Let the past 'failures' be a guide for the future

[alx1078]

Don't get me wrong. I loved KOTOR. I also loved Torment and i... liked a great deal Neverwinter nights. But it seems to me that Bioware doesn't try to correct the only (probably) deficiencies their past games had. For example... While i was approaching the end of KOTOR i started having a very strong deja vu. The whole plot line with Bastilla turning to the dark side (which i liked a lot), i was like "haven't i played this before?" And the answer was yes! I had played it before in Neverwinter nights. And since it has been a looong time since i finished that, i don't remember the name of the female palladin character that you ended up having romance with in NWN, but it was the exact same ending (she too became evil and joined your enemy only to confront you, fight you and then -if you wanted- you managed to bring her back to the 'light'). Again i repeat that i liked this plotline and have no problems with it being redone in KOTOR. BUT! In NWN the ending did not feel complete. Not by a longshot! It told you nothing of what happened to the characters you had interacted with and especially your own character and the female palladin i'm talking about. It seems that when they decided to repeat this story they didn't bother to at least change the ending so it felt more complete than before. Their only excuse can be that we hear about Revan and Bastilla in part 2 so that they couldn't actually say anything from part 1. That i would probably understand. It just seemed to me like a trend with Bioware related games, as the same happened in Torment (fantastic story with a short and hurried ending that left you feeling somewhat cheated). :angry:

The only exception to this rule is Baldur's Gate II (probably the best RPG ever). B) That game left you happy that despite all the troubles your character has been through, he achieved his goal (whatever that might have been), and it told you what happened to the characters that helped you along the way. You couldn't ask for anything more from an ending!

So i'm hoping that in the second part the folks at Obsidian (since most of them were involved in creating Baldur's Gate) will correct this and we will be treated with a conclusion that a game like this deserves.

Another problem i had with KOTOR (and in general with the whole Star Wars Universe), is the simplicity and naivety of the fundamental values light and dark. What happens in the between? Are there no gray areas in this Universe? Of course there are. So why was your character forced to adhere to either of these two misguided (in my opinion) notions of light and dark, right or wrong. Jolee was a character that in my opinion represents the only reasonable and sane person in that game. I mean why should you be forced to either choose- without a fight- between a manipulative Jedi council and a murderous blood thirsty fraction that desires to rule the world (how original). Granted that the Sith had to be stopped you should have been able (after you defeated Malak) to tell the Jedi order and the republic to stuff those medals where the sun don't shine! During the course of the game the only thing that i think Revan would find worth fighting for (besides saving millions of lives) was not for the light or the jedi council but for Bastilla. And that was rendered to a mere subplot in the telling of the unparallelled glory of the light and the Jedi!

I repeat i liked the game a lot (even in its simplicity) and that's why i'm being so critical of it, because i believe that it's got a hell of a potential, and i want to see it realised in part II: if the creators add a much needed subtlety in the game, make the whole story character-driven (that's what RPGs should be about), add a gray area for the non-fundametalists to duel in, and for God's sake make the dark side less... Eeeevil. :angry: They must have goals, reasons, agendas etc. The best 'villains' are the ones you're not sure whether to brand them as such! So let's not have lines like 'Death to the jedi', or brutally killing Mission, a defenceless child just for the heck of it. More subtle villainy is much needed. :ph34r: Please.

Sorry for rambling on, i just needed to let all these stuff out.

Tayrion

[Renegade]

There were gray areas it's just that these responses didn't give you a dark or light hit. For example when you're on Taris you run into a lot of people that have bounties on their heads. If you want a light side hit you can help them out. If you want a dark side hit you can kill them and collect a bounty. However the gray area is simply deciding to leave them alone. You don't kill them but you don't bend over backward to help them either. But I do agree that this could be implemented slightly better in KOTOR2. But hell anything can be upgraded no matter how great it is.

 

-Samori

[alx1078]

There were indeed a lot of replies that gave you no light or dark points it's just that in the overall story of the game they had no consequence whatsoever, neither to your character or the story of the game. It's either a choice of being a goody goody jedi or a bas**rd sith.

[Renegade]

LOL Yeah you have a point there. I see what yo're saying.

 

-Samori

[anari_quun]

Yes, but then you miss out on a ton of experience points. There are situations where the only way to get experience points is to make SOME decision, good or evil. The only grey area here would be to eschew the side quests altogether, which is of course, no fun.

 

And yeah, the dark side stuff I even have a hard time doing. I'd like to be bad, but not a serial killer, you know? Using anger to kill the enemy is what I'd more envision the Dark side to be, not killing your friends and innocent people just for the hell of it. That may be fun for some (hopefully no one who lives near me!) but I think the Dark side should be more subtle, inviting you in. I have to think more about this; I don't have any good suggestions right now...

[EnderAndrew]

You should plant the seeds of self-destrution within others. Turn enemies on one another.

 

Acting out in direct violence all the time is frankly stupid.

[The Omnifarious Host]

You should plant the seeds of self-destrution within others. Turn enemies on one another.

 

Acting out in direct violence all the time is frankly stupid.

I really like that idea.

 

To be able to corrupt others would be an interesting power or skill to have.

 

We only saw flickers of it in the first game.

[EnderAndrew]

I know MCA can be devious. I'm crossing my fingers.

[sniggy]

some people just don't see the CODE BUTTONS above the post field.

 

it is reaaaaaaallly straining to read something like that post.