"Like Metal Gear Solid 2 or Dark Souls II, KOTOR II is a sequel that plays with (and often subverts) many of the assumed truths about the setting and narrative, and it uses the player's knowledge against them to surprise and teach. It forces the player to confront the sometimes uncomfortable subtext of a world where magically (and/or genetically) superior, self-appointed vigilantes are the heroes. And it does all this through a collection of characters who are deeply human, even when they are forces of alien horror. KOTOR II dramatically changed how I felt about Star Wars, and it did that without ever really giving in to nihilism. It asks us to reject the classic Jedi morality of Light and Dark, but then also insists that we build a new mode of ethical being for ourselves and our communities."
I couldn't disagree with this more. It clearly is a game that TRIES to "subvert" the established tropes of Star Wars, but it does so in a way that is hamfisted, sophomoric and not in keeping with the established universe.
It reminds me quite a bit of fanfiction that tries to be clever by "subverting" the fabric of the story itself. Oh, there's only female vampire slayers? Well I'm writing the story about the one MALE slayer. Oh, Luke is the last Jedi? Well I'M writing the story of the SECRET last one that nobody knew about. Oh Harry Potter defeated Voldemort? Well, I'm writing the story of the one GOOD person in Slythrin who actually had a big hand in defeating Voldemort that you didn't know about.
Not playing by a universe's rules isn't clever, it's a lack of wit masquerading as clever.
You make a solid point. I just happen to disagree with it. I think that characters like Kreia and Jolee Bindo show that there can be more subtlety and nuance to the silly notion of a binary Light Side and Dark Side of the Force.
Anakin's fall to the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith was hamfisted. It was like turning off a light switch. "Oh, I guess I'm dark side now, guess I'll go and murder a bunch of kids... because of my wife." "Oh, now that my wife is dead, I guess I'll scour the galaxy and murder every Jedi that I can find... because of the Dark Side." The world is not binary. People don't turn into sociopathic murderers because they love their wife, and didn't want to see her come to harm.
KOTOR 1 & 2 do such a better job of adding texture and flavor to the Jedi/Sith dichotomy than the movies ever did. So, I think that siting the "established universe" and feeling a need to follow it's very limited explanation of what The Force is, is far too narrow for the plot of something other than a 2 hour movie.
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