Ivan the Terrible

GAAAHH! Seriously, you're going to have to either edit that post or delete it, but the mods are going to come down on this hard, and I really don't want to spoil the ending for people.

Ehhh....you might want to edit most of that out. Might spoil people, and I don't want to lure people in with a 'Don't worry, no spoilers' only to have them get most of the details of the ending.

I was indeed thinking of comparing it to the original Half-Life. You fight for answers to your questions all through the game, wondering what's going on, why this or that is happening, who is behind it all....and in the end you're left with a sinking feeling as you realize many of your questions won't be answered before, at best, KOTOR III.

There could be. I only played Light Side, as a Jedi Consular/Master. I couldn't tell you beyond the ending I played. However, the entire ending map was anti-climatic, not just the ending itself. Too much killing, not enough explanation of what the hell was going on. It was definetely not kiddie Ewok dancing smiling happy people getting medals stuff, I can reassure you of that. Wouldn't have fit the mood of the rest of the game at all. It instead fits better with the second thing you mentioned; there were a billion questions I was waiting for the close of the game to answer....and they were either answered poorly or not answered at all. Moreover, some of the answers you get were a pretty obvious set-up for KOTOR III....so, in that sense, there is a bit of a cliffhanger involved. But again, with all my disappointment at the ending, don't let that completely kill you on the game. A huge percentage of what comes before that is 24 karat gold.

We're in the same boat. This game has consumed all of my free time since Monday night, and (minor irritations aside) it was great until the end. What happened? I have no idea, but like you, instead of going to sleep feeling a rush after I finished, I went to sleep feeling empty and disappointed. I wish I could say otherwise, but it's the truth.

Well, unless I missed something.... Mission does not make a comeback. She isn't even mentioned.

Long story as to 'how', which I'll leave for some other time.... It was a damn good game, and it had me glued to the screen for many, many hours. However, I've gotta admit: I find my impressions of the game summed up quite accurately by the IGN article everyone was criticizing a few days ago for giving a high score and yet commenting mostly on the negatives. I loved the game, would easily give it the same 9.3 IGN gave it.....but the ending left me kinda empty, and so now I can't help but think of the negatives I encountered more than the positives (which isn't fair, because my playing experience showed the latter to heavily outweigh the former.) There were just too many unanswered questions, or questions with unsatisfactory answers. So now I find my victory more aggravating than fulfilling.

Makes the entire army wielding +3 weapons and armor in Throne of Bhaal all the more painful to remember.....

It'd be original....but it would take balls of titantium to create a game you couldn't win.

KOTOR 3: The Quest for More Money.

Ditch 'em. It'll make the process of applying for American statehood that much easier.

Just like Bastila, who apparently the council expected to lead a party of Jedi in taking down the Dark Lord of the Sith. Or Carth, who had seen 'more battles then the rest of the crew of the Endar Spire put together' and yet was only slightly tougher than you were as a neophyte character. Or Jolee, who had been involved in the Sith War and was living in the Shadowlands for decades and yet gained the overwhelming bulk of his levels travelling with you. Or, jumping games, Khalid and Jaheira in Baldur's Gate, who were veterans Harpers travelling the length and breadth of the Sword Coast and were at Level 2. Let's face it: the levels of characters are very rarely what they should be, owing to simple gameplay decisions.

No.

You are correct, sir.

In the long run, that is. Obviously it will be pretty sparse when people are playing the actual game. But after you've had the game for awhile, and are no longer playing it in your free hours, will you ever come back to this board and talk about the game? Or is this all just a way of soothing the anticipation until you can actually play? BTW, the second choice is supposed to be 'Yes, BUT I may check in occasionally.'

<_< Source? EDIT: Never mind, target store near you.... I'll have to give 'em a call tommorow.

Heh. Friendly, aren't we?

Interesting theory, but not necessarily true. The older screenshots often used old models from the first game rather than people or items you'll actually see in the new game. In other words, the screenshot you're looking at may have been cobbled together purely to be shown to the public, without any regard to anything you see making it in the actual game. Secondly, HK-47 shutting down due to Revan's death is entirely possible....but so are about a dozen other ways of him ending up damaged. Moreover, while he 'shuts down', I don't think that would damage him to the point that you would have to repair him bit by bit over the course of a bunch of planets.

I disagree; yes, the dialogue was heavy on the amateur philosophy stuff, and it's up to each individual's tastes as to whether there was too much of it (I didn't think it was a problem), but that isn't the point. A Planescape CRPG had to have philosophy, to one degree or another, to be Planescape. You may dismiss it as 'anemic little descriptors', but what I saw in the pen and paper version was a consistent effort to move beyond simple hack 'n slash Tolkien rip-offs into a deeper gameworld revolving around the different philosophies and views of reality of the Factions, Fiends, Celestials, Powers, and everyone in-between....and how each of those views had a bearing on reality at large. A Planescape game without all of that would have been like a Dark Sun game set on a tropical island. Now, of course, you weren't saying that Planescape didn't have anything to do with philosophy; you were simply saying that Chris Avellone ODed on it, drowning us in pretentious, hamfisted dialogue that really, really wishes it were profound. Fair enough; to each his own. However, even if you don't like the way it was done, surely you must admit that it had to have been done to some degree....and that not doing it at all in the setting would have been worse. I'll take Planescape's Philosophy 101 over most other game's, 'Evil people are threatening to take over the world/seize ultimate power/kill all living things! Find a way to stop them while killing thousands of monsters and collecting Phat L00t!' I follow you, and agree with you somewhat....but again, in comparison with other games, Torment was a huge leap. No, it wasn't perfect by a long-shot....but I'd rather see an imperfect attempt to be deep than an all-too-successful attempt to be shallow, empty, and forgettable.

Try vinegar straight from the bottle. It helps.

Uhhhh....since when have you been physically incapable of puking?

A bit unfair given that Planescape itself is pretty much AD&D wrapped in Philosophy 101. The Factions, the whole idea of reality being shaped by consensus, etc. is all taken from the core rulebook, and everything about the setting was always heavy on the amateur philosophy. For me, that's part of it's charm. If anything, he was translating the mood of Planescape very well. Can't fault the guy for that.

MSG might as well be the official KOTOR II spokesman. Wherever the game is mentioned, he's bound to make an appearance, and I don't think the desktop icon will be any different.

Just so everyone knows.... IGN game Planescape: Torment a 9.2 back in the day.

I'm seeing that word used an awful lot. It almost seems to be the central design philosophy. And I like it.