I finished the damn thing!

[Meshugger]

****Warning! fanboyism will appear in this review****

 

 

Today, i finally completed the game, clocking approximately at 50 hours of gameplay. My gaming-experience was filled lack food, sleep and peace of mind until it was finished. Good thing that it's not an 120 hour experience, then it would've been a serious threat to health.

 

Story

 

The story in TSL is, in my opinion, at par, if not greater than KotOR. This has to do with the whole presentation and dark setting of the game, which suits my taste perfectly. While KotOR had that "save the princess and become a hero"-feel to it, TSL was more deep, experimenting even more with morality, and "cause & effect" and "What's the nature of man?". It was not perfectly implemented, but it gave KotOR II a fresh presentation, seperating it from KotOR. Everything had a very sad tone to it, but in good way. Well written Chris

 

Characters

 

KotOR had us all spoiled when it came to characters, so the expectations was high here aswell. Giving T3 some character was another thumbs up, and being able to have HK-47 back is a plus aswell(eventhough i failed to repair him this playthrough, have to do it the next time). In TSL it appears to be less stereotypes than in KotOR, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but Obsidian did a great job here to. The only character that felt useless to me was

Goto

. My first impression was Kreia was bad, but it all made sense in the end. My favourite was still Visas Marr.

 

Dialogue and voiceacting

 

This is were TSL is superior to KotOR by a long shot IMO. There are more dialogue-options and they can be witty, dark and deep aswell. I've never played Planescape: Torment, but now i fully understand on why it gets praised by its dialogue. Discussions with Kreia, Handmaiden, Visas and even Atton was a bliss to the ear and most importantly, the voiceacting was believable. Even Sion had great dialogue when you fought him in the end (LS options, that is).

 

Villains

 

Thank god! No more three stooges with the "Malak was most displeased when you escaped Taris alive, blablabla", and no more a bully end-boss with a fetish for spandex. These villains had both the appearance and the behaviour of being evil, Sion is simply badass with a real vendetta, filled with anger. Nihilus being merciless and cruel, with next to none humanity. And the third one gifted with the same cunning and manipulation as Palpatine. Writing this down gives me the urge to play it again.

 

Love-interests

 

There's no secret that you could have two love interests this time(Handmaiden and Visas Marr), of which i chose Visas. Her back-story and reason for fighting with you was very touching, and both before if you take her with you at the

Ravager

she will have some interesting things to say to you. The dialogue and voiceacting was simply superb, whoever did that voiceacting for her deserves a praise. The only complain would be that it wasn't as well integrated in the story as Bastila was in KotOR, but the dialogue compensates that IMO.

 

Music

 

This soundtrack is dark, almost pitch black. I expected some more cheeriful and atmospheric title when visiting Dantooine, but even there it was very bleak. A majority of the songs are forgettable but a couple of times they stand out. For those who played it, it was when-you-done-everything-and-has-to-go-back-for-a-certain-meeting. That song in the courtyard suited the situation perfectly, atleast as good as the tune played at the temple summit in KotOR. Another one would be the first time Sion is presented, it felt like you were watching "The Shining", very scary tune indeed.

 

Gameplay

 

Influence, more forcepowers, hoods, weapoons, armor, items, improved workbench, weapon-configurations all work well in KotOR II, there were some glitches here and there, like a broken sub-quest in Nar Shaddaa but nothing major really. But the game difficulty is a mixed bag though. The whole idea of making each individual more easy, and compensating it by adding 250000 more of the same foe isn't my idea greater difficulty-level. Hopefully this can be adressed to the PC-version of TSL, but on the other hand, it never gets boring with slaughtering hordes of enemies with your lightsaber and forcepowers.

 

Graphics

 

Character-animation has improved, when speaking of non-dialogue situations and the levels are in general bigger with alot of detail. In some places you can notice the improved lighting and weather effects. Sometimes it does get a bit choppy though, but i'm used to it from the original KotOR. Loading times wasn't that long either, but maybe i'm lucky to have better dvd-rom to my xbox than most people. Overall, pretty good, but not excellent.

 

Overall

 

In summary, this game is greater than KotOR when it comes to dialogue, voiceacting and sometimes story and gameplay. The new features as influence and improved workbench are not perfectly implemented, but still good. The only problem for me, was that you have to play the ending alone. I wanted to hear some last words by my allies, eventhough i got to know what will happen to them in the future, even to the planets i visited. But i guess you can't have it all, can you? This game is clearly a worthy sequel to KotOR and without doubt the best sequel of the year and my personal GOTY.

 

Well done Obsidian, you've fulfilled and sometimes even exceeded my expections when it came to KotOR II. I'm expecting a sequel soon, the story demands it.

 

 

-Meshugger

[Dawnbringer]

you? This game is clearly a worthy sequel to KotOR and without doubt the best sequel of the year and my personal GOTY.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Well I wouldn't say its the BEST sequel out there.

[Meshugger]

you? This game is clearly a worthy sequel to KotOR and without doubt the best sequel of the year and my personal GOTY.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Well I wouldn't say its the BEST sequel out there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I haven't played all the sequels to all games.But no other sequel has made skip sleep, food and social life like this one.

[Dawnbringer]

Metal Gear Solid 3 is pretty good. Alot of sequals to big name games came out, Metriod, Halo 2, Prince of Persia 2, GTA san andraes, etc. Still, KOTOR 2 would be near the top. So far its been a great game, I just hope the ending isn't as rushed as I've heard it is.

[ampulator00]

you? This game is clearly a worthy sequel to KotOR and without doubt the best sequel of the year and my personal GOTY.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Well I wouldn't say its the BEST sequel out there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I haven't played all the sequels to all games.But no other sequel has made skip sleep, food and social life like this one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Then I recommend you play Max Payne 2: Fall of Max Payne.

 

It's a huge improvement over the original. It's a FPS, so I'm not sure if you would like the gameplay, but it is still a quite an amazing game.

[213374U]

I don't consider it 'fanboyism' that you liked the game. Some people like it, some people don't. I will definitely be trying this game, but I will wait and see if they support it with patches before buying.

 

Still, almost every review I read about this game seems to have in common a feeling that the game could have been much better. I'll have to wait and see for myself.

[Mars]

Whoa, thanks for such a detailed review!

You should write for OXM

 

Your review has made me look forward to this game even more, oh release quicker.......please *puppy dog/pussinboots smile/eyes*

[Laozi]

You know I really hate to say this, but I hated this game by the end of it. I mean there was just no struggle, it was like *force meditation* critical strike once or twice everyones dead. By the end it seemed the struggle was more like, god I hope this game ends soon.

 

I've always been somewhat supportive and the first part of this game really had me thinking this is one of the best games I've ever played, but then it started downhill and just kept going and going. I finally got a couple of days to play the game and I feel like I've squandered my time, when I could have done something more rewarding like pulling out my toe nails. I hate to say this, but Obsidian you totally munch scat.

[Judge Hades]

Someone needs to seriously rewrite the combat AI for this game if it is as easy as everyone says it is. Please, someone at Obsidian, MAKE THE GAME HARD!

[GeneralCrimson]

Someone needs to seriously rewrite the combat AI for this game if it is as easy as everyone says it is.  Please, someone at Obsidian, MAKE THE GAME HARD!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

if its to hard then set the difficulty to hard duhhhh and purposely screw up your characters like putting all points in intelligence and geting feats and powers you don't use like get blaster rifle specialization and precise shot but.. use melee weapons

[Laozi]

Ya my character was a 15 sentinal/13 jedi master and no one could hang, I can only imagine what a guardian/weapons master could do, I say that Because theres probaly no way I'm ever going to play this game again, I hate to say this, but for the most part Hades One has been quasi rightish all along

[Judge Hades]

I hate it when I am right.

[DesertHawk]

I hate it when I am right.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That is, believe it or not, a good thing. The first step is admitting you hate it. Then you can move on and be wrong more often.

[Judge Hades]

HA!

[Influence]

Ok you wanna here a great story about how addictive this game is?

 

Here it goes i went out to the mall and bought this gaem at 1:30 and got back at 2.

I immidiately start playing and do not eat dinner even though my family calls me up for food. I don't even drink untill 9:00 PM.

 

I stayed up untill 6:30 AM playing the game all night non-stop no bathroom break no food break and I swear on that. I heard my father upstairs turning the water on to take a shower as he got up and i pretty much stopped reading teh dialoug so i realized it awas tiime to sleep.

 

I turn off teh Xbox, HOLD ON THIS HAS A POINT, and sleep for six hours wake up at twelve on the very same couch i had been on all night playing meaning i havnt gotten upsince 2 PM the previous day.

 

Anyway its 12 PM when i wake up after 6 hours sleep. and i immidiatley start playing again, I cant stop untill i beat teh game and at this point im about 3/7s done with the game beat Peragus, Taris, and Halfway through Dantooine.

 

Ok im gettign somewhere with this. I play untill 3 and my dad tells me hes goign out for pizza so i say great im starving. An hour later he still ahsnt come and i think i was just finishing up with dantooine.

 

All of a sudden i get a taste in my mouth. I get teh most potent ctraving for ice cold coca cola i have ever had in my life. IT was as if i could taste it. Bare in mind i havnt gotten off the couch in 24 hours except to turn my XBOX off at 6 AM and on at 12PM. SO i say ok im thirsty im goignup for a drink.

 

I stand up and feel a little dizzy since i have been liying down for HOURS UPON HOURS. i stagger up the stairs and try to shkae it off.

 

Then I open up the pantry to get out a glass and i look in it at i see a spec of soemthign and decide i don't want to dirnk out of a glass with a spec so i take a plastic cup instead.

 

I go to the freezer open it up for ice and a wave of disorientation washes over me and im like "Holy SH*T" I feel so funny its great!!" SO anyway i start putting ice in my glass then all of a sudden....

 

BLack all blackk i feel nothing and the only thing that takes me out of the black is the sound of my body hitting teh floor.

 

I blacked out from hours of liign down not eating or goign to teh bathroom. So i am lieing there seeign all black but somewhat concies awaken by the sound of my boddy hititng teh floor my mom comes in and pulsl me up and she says what happend hows ur head!

 

All i can sayt is.. I blacked out and im stunned since i have never fainted or anythign before so it was kidna cool.

 

she pulls me to a chair and i dont knwo if you all have lost a lot of blood before but thats what it felt liek. My skin turned white and moist i was dazed and could barely talk. the ENTIRE LEFT SIDE OF MY BODY WENT NUMB AND I COULDNT HEAR OUT OF THE LEFT EAR. My collar bone area was bleeding, i dotn knwo why, liek i said i dont rember the fall only the sound.

 

I dont wake out of the daze till my dad comes home gives me my usualy 4 slices and a hawian punch...

 

Then i go back down to play more KOTOR 2.

 

THAT my good fellows is how good thsi game is the first play through it is the most addictive game ever, even more so than the first KOTOR whcih too keppt me up all night till teh crakc of dawn playing.

 

Needless to say it took me three and a half days of playing and about 37 hours of playiong tiem but i took longer than 37 hours to actually beat it, i dont knwo how though.

 

THe poster of this thread said if it was any longer it woudl have had seriosu helth repercussions, well it already did and im living proof, i fractured my collar bone form teh fall, its a hairlien faracture nothign serious, but still, come on now.

 

THank you obsidian, thank you.

 

EDIT: Hades your wrong. your a Jedi master for Christ's sake, your nto supposed to have any trouble killing weak opponents. TH eonly main bad parts about teh game are as follows:

 

1-Not enogh jedi fighitng through the game, that is i wanted to fight dakr jedi and stuff at all teh rolds, and i wnated to fight sith lords throughout the entire game, but that only comes at teh end.

 

2- Battles between you and Sith lords or Jedi Master's don't take long enough they are over in 3 seocnds even if you almost die in the fight, they just end quickly

 

3-Story line was AMAZING, but left too many unanswered questions and deadlines a couple of things. Plus i hated taht even as Lgiuhtside teh jedi council is killed and u dont have a hand in protecitn gthe Jedi order. VBery dissappointing u cant get atris in you party and i didnt like how ugly she was made, don tknwo if that bothered anyoen else.

 

EDIT 2:

-ALso i thought there were too many girls in teh party,

 

-not enough Jedi rovbes available, not enough collor jedi robes I.E. no blue jedi knight robes.

 

-BAO- DuR was a FRICKEN NERD!! i wanted him to be a Darht maul badass or a ANti Darth maul jedi guardian.

[Judge Hades]

You might find it addicting, but I don't find easy games addicting. Doesn't matter how good the story is.

[Influence]

everyone is playing this game on difficult and nto normal right? cause i dided several tiems against multiple jedi. Plus ur syaing its easy based soley on the fighting. But think about the following points.

 

-It had soem interesting puzzles that challenged the mind

 

-It had a more complex system of leveling and character interaction which up the difficulty of the game by making it more complex and involved

 

-How much mroe difficult can you make the gmae, please tell mei jsut want to know its no easy than any other RPG i can think of, it took me 4 and a half hours to beat a single level how is that easy.

[Master Horn]

Nice game twisted ending though I somehow knew kreia was bad.

Wish they added tatooine in the game it was one of my favortive planets. Well now that im done I think I might whipe the dust off my KOTOR 1 and start playing that just for the hell of it

[Influence]

yeah kotor 2 was so good it made me want to play KOTOR again. Basically KOTOR 2 surpasses KOTOR 1 in every single possible aspect. No comparison its just a suped up veriuson of KOTOR which makes it the best Xbox RPG of all time. WOudl be better if teh Jedi ocuncil let me join them though....

[Master Horn]

I accualy liked the 1st one better. This one was very dark and shadowy you can tell by the planets and even the music very dark and gloomy. Lets put it this way the first one was a little bit "happyier"

[Archmage58]

Hades if you want it harder then I suggest upping the difficulty and not getting your prestige class... hehe I did that the first time through, luckily went evil so I got Force Crush or I don't think I'd have made it through, especially on the last person... I resorted to some very cheap hit and run tactics.

[Meshugger]

Someone needs to seriously rewrite the combat AI for this game if it is as easy as everyone says it is.  Please, someone at Obsidian, MAKE THE GAME HARD!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Other than facing the end alone, the game-difficulty can be improved. I'm suprised to agree with you for once.

[DesertHawk]

Spoiler!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Damnit, use spoiler tags.

[DesertHawk]

HA!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oddly enough, I like you. Don't go expecting me to bail you out of jail or other favors, though.

 

Ok you wanna here a great story about how addictive this game is?

 

I dont wake out of the daze till my dad comes home gives me my usualy 4 slices and a hawian punch...

 

Then i go back down to play more KOTOR 2.

 

THAT my good fellows is how good thsi game is the first play through it is the most addictive game ever, even more so than the first KOTOR whcih too keppt me up all night till teh crakc of dawn playing.

 

Needless to say it took me three and a half days of playing and about 37 hours of playiong tiem but i took longer than 37 hours to actually beat it, i dont knwo how though.

 

THe poster of this thread said if it was any longer it woudl have had seriosu helth repercussions, well it already did and im living proof, i fractured my collar bone form teh fall, its a hairlien faracture nothign serious, but still, come on now.

 

THank you obsidian, thank you.

 

EDIT: Hades your wrong. your a Jedi master for Christ's sake, your nto supposed to have any trouble killing weak opponents. TH eonly main bad parts about teh game are as follows:

 

1-Not enogh jedi fighitng through the game, that is i wanted to fight dakr jedi and stuff at all teh rolds, and i wnated to fight sith lords throughout the entire game, but that only comes at teh end.

 

2- Battles between you and Sith lords or Jedi Master's don't take long enough they are over in 3 seocnds even if you almost die in the fight, they just end quickly

 

3-Story line was AMAZING, but left too many unanswered questions and deadlines a couple of things. Plus i hated taht even as Lgiuhtside teh jedi council is killed and u dont have a hand in protecitn gthe Jedi order. VBery dissappointing u cant get atris in you party and i didnt like how ugly she was made, don tknwo if that bothered anyoen else.

 

EDIT 2:

-ALso i thought there were too many girls in teh party,

 

-not enough Jedi rovbes available, not enough collor jedi robes I.E. no blue jedi knight robes.

 

-BAO- DuR was a FRICKEN NERD!! i wanted him to be a Darht maul badass or a ANti Darth maul jedi guardian.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Too many girls?!?!? Too many girls?!?!? My god, almost all computer games are about male characters, but do you see me complaining about how many there are? About how many guys are in my party? No, you do not. Besides, you have enough people for a male-only-party. Bao-Dur and Atton. Guh.

 

Nerds will also be your boss someday. Besides, the Zabrak race are all technologists except for the stupid rejects who are there to help people actually come to Lucas' movie like Maul.

 

Oh, and if you're a jedi master you should be able to kick everyone's caboose? I don't think so. A person who is a black belt can still be overpowered or taken from behind. Same with Jedi.

 

Spellcheck and the shift key are also your friends.

 

Edit: Look who forgot to edit her post above. Oh, it looks like me! Ha. It's what all the "cool kids" are doing nowadays anyways. Sorry, gang.

[OLD SKOOL WHEELMAN]

I accualy liked the 1st one better. This one was very dark and shadowy you can tell by the planets and even the music very dark and gloomy. Lets put it this way the first one was a little bit "happyier"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think that that was the point obsidian tried to convey...I mean ESB was way darker compared to ANH.

Nerds will also be your boss someday.

That gives me hope...hope filled with evilness...