Kotaku 
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Denver, 10:40 PM
Fri Nov 27
35 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/30/09
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09/30/09
NWN2 was also Obsidian.
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They even coded an entirely new planet that that was scrapped to meet deadline...
09/30/09
I think KOTOR 1 is by far the superior game, and not just because it's more polished, but because there are some fundamental problems I have with KOTOR 2's game design.
First: KOTOR 2 basically retcons everything that happened in the first game.
"Hey didn't Revan save the galaxy?"
"No"
"Oh, right, I must have remembered the most important events and the bloodiest war of the past century incorrectly even though they only happened several years ago."
Second: There are multiple HK robots. It's almost as if Obsidian were sitting around a table talking game design when one said, "oh, hey, this character is unique and interesting! Let's make a bunch of him!"
Third: The character influence system is completely broken, and getting it to work correctly would have taken more time than a few months. For example, I influenced a dark side character to 100% light side, and she still suggested I blow up a room full of people. Writing a large number of detailed dialogs based on influence and good/evil levels for each character in every situation is nearly impossible.
Fourth: Repeated locations are boring.
Fifth: Plot. Had Obsidian gotten the chance to actually finish their game, the plot would still have sucked. What the hell is a wound in the force? It doesn't make sense.
Sixth: Psuedo-philosphy and Kreia's bullshit doesn't cut it for me. Some of what Kreia said was interesting, but most of it was drivel that sounded deep followed by the screen fading to black. This is something I especially want to point out, since a lot of fans of KOTOR 2 claim that it's a deeper game than KOTOR 1 and goes into the nature of good and evil and whatnot. This bothers me, since KOTOR 1 has some depth to it, it just doesn't have characters who go around shouting about philosophy. For example; the twist introduces a slew of interesting ideas about identity and what makes us who we are.
Seventh: You can't get to know characters unless you share alignment with them early in the game and gain high influence. It's almost as if the game is trying to hide its only saving grace, its characters, from the player.
Last and most important: KOTOR 2 does not feel like Star Wars. While KOTOR 1 captured the spirit of Star Wars perfectly, KOTOR 2 misses the point by taking itself way too seriously.
As an aside (and not you, @jargy1, since you said you loved Bioware) I've seen a number of comments about how much better Obsidian is than Bioware and I have to wonder why people say this. Obsidian has only made NWN2 and KOTOR 2. Both of which were not that great. Black Isle made some good games, but the best games they worked on were the Baldur's Gate series which they only helped out on, and were actually made by Bioware. What has Obsidian made to convince so many people they're the best RPG developer?
09/30/09
Actually, Jolee Bindo filled in that "philosopher" role a bit. He was very much a "grey" character. Which was pretty cool; except that you can't be one too.
#7 - This kind of annoyed me too. I did like the idea of the influence system, but I hate being denied the ability to interact with the other characters in the game.
Basically I thought KOTOR2 has some great new ideas for the game, but they were incredibly unpolished. Which is a real shame.
My idea of Obsidian has always been that they just rip-off Bioware (like with Alpha Protocol...which is just looks like a modern day Mass Effect with spies...though don't get me wrong, I DO want to play it). They make improvements to the system, certainly; but they don't have the writing power that Bioware has.
09/30/09
Even though it wasn't finished and wasn't nearly as good as the first, I still really liked it.
09/30/09
Despite all that, I am very eager to play the game as it was originally intended. I'll give it a download and try it out soon.
09/30/09
I've been following this project for the last few years and the teases have been nerve shredding.
For all that though, I feel that KOTORII is not a bad game. Yes it ends suddenly, and some plot points were never resolved, but it did have a far more complex plot than KOTORI.
I do feel that Obsidian are getting a bit of the short end of the stick though, as it is fairly commonly known that the early release of KOTORII was mainly down to the then-head of Lucasarts, a man who was also credited with many of the misfires of the last decade (apologies but his name escapes me)
Give the Obsidian team credit for at least including the majority of the incomplete elements of the game on the cd's for the pc version.
09/30/09
If someone asks you to drive fast and you have an accident it's nobody's fault but your own.
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I wouldn't have cared if they waited a year and gotten it right. I would've STILL BOUGHT IT TWICE. Once for Xbox and then later for PC. This was just a joke.
Playable yes, interesting yes, but half assed. Why not wait for Bioware to do it right? Since I still go back to KOTOR every now and then, thats how good it is.
Besides, this game had more holes then a freaking colander. What happened? And why is KOTOR III non existant, because money grubbing overlords should know, half the world would probably buy it just for the story...
09/30/09
I bought it twice.
Because there was some stupid "play the game X long and everything glitches up" bug on mine, so I had to get a new one.
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It'd be a shame for their work to go out the window with this though.
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09/30/09
You are blaming the game for you not knowing that this was a flipping RPG?
Worst. Human. Ever.
Seriously, you can't call it a terrible game because it wasn't a shooter... That likes firing up Uno and calling it the worst card game ever because you expected it to be Geometry Wars.
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Maybe you should shy away from D&D-based RPGs when you're looking for shooters.
09/30/09
You haven't played many games.
09/30/09
It had a good and unique combat system, good characters, good story and it's the best game based on a movie franchise I've ever seen.
09/30/09
KoTOR II was like a swift kick in the balls after the great original experience.
How can you release half an RPG? Fuckers...
09/30/09
With all due respect to the fine folks at Obsidian, they aren't BioWare. And, it shows.
I still liked Knights of the Old Republic II, just not as much as its predecessor.
09/30/09
09/30/09
I wasn't in love with the fact that everyone in your party that wasn't a robot or a wookie was force sensitive.
Atton was much better than Carth, though.
09/30/09
I wonder how many Dark Side points that'll net me.
09/30/09
Looks like 3 points. It would have been more, but you aren't inflicting the actual pain and suffering.
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Keeps everyone fresh.
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