Mendoza

I'd agree that mana based sucks if it regenerates even if, as in KotOR, it only regenerates outside combat. It just doesn't work well outside of Diablo-type games. I'd like a system like Bloodlines though, as long as any mana potions are expensive enough that you've have to consider whether to buy them or not. Bloodlines was good in this respect, as disciplines were cheap enough that you could use them if you needed to, but expensive enough that you couldn't spam them. And there wasn't a vast amount of cash in game, so buying bloodpacks meant you couldn't buy something else.

So do you only buy games that support PWs? That gives you a pretty short list of games you own, roughly 0. DA will be multiplayer, and will also have a multiplayer campaign, it just won't have PW's which only a tiny fraction of players play or care about.

Volourn's got it pretty much right, although I don't agree that a mana system is necessarily bad (it'd have to be less regenerating that KotOR though, to avoid making spells spammy). DA has multiplayer, similar to what NWN had. I'm looking forward to DA more, since I want to see what Bio can do when they're not restricted by a license and can design rules for a CRPG rather than adapting PnP rules. Whilst it's a very different game, I think Jade Empire will be a good way of seeing whether they can handle these things well. I'll almost certainly be buying both (assuming no screw ups), but since NWN2 looks to be the same as NWN but with a new (and presumably better) story and prettier graphics, it doesn't excite me in quite the same way.

No, it's what's called people not understanding the plot. The Sith convinced the Mandalorians to start the Mandalorian war. At the end of the war, when Revan and Malak had gone bad, they went hunting for the Star Forge. Once they found it, Revan would have slain the Dark Lord of the Sith and taken the position himself. It makes perfect sense. I'd hardly see the Sith who convinced the Mandalorians as some strange, mysterious faction. It was probably just whoever was the leader of the Sith before Revan took over.

I think he means you won't need to have your party members right next to each other in order to transition from one area to the next. As for pathing, I never noticed any problems except for other party members occasionally getting left behind a bit. But this was very rare. Is there a difference in the way you move your character around in the pc and xbox versions (I have the PC one).

It's just a bit weak if items can be effectively teleported between groups. It could lead to all sorts of gamey play; for example, unequipping one group of their good equipment just before changing groups. Some sort of splitting function would be in order, IMO. I can see your point if there is a split narrative. To be honest, the game was so easy that I never used any of the shields and stims in inventory anyway, and I tended to stay with the same few npc's. I just liked not having to worry about how much stuff my party could carry (which only leads to trips back to shops to sell stuff anyway).

I like the idea, and i don't see the inventory issue as a problem - i prefered the simple inventory of KotOR. My main worry would be over roleplaying. It seems to me to be quite difficult to get into playing a character, only to suddenly be controlling another character (who's personality may be different to what you want to play). I wouldn't suddenly want to be forced to play as Canderous would (blaster heavy) because I'm controlling Canderous, but then I wouldn't want to play my own style since this would detract from the personality of Canderous that the writers have developed (its for these sort of reasons that I always hit auto level up for npc's - what business do O have telling my party members how to level).

I saw the same thing in last month's UK PC Gamer, and that was apparently after being sat down with MCA and some other Obsidian and Lucasarts people, so I'd say it's pretty accurate.

Well, I was slightly miffed as to why my character was still being refered to as padawan at level 15. I think once you reach level 6 or 12 in a Jedi class you should change from being refered to as padawan to knight or master (as appropriate).

Are you sure? I thought there was a solo mode you could toggle so that you could control a single character without the otheres following you.

Yeah, but until Yoda went all kickass in episode 2, he didn't look like he could handle a lightsaber. Where Palpatine excels is that he can manipulate events so completely that he never has to personally fight anyone. Apparently he does a fair bit of fighting in episode 3 though, and I know which of Palpatine and Yoda has the power come episode 4.

Actually, they're definitely lightside powers (in the game at least). But the point is, even if you consider force choking someone more evil than sabering them, the game lets you kill vast numbers of creatures with no penalty. A lightside jedi should be stunning them, bringing them to the authorities or mind tricking them to remain unseen. If the jedi council were willing to spare you, why should you be allowed to kill stuff and remain good. Now whether using the force to kill someone lures you to the darkside more than a non force based killing is a valid point (though technically you have to use the force to wield a lightsaber). But to say force choking someone to death is evil and sabering them isn't just seems silly to me.

So force choking someone is dark side, but using stasis then chopping them to pieces is light side? The only genuine seeming dark side powers in KotOR are drain life, insanity and plague. I guess lightning might inflict more pain than a lightsaber, but it's still just an offensive attack. Something like force rage is much more overtly dark since it intrisically means giving in to your darker emotions. Then again, some of the light side powers seem less than light side. Destroy droid anyone? It's entirely destructive (and seems to imply that droids are of less value than people).

Hmm... I took the Master-apprentice thing to be a possible hint that you were Revan's apprentice prior to him going all bad. After all, he presumably had an apprentice, and I don't think that was Malak until they went all Sithy. It could also explain your disgrace and removal from the Jedi Order, if you were thrown out for disobeying your master (say if Revan started going dark and gave some questionable orders).

Yeah, but that's being evil for kicks. There's no benefit, either in terms of ease or reward. In the case of Manaan, the poison option is just plain stupid, since you piss off a world with a very useful resource. There should be some sort of option for evil characters to pick a 'good' option because it makes sense.

Hmmm... I seem to recall that in Jedi Academy I kicked Boba Fett's ass and he ran away. But anyway, there's obvious situations where an uber Jedi could be defeeated. If he's on a lone ship and is ambushed by a big fleet he could be killed. But I'm struggling to think of an RPG which doesn't amount to, combat or otherwise, a face off between the protagonist and antagonist. A flaw in RPG's perhaps, but one that seems pretty consistent in the genre. And, to reference Malak, there's always the insinuation that your character was never tough enough to take them on face to face, although I guess you could probably live with that. Most epic confrontations seem to be reduced to one on one battles though.

I think there's room for a non Jedi based RPG in the Star Wars universe, but that the plot and ultimate objectives would have to be diffferent to that of KotOR. Any non Jedi based RPG should accept that a non Jedi character shouldn't be able to stand against a powerful Jedi like Malak. This doesn't prevent you from facing lesser Jedi, but only if you are (level wise) significantly more powerful level wise. And to me, this doesn't mean a non Jedi having some non combat option to defeat someone as powerful as Malak. In the Star Wars universe, Jedi are (and should be) more powerful than similar level non Jedi, and except in very rare circumstances shouldn't be able to be defeated by such characters.

Exactly. There's always a tradeoff of character options vs story. In KotOR the story required you to be a Jedi. If you refused training that would have been it, the end of the game, Revan the soldier/scout/scoundrel has an nice non Jedi life aqnd the council relies on someone else. Even Fallout limits you. By the nature of the story you have to be capable at shooting, fighting, computers, talking or some other skill, but it's a set range of options, even if it is a lot wider than that of KotOR. If I wanted to be a baker in Fallout, the story wouldn't allow for it, I wouldn't be able to save the wastelands using a steady stream of baked goods. If people find just being a Jedi too restrictive, don't play the game, but don't pretend there aren't appropriate restrictions in other games. I would like a bit more variation between the Jedi classes though. All it amounts to at the moment is a redistribution of hit/force/skill/feat points and force powers. Each class can do any job the others can, they'll just be slightly less effective at it.

Agreed that Korriban was the best area of the game, my main disappointment being that i couldn't take over the academy (though slaughtering them all wasn't a bad alternative). But also because it gave lots of chances to be light or dark, and showed how Dantooine's Jedi academy compared to the Sith one. As to knowing the Sith, and finding that they're not so evil, I'm not sure I agree. Some of the Sith have just fallen from the path (Dustil. Yuthura), but the Sith doctrine is evil and so are those who embrace it wholeheartedly (Malak, the academy master). I'd definitely like Korriban and the ancient (pre KotOR era) to feature though.

I'd rather see the game difficulty increased rather than just nerf Jedi's. Jedi's are intrinsically more powerful than non Jedi, it's part of the Star Wars setting. And frankly, if I'm Revan the uber Sith Lord, I'd kill anyone who had a similar power level to me. You think Carth would be hanging around if he was able to kill me? Stuff I'd suggest to make the game harder would be cooldowns on force powers (which would weaken Jedi but not bring them down to the same level as eveyone else) so you couldn't spam force wave or heal, and to increase the toughness or number of enemies if the number of Jedi in your party increases. I only took non Jedi with me to have a quick chat, then swapped them back out. The game difficult needs upping anyway though, I've yet to use an energy shield or adrenal thingymebob.

It'd be nice in KotoR 2 if there was more opportunity to use force powers outside of combat, or to have some non combat specific force powers. For starters you could have the opportunity to use powers like force choke in conversations. You could use push/pull type skills to manipulate the environment from pulling levers from a distance (because its cooler, even if you could just walk over to the lever) to creating new paths by pushing away big rocks, to throwing bits of the scenery at opponents. Even cut scenes where the PC is seen holding up falling rubble to protect the party would be nice. Force sight looks like it could be a step in this direction, with possible non-combat applications. But a Jedi is a Jedi all the time, not just in a fight, so the powers shouldn't just be limited to combat.