still not sure what happened at the end. It was just suddenly... done. I feel so strongly on this point that I refuse to even look at TOR, as I demand a proper release of KotOR II first.

 

[SonicWaffle]

The sequel makes vague references to the first game, yet nothing truly carries over.

Bwahahaha. See, this is the kind of view you end up with when you only play a 40+ hour game for 30 minutes; entirely incorrect

Aside from encountering (and in several cases even recruiting) party members from previous games, you get to revisit a location or two, and find out just how heavily the two stories are tied together. Revan, Malak and the Mandalorian wars are at the very centre of the plot and the main character's personality.

Oh, and where did you get the "everyone hates Revan's guts" thing from? Just about everyone I spoke to credited him with saving the galaxy and defeating Malak before disappearing.

 

[SonicWaffle]

So Ive been interested in KOTOR even though I know the twist and everything, but unfortunatley its pretty much impossible to track down for PC

If you have an Xbox 360, both KoTOR games are backwards compatible. If you're determined to use the PC; [link]http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/106528/Star-Wars-Knights-Of-The-Old-Republic/Product.html?ptsl=1&ob=Price&fb=0&searchstring=knights+of+the+old+republic&searchtype=gameall&searchsource=0&urlrefer=search&strefer=gameall&searchfilters=s%7bknights+of+the+old+republic%7d%2bc%7b362%7d%2b[/link]

so basically Without playing the first one is it worht playing number 2? I get the impression that its more of a sad case of "what could have been" aparantly the ending is a little wtf and that kind of thing, in any case mabye I should avoid it

It's a great game. The characters are more rounded, the story more interesting, and it lacks the originals horribly obvious plot twist that you can see coming from the first five minutes. Both games are brilliant in their way - I prefer many of the locations from the original to the sequel, for example - but both are well worth the price of purchase.

 

[Sovereignty]

I don't know about skipping number one...

Most of the OMG this is awesome factor of II was how it had improved on some of the stuff from I, plus the fact that you saw so many characters you knew from before!

They are technically stand alone stories, and the fact you're interested means if you listen to the dialogue/read everything you'll understand just what happened.

But two was far more potent simply because I had seen what brought the story to where it was first hand.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

As others have mentioned above, KotOR is available on Steam for not very much and is frequently offered on sale. It is a brilliant game with a brilliant BioWare story. KotORII is a much better game but at release suffered from many bugs, half-cut content and the ending (as others have described) is quite abrupt. Still, 2 took the good stuff from 1 and made them better. The customisation, choice making, gear/crystals, weapons, jedi abilities and skills, etc, etc.

Despite the faults, I've replayed it several times and will again several more in time I'm sure. The role playing, the combat and gameplay are superb. BioWare forgot that it can be fun to gear up the team with all the cool armours and weapons available when they made ME2 (or even JE for that matter!). They story is equally epic and it's truly a gaming tragedy that Lucasarts forced Obsidian to release it when they did. What was the damned hurry? So it doesn't make a release window, so what? Better to release it months or a year later and release a much better, finished, polished product. I don't know why Obsidian got their reputation when it's Lucasarts' fault.

Some fans formed a group called Team Gizka and were determined to restore as much of the cut content and fix bugs as they could. It promised a lot and ultimately KotORII would become as close to what it coulda/shoulda/woulda been had they more time originally. TSL Restoration Project went on for years and if you search other forums' threads was, possibly handled even worse than the original game's release. Development went on for years with little news or end in sight. Meanwhile, other fans did finally make a restoration mod called TSL: Restored Content Mod (available here [http://knightsoftheoldrepublic.filefront.com/file/TSL_Restored_Content_Mod;111657]. If you're playing it now, definitely install that mod at least. It's well worth it and you have no idea how lucky you are that you can play it for the first time with this mod. I'm very jealous that you have that chance but I'm sure I'll enjoy my next replay in the future almost as much. If you're so inclined you'll enjoy a replay as opposite gender, light/dark side, class as well. And check out some other fun mods on that site linked above, there are some extremely cool ones on there.

 

[viranimus]

Unless im mistaken.. I find it humorous to be getting recommendations of where to find KOTOR from the US and UK... when unless I miss my guess, the OP hails from the merry ole land of Aus.

Might be wrong, but if Im right, it might explain the difficulties involved.

 

[Yassen]

It's funny this came up because I started playing KotOR 2 again just recently for the first time in years. I finally got a proper PC that can run games and I got KotOR 2 for PC ages ago but now I can finally play it. I installed the restoration mod v1.7 and let me say that you should seriously get it for PC and install that mod.

But about your question, no you don't need to play it. The first time I played it on xbox all those years ago I never played the first. I could still understand what was going on but after playing KotOR 1 I did actually make connections and understandings I didn't before.

So is it necessary? Not really, should you still do it? I'd recommend doing 1 first then doing 2 with the restoration mod.

 

[Vault101]

Unless im mistaken.. I find it humorous to be getting recommendations of where to find KOTOR from the US and UK... when unless I miss my guess, the OP hails from the merry ole land of Aus.

Might be wrong, but if Im right, it might explain the difficulties involved.

Bingo! yeah my internet situation is less that perfect (thats why Im such an anit-online crusader) but anyway I just found it weird that KOTOR2 was showing up in EB games, but not the first one, it was tempting since I love Bioware, anyway I'm not sure if ill be able to find a copy now but yeah I was just seeing

 

[The Madman]

Replayed Kotor 2 just recently actually with the Restored Content Mod installed and really, really enjoyed it! I think with this mod installed, it's a more compelling experience than the first game in a number of ways. That said however you probably shouldn't skip straight to the second, you CAN, certainly, but while the main story of both games aren't actually intertwined there is a fair bit of crossover you wouldn't understand without having played the first game. Plus Kotor 1 is just a solid, fun experience. It really is!

Still, Kotor 2 with the TSLRCM mod is just bloody fantastic. I especially enjoy how it's possible to have such an effect not just on the story, but the characters around you. Having played the original Kotor a number of times, it's a damned fine experience but it's also a bit of a one-trick pony. It has one trick up its sleeve, and while it's a damned amazing trick I hope hasn't been spoiled for you if you've never played the game, it doesn't exactly extend itself to very many replays. Kotor 2 however has entire characters, zones, subplots, skills, dialogues, all sorts of things which depend entirely upon the player to seek out and enjoy, not only that, but to even shape.

Kotor 2 is still rough, even with the mod. One character for example vanishes mysteriously near the end of the game and a bit of research indicates something was meant to happen to him in a piece of content not yet implemented because of its size and scope (An entire planet which was cut from the game, though modders are already hard at work on re-implementing it!), but for the most part it's a complete experience. Probably why that single character's disappearance stands out so much now! I even *gasp* understand the story now. Fully. And you know what? It's great! As others have mentioned the gameplay itself is also a lot more solid in Kotor 2 than it was in the first. A dual-blaster wielding jedi trained in the right skills is absolutely vicious, as are many other combinations not really feasible in the first game where if you didn't have a lightsaber, you were toast!

So give it a shot. And here's a link to the mod! Enjoy!

 

[viranimus]

Seeings how its relatively on topic, I will inquire. I know Windows 7 doesnt exactly like KoTOR. I dont know how the steam version runs, but I know the disc version takes some tinkering to keep it stable.

This mention about the restoration mod has piqued my interest. So how does KoTOR2 run on win7? Anyone know?

OT: Hrm... I cant help but to wonder.. We know that jedi/sith have the ability to force control objects via telekinesis. Why is it weve never seen a jedi using that power to wield extra weapons. As far as I know, Ive never seen it done in the films or in the games, but how badass would that be to walk into conflict and turn all Kali on someone sporting a light saber in each hand and controlling four floating ones.

 

[Trolldor]

So Ive been interested in KOTOR even though I know the twist and everything, but unfortunatley its pretty much impossible to track down for PC

however for some reason Ive come across KOTOR 2 quite a few times

so basically Without playing the first one is it worht playing number 2? I get the impression that its more of a sad case of "what could have been" aparantly the ending is a little wtf and that kind of thing, in any case mabye I should avoid it

how ever I am sort of interested in the old republic MMO (even thogh by principle I dontlike MMO's) but it certainly wouldnt feel right playing that with experiencing KOTOR

The original KOTOR is available on steam. I've plugged 30 hours in to it and crashed only once because of a mod I tried to install. I've finished it twice, one through with vanilla settings, second time with mods. Is quite fun either way.

KOTOR 2 I played first, and I can honestly say that mechanically it's a big improvement. The problem is that at one point they stopped making the game and instead just mashed whatever they could on to the end.

Still worth buying and playing though, so long as you get the fanmade patches to fix the glitches and bugs up.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

It's my favorite of the two. The game is less "good vs evil," has more moral depth and treats characters as real people. If you were annoyed by the reduction of Jedi to weird, creepy, sexless monks by the prequel movies, prepare to enjoy some excellent writing, well-developed characters and brilliant gameplay.

The bugs suck, but they aren't much worse than those in the original game (at least not on xbox). KotoR 2 feels a little unfinished, but it was REALLY rushed. The PC version has some mods that restore cut content, and it's impressive how much was in there but was cut because of time/money constraints.

 

[Bobzer77]

Buy KOTOR here : http://store.steampowered.com/app/32370/?snr=1_7_suggest__13

Quick, easy, ?9, immediate download, definitely worth it.

 

[endnuen]

One of the best sci-fi rpgs out there.

 

[smartalec]

If you're not sure about playing it after all, there's always a Lets Play of the game, which is a pretty in-depth analysis of the plot, story, characters, and the cut content too.

http://lparchive.org/Knights-of-the-Old-Republic-II/

 

[Vault101]

So Ive been interested in KOTOR even though I know the twist and everything, but unfortunatley its pretty much impossible to track down for PC

however for some reason Ive come across KOTOR 2 quite a few times

so basically Without playing the first one is it worht playing number 2? I get the impression that its more of a sad case of "what could have been" aparantly the ending is a little wtf and that kind of thing, in any case mabye I should avoid it

how ever I am sort of interested in the old republic MMO (even thogh by principle I dontlike MMO's) but it certainly wouldnt feel right playing that with experiencing KOTOR

Dude.....it's totally awesome. I found it to be a better game than the first one. Maybe not story wise but it is still badass and still Star Wars through and through.

yeah I do feel sorry for any true fans of star wars, there hasnt realy been anything good added to it for many years

 

[Hookman]

KOTOR 2 had its problems but its definetly worth playing. Its story is linked to KOTOR 1 but you dont need to have played the first game to enjoy it.