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KOTOR 1 v. KOTOR 2 the Good, the Bad and the Kreia: The Spider

Alrighty folks, we're here at the penultimate stop. We've covered, the Good, the Bad and now it is onto arguably the most important character in both of these stories. A character who for some is the sole reason they like this game, a character who represents a step forward in terms of the evolution of not only Star Wars games but morality systems in general. The character we are of course talking about is Kreia.

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The Spider

Very well, what drives you?
Very well, what drives you?

So, how do we sum up a character like Kreia? Throughout the entire game she is shrouded in mystery, she seeming rises from the dead when we meet her and offers us some solace in her explanation of what is going on. At first the player is naturally drawn to her. As said before, she gives you direction and then helps you on your way to reconnect with the Force. You are further drawn into her web after you leave Peragus as she raises her own questions due to her relationship with Sion and at the same time offers answers as she then becomes your de facto master.

Even if you are not aware of it the game slowly but surely keeps pointing to her way to gain your power back. You'll quickly fall into the habit of after every planet going to her to see if there is anything new for her to teach you. The game rewards you for going to her and hearing what she has to say by offering you more boosts than any other character to stats, skills and the like through her lessons. Without even knowing it, the player has actually become the student of Kreia not just the Exile.

So what though? What does Kreia really offer to us that makes her that important, so important that she deserves her own section? It was very difficult to choose just part but I think that this section can provide a basis for our discussion.

and

In case you didn't watch the clips, essentially you are given a choice to either help or scare off a beggar who asks you for money. Now, here is the bit where you assume that Kreia wants you to do something and scolds you if you go a different path. However, this goes wildly different than what I expected on my first playthrough. No matter what you choose, Dark or Light, Kreia will scold you for your decision. At first this might cause some divisiveness from the player as it just seems like she's just yelling at you for the sake of it but she's not. This exchange is a microcosm for morality choices in so many games.

...those three lightsaber killed me so many times
...those three lightsaber killed me so many times

What I mean by this is in many games, you do whatever moral choice you want to, the person reacts accordingly and then thanks you, runs away from you, dies by attacking you, whatever. Here is one of the first cases where we stay with that person and see the results of our actions as something more than a gain/ loss of credits or a movement on you morality meter. You see that the Lightside way lets people not learn from their decisions as they are saved by a helpful Jedi. They have gained no new skills or drive to better themselves because they didn't do anything to get themselves out of their situation. Instead they are elevated out of their problem which inspires ire from those that were not fortunate enough to receive the same help. They did not earn it.

With the Dark side option, the person then learns they must solve their own problems but due to their circumstances that means they have to do it by any means necessary and in this case it means they must turn to crime. While yes, they have solved their current problem, they have started an all new by breaking the law, alienating another person and cycle continues.

That is the genius of Kreia. In most games, it is beaten over your head to just help people if you're going to be the good guy (or gal) but you can't see the long term effects of your actions in many cases. Or in the instance of characters, Kreia is the first character to not be easily labeled as "Dark" or "Light" side. Jolee was similar but really at the end of the day he was a Light side character, same as Carth, Bastila, Bao dur, etc. Her motives and rationale cannot be simply said to be "evil" and that is what makes her interesting. The game knows this and that is why she (and only she does this) has this conversation and others like it regardless if she is in your party or not.

In the end you are left to wonder if there is such a thing as a "right choice" and really what you end up learning is: no, there isn't. There is no such thing as you cannot know what will be the repercussions of your actions. In the end all you can do is ensure that you are acting with your own interest in mind and THAT is Kreia's true message to the player. The importance of that message is that since it is so broad it allows for so much more interpretation than the be a square or a jerk options of Light and Dark respectively.

Learning that lesson is what Kreia wants you to grasp and by doing so you end earning a variety of both Light and Dark side points as the situations change. As you do this you learn more about Kreia and her backstory of being one of Revan's teachers and her role in the Sith Triumvirate. Kreia shatters the notion that the Light side always is "good" and vice versa. The idea that one can seemingly "Dark side" things on paper but are actually for the greater good. In the black and white world of Star Wars this is extremely subversive as now it calls into question things like just how "good" the Jedi are by doing such things as allowing the Mandalorians carve their way through the Republic. How "good" are you when you hide behind ideals to prevent you from acting on something that you know you should and then condemn others for doing so?

To be honest we really could sit here for another several parts just going over every Kreia dialogue and lesson but really we would essentially be going conversation by conversation. To be honest, I feel as though this is my weakest part that I've done so far BECAUSE of how much I have to leave out for the sake of brevity. It also is something that I wrote this part in much less time than the other because of all I wanted to say. That is why I'm putting in some more videos in case some are curious as again, it would take so much more time to dissect them all.

See you folks in the finale! The story and themes.

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KOTOR 1 v. KOTOR 2 the Good, the Bad and the Kreia: the sequel

Alright so here we are again, its time to discuss the big bads, the bosses, the head honchos, big cheeses, people with exfoliating problems. You know 'em, you love 'em: the bads of KOTOR 1 and KOTOR 2! Thankfully I think this one will be a bit shorter as there are fewer people to discuss than all the party members. Alrighty then lets kick it off!

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The Bad: KOTOR 1

Now thankfully there is only one major villain in KOTOR 1. I suppose you could argue Darth Bandon and Saul Karath but come on! They are mini bosses at best. No, we are talking about the man with the durasteel jaw: Malak.

Hey.
Hey.

Now the only problem with Malak is that the game constantly undermines him. In the beginning you get some some decent menace from him as he and his Sith fleet are orbiting Taris. He stands all cool, back to the camera giving out his orders and the Saul does a good job at showing he's afraid of him. His icy voice gives him a certain presence that made him memorable coupled look and stature (he's tall). After he gives the order to wipe out the planet you're like, "Oh man, we got some stakes here!" However as the game progresses, it makes Malak less and less intimidating.

Ha! That'll show him!
Ha! That'll show him!

The first thing is when you learn that between Revan and Malak he was number two. Okay then, so where this Revan guy I'll be fighting? Oh, he's dead (allegedly). How did he die? Oh Malak just had his ships fire on Revan's when it was being attacked by Jedi. Moving past how that's stupid and and instead they could have captured the Jedi and turn them and then use them against the Order would've been a better idea that I literally just thought of, we get a big bad who is too much of a wimp to actually fight his master and instead kills him from miles away (allegedly). Keep in mind the idea of turning people is something that the game uses a lot (hell, that's the twist!) so I'm not really nitpicking. I'm sorry but that's not how you build up a villain, it makes him seem weak not some monolith that you wonder how you could ever beat him.

With that Malak slowly dissipates as a threat as his apprentice gets destroyed by you and every other plan he comes up with fails. KOTOR 2 avoids this problem by actually making your success part of the story and not making the actual Sith lords hound you as much as Malak does. After you find out you're Revan, it further undermines him as you realize he was YOUR apprentice. Well then, are there any other incredibly embarrassing things about Malak you want me to know?

Yeah, it's funny I know but it makes Malak comical now. After that he tries to be intimidating by shocking Bastila a bunch and you then seeing him without his jaw and just becomes all the more apparent how contrived it is. The game never mentions how he received his injury and so it just becomes a clear attempt to make him seem like Darth Vader. Even his own boss fight undermines him because as soon as you start to beat him he just sucks the life out of the pod people and goes back to full health. NIce.

Really? You know if anyone was built up as a villain it was Revan, the way he is spoken about (especially by Canderous) and his military genius; it makes HIM seem like some monster you have to overcome. Nope, you're him and the game doesn't really show you/ give you the opportunity to be the "genius" Revan was said to be.

The Bad: KOTOR 2

Now KOTOR 2, THERE are some villains that not only intimidating but built up well and given enough time to be a sinister presence that hangs over the entire game. The first you're introduced to is Sion, an absolutely delicious character in all that he is. He hits all the important points at first. His voice appearance, and his introduction. You see the ship the eerily Harbinger floating towards Peragus and get a cutscene with this:

Great...
Great...

You enter the Harbinger only to find bodies everywhere and power shorted out. You find out then the crew picked up you and some husk of a corpse out in space. That husk is put in a bacta tank and eventually breaks out. As you piece it all together you start making your way through the ship and are greeted with this:

That's how you introduce a villain. You show the player the power of their adversary. You set up an interest in them. Why does he look like that? What's going on between him and Kreia? Why is he after me? All these questions come at you as you make your escape. Sion also has doesn't fall into the habit of many villains of, "I'll get you next time!" by not chasing you through the game. He shows up one more time before Malachor V on Korriban where THROUGH GAMEPLAY the game shows you how much of a monster he is. You beat him down and he just literally wills himself back to life. You then have to run from the fight so you can figure out a way to beat him.

Later on you learn more about him and specifically why he looks the way he does. The way he has engrossed himself so much in the Dark side that it has scarred him beyond all recognition and keeps him in constant agonizing pain. However the irony is that it is the only thing keeping him alive and he can't find it within himself to just die. He is too fueled by his own hatred and anger to just let go. He also develops an interesting relationship with the Female Exile as he falls in love with her as she has lived without the force and is stronger for it whereas he relies on it to simply live. He loves you for being everything he is not and in the end dies because from confiding in you and that gives him the peace to finally let go.

Noises!
Noises!

On the opposite end of the spectrum we have out poster boy: Darth Nihilus. Nihilus is a different entity than Sion as he is much more in the background throughout the game. Despite that he also generates so much interest as he is much more of an enigma that Sion is. The game does a great job at introducing him as you see his disheveled ship floating through the vacuum of space (You later learn that the ship is a relic of Malachor V that he is literally holding together by sheer will). Nihilus is very much a character that lets the player think about him as the game is very careful about what it tells you about him. The one thing that is certain though is his strength. He is said to have destroyed world by himself and what is left over is a husk of a planet devoid of all life.

You first learn of him after meeting Visas and she gives you the lowdown on him.

Nihilus is very much a character that doesn't do a lot but carries a presence throughout the game, this overhanging threat that is the reason the Jedi have gone into hiding. The way people fear him and speak of him in hushed tones give him all the character he needs and the times when you do see him he speaks in this garbled voice that makes him seem alien, different than anything you come across. He is not necessarily evil but an almost embodiment of hunger that must feed on whatever it can. He consumes him so much that Visas thinks that he actually consumed himself and used the Force to actually bind his consciousness to his armor. While his boss fight is a little underwhelming, partially from the combat in this game not exactly being the best, the build up he receives makes him a memorable villain. Plus that mask is pretty dope.

Well, it worked for me...Wait...no it didn't
Well, it worked for me...Wait...no it didn't

As I mentioned earlier KOTO 2 avoids making its villains seem incompetent by not making them chase you from level to level. In KOTOR 1 Malak's plans are focused on stopping you from hiring different people, sending apprentice and eventually sending Saul to stop you. You beat him every time and it makes him seem like he can't do anything. His only success is capturing Bastila but that is because she goes all Trask Ulgo on him and locks the door behind her. In KOTOR 2 the villains are different on each planet and the threat of the Sith just hangs over the proceedings.

Honorable Mention

I'm good, I swear
I'm good, I swear

Atris is a character is also partly the poster child for the game (she's on the disk) and she seems to be the Light to Nihilus Dark at first glance. However, unlike Bastila, her fall to the dark side actually is foreshadowed well. Everytime time you speak with her she is filled with anger at you for everything you did during the Mandalorian wars. This is shown both in your dealings with her on Telos and then when you see a holovid of her at your trial.

She constantly throws blame at the exile despite what the other Masters think. She then shuts herself off the rest of the Jedi in a room you discover later is full of Sith Holocrons and calls herself the last Jedi despite the other Masters still being around. It is she who brings Nihilus to Telos as her falling to the Dark side and collection of holocrons end up calling out to him. She ends up being manipulated by Kreia into becoming what she hated so much but that hate is what led her to it.

Okay then so the bad is completed, now all we have left before delving into the intricacies of the story is the spider at the center of it all. The person who manipulated everything to end up as she planned it. See you folks next time!

JEEZ! Will you look at those stats?
JEEZ! Will you look at those stats?

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KOTOR 1 v. KOTOR 2 the Good, the Bad and the Kreia

That awkward moment...

Alrighty so, It's time we address the issue that either many folks already mentioned or have thought of. This of course would be that KOTOR 2 was by no exaggeration an unfinished game. I cannot think of a game that was more gutted than this game to reach its release date. You can easily find lists of all the cut content ranging from different planets, new plot points, VASTLY altering character arches (specifically when dealing with your romance option on who you did or did not pick) and so much more. Seriously though, if you are remotely interested it is worth checking out some of it.

However, many people can point at games that also had lofty ambitions that they did not reach but KOTOR 2 is different in this case. The majority of the cut content are actually still in the files of the game. There have been several "Restoration mods" that have worked to restore these into the game with varying success(I do encourage you to download them if you have it on PC) Here is the dilemma: how should we deal with this? The answer is simple: whatever was on the disk AND PLAYABLE is counted. I am not going to use any cut content as evidence to back up my claim during the following proceedings. Of course it should be known that if Obsidian was allowed to actually finish the game they wanted to, we would not be having this conversation at all as KOTOR 2 would be definitively better as opposed to the underdog that it is. Anyway though, let's kick it off! Also keep it mind there will be spoilers!

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Characters

The Good: KOTOR 1

Clockwise from top left: Bastila, Canderous, Carth, Juhani, Zaalbar, T4-M4, Mission, HK-47, Jolee
Clockwise from top left: Bastila, Canderous, Carth, Juhani, Zaalbar, T4-M4, Mission, HK-47, Jolee

Now let's be fair both games have their share of great characters. I would argue for KOTOR 2 there are only 2 really interesting characters. Yes HK-47 is very funny but he's just a killer droid not much else. Canderous is a personal favorite but I just love listening to his stories and besides, he get a whole lot better in KOTOR 2. No I would say the two best in KOTOR 1 are Juhani and Jolee. Both of them represent something very important to the evolution of not only Star Wars but games in general. Carth and Bastila aren't really worth discussing as they just aren't very interesting. Carth is always go on on about trust and how he doesn't trust you and then Bastila is constantly scolding and lecturing you about the Dark side; it's exhausting. Coupled to that, the two of them supplant you really as the main character as their needs and goals become the driving force of the game, not yours. Also worth noting that Bastila's fall to the Dark side makes NO SENSE.

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Jolee though, is an extremely important character in my opinion as he is one of the first times in any Star Wars games that you come across a character who is disillusioned with the Jedi Order and the strict adherence to the "Light Side." It raises interesting questions as his choices then imply the fact that there is so much more to the Force than those two points of view and further accentuating that the Darkside is necessarily "evil but a different point of view that gets twisted. The way of the Gray was a pretty novel idea, even now where most games with moral choices make you either a goody-two-shoes or a complete jerk. You're not evil like Darth Vader, you're a punk robbing people of lunch money. The idea of shades of gray are introduced by Jolee and then expanded upon the second game.

Fun fact: Jade Empire actually did a fairly good job of contextualizing their Dark side or "Way of the Closed Fist" much more as a "standing on your own " ideology that gets twisted.

Juhani is much more interesting as you talk to her more and more and go beyond her whole "falling to the darkside" backstory. How she was born in poverty and how the Jedi brought her in and she describes falling in love with the, as they became her saviors and were seen as almost god like to her because of that. Juhani get even more important if you choose to be a woman. Juhani is a lesbian and over the course of your adventure will fall in love with you. She then feels torn because she to fight not only her guilt for falling in love as the Order says you can't love and that makes her confront her previous fall the darkside over and over again. The only part that ruins this is that her love for you can never be reciprocated. Female Revan can only be with Carth.

The only thing I don't like about this clip is the person modded Juhani to look more stereotypically "beautiful." I don't like it one bit as the mod seems to imply that there is something wrong with how Juhani looks but I'm probably just reading into it too much.

This is how she should look. Also,
This is how she should look. Also, "I will be your doom!"

The Good: KOTOR 2

From top left: Atton, Bao dur, Mandalore, Handmaiden,Kreia,Visas,T3-M4, Mira,HK-47, G0-T0. Disciple and Hanharr not shown
From top left: Atton, Bao dur, Mandalore, Handmaiden,Kreia,Visas,T3-M4, Mira,HK-47, G0-T0. Disciple and Hanharr not shown

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KOTOR 2 on the other hand I would say at the very least three strong characters and at most six. Granted, they are not as "important" in terms of the franchise as Jolee and Juhani but they bring a lot more in terms of character development which ultimately makes them more interesting to listen to and have in the party. These characters would be Atton, Mandalore, Bao Dur, Visas, Handmaiden(Brianna) and of course, Kreia ( who's going to have her own section, she's THAT good). The others are a mixed bag, Hanharr is pretty interesting, especially his relationship with Mira but neither are all that much individually; G0-T0 is lame, interesting premise space gangster attempting to control things through economics but he's boring; Disciple is boring and HK-47 is still HK-47.

Pazaak, Republic Senate rules anyone?
Pazaak, Republic Senate rules anyone?

I'm not going to go through each of their stories as that would take too long. We can however look at their stories as a group. Each of these characters carry backstories, goals, desires, and weakness that range from more than, "Hey, do my sidequest." Atton's backstory of being a soldier for Revan and Malak and then turning into a torturer of prisoners, especially Jedi. His moment of the Force awakening in him as he killed the Jedi who did opened him to it and how he at first wanted to kill her out of hatred but in the end did it because he loved her. Powerful stuff and I'm really just skimming ONE conversation with Atton. Visas and her relationship with Darth Nihilus; being the last of kind, indoctrinated into the Dark side and trying to kill you and her relationship that develops with you. I mean, it makes a powerful statements on abusive relationships, the Force, the power of redemption, whatever you want.

Okay , okay one more, Bao dur. The strong silent type of the team and the only one to not call you "Exile." He's also the only one who shares with you the sin of Malachor V. It's clear that his respect for you is absolute and how his life has never been the same after that battle and how attempts to atone for his sins by helping the Telos Restoration project, essentially trying to do the opposite of what he did at Malachor V. "Your command echoes still General, and I obey as I did at Malachor." With Bao dur it as much if not more of what he doesn't say that speaks to the true complexities of his character but every now and then he opens up and man... I tell ya.

We can do this with everything single of those characters that I just named for KOTOR 2 (and I easily could). As I said, while Jolee and Juhani are very interesting and important characters, they're kinda it in terms of interesting in KOTOR 1. Everyone else get sort of wrapped up after their sidequest with the exception of those two. Carth and Bastila aren't really that interesting as they don't bring much to the table and actively get in the way of your story. KOTOR 2 is different in that while its characters aren't "game changers" in terms of Jolee and Juhani but the characters have so many layers to their personalities that makes you want to learn more about them and as mentioned before the actually rewards you for it! Between bonuses to skills, bonuses to defense, resistances and perhaps the most important, training them to become Jedi to strengthen your team!

Whew that was the good done and over with. This will probably be the longest section as now we just need the bad and Kreia. Hopefully I can tie up those two in one post but Kreia might need her own. Oh well. Sorry I had to cram a lot into a tiny amount of space, there are just so many characters between the two games. At least in next part we really have only four to really talk about. Alrighty see you folks in...

The Bad

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KOTOR 1 v. KOTOR 2 Part 1 Redux

Alrighty so after the misfire of old part 1 lets get down to business. Let's roll up the sleeves and get in to it. It is my mission now to convince you that KOTOR 2 is better than KOTOR 1. The lost potential bit is still my lament over no KOTOR 3 but that will be later. Anyways let's kick it off!

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The Systems

As we know both games are based off of the Dungeons and Dragons D20 system where you queue up attacks and the game is rolling the dice behind the scenes to see whether or not you hit. As you level up you gain feat and powers to augment these dice rolls for more damage, better chance to hit, chance of stun, all that jazz. In both games the combat is effectively the same. Aside from more animations in fights. The real difference comes in the implementation of skills in the game both in and out of combat.

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In KOTOR 1, skills aside from treat injury and persuade were basically useless. Treat injury increased your healing with both healing items and healing skills like Force heal. Persuade was a main character only skill which allowed you to convince people of things. These would range from bartering the price of things up or down in your favor in certain scenarios to forcing a panel of judges proclaiming you innocent even though you are clearly lying to them. Everything else served no purpose. Why pick or slice locks when you can just bash the door? Items in locked containers also could be found by just smacking it with your lightsaber. Demolitions allowed you to recover or defuse hostile mines. You could do that... or if you're like me you just switch characters to like Mission and run her into all the mines and heal her up with force heal until they have all exploded. Done. This goes with every skill, whatever options they offer can be done easier by some other obvious way. That and putting points into persuade allows you more options in dialogue and treat injury makes your heals huge. Why wouldn't you pick them?

Notice the Mark II on the side.
Notice the Mark II on the side.

KOTOR 2 greatly expanded the skills in several ways. First was through crafting. Now in KOTOR1, you could alter some of your weapons at a workbench with scopes and stocks for blasters and up to 2 crystals for a lightsaber (aside from color). KOTOR 2 increased that from 3 slot for blasters and 2 for lightsabers to 6 for blaster and 5 for for lightsaber (again color not included). This also changed for armor as all Jedi robes, among the other armors, had slots for upgrades. To add on, you could now craft upgrades for these slots that became better and better as you leveled up a particular skill. Awareness for example, gave access to a scope increasing critical hit chance and leveled up Awareness you gain the ability to create even more powerful versions.

A little hard to read but it says [Awareness] for the first option
A little hard to read but it says [Awareness] for the first option

Additionally skills unlocked different dialogue options in conversation. Were you talking with someone about a computer? Then "Computer Use" gave you an option to say something that you normally wouldn't have the option to say much like how Persuade worked in the previous game. This added interesting role-playing elements as you character would actually show the fruits of your labor in term acting like an expert whatever skill. Persuade now had to fight for points as it didn't offer any benefit other than dialogue (apparently being really good at talking does not make you good at welding)

On top of that, skill checks were much more prevalent in the KOTOR 2 as some of the best items were behind locked doors or computer locks and the like. Bashing would not work anymore to get items out of locked containers. You could do it but the item would most likely just break rendering it completely useless.

Building off both of those points, these skill checks would often play a role in the character development of your party. Almost every party member had checks in their dialogue after a certain point of talking with them. These checks weren't just there for nothing either, they would often lead to them unlocking new feats, abilities and even some would increases your own abilities such as adding your wisdom modifier to your defense or just gaining a permanent plus to chance to resist Force attacks. This leads me to my next point:

Party Interaction

In KOTOR, there were a few points (mostly in the beginning) where the party would comment on what was happening or a little skit would happen that you would sit back and listen to. Nine times out of ten they were mostly for no real purpose other than a little character development or jokes in Mission and Zaalbar's case. Not so in KOTOR 2, these were in fact some of the most important parts in the game as far as the development of not only their characters but also their fighting abilities.

That Dark side ain't THAT bad right?
That Dark side ain't THAT bad right?

KOTOR 2 added a system known only really as "Influence." Where your interactions with the character affected how they felt about you in several ways. The most obvious of which was simply agreeing with them on certain things. Others would be less obvious like helping out someone in a specific way or allowing them to do something. This would gain influence with them and open up further dialogue options. One of the main hooks of all these influence checks was that once you got enough influence with them you gained the ability to train them to become a jedi for those who weren't one already. With that they then gained the ability to use lightsabers and the force. This was very useful as you only had two character who were Jedi when you first got them. Here the game was actively rewarding you for delving into the characters' backstories.

Another cool aspect was how they would react to your actions as each character had specific like and dislikes and knowing those would help you gain influence with them. Also, they for darkside users they would begin to change their appearance as you see in the picture to reflect your own standing in the darkside. Although this wouldn't affect their personalities (Bao Dur would still be a good guy despite looking like Darth Maul) it was a very cool reward to see your choices not only manifest on yourself like in KOTOR1 but also on your party members.

For characters that you could not turn into Jedi like the famous HK-47 and T3- M4, you had to get both influence and have enough of the required skill such as Repair. These would more often than the other character net bonuses to not only you but to the party member. I don't know about you but in KOTOR 1 whenever I was walking around and the game stopped me because I hadn't talked to Carth in a while, it was super annoying. Now there is an actual reason aside from story to talk to you party members which makes you actually want to talk to them instead of the other way around.

That seems a good place to stop, I hope this seems a little more focused look at what I wanted to do originally. Thanks to everyone who responded in my first attempt at this. I just want to make remember these games and how cool they were at the time. Again, I appreciate any feedback. Next time we'll start dealing with characters a little more in depth why Atton is waaaaay better than Carth. Thanks again!

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KOTOR 1 v. KOTOR 2 Part 1 Redux

Alrighty so after the misfire of old part 1 lets get down to business. Let's roll up the sleeves and get in to it. It is my mission now to convince you that KOTOR 2 is better than KOTOR 1. The lost potential bit is still my lament over no KOTOR 3 but that will be later. Anyways let's kick it off!

No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided

The Systems

As we know both games are based off of the Dungeons and Dragons D20 system where you queue up attacks and the game is rolling the dice behind the scenes to see whether or not you hit. As you level up you gain feat and powers to augment these dice rolls for more damage, better chance to hit, chance of stun, all that jazz. In both games the combat is effectively the same. Aside from more animations in fights. The real difference comes in the implementation of skills in the game both in and out of combat.

No Caption Provided

In KOTOR 1, skills aside from treat injury and persuade were basically useless. Treat injury increased your healing with both healing items and healing skills like Force heal. Persuade was a main character only skill which allowed you to convince people of things. These would range from bartering the price of things up or down in your favor in certain scenarios to forcing a panel of judges proclaiming you innocent even though you are clearly lying to them. Everything else served no purpose. Why pick or slice locks when you can just bash the door? Items in locked containers also could be found by just smacking it with your lightsaber. Demolitions allowed you to recover or defuse hostile mines. You could do that... or if you're like me you just switch characters to like Mission and run her into all the mines and heal her up with force heal until they have all exploded. Done. This goes with every skill, whatever options they offer can be done easier by some other obvious way. That and putting points into persuade allows you more options in dialogue and treat injury makes your heals huge. Why wouldn't you pick them?

Notice the Mark II on the side.
Notice the Mark II on the side.

KOTOR 2 greatly expanded the skills in several ways. First was through crafting. Now in KOTOR1, you could alter some of your weapons at a workbench with scopes and stocks for blasters and up to 2 crystals for a lightsaber (aside from color). KOTOR 2 increased that from 3 slot for blasters and 2 for lightsabers to 6 for blaster and 5 for for lightsaber (again color not included). This also changed for armor as all Jedi robes, among the other armors, had slots for upgrades. To add on, you could now craft upgrades for these slots that became better and better as you leveled up a particular skill. Awareness for example, gave access to a scope increasing critical hit chance and leveled up Awareness you gain the ability to create even more powerful versions.

A little hard to read but it says [Awareness] for the first option
A little hard to read but it says [Awareness] for the first option

Additionally skills unlocked different dialogue options in conversation. Were you talking with someone about a computer? Then "Computer Use" gave you an option to say something that you normally wouldn't have the option to say much like how Persuade worked in the previous game. This added interesting role-playing elements as you character would actually show the fruits of your labor in term acting like an expert whatever skill. Persuade now had to fight for points as it didn't offer any benefit other than dialogue (apparently being really good at talking does not make you good at welding)

On top of that, skill checks were much more prevalent in the KOTOR 2 as some of the best items were behind locked doors or computer locks and the like. Bashing would not work anymore to get items out of locked containers. You could do it but the item would most likely just break rendering it completely useless.

Building off both of those points, these skill checks would often play a role in the character development of your party. Almost every party member had checks in their dialogue after a certain point of talking with them. These checks weren't just there for nothing either, they would often lead to them unlocking new feats, abilities and even some would increases your own abilities such as adding your wisdom modifier to your defense or just gaining a permanent plus to chance to resist Force attacks. This leads me to my next point:

Party Interaction

In KOTOR, there were a few points (mostly in the beginning) where the party would comment on what was happening or a little skit would happen that you would sit back and listen to. Nine times out of ten they were mostly for no real purpose other than a little character development or jokes in Mission and Zaalbar's case. Not so in KOTOR 2, these were in fact some of the most important parts in the game as far as the development of not only their characters but also their fighting abilities.

That Dark side ain't THAT bad right?
That Dark side ain't THAT bad right?

KOTOR 2 added a system known only really as "Influence." Where your interactions with the character affected how they felt about you in several ways. The most obvious of which was simply agreeing with them on certain things. Others would be less obvious like helping out someone in a specific way or allowing them to do something. This would gain influence with them and open up further dialogue options. One of the main hooks of all these influence checks was that once you got enough influence with them you gained the ability to train them to become a jedi for those who weren't one already. With that they then gained the ability to use lightsabers and the force. This was very useful as you only had two character who were Jedi when you first got them. Here the game was actively rewarding you for delving into the characters' backstories.

Another cool aspect was how they would react to your actions as each character had specific like and dislikes and knowing those would help you gain influence with them. Also, they for darkside users they would begin to change their appearance as you see in the picture to reflect your own standing in the darkside. Although this wouldn't affect their personalities (Bao Dur would still be a good guy despite looking like Darth Maul) it was a very cool reward to see your choices not only manifest on yourself like in KOTOR1 but also on your party members.

For characters that you could not turn into Jedi like the famous HK-47 and T3- M4, you had to get both influence and have enough of the required skill such as Repair. These would more often than the other character net bonuses to not only you but to the party member. I don't know about you but in KOTOR 1 whenever I was walking around and the game stopped me because I hadn't talked to Carth in a while, it was super annoying. Now there is an actual reason aside from story to talk to you party members which makes you actually want to talk to them instead of the other way around.

That seems a good place to stop, I hope this seems a little more focused look at what I wanted to do originally. Thanks to everyone who responded in my first attempt at this. I just want to make remember these games and how cool they were at the time. Again, I appreciate any feedback. Next time we'll start dealing with characters a little more in depth and why Atton is waaaaay better than Carth. Thanks again!

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Lost Potential: A KOTOR Retrospective.

Hey folks, my name is Drew and I love Star Wars. Now of course I suppose this doesn't seem like much of a shock nor much of a confession. I mean, Star Wars is a phenomenon. It is a staple of our culture, or even our fabric of who we are as people since where is was drawn from dates back to the earliest of our stories regardless of place and time.

That being said I wanted to just write down something that has bother me for years that specifically deals with a topic we all know and love: vidja games! Now for me, the culmination of this is the Knights of the Old Republic or "KOTOR" franchise. I have always loved these games and as a result it pains me to admit that there will never be a KOTOR 3. I'm getting ahead of myself though, before I get to that I also have wanted to make the point that I have argued with friends for years now. Namely that KOTOR 2 is better that KOTOR 1.

Knight of the Old Republic

Hey you got an award to give out? Yeah, I'll just be taking that.
Hey you got an award to give out? Yeah, I'll just be taking that.

Now to begin we first have to look at KOTOR 1 as maybe some of you have not played it. Essentially, KOTOR kicked off a new era in the Star Wars timeline. The story takes place thousands of years before the events of the original films and thus is held down by the weight it would endure if it were closely tied to them. You star as (FIll in Blank here), a lady or man who is stationed on the ship the Endar Spire as it is being attack the the bad guys of the series: the Sith. Why are you here? You find out that you were a last minute addition to the crew as a request from the Jedi. Interesting... but I digress. The lowdown is that the Sith want a certain jedi by the name of Bastila Shan who basically has the power to shift the morale of armies on a grand scale and thus turn the tide of the battle: causing the enemies to make mistakes and her side to have the ability to take advantage of it.

Ladies...
Ladies...

With that one can imagine that the Sith don't want her around and thus try and kill her off. So you fight through the ship and meet up with you first real party member: Carth Onasi. Carth is also your potential love interest if you are a lady but that's beside the point. You crash land on the nearby planet of Taris and eventually discover that Bastila also crash landed but has been capture by some gang members. However through your daring actions you save her and get off the planet before it is razed from space by the main antagonist of the game: Darth Malak.

Ladies...?
Ladies...?

After that you are brought by Bastila to the planet of Dantooine where you are trained the force at the Jedi academy. Although apprehensive at first you agree to the training and quickly learn everything you need to know to become a Padawan or entry level jedi. This is of course surprising to everyone as the game mentions that you have accomplished in weeks what many could not do in years. You just go, "Eh, it's a game; they have to make moves." With that, you start on your quest to find out how Darth Malak was able to create such a large army and fleet so quickly.

Sup.
Sup.

You see, what happened (to make a long story short) the Mandalorians (Boba Fett's people) invaded the worlds under the protection of the Republic (Space UN). The Republic started the lose the war and some jedi felt that they should take a more "lightsabers on approach." However, there was this big controversy as the Jedi Masters forbid any from joining the war because of what war can do to jedis (make them turn to the Darkside). However, Malak and his pal Revan joined the war effort and fought back the Mandalorians. The enigmatic Revan (always seen armor) was the clearly the superior of the two and after the war they became Master and apprentice down in Darkside junction. They in turn invaded the Republic a few years later with a monstrous fleet. However the Jedi attempted to assassinate Revan but were thwarted when they boarded his ship because Malak had his ships fire on Revan's! What a jerk! With Revan presumed dead, Malak took over fully and continued the invasion.

As I said, your quest is to retrace their steps to find out how Revan and Malak were able to invade the Republic with all their swag new ships. So you bounce around different planets finding traces of where the two of them were in hopes of finding out their secret and hopefully stopping Malak from taking over the Republic.

With that, the story is set for the adventure. Our next spot will be going more in depth into our colorful cast of characters in Part 2!

P.S.

Whew! this was my first time ever doing something like this. I don't know if anyone will read this, if so, thanks! If not... oh well. This look back this is definitely for me as I get to look back on two of of my favorite games and what express they mean to me. Anyway, thanks and may the force be with you.

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