KOTOR vs KOTOR 2

[Directionless]

KOTOR 2 is what i personally want to see out of the Star Wars universe. There is moral ambiguity, and every aspect of it deconstructs the universe and questions every element of it's inhabitants beliefs.

KOTOR is everything you know about Star Wars. Black and white.

I personally prefer KOTOR 2 a great deal, because writing and roleplaying is all the KOTOR franchise has going for it; the gameplay is pretty shit. That said, there are very, very grindy areas in KOTOR 2, while there is singificantly less so in KOTOR. KOTOR felt like it was a better made game, where as KOTOR 2 is the best Star Wars writing ever on top of a grindy gameplay experience.

But, i prefer KOTOR 2.

 

[Terminal Blue]

I'm probably going to get a lot of shit for saying this, but if I'm totally honest.. The Old Republic has more shades of grey than either KOTOR or KOTOR2, because unlike any other Star Wars story I can think of it has serious cultural relativism.

But ultimately, I think the problem comes down to moral choice systems. In the films and expanded universe using the dark side is kind of like using heroin. You start using it and you feel fantastic and invincible and everything seems easier, but over time all those good feelings kind of fade away until you're just dependent on it to feel normal, at which point you become a massive douche because all you care about is your next fix. The problem with Star Wars games has always been that it's very difficult to convey any of that to the player, so we end up with this weird situation where going dark side basically means being a massive dick just for the lulz.

What KOTOR2 did really well was to provide a philosophical justification for the dark side.. and okay, it was really just the same "way of closed fist" survival of the fittest crap we've heard a thousand times in moral choice games, but it was still pretty well executed and sometimes let you see the consequences of your actions play out in interesting ways rather than just "hey, you killed that dude for money".

So yeah.. KOTOR2 has really good writing and often the story doesn't play out in a typical "Star Wars" way. At the same time though, it's quite convoluted and takes on Star Wars in quite a cerebral and heavy way, which may not appeal to everyone. KOTOR is more iconic and easier to get into, but if what annoys you about Star Wars is the mythic fantasy "heroes journey" elements you might find it a bit predictable at times.

 

[Fireaxe]

No comparison, original KOTOR.

KOTOR 2 was rushed, had a bunch of content cut, and had a couple of really infuriating bits (like when Atton, a character you probably stopped using pretty early, gets dragged into a fight with some quite difficult enemies on his own late in the game). It had a good central idea, but it really fucked up on the execution.