I played Kotor briefly at release, pretty much finished it last year but I never saw Kotor 2...but now...dun dunnn.

Didn't enjoy the sequel as much as the first one. If they HD updated KOTOR for XBOX One, I would totally buy it and play it again.

I guess I gotta replay KoTOR 2, because I really don't remember that. Generally I put KoTOR 1 on the higher pedestal because the twist stuck with me, whereas I can barely remember anything from the sequel except for being pissed at the ending. In neither games do I remember finding the light/dark decisions to be interesting. I guess they tried making it more interesting with Kreia commenting on the impact of your decision with the beggar on Nar Shadaa, but I can't remember that being a common thing throughout the game.

Kreia is my favourite character in a video game ever and with the restoration mod applied, KOTOR 2 became one of the best star wars games ever. High five Austin.

I played a fairly big chunk of the first one and lots of the MMO but never did play the second game despite owning it, fixing my pc up at the moment but i can totally see myself booting this up at some point (after i complete the first one though).

KOTOR and KOTOR II are some of my favorite and most replayed games of all time. I typically don't play through games a second time, but I've played both of these at least five times, maybe more. These games are sharing hallowed ground with the likes of the first Dark Souls, PoP: Sands of Time, and Ocarina with that play count.

I've always, always preferred KOTOR II to the first game. KOTOR is just so typical of a Star Wars story, even if it does blow all six movies out of the water with better execution across the board. Other than the Revan twist, which I personally saw coming a mile away, it's mostly a rollicking adventure story in that same tone. Easy to understand, easy to like, but also easy to dismiss since it doesn't challenge you to think very much.

KOTOR II is something special in that regard, and I love stories that make me think more than sex. I also finish far more books than video games, so I'm the type that's very likely to forgive problems with gameplay and bugs in favor of a rocking story, and KOTOR II's story rocks my goddamn socks so far off they're floating around in space right now. I can count the number of games I've played with truly great stories (according to my pretentious, book-loving high standards) on one hand, probably, and KOTOR II is most definitely on that hand. I'm fairly certain KOTOR 1 isn't.

Danmmit, Austin. I don't have the time to play through two 30-hour RPGs right now, but I don't feel like I have a choice.

I really liked this game back when, but it has been a long time since then.

Still haven't finished KOTOR2. The game was so buggy it made me long for the polish of a Bethesda game. After twice losing hours of progress due to broken scripting that slowly snowballed in to an unfinishable mess and constantly running back and forth in dungeons to retrieve NPC companions that got stuck on every bit of geometry, I gave up on the game.

@hassun said:

This is the only bit I don't get. Their wording makes it sound as though they've incorporated the mod, so downloading it separately wouldn't be necessary, but it isn't clear enough.

I'd actually buy this if that's the case.

@geteveryone: As far as I can tell it's not incorporated automatically but because of Steam Workshop support it is no incredibly easy to add it to the game.

@hassun: A couple of clicks in Steam Workshop does it.

Too bad I'm getting sound bugs that never surfaced for me in the pre-patched game.

Does anyone know if the restored content mod people have done anything to fix/make skippable that near-impossible combat section towards the end of the game - the HK factory, I think? I played through the game with the mod installed once and just reached that point and literally could not progress any further. It's a real bummer and something people don't talk about enough with the mod, but if there's a fix for that I'd love to replay the game now. As Austin says, it's definitely the most interesting interpretation/deconstruction of the Star Wars mythos I've seen.

Awesome! The old Steam version was totally busted.

Which OS are you playing on? It was fine for me in Windows, but on Linux I get a persistent annoying hum in the prologue.

@frytup: W8.1

Same as you, an annoying background hum. Disappears when you reload a save but soon comes back - Others are reporting the same thing.

Only noticed it since the new patch.

I never finished KOTOR II because it seemed too similar to the first one. Maybe I'll finally play it now.

Picked this up on Steam some time ago. I suppose now is the best time to actually play it.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?

I've just got to Telos. I'm loving this update. Thanks for the article Austin

Has anyone tried this on a Mac? I have KOTOR I, but it runs fairly poorly on my 2013 Macbook Pro. It plays, but just doesn't seem optimized (why would it be?). The specs for KOTOR II are well below what I have, but I'm just extra cautious about games I play because this is the computer I use for work as well.

Gah, they should totally do this for KOTOR I. I would be so stoked about that...!!!

Gnashgnashgnash I hate your favorite game because it is stupid! Growlgrowlgrowl You're wrong about your favorite game because I didn't like it!

I played Knights of the Old Republic I and II around the age of fifteen. The first one was my favorite game until I finished the second, which even more than the original, floored me, not only for the better story--which really was too complex for me to get at the time, though I still loved it--but also for the enhanced gameplay (and that's a harsh reduction of why I love the game so much, but I'm going to make you read an essay on why KotOR II's so great).

Because it impacted me so deeply in the golden years of my gaming life, I still look back on the game with intense fondness. And that's why it's totally cool for me to call it one of my favorite games, even if it's brutally flawed.

All I want to know is, if you can avoid/turn down/kill Disciple? As someone who usually plays as a lady in games of this type, that character bugged the hell out of me.

Ok. I'll play them both. But if by then I don't get answers for all those things you mentioned, I'll be back, and I'll be pretty mad at you.

PS - I'll bring the puppies with me!!

Play the first one, and maybe skip the second one. You'll thank me later.

Can't even play it. Plays the intro movies then auto alt-tabs and can't get back in. If do get back in, damn mouse or keyboard won't work. Even with the restored content mod -_-

I played KOTOR but not KOTOR II. Does anyone know if the restored content mod does anything to the new updated version? I want to buy this but I'm not sure if I should mod it or if that's perhaps not necessary.

Awesome. Kotor 2 is a superior sequel...but only with the restored content mod. Glad to see a nice easy steam integrated way of applying this mod. Honestly the modding scene for this game has kind of died in the last few years since the RCM basically came to a close back in 2012. Maybe this will give it the shot in the arm it needed. Would love to see a new wave of new mods.

Seriously awesome. Amazing that the devs did this after nearly a decade.

I've never played KOTOR, only KOTOR2. I've tried but my current PC placement really doesn't allow for long RPGs or the like. I've always wanted to though.

Put about 15 hours in to this in the past two days. I have one more day off before my rotation starts again so I'm gonna crank out as much as possible. Kotor is dope.

Only complaint is that I am having some weird issues with controller support. Camera constantly making circles, some buttons mapped differently then what is displayed, and etc.

I've just decided to go M&KB. Excited to become one evil mothertrucker.

@ballsleon: I guess the game's trying to tell you.............DON'T PLAY WITH CONTROLLERS!!! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! #PCMASTERRAAAAAAAACE

I hope it works for you at some point. I'm also interested in using a controller; it's a long game, so sometimes I just wanna sit back and relax while I saunter through a poison gas-filled nightclub.

Great!

Maybe I can finally experience the Telos part of the campaign in full.

In the CD version without the restoration mod I missed out on a companion and with the mod I couldn't get past a cutscene that crashed the game.

Edit: KOTOR 1 has already been rereleased on iOS/Android in response to the other commentors

"I'm working sick from home today, so maybe it's the my foggy head talking here, but I am suddenly compelled to say this unequivocally, in no uncertain terms, once and for all: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords is my favorite video game."

You are a wonderful man Austin Walker.

It's great to see that this update calls attention to the restored content mod. It's an amazing piece of work that does so much for the game.