I agree that they are both important and needed, but I think the ending leaves more of an effect.
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It does, cause it's the last thing people see. If you went to a 5 star restaurant and had the best meal of your life, and while you were leaving you saw a waiter picking his nose and another sneazing in someones food, would you ever go back?
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This example works well with food, of course, but for me, after playing through KOTOR a second time as a female ultra-darksider Revan, I couldn't care less about the ending -- I fondly (!) remember slaughtering party members, and other acts of cruelty that made me laugh.
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Right, but throughout the entire play through you knew you were Revan, that must've had an effect on the first half of the game. You don't find out you're Revan at the end, but still...