I couldn't agree more with pretty much everything posted in this thread. I think I've read it all, but forgive me if I missed something, I'm a little worn out.
Anyway, I'd just like to mention that I too felt the many holes in the tapestry that is kotor2. I felt like I was running around without a purpose, to be honest. When I finished, it wasn't the "I just saved/destroyed( circle one.. ) the galaxy, and damn what a trip!" feeling that kotor gave me the first time around. Furthermore, it wasn't just the gaps in the story, but the characters themselves were so painfully incomplete that I was never truly sure what they wanted or what they felt, even at the end of it all. The only characters that had any sort of development were Brianna/Handmaiden and Kreia. Visas only had her initial story when you find her on the Ebon Hawk, and then at the end when she pleads for you to stay with her. As for HK-47, when I found him in the storage compartment of the Hawk, it was one of my favorite moments of the game... but then I repaired him. I expected him to spill his guts about all the adventures I took him on in kotor1. What does he have to say to me? "Master, I seem to have had a case of amnesia wash over me.." And that was it for HK-47, I never heard form him again for the rest of the game. The quick witted, psycho assassin droid; probably one of my favorite characters to come out of the SW universe, reduced to a doormat for the Ebon Hawk. As for Mira, the first and last conversation I had with her was on Nar Shaddaa. For the rest of the game, it just looped the same tree over and over. I didn't even know you could train her as a Jedi until I read it on the forums... I looked forward to seeing Canderous again, but he seemed to have the same deal as Mira, one conversation and that was it. Same goes for Bao-Dur. And GOTO? who? Yea, the annoying useless black ball.. nice.
I've always been intrigued by gripping and immersive stories more so than graphics; but the lack thereof is too noticeable for my taste. And I really can't understand why. They were using the same engine, a lot of the textures were available to be reused, yet the environments lacked certain qualities that made kotor that much better. When I went to Taris, Dantooine, Tatooine, Manaan, Korriban, and the Rakatan home world, each had it's own mood and atmosphere about them. I haven