This "review" of Knights of The Old Republic 2 is something I've been working on some time now, KOTOR 2 is part of my ever expanding list of favorite games and also one of my favorite pieces from the Star Wars setting.
I have never been a fan of Star Wars in the same way that other people are, in the sense that I'm not really into the movies as much as everyone else is, but I've always loved the elements of the series, things like the Force, the space ships, the lightsabers and lightsaber fights (mostly the lightsabers), which looked like the coolest thing ever to my then childish eyes.
As the years went by my interest on anything Star Wars related slowly died, but a couple of years ago I discovered that the KOTOR series existed and so I started playing the games.
I liked the first one, it's exactly what you would expect from a Star Wars game, an adventure just like that of the characters from the movie. Become a Jedi, get a blade that emits light, fight some evil guys and save the galaxy!
KOTOR 2 on the other hand, Is not just your typical star wars adventure.
While the original Knights of the Old Republic was developed by Bioware, the sequel was done by Obsidian the fathers of the Fallout series, technically that is.
Let me start by saying that, because of the short amount of time Obsidian had to make a sequel to KOTOR, there are a lot of bugs in this game which can make it unplayable. Fortunately for everyone wanting to play this thing there is a fan-made patch which not only fixes several of the bugs in the game but also restores some of the cut content.
In that way this game is just like Fallout 2, a game filled with a lot of bugs and cut content that was restored thanks to the work of some people dedicating their times to fix and restore what they could.
It's thanks to the beautiful people responsible for The Sith Lords Restoration Patch that we can all play this.
Nowadays said restoration patch is an essential thing in order to play the game simply because it makes it playable. Mind you, there's still bugs, but they're not that noticeable.
The game itself is divisive though, I'm pretty sure there's just as many people who like it as there is people who don't.
The reason behind this doesn't seem to be gameplay or the bugs (usually), the original KOTOR had some bugs too, less than KOTOR 2 did, and most people who played this one had already played the first game so they knew that they were getting into "d20 Star Wars RPG"
I think that the biggest reason as to why a lot of people don't really like it is because KOTOR 2 isn't really so much a Star Wars game as it is a critique of Star Wars.
An element that is really prominent in all of star wars media is criticism, either of the force itself, jedi, sith, etc. It's usually a small part of the series and when it happens it's not the most important part of it, the difference here is that none of them had done so in the same level that this game does.
KOTOR 2 is not a Star Wars game, it's a game that critiques the Star Wars series through the characters and locations it presents.
Most of the criticism is brought to you by the not-so mysterious character of Kreia, who acts as a master to the player character and is an extremely important part of the plot, and even though criticism to anything Star Wars can be found everywhere in this game, Kreia is criticism incarnate.
Here are some examples of Kreia being... well, her:
She also acts as the person that makes or breaks the game for most folks. Since she's the lady that is always with the party it's normal to be annoyed at her constant interruptions at first, it also doesn't help that she's a difficult companion to get along with which further infuriates anyone who plays this for the first time.
More on this Kreia person later, let me talk about the game itself now.
Despite the several different bugs that plague the game, this is an improvement over KOTOR 1, with several quality of life upgrades on the system, scratch that, the entire game.
First of all, the visuals. There's is a similarity between the HUD of the first and second game, but the differences are big enough that it has moments were you feel that you're playing something else.
My personal favorites are the combat animations; This game is like Bioware's Dragon Age, you move around a little in battle and your party fights on its own, you're technically watching a battle unfold with some small interruptions on your part (depending on how big the difference of strength is between your party and the enemy)
It may sound boring, and it sometimes is, but the work on the animations makes the battles feel alive.
It's very different from KOTOR 1's animations which were just... animations. Your character gets hit, then hits the enemy, sometimes dodges... pretty basic.
Immediately, as you start to play, you'll notice the difference. The animations have more energy, more oomph behind them, your party members jump, crouch, deflect attacks, etc. Everyone feels alive this time around.
Just so that you can get an idea of what I'm talking about, there's a part of the game that has some optional battles were you have to fight first without any weapons. The hand-to-hand animations were just gorgeous.
If I had any .gifs of combat you too would be satisfied with those animations!
That is not to say KOTOR 1's animations aren't any good, they just don't have the same life that the ones in KOTOR 2.
Another thing that changed this time around was force powers. Like in KOTOR 1 you get force powers but this time you get them as soon as you start playing. I think this one pleases the munchkins more, because they can optimize their main character faster.
The downside this time is that almost every companion can get force powers... but you first have to go through some loops.
Even though the level cap was raised so that "oh no i didn't pick the right powers, what do?" is no longer really an issue, you can mess up your companions by giving them access to the force around the same time that the endgame begins. At that moment you don't have any chance of them getting more powers because you just can't get the XP required.
...This isn't a big deal, it's not like force powers are the only thing making companions useful and capable of standing their own in a fight, but they do let them become even better.
That. Brings me to the other point, companions. This game has a lot of them, wouldn't be Star Wars without a crew to go in an adventure with.
Don't expect this crew to be like the one from Mass Effect or from KOTOR 1, these guys are all here for one reason and it isn't "let's be friends with everyone". Depending on the type of person you are, this can either be a good or bad thing.
I don't really mind it, but that's because they're different enough that whenever they argue it just compliments their personalities. I do wish they would get along better, but at least they tolerate each other.
There's also two gender specific companions: The handmaiden (for male characters) and the disciple (for female characters). You'll meet them both in your adventures regardless of gender but they'll only join depending on that.
The Handmaiden. There's no picture of the Disciple for you because he sucks.
Everyone seems to love the Handmaiden but everyone hates the Disciple. Something to do with her having an actual backstory and with the Disciple existing only to lick the feet of the Jedi every moment he gets.
There's also another two companions that join your party depending on your character's alignment. Although I'm not sure if it depends on your character's alignment at the moment you meet them or if depends on the actions you took during a certain main quest...
After the companions comes the most important part of the whole game. The story, a little deeper than the first game's own story and also different from most Star War stories.
You're still fighting evil monks with telekinetic powers yes, but there's another part to your entire mission.
The most interesting part of the story this time is the main character (that's you). You see, there's a mystery surrounding you! Your character is an Exile from the Jedi Order and someone who has cut themselves from the Force.
The mystery of the game revolves around understanding why exactly is it that you were exiled. But it's also about stopping the Sith, who just arrived in order to kick the collective asses of the Republic.
The reason for your character's exile sounds obvious at first, believe me it does, but then it turns out there's more behind it...
I mean, I know what happened, I've finished this game a couple of times now... but do you really want me to tell you?
The story of the game is what makes so many people like it. It's also deep, in the sense that you have to keep attention in order to get everything that is going on or you'll get lost in the middle (like me).
I could explain it to you... but then what's the point of playing?
I'll say that it's interesting enough to keep you playing and even though there's an extremely obvious plot twist at some point it's not even a twist of the main part plot.
For all those of you who are actually interested on the story and want me to say something, I'll just say this: The plot is you.
The character I talked about before, Kreia, may also appear to be the most important part of the plot.
That's... true? She's very important to the plot of the story but even she does her things because the player is the most important person to her, at least she says so.
Even the Jedi Masters are at least interested on the exile, with the whole "we exiled you but we didn't tell you why" thing.
Let me just end this whole thing by saying that I can and will possibly recommend this to someone, but it would probably be someone I've been friends with for a while, a person that I know would enjoy it.
I can't just recommend it to everyone that wants a game simply because of the RPG elements and because of the story going on with it. Nowadays everyone says that a story is just as important as the gameplay, and I agree, but I feel like it's just not something that everyone will enjoy.
That's why I said it's divisive, half of the world loves both this game and Kreia, and all the things she says, and the other half simply doesn't.
All I can say is, If you're looking for something to sink some time in, and maybe get an interesting little story, then go ahead and try it out. Fair warning, it's a sequel so you'll probably have to play the first KOTOR if you want to understand everything.
Anyway, i've probably wasted enough of your time already with my rambling so I'll end this here.
If you've made it this far then thanks for reading all of it. Remember to stay safe everyone!
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