As of now, what are your thoughts on KOTOR II?

[Tyrell]

Based off of all the facts you know of as of now, what are your thoughts on KOTOR II?

 

First off I can saftely say that KOTOR II isn't shaping up to what I always expected it to be. That is looks/gameplay wise. The story is good so far.

 

Overall KOTOR II is a good game. I like how your actions now not only affect you but also affect your party members. I like that idea. I mean, I remember in KOTOR how when I was on the Darkside, I always tried things and said things to Juhani to make her go back to the DS. No matter what happened, she would stay light. In KOTOR II a situation like that would be different.

 

I also like how your new Jedi robes blow and sway with the wind as you run and fight. I seen this while watching a E3 video and I was totally blown away. I like that concept.

 

I like how mood and tone of KOTOR II is going to be darker then that of KOTOR. Much like how Episode III is going to be with the SW movies.

 

The idea of characters from the first game making cameos and not playing a major role in KOTOR II is a great thing. I don't mind seeing KOTOR characters in KOTOR II, but if they had something major to do with the progression of the story, then that would have been a bad idea.

 

Being able to travel back to Dantooine is great. Being able to see it after its destruction would just bring chills down my spin. And when I go back and play KOTOR it'll make me look at Dantooine in a more serious way.

 

The graphics is something I'm not going with. I mean I'm not complaining, but I expected KOTOR II to NOT look like KOTOR in terms of graphics. I expected it to somewhat improve. Even if the game is still on the same engine as KOTOR, that doesn't mean the graphics have to look EXACTLY the same. Perfect Dark for the N64 was on the same engine as GoldenEye. The graphics weren't all that improved, but you could see a drastic difference and Perfect Dark didn't look EXACTLY the same as GE. KOTOR II isn't like that.

 

I don't like the fact that the person who did the music for KOTOR isn't coming back to do the music for KOTOR II. That person (I don't know his name) did a good job and setted a great tone for the KOTOR atmosphere. KOTOR takes place 4,000 years before the movies so I didn't expect songs like Duel of the Fates, Across the Stars, and the Imperial March to be in it. Cause those are songs that sets to mood and tone to the SW universie 4,000 years later. This is 4,000 years before so it has to have a different atmosphere. The KOTOR guy did an excellent job with that. The Bastillia theme is top-notch and very emotional. The Sith theme is great along with the Korriban Academy theme. The Dantooine/Manaan themes are terrific and really goes great with the tone of the area. And much much more. KOTOR II only takes place 5 years after KOTOR so it should have that same mood and the person the come back and do the music for KOTOR II. Not saying that this new guy can't get the job done, but it would've been great if the first guy came back for part two. Its just like Howard Shore doing the score for Fellowship of the Ring not coming back and doing the score for Two Towers and Return of the King. Or John Williams doing the score for The Phantom Menace and not coming back for Attack of the Clones or Episode 3.

 

This may be going way out in the left-field, but I don't like how that Mining facility at the beginning of the game could count as one of the 7 planets but yet it isnt really a planet. I hope it is just the "Endire Spire" of the game.

 

By hearing from what the developers had said, I don't like the idea that KOTOR II might just be the same in length as KOTOR. I did EVERYTHING in KOTOR all the missions and side missions and I even wasted time playing Pazaak and doing races and just running around and the longest it ever took me was 52 hours. I remember how Bioware said that if you do everything in the game, it would take you up to 80 hours to complete. I hope KOTOR II will take 60-80 hours to complete rather then the 30-50 hours of KOTOR.

 

Well that is about if for now. What about you guys?

[Vanidar Skywalker]

ok nice and long post. Agree with you on alot of what you said but the graphics not being improved won't bother me at all I loved the KOTOR graphics too me if I honestly had to Compare the best games Graphiclly I would have to say Splinter Cell,Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow and KOTOR and i'd vote KOTOR they are redoing alot of the lighting aspects of the game and adding weather effects. But overall I am really hyped about the sequel just like Star Wars III and Obsidian has my support. Besides the game is still rather early in production not even a year yet so they may end up re-rendering alot of the images they were just pushed for time so they could give a preview at E3.

[Gorth]

The Bastillia theme is top-notch and very emotional.

Slightly off-topic, when does that piece play ? I made a point of keeping my ears open for something that could be considered "Bastilas Theme", but apparantly missed it. Is it a particular event or an ongoing thing ? The only music I noted in the game was Manaan (which grated on my nerves) and the Starforge ambience which was brilliant and spot on for that place

 

Back on-topic, yes, Kotor1 was a bit lacking in the length department. And please, don't extend the game length with pointless walking

 

Otherwise, the game looks pretty much as expected. I was worried at first, until somebody mentioned that they had been concentrating on the Xbox demo for E3. It did look way "less attractive" visually than Kotor1 on the pc.

 

But then, I don't really care about appearances, but ease of use interface and a good story with interesting characters. Less Disney like qualities sounds good (darker ambience), B) ...

 

[begging]Oh, and some wallpaper sized concept art please *hint!* *hint!* [/begging]

[sniggy]

hmmm.

 

*** kotor ***

 

the music, the "costumes", the buildings, the people - everything looked like star wars, but then again it was a different star wars than in the movies- so the team actually portrayed the different time and setting very convincingly.

 

it really felt like the star wars universe- i think this is going to be true for kotor2 as well

 

*** kotor2 ***

 

many of the things we have discussed in the forum have already been taken into consideration by the dev team (mini-games, skills, level cap, difficulty of antagonists, quest structures, length of game). so i expect a game that is far better than the one i've already played.

 

yet, i also expect the thing to be a little buggy in the beginning (like kotor was), though this is not a big deal for me (patches!)

 

i'm guessing that the story and the interaction will be far more komplex than in kotor, which i think is very cool. i'm just not so sure on the big sith threat thing. i mean, that was the theme in kotor, but even there it wasn't really convincing.

 

sure, they wiped out taris and dantoine, but we didn't really see any "evil sith activities". kotor was a little too clean for my taste. i guess that this is lucasarts policy though.

[Bantha Fodder]

KOTOR was a good all-rounder, it had GREAT graphic, an in depth storyline and an impressive musical score to go with it. KOTOR was a problem length wise Lucas Arts said it would possibly take 100 hours to finish on difficult - clearly a lie. I hope KOTOT II takes about that long to finish though.

[Quiquag]

I think the thing that Im most excited about thus far are the really cool robes that Kreia is seen wearing. I like the way the new robes have hoods, and are long and flowing. The robes in the first game looked kind of 1. All the same no matter if it was a jedi robe, sith robe, jedi master robe, jedi knight robe (all the same except for color). 2. short, and tight...so they werent really robes but at best komonos, and 3. they had no hoods. Did the devs at Bioware even watch the movies before they made the robes in the first game? Luke, or Obiwan have long flowing jedi robes, or black sleek robes with hoods...they arent wearing tight wrap around peter pan looking outfits. :angry:

[Bantha Fodder]

I can't wait for it to come out next year!!!!!! KOTOR was an awsome game!

[Frosty_V2.1]

Slightly off-topic, when does that piece play ? I made a point of keeping my ears open for something that could be considered "Bastilas Theme", but apparantly missed it. Is it a particular event or an ongoing thing ? The only music I noted in the game was Manaan (which grated on my nerves) and the Starforge ambience which was brilliant and spot on for that place

It's the piece you hear in your apartment in Taris and in the credits if you are male or involved with Bastila anyway.

[ed]And on the Rakatan temple roof[/ed]

 

As for the topic, well I don't really know, I am looking forward to a darker game with better character tie ins and interaction.

Returning to Dantooine was a good idea and the new robes are nice too

 

[begging]Oh, and some wallpaper sized concept art please *hint!* *hint!* [/begging]

please oh mighty art team and LucasArts, please

\o/

_o_

\o/

_o_

 

[ed]Sad to hear the game won't be longer also[/ed]

[Arkan]

I'm expecting more of the same with different characters and a different story. Good enough for me.

[Ivan the Terrible]

My thoughts.

 

- I LOVE the idea that this is going to be 'darker' than the original. LOVE it with every fiber of my wizened little black heart.

 

- The graphics? Eh. I like the fact that the character runs properly now rather than doing that wussy little jog. Otherwise, though, nothing astoundingly improved upon from the original.....which is good, since I don't care about graphics, for the most part.

 

- I really, really like the idea that you can customize your Revan from the first game for KOTOR II. The more in-depth they do this (choosing the face, choosing the gender, choosing Light or Dark, whether they had romances active, and so on and so forth) the more I'll love it.

 

- I'm very disappointed to hear that KOTOR II won't be significantly longer than the original. The original had to come up with an entirely new game from whole cloth; since the KOTOR II team isn't facing that obstacle, I was really hoping that would mean an immense boost in content.

 

- I have mixed feelings about the music. On the one hand, I think Jeremy Soule is overrated; he does some good music here and there, but usually it's rather uninspired, so seeing him go doesn't break my heart. On the other hand, I've never even heard of the guy who is the replacement. I'll wait to hear it before I judge whether it was the right decision.

 

- I'm actually more confident now that the game is being made by Obsidian rather than Bioware. Bioware is a good company, but they have some recurring flaws in their games that make me want to strangle their writers. No such worries with the Torment folks at the helm....or so I hope.

[Taran'atar]

From what I've seen/heard/read about it, KOTOR 2 sounds good. I'm a little dissapointed that you won't be put back in the role of Revan, and that characters from the first game aren't returning in any role bigger than cameos (except T3 and maybe HK-47), although I can understand why they made that choice. It was encouraging to hear that the developers are concentrating on story and characters, instead of eye candy and other technical aspects. It shows that they have their priorities straight. If only movie producers (*cough*George Lucas*cough) could get that message through their heads. Anyway, I like the darker new direction and tone that they're setting for the sequel.

[Ivan the Terrible]

I'm a little dissapointed that you won't be put back in the role of Revan, and that characters from the first game aren't returning in any role bigger than cameos (except T3 and maybe HK-47), although I can understand why they made that choice.

Considering by the end of KOTOR you were an unstoppable engine of destruction.....yes, I can see why they made that choice.

[EUIX]

Lenght I beat the first KOTOR in 35 hours. This should at least be 50 hours long. I hope 60. The first one was not 40 hours long as many claimed. At the most i amanged to stretch the game into 39 hours. Thats doing everything possible.

[TSAdmiral]

My biggest disappointment is that the game length is not being significantly increased. One thing I can definitely say about KotOR is that it was so good I never wanted it to end. In addition, since KotOR II is just reusing the engine, I expected a much larger amount of content and gameplay improvements. The news that the game will be about the same length is extremely disappointing.

 

As for the graphics, I expected a jump in quality. Judging from what I have seen of the gameplay footage, I was once again slightly disappointed. As far as I can tell, the game doesn't look any better if at all.

 

Perhaps one of my biggest gripes is in the attack animations. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but is it true that the new animations are only played if you use a combat feat? Does that mean that normal attack animations are going to be exactly the same? In addition, it was said that your skill with a feat will change along with your animation. Doesn't that mean that you are still relegated to staring at the same animation over and over again, even if it is supposedly a "stronger" version? At least give us a variety of animations for each level of a combat feat!

 

As for as music goes, I'm not sure what to think. I'm slightly worried as this next composer is not very distinguished and ultimately we will not know how the score will turn out until it is permanently integrated.

 

However, what we do know of the story as been very solid. I love all the characters that have been shown to us so far, all except for Atton Rand. If this guy is gonna be another Carth... well, his annoying whining got to me. The return of HK-47 and T3 are nice, but I don't care very much for T3, if at all. Still, having a story that references back to the original is a big plus, as a huge amount of sequels don't even acknowledge the existence of the original. So far, it seems to bring additional depth to the original game as well, which is definitely a plus.

[The Situationist]

My thoughts.

 

- I LOVE the idea that this is going to be 'darker' than the original. LOVE it with every fiber of my wizened little black heart.

 

- The graphics? Eh. I like the fact that the character runs properly now rather than doing that wussy little jog. Otherwise, though, nothing astoundingly improved upon from the original.....which is good, since I don't care about graphics, for the most part.

 

- I really, really like the idea that you can customize your Revan from the first game for KOTOR II. The more in-depth they do this (choosing the face, choosing the gender, choosing Light or Dark, whether they had romances active, and so on and so forth) the more I'll love it.

 

- I'm very disappointed to hear that KOTOR II won't be significantly longer than the original. The original had to come up with an entirely new game from whole cloth; since the KOTOR II team isn't facing that obstacle, I was really hoping that would mean an immense boost in content.

 

- I have mixed feelings about the music. On the one hand, I think Jeremy Soule is overrated; he does some good music here and there, but usually it's rather uninspired, so seeing him go doesn't break my heart. On the other hand, I've never even heard of the guy who is the replacement. I'll wait to hear it before I judge whether it was the right decision.

 

- I'm actually more confident now that the game is being made by Obsidian rather than Bioware. Bioware is a good company, but they have some recurring flaws in their games that make me want to strangle their writers. No such worries with the Torment folks at the helm....or so I hope.

These are my exact thoughts, with one addition:

 

I'M VERY DISCONCERTED THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO MENTION OF JAWAS BY THE DEVELOPERS, UPON WHICH KOTOR'S SUCCESS AS AN RPG CLEARLY RESTED. I HOPE STEPS WILL BE TAKEN TO RECTIFY THIS. THANK YOU.

[Kdy-worker 1138]

Ivan the terrible wrote

 

I'm actually more confident now that the game is being made by Obsidian rather than Bioware. Bioware is a good company, but they have some recurring flaws in their games that make me want to strangle their writers. No such worries with the Torment folks at the helm....or so I hope

 

This is so true..ivan is a wise man..yessums

[Tricky William]

I can't wait for it to come out next year!!!!!! KOTOR was an awsome game!

At least we should have Battlefront to occupy us until KOTOR II comes out - although that does come out in September.

[sniggy]

I'M VERY DISCONCERTED THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO MENTION OF JAWAS BY THE DEVELOPERS,

oh, but there will be-

 

darth houdini - dark jawa lord. spawn of the wastes. tormentor of droids. :ph34r:

[Tyrell]

My biggest disappointment is that the game length is not being significantly increased. One thing I can definitely say about KotOR is that it was so good I never wanted it to end. In addition, since KotOR II is just reusing the engine, I expected a much larger amount of content and gameplay improvements. The news that the game will be about the same length is extremely disappointing.

That is the #1 gripe I have about KOTOR II. Bioware had an excuse cause they had to make a whole new game from scratch. From the sound engine to the graphics engine, they had to create that. Add that on top of the story, characters, level design and other nick-nacks.

 

Obsidian on the other hand had the sound/graphics engine from KOTOR HANDED to them. So they don't have to take up half of their development process making/fixing a engine, it is already there. There focus now should (but isn't) to make the game longer in terms of content. Since you have the game engine, why won't you now take up that extra time you have to make the planets larger? Add more characters, items etc. No instead we get a "The game would be about the same as KOTOR in terms of length" response from the developers. And they say it like its okay and not a huge deal, well it is cause I bring up the question. What the hell ARE you doing with all this extra time.

 

Let me give you guys one of my little analogies:

 

Lets say we have 2 students taking the Reading part on the ACT/SAT. The first student (Bioware) comes in the room and reads this 4 page story and answers all of the questions and gets all of them right. He then exits the room and tells the 2nd student to full story and the questions that he remembered and the answers to them. Mind you both students has 20 min to complete this part on the SAT. The first student had to use up all 20 min of this portion and didn't have enough time to move on to the next part.

 

The 2nd student (Obsidian) listened to everything the first student had to say and took it into account. So since he has all the information he needs for this part, you'll think it'll take him less then 20 mins to finish this part and have enough time to move on and do more of the SAT in the second section (I know in real life on the SAT you can't go onto the next section until told, but I'm just doing this for my example). Guess what? It took him 18 min to complete that part of the SAT. With knowing the whole story (The first kid told him EVERYTHING about the story) and a few answers, it should have taken him about 5 min to complete. But instead 18 min and he only has 2 min to do work in the second sections. WHAT WAS THIS KID DOING THE WHOLE TIME? SITTING DOWN LOOKING AT THE ROO?

 

Thats the impression I get with Obsidian. You have everything, the sound engine, graphics engine, and development tools handed down to you from the first developer, so that means you shouldn't take much time on aspects like that and you should have enough time and energy to work on other bigger things like the games content. Add more planets or make the current planets larger, add more characters, items, weapons, vehicles, etc.

 

I know you guys are tired of hearing me complain about KOTOR II, but thats just the type of person I am. I speak whatever is on my mind.

 

I mean I love the other things Obsidian is doing and additions its putting in the game like the better looking Jedi robes and the ablity for your NPCs to goto the LS/DS. I like those type of things, but when they said that the game lenght would be the same as KOTOR, and knowing that KOTOR wasn't that long then that just pissed me off.

 

Games like FF are different. Most of those games are the same in lenght, but from the start, they are already long as it is. KOTOR II is different cause KOTOR wasn't that long. Like someone else said here, when playing KOTOR and you knew it was coming to an end, you didn't want it to end, you wanted more. Whereas in a game like FF when it is about to end, you feel completed when it ends.

 

KOTOR II is going to be a great game from what I see now. Its just that I hate that the lenght is going to be the same as KOTOR. I hope you guys respect that.

[Meshugger]

One can always hope that the comment "The game would be about the same as KOTOR in terms of length" was taken entirely out of context, that the devs implied on how many planets KotOR II will have, but the sheer size of those worlds will be greater than in KotOR.

[Tyrell]

but the sheer size of those worlds will be greater than in KotOR.

Is that a fact, is that something that the developers said already? Or is that something that you believe?

[Meshugger]

but the sheer size of those worlds will be greater than in KotOR.

Is that a fact, is that something that the developers said already? Or is that something that you believe?

As i said: "One can always hope...", there's no more to it. The only thing that could be stated as a fact is that there will be more sidequests that might extend the length of KotOR II, compared to its predecessor.

[Tyrell]

but the sheer size of those worlds will be greater than in KotOR.

Is that a fact, is that something that the developers said already? Or is that something that you believe?

As i said: "One can always hope...", there's no more to it. The only thing that could be stated as a fact is that there will be more sidequests that might extend the length of KotOR II, compared to its predecessor.

Well with that being said, I wouldn't count on it. I wouldn't expect Dantooine in KOTOR II to be any larger in scale then the KOTOR Dantooine.

 

When Obsidian said more sidequest. I hope they aren't playing around with us with this one. I know I'm wrong but lets just say KOTOR had 40 total sidequest, well I hope KOTOR II has 80. In other words, I hope the sidequest is doubled from the first KOTOR. I just don't want 10-20 extra quest then the first.

[athenaprime]

I don't know how people can get through KOTOR 1 in under 50-60 hours. Maybe I'm just a putterer, or it's because I don't A button past the dialogues and movies (one thing I really loved about KOTOR was that all the dialogue was voice-acted. It made for a very cinematic experience and made the game feel less like a game and more like an interactive movie starring me).

 

The things I most enjoyed about KOTOR 1 were the complexities and flaws of the important (and even some of the not-so-important) NPCs. I liked the fact that they weren't simply buxom tavern wenches who can high-kick, or thuglike shooting machines out of B-grade action movies. The NPCs in all their flawed glory seemed like real people--they annoyed you at times, supported you in others, and admonished you according to their alignments.

 

Technically speaking, I would really like to see more varied skins for random people in KOTOR 2. I enjoyed the interface from the first one--it was easy to learn and unintimidating. Only thing I would suggest for improvement is that equipment inventory screen. I hated having to scroll through hundreds of items looking for a datapad I'd just picked up. If there were a way to sort the equipment into a personalized order, or at least to view it by more intuitive categories, it would make the logistics significantly less intrusive. Also, I got into the habit of putting items like old datapads, extra mines, and people's street clothes into footlockers aboard the Ebon Hawk, and it became tedious to have to do that one item at a time. Maybe that's why my playthroughs all took 50 hours or more.

 

I'm glad to hear they'll be adding weather and night to the planets, but I'm not sure if making them bigger will be of value or not. Dantooine seemed huge, and Manaan's Ahto City was just monstrous...I got perpetually lost on Manaan when looking for the different places I needed to go...ended up going back and forth across the whole city about ten times more than I needed, simply because I forgot where the mercenary bar was and kept confusing it with the swoop track.

 

The most important things I'd like to see in KOTOR 2 is a story as complex and intriguing as KOTOR 1. KOTOR 1's story drew me in and involved me more than I'd ever expected a CRPG to be able to do. KOTOR 2's writers need to give the story the same sort of attention given in KOTOR 1, and there's where I'm more than happy to let them spend inordinate amounts of development time on it. And to do that, they'll need characters even more complex and developed than KOTOR 1. Don't let them slide into caricatures.

[Strict31]

I must admit, using a new main character is a sticking point for me. I can see why they did it, but it still sticks. I'm also not terribly enthusiastic about five years later the jedi are all but wiped out. I spent a lot of time killing a lot of bloody Sith in the first game! Is there some sort of Sith factory? Are they rolling out on an assembly line? It might have been nice to see a different type of bad guy since we're going with different good guys. But, this is, of course very preliminary, since I don't know much more about the story beyond that. So I can't make any judgements.

 

I don't know if I'd like bigger areas without some sort of vehicle or steed. All that running made me feel like I was RPing a Nike ad. Get to the Dune Sea from Anchorhead? Just Do It. Yeah, I'd love some vehicles...And I'd love some swoop racing that had actual other racers on the course.

 

But I actually like what little I've seen of it and what I've heard from E3.

 

Also, since it's five years down the line, Mission is legal. Got some plans for her if she makes a cameo...

 

 

 

Strictly Speaking