Beepzorz

While I liked pretty every interface change made for the sequel, one thing that always struck me as odd is how barebones and almost shoddy the interface for interacting with terminals looks. In fact, I'd hazard a guess it was unfinished. The circles next to the skill level/resource count in the bottom are particularly conspicuous, almost like they're placeholders for skill/item icons. Kotor 1 does a better job in this regard, with the interface actually resembling a physical interface. I'm curious if anyone has considered making a mod to make TSL's terminal interface a bit easier on the eyes. Screenshots of the two interfaces: Posted Today, 08:06 AM Bump. Anyone? Administration: Bump a thread again and there will be consequences. Re-read our site's rules - in particular Rule 6.

They just look off. It doesn't look like a believable rendering of someone wearing a heavy suit of armor. It's too colorful. The shoulderpads look they were glued on the suit later. The helmet/head also looks weird, almost triangle-shaped, and that tiny black visor strip just looks awkward. I've always thought Boba Fett looked goofy, but the Kotor Mandalorians are even worse. To be honest, I've never been a fan of most of the armor designs in the Kotor games. Bioware, and to a lesser extent Obsidian, adopted the gaudy aesthetics of the prequel movies rather than the visual style of the OT, which was a bit of a mistake IMO.

I didn't mean to say I enjoyed absolutely nothing about Kotor 1's music, and even the forgettable tracks were serviceable enough. But there is plenty of middle ground between 'great music' and 'terrible music'. The music that plays in Dantooine (in the wilderness, not the academy) is very pleasant to listen to and one of the game's better tracks, I agree. But it also highlights what I said before. It's a fun track, but it doesn't really go anywhere or follow through on a melody. Compare that to the Dantooine music from Kotor 2, which is a much more deliberately crafted, melodically rich piece of music that actually captures the ambiance of a formerly prosperous, but now ailing planet that's being plundered by salvagers. The other track that comes to mind as one of the better ones in Kotor 1 is the ominous SIth Base music. I think Kotor 2 reuses this one for the Ravager. Credit where credit's due, it's a good track. That might apply to a few of the combat tracks, a criticism which I brought up myself already, but everything else? I'm not seeing it. EDIT: Out of curiosity I went and counted the number of different tracks of ambient area music. Kotor 2 has 30; Kotor 1, despite being a slightly bigger game, only has 20.

Kotor 2's music stands head and shoulders above Kotor 1's. Even areas where you literally only spend a few minutes in, like the Polar Plateau, get their own unique theme. But more importantly, Kotor 2 does an excellent job of making the music evoke a certain mood that fits the area the music is playing in. This is very lacking in Kotor 1, and most of its melodies and compositions have just never struck me as particularly distinct or interesting in any way. A visit to Jeremy Soule's Wikipedia page reveals why: during the period in which Kotor was developed, 2000-2003, Soule composed the soundtracks for 26 (!) different games. Someone who's spread that thin is never going to operate at the top of his game. If there is one complaint I have about Kotor 2's music that might be addressed with a mod, it's the combat music. While the regular ambient music fits perfectly, the combat tracks sometimes feel a bit 'random' for the areas/events they play in, despite being good tracks on their own. The bombastic music that plays during the final fight with Kreia for example has always seemed like a questionable choice. I think I'd rather have had Kreia's/Traya's theme play during it instead.

I don't get the love for Revan. He isn't even a character, he's just a Mary Sue for the player to feel awesome about when it turns out you are him. The only time he works somewhat is when characters in Kotor 2 speak about him like he's a myth. Though I suppose he's still better than the lazy Vader clone that is Malak or *shudder* Darth Bandon. Kreia is easily the most multi-layered and interesting Sith Lord in the entirety of the Star Wars franchise. It helps that she doesn't actually identify as a Sith Lord, and her actions can even be read as benevolent. Nihilus and Sion are also great, each acting as foils/mirrors for the exile.