Maco

BioWare.

Looks: Norris or Dark Jedi Robes. Performance: Ossus Keeper or Mutakai Apprentice Robes.

Whether or not Carth appears in the game (I think) depends on how you answer Atton's first questions pertaining to the events of KotOR I. If you say that Revan went to Korriban and united the Sith to thwart the Republic, he will not appear, whereas if you say that Revan found redemption and saved the Republic, Carth does appear. When you board the Harbinger during Peragus II, you'll uncover some data recordings where an Admiral is briefing the Harbinger's Captain. If Revan was the savior of the Jedi, Carth will appear in the recordings as Admiral Onasi; if Revan was an evil Sith, Carth will be replaced with an unknown Admiral Cedes(sp?).

Hanharr is a great melee combatant, with fairly good stats to accomodate such. He uses a pair of Ryyk blades that, when fully upgraded, dish out some serious damage. He also has the ability to enter a Wookiee frenzy, boosting his attack and attribute bonuses; the screen turns blurry and has a blood-red hue, which is a nice effect. He hates humans (he has a twisted view on the fabled Wookiee life-debt) so it's a wonder he even travels with you, but I can't remember exactly what conversation elements gain influence. As for GO-TO, I'm not so familiar with him. Maybe someone else can cover that.

If you want:

Here:

:: A more realistic weapon equip animation. Instead of the weapon materializing out of thin air, when they are eqiupped in the inventory screen, swords should appear sheathed on the sides or back of a character, blasters holstered, lightsabers holstered, staffs strapped on the back, grenades on an ammo belt, and so on. :: Varied lightsaber hilt colors and styles. :: Of course, an all-new graphics, lighting and physics engine, preferrably borrowed rather than built from the ground up. Content, above all, is most important in RPG's, as is the time to create it. :: Leave development to BioWare. Obsidian's efforts were superb, but KotOR belongs with BioWare. I know, this is wrong to post on an Obsidian forum. Forgive me. :: More party member possibilites, possibly around 20 or so, making their cooperation restricted by alignment, sex and appearance. This would extremely increase replay value, since even more than one play-through as a LS Jedi wouldn't be the same. :: More clothing and armor options, like changing different articles independantly (pants, jacket, shirt, shoes, gloves, headgear), rather than having one item for an entire set. Not to mention the inclusion of Jedi Force-friendly armor rather than just robes alone. :: More in-depth character creation; body build, height, race, hair color, eye color, etc. :: Even more lightsaber colors. Red, green, blue, yellow, silver and orange are the only crystal colors in the galaxy? What about white or extremely light grey? How about a black blade with a smokey, flowing glow; pure evil. :: Dismemberment! This makes combat rewarding. After all, lightsabers can cut through anything--expect in KotOR. :: A more fulfilling, in-depth romance side-story. :: [Possibly] real-time space combat. I'm not sure how it would fit in with the D20 rules system, but it would be cool. :: The ability to build and customize your own spacecraft. This goes hand-in-hand with the real-time space combat, since upgrades would enhance the performance of your craft. :: Revan! Don't know what happened to him (or her), but a cameo would be a nice addition to the next installment. :: The limited ability to attack anyone you meet, rather than being forced to be made into an imbecile and dismissed from an obviously lesser opponent. This happens too often in the game--and so often do I want revenge. And, I say limited since killing everyone leaves an environment lifeless and uninteresting. That's all I can think of at the moment.

I'm not bummed about KotOR II's lack for a ground-breaking graphics engine. I didn't really care too much about it, I just felt compelled to mention it. There doesn't really seem to be a point in noting such minimal enhancements when the game still suffers from the same technical flaws as the first, however few they are. Like I said, it's everything and more of the game I loved to begin with. Why wouldn't I be happy? The ending? I will admit, there seemed to be a lot left unsaid. I expected a more profound closure since another sequel is at least a few years off--if any. But I'm happy--extremely so. The replay value is high and, after that, I have modding to look forward to. I will be playing this game for at least a year-and-a-half. As for Halo 2, well, I don't really like that game. I'm a hardcore Halo: Combat Evolved fan. It was extremely over-hyped (the energy would've been put to better use promoting KotOR II!), and a lot of the aforementioned features were cut out at the last second that, if I may say so, would most likely have made the game a lot better. The multiplayer is no longer how much skill a person has, but who has what weapon and when--and how many.

KotOR II is, in all its glory and splendor, a lengthy exspansion pack. The improvements are subtle, yet well noted, but none of this is said with contempt. It is everything I loved about the first game and then some, and I am thankful I did not have to wait another couple of years for the same game with a prettier face. I see no sense in bickering about Obsidian reusing the same graphics engine when the game looks as good as it does; how much more character detail could one possibly need, anyway? I thought the plot was excellent, though it had its fair share of... iniquities. As others have noted, a lot of key plot points were left open and unexplained, as well as a lot of quests being so vague that I didn't even care to finish them the first time around (the second time through the game, though, I had a better understading of things and was able to finish most of my previously incomplete quests). The character creation/devlopment, to my pleasure, remained intact. There were changes that I noticed, like the level of implant a character can equip now only relies on their constitution rating, special feats to deduct the costs of cross-class skills, and the fact that every class starts out with all the special melee attacks (flurry, critical strike, power attack); that only makes sense for Jedi, and I'm glad Obsidian included it. The Force power additions, however, seemed pretty useless to me. The inspired little confidence in straying from my usual selections (choke, lightening, drain life, push, heal, speed). I was also disappointed to learn that I had to wait until the end of the game to obtain the prestige powers such as Force Crush, which is, if I may say so, the ultimate Dark Side punishment. It's just a shame I can't Crush those annoying Cannoks. I was most pleased to see new robes! As much as I loved the first game, I couldn't stand watching my evil badass run around in a tight bodysuit. The red Norris robes are my favorite. =D Since the gameplay was essentially the exact same as it was in KotOR I, I don't have much to say about it, except to note the improved attack animations and their varieties. Combat was much less repetitive than in the first because of this; I was evil just to pick fights and use them. Oh, and not to mention the flourish with dual blasters. Good stuff. So, all in all, I love this game. I knew it was going to be the same face with a different personality, but that's what I wanted. I wasn't prepared to wait so long for a sequel to my absolute favorite Star Wars game--and RPG--of all time. Maybe now I can rest easy for a good while--until KotOR III.