Key differences between K1 and TSL...

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

Now firstly I would love to say that I love both KotOR games equally, even though i say I prefer one over e other i honestly don't

I have started to develop the opinion that nothing is better than the other just different, whether for better or worse.

Now enough rambling, here are some of the key differences between k1 and TSL (Make sure to leave your opinions and perhaps other key differences down below).

1:TSL takes a much more grey and clouded look at Star Wars itself, the reason a lot of people prefer k1 over k2 is because K2 decided to be... Inventive, and take a chance at breaking peoples comfort zones with Star Wars as a whole. Everyone is used to the whole good vs evil, but when you throw a new alignment or insight on Star Wars itself, it is breaking peoples comfort zones. I like the more grey look on K2 it just feels a lot more complicated, and I like complicated, also I think we can all agree Kreia is freakin' awesome!

2:Lets once again talk about the different shades of darkness in K1 and K2, K1 is a bit more like a new hope in a sense, while K2 is sorta like a mix of Episode 5 and episode 3 IMHO, And K1 just seems to have a nostalgic feeling to it, and that nostalgic Star Wars feeling is what drew me to KotOR in the first place, sorry got off topic there about the darkness levels, I feel K2 is far darker than K1, not just in setting but in dialouge and characters, Even the Sith Lords are creepier than Hitler in k2. Also K2 feels like the galaxy's infrastructure is about to collapse, the republic is on the brink of destruction, there are even less Jedi in K2 than there were after Episode 3 (Old timey Sith made sure they did their own dirty work) and because of this crazy new atmosphere, the game feels post apocalyptic, like the galaxy is struggling to recover after the war in more ways than one.

3:Now lets talk about the main character you play as in KotOR1 and TSL, First you have Revan and - well - Revan is a bit complicated as we all know, he is someone who had the courage to defy the the Jedi and go to war. He has amnesia which honestly is one of the most cliche things in all of entertainment history, the main person has amnesia then they slowly remember things etc etc etc... He is a great character do not get me wrong at ALL! Revan is extremely powerful, extremely wise, and extremely awesome, however his character is not complex enough for my brain honestly (No bragging here move along). Then you have the exile who was one of Revan's followers, she (Meetra Surik) had the courage to come back and face judgement by the jedi after she had gone to war against their wishes, The thing about Meetra Surik is is that... She is an actual void in the force, she is sucking all forms of the force into her, whether light or dark, which is one of the reasons she can influence people so well, one example is Bao-Dur. She truly is broken, she is truly an exile! Not just from the force, not just from the Jedi, But she is quite literally an exile of life, all life draws near to her, but it is her choice how she uses this great advantage of being a void.

4:The characters, now let me just say I absolutely loved the Characters in K1, it broke my heart when I accidentally killed bastilla on my first play through near the endgame, which is why I reloaded a previous save and redeemed her (Gotta love that hot Jedi knight, am I right?) But the problem with the characters in K1 and in entertainment and Star Wars in general, they just don't seem human or relateable they feel like perfect Hollywood characters, They don't feel scarred or human-like, they feel Like robots who are programmed to do what they're doing. Again don't get me wrong i loved K1 and it's characters, this is just my insight and I'd love to hear yours, Anyway the characters in K2 were all broken in their own way. Like Atton he used to be an evil murderer and now he is a Pazaak addict and pervert, He is broken, Mira is broken because she is deeply afraid of life, of death and of everything inside. These are just some examples.

Now yes I know that K2 was unfinished but many people on this site fixed the brokenness of k2 and that truly makes it the perfect game, and the masterpiece it should have been. LONG LIVE KotOR, LONG LIVE TSL!!!

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

I guess you're not talking about differences in actual gameplay and such. One thing I would add to this is that TSL has a MUCH more convoluted and confusing story to it. I'm still not sure, after at least six playthroughs, that I understand all of Kreia's motives for everything she does in the end. That can make KOTOR1 more appealing when I don't feel like using an excess of brainpower.

[milestails 264]

KotOR has a blue UI; TSL has a green UI.

 

KotOR has Zaalbar; TSL has Hanharr.

 

KotOR Dantooine is fall colors; TSL Dantooine is not fall colors.

 

KotOR level cap is 20; TSL level cap is 50.

 

KotOR has Dark Jedi; TSL has Sith Assassins.

 

KotOR T3-M4 is not important; TSL T3-M4 is critical.

 

KotOR Korriban lands you in Dreshdae; TSL Korriban lands you in the Valley of the Dark Lords.

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

Okay, maybe we are talking about differences in actual gameplay and such.

 

There are the obvious upgrades in TSL such as more feats + powers, prestige classes, etc., yet KOTOR1 has always been my personal favorite (although I love both). I think I've pegged down a number of reasons:

 

1. I played KOTOR1 first. I think that has a bit of an effect.

2. KOTOR1 has that lovely thing know as the Rapid Transit System.

3. TSL might have the influence system, but I kind of liked how each party member (except Zaalbar, HK, and T3) in KOTOR1 had their own sidequest you could activate in the spaceports. Also, it can be nice to go into the Ebon Hawk without having to watch a bunch of cutscenes of my party.

4. Teasing Bastila is fun.

5. KOTOR1 has the inventory filter "New Items."

6. The aforementioned story differences can make KOTOR1 a bit more fun. Plus there's the fact that at the end you can actually see how your path has an effect on the galaxy.

7. I find the first two planets in KOTOR1 considerably less tedious to go through than the first two of TSL. Similarly, I think storming the Star Forge is way more fun and epic than slogging through Malachor V.

8. KOTOR1 has a couple of extra levels of difficulty that I appreciate; the first is the fact that you have to play through the first part of the game as a non-Jedi, the second is that the level cap of 20 really requires you to plan out what feats and powers you want to have, as opposed to TSL where I always end up with Force powers that I don't really want.

 

I think that's it for me.

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

I guess you're not talking about differences in actual gameplay and such. One thing I would add to this is that TSL has a MUCH more convoluted and confusing story to it. I'm still not sure, after at least six playthroughs, that I understand all of Kreia's motives for everything she does in the end. That can make KOTOR1 more appealing when I don't feel like using an excess of brainpower.

I was in a rush to get to bed last night when I was writing this, which is why I couldn't get to the gameplay side of things.

Okay, maybe we are talking about differences in actual gameplay and such.

 

There are the obvious upgrades in TSL such as more feats + powers, prestige classes, etc., yet KOTOR1 has always been my personal favorite (although I love both). I think I've pegged down a number of reasons:

 

(see above)

 

I think that's it for me.

I totally get where you are coming from, but I wouldn't call the first two planets tedious. I would call them long and necessary. I did like the rapid transit too, but honestly due to TSLs better and faster running mechanics it didn't bother me that much, YES YES YES YES THE STAR FORGE WAS EPIC. However, Malachor V was depressing it was sad and it was scary, those three emotions just trigger HUGE amounts of emotion in me, which really helped set the mood for the things that would happen there, while The star forge was like... Yay! We are attacking an ancient Death Star except the ancient Death Star just creates a bunch of weapons and ships... Yay? Now about the level cap and going through the first part of the game as a Jedi, firstly you actually get your lightsaber sooner in K1 in TSL, so up until that point where you build your lightsaber in TSL you are basically no different than an average guy, just with some weak force powers. And let me say that early on in the game in TSL your force powers hardly do anything, therefore I believe that with all honesty TSL is more balanced. Yes i do know that the level cap is extremely high, but once you hit level 30 it is quite hard to continue leveling up unless you use that glitch on Korriban (Gotta love them glitches) Teasing Batstla is fun you are right, but I think trying to flirt with Mira is even more hilarious. Wait... Do you think I should do another section of the key differences? Like for an example, comparing party members? Comparing planets? Comparing atmosphere? And getting into more game play differences like you said?

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

I totally get where you are coming from, but I wouldn't call the first two planets tedious

 

I guess most of that's just a to-each-his-own sort of thing, though one other thing about the not-starting-as-a-Jedi aspect is that I also get to play as one of the other classes, which I do sometimes miss in TSL. (Actually, last play through, I ended up using the KSE to turn my character into a Scoundrel to start the game - yay for sneak attacks!) Also, I like KOTOR1's music way more than most of TSL's. You can do other sections if you want; I don't have any real opinion.

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

I guess most of that's just a to-each-his-own sort of thing, though one other thing about the not-starting-as-a-Jedi aspect is that I also get to play as one of the other classes, which I do sometimes miss in TSL. (Actually, last playthrough, I ended up using the KSE to turn my character into a Scoundrel to start the game - yay for sneak attacks!) Also, I like KOTOR1's music way more than most of TSL's. You can do other sections if you want; I don't have any real opinion.

Don't say you have no opinion - your opinions matter a lot. As do mine, as do anyone's. And I will do another section. Hopefully this forum post starts booming soon.

 

[Please don't double-post... Here's the Site Rules, Rule 8, Section 2: Deadly Stream Rules]
Here is part two of the key differences between K1 and TSL this part will go a bit more in depth about comparing characters, comparing planets and a multitude of other things and without further adieu lets get started...

 

5.Lets compare some of the characters and their great writing, Atton and carth are two comparable characters, lets start with their personality:Carth is a stuck up prideful and wise cracking fighter pilot and admiral for the republic, he has lost all of his family his wife his son everything important to him is lost, even the planet he used to live on is dead! So he is easily provoked and angered when talking about his family, or just the mandalorian wars or the jedi civil wars or just war in general. However he does have a good heart he is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, and that is what it takes to be a soldier in Star Wars and in life, overall he is a well written companion BUT he is somewhat one sided. Which is the issue I have with carth he was enjoyable at the beggining of the game, but his back story slowly got more and more crappy and cliche as time goes on (IMO) (Disclaimer:This is my opinion and there is nothing meant by it, but I'd love to hear your amazing opinions about this) So Carth is an overall good character and companion however his one sidedness truly messes up his backstory. Now lets talk about Atton, Now Atton is a liar a cheater a pervert a gambler and worst of all a murderer. Now that just about sums up Atton... No just kidding, Atton is many things but a bad person is not one of them. Atton is like a young child his fate rests in the hands of others, because he doesn't just believe in good or evil, he is a neutral or grey character. He has an absolutely outrageous past, he used to torture and murder jedi just for fun and for his job. Obsidian wrote Atton to just be another Han Solo ripoff, actually scratch that, they wrote him to seem like a Han Solo ripoff so that way when his backstory was revealed it is much more shocking. Now no characters are perfect Attons writing is far from perfect, the problem with Atton was that his backstory was a bit short and he was lacking on a huge personality sort of like Han Solo, while Carth had an amazing personality but his backstory was just another sob story we've all heard before. And when i say Atton lacks a big personality what I mean by that is he shows little to no emotion throughout TSL which is a pretty big downer, it only gets emotional with him when he finally becomes a jedi/sith.

 

Now that we're done with them lets compare Visas Marr and bastilla, They are actually a lot more alike than you think. Lets start with Visas Marr, she is the last of her species and she will do anything to protect the exile, She wishes for death but yet she does not, She isn't a sith nor a jedi nor a grey jedi of any kind. Her species are natural force users so naturally she will use the force to her advantage, You can have a relationship with visas in TSL and even have as the internet calls it "Force sex" with her. Now honestly Visas has Little to no characters in her backstory which kinda makes it bland and distasteful. She is a solid companion but I always felt something was missing from her backstory.

 

Now lets talk about bastilla, She truly is the only companion in K1 that was written FLAWLESSLY I have absolutely no complaints about the romance or anything with bastilla other than maybe her prissiness but I think that was funny xD. She is an amazingly powerful jedi knight who can use battle meditation to motivate her followers and discourage the enemy and make them lose their will to fight, it is a versatile force power however she could never actually like use it in game as a force power which kinda sucked. She is a jedi knight struggling with the jedi ways deep down inside, and is constantly tempted by the dark side, She is a hot character by nature which makes her attractive, and her voice acting is great. Her writing is the most flawless writing bioware has ever done, i just wish there could have been an actual visual kiss in Kotor rather than the mod we have now which makes a kiss but it looks like 3 year olds trying to kiss or some crap like that.

 

6.The gameplay differences is what we will now be discussing, Now In K1 does everybody remember how weird the walking animation looked? And how you were like jogging around everywhere and it looked really strange and how you were so slow and how you absolutely had to have force speed in order to get around? Well TSL fixes that by making the walking animations more realistic and making your movement speed a bit faster which was a great improvement.

 

Then you have the upgrading, the upgrading in K1 was bland and I didn't like it, I was hardly ever at the upgrade table in the first place, But TSL not only improved how upgrades work (which I love) They also added components and making stuff from scratch ect ect ect... Obsidian is good at taking what is already there and improving upon it so props to you obsidian.
Also I liked the inclusion of the lightsaber forms however i wish it actually made a difference to the animations used during battle, TSL also improved the character faces and made them look less like a block of wood and TSL also improved upon graphics.

 

I will be making another one of these soon next time we'll be comparing planets and overall graphics, as well as some things TSL did wrong.

[DarthParametric 3,777]

KotOR T3-M4 is not important

Well he did unlock a door that one time...

[Jango32 23]

 

Enjoy. 

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

 

Enjoy.

 

Lorerunner seems to get far more views on his loreruns, he should do a fallout 3 lorerun, and a jade empire lorerun, Oh and I will be doing another section of this soon, life's been busy with moving and stuff. I will get around to it, because I enjoy comparing My two favorite games of all time!

[StellarExile 52]

kotor 2 has a terrible storyline but more items than kotor 1

[Xuul 224]

kotor 2 has a terrible storyline but more items than kotor 1

That's a really weird way to write better

[StellarExile 52]

What do you mean Xuul?

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

kotor 2 has a terrible storyline but more items than kotor 1

 

Well...

 

KOTOR2 certainly has a less straight-forward, much harder-to-understand story than KOTOR 1. I personally enjoy KOTOR 1's more, just because it doesn't make me think too hard  , but I believe many people would say that KOTOR2's is much more well-written. It certainly is more complex and makes you think more.

 

Ultimately, I think it's a matter of personal taste.

[Jango32 23]

What do you mean Xuul?

Well, either watch the video I linked to a few posts back or, if you like reading...

 

http://lparchive.org/Knights-of-the-Old-Republic-II/

[high5 18]

Well, either watch the video I linked to a few posts back or, if you like reading...

 

http://lparchive.org/Knights-of-the-Old-Republic-II/

Options are good, cheers Jango I wouldn't have looked for plays of games I've played so much but I'm enjoying seeing other reactions and interpretations.

 

I actually loved kotor 1 despite the story being meh for me and then when 2 came around I think the darker more clouded tone drew me in more. At the time it was terrible that the game was rushed but I think It may have actually helped inspire modders. If only the recorded a ton of random VO's.  

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

Here we go and welcome back to another episode of... key differences between K1 and TSL

 

7.We will now be getting into the feeling of kotor2 over the feeling of kotor1, Now Kotor1 just has that nostalgic Episode 4 Feeling to it, it just feels... Like you are in a dream state fully immersed in this amazing Star Wars atmosphere set thousands of years before the movies we all know and love, and kotor1 isn't very philosophical or metaphorical it is very straightforward and literal (Kinda like mira, "look if we start sharing a bunk the other girls will get jealous and i'll have to kick the hell out of them to show them who's pack leader around here, No thanks you're sweet old guy but lets keep it professional" -Mira) Anywho The thing about Kotor1 is for me it is a one time experience, because it's experience and atmosphere is so nostalgic I can only play it every 8 months or so otherwise it doesn't have the nostalgic feeling that brought me and many others to it in the first place!

 

And kotor2 feels a bit more like... It feels post apocolyptic to be blunt, the republic and the galaxy as a whole are very very very weak and are recovering from an intense war, And I believe that it is somewhat like what Eauxps said kotor2 makes you think harder, and I myself am a critical thinker, sometimes i lie awake at night until dawn because of how much of a critical thinker i am (just to give you some perspective). I have played kotor2 7 times and I am working on 2 more playthroughs currently, a playthrough as a darkside female and a lightside jedi gunman (a jedi who uses OP blaster pistols) You wanna know why I've played k2 7 times and K1 only twice?

 

Well partially because taris is the creepiest planet in the game, next to Kashyyk and mannan... XD.

 

But for real i have played k2 more because there are more choices and every choice might just squeeze a bit more dialouge out of the game, I didn't hear Kreia speak about revan until my 6th playthrough when I did a canon playthrough as Meetra Surik, now that was fun... She had 48 strength and no where to go but up! My point is that K2 has more replay value, while K1 has a bit more value in general IMHO, and I prefer replay value over overall value (most of the time). Thanks for reading, please continue to contribute to this, and give your opinions on the key differences between K1 and TSL....

[ZM90 100]

In my opinion.

 

KotOR 1 had the better planets.  I loved Taris, Manaan, Korriban.  I also felt each planet did it's theme very well.  

 

I think TSL had the better story and party interactions though.

 

Which is the better game?  To me comes down to a level (planet) VS. story perspective.  K1 had the better planets in my eyes but TSL had the better story in my eyes.  To me they are both equally great and I can't decide which is better.

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

Neither is better, Obi wan isn't better than anakin, luke isn't better than revan, Sushi isn't better than pizza, Coca-cola isn't better than pepsi., kotor1 isn't better than TSL, Just different.

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

Obi wan isn't better than anakin

 

I would disagree...

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

I would disagree...

You know what I meant. Haha

[Kainzorus Prime 205]

I will sum this up quite quickly - http://i.imgur.com/X7lYydA.jpg

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

I will sum this up quite quickly - http://i.imgur.com/X7lYydA.jpg

 

You must admit that Darth Malak has a good evil laugh, though.

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

You must admit that Darth Malak has a good evil laugh, though.

Darth sions irish demon guy with strep throat voice is better. You know what else I think darth malak needed? Some actual backstory, and perhaps a cooler weapon than just a single saber, because single sabers are done to death.

[TheDarkChocolateJedi 17]

I will sum this up quite quickly - http://i.imgur.com/X7lYydA.jpg

I will admit, that is a very true inference about the differences between the kotor games.

 

KotOR takes a more "Saturday morning cartoon villain" approach, while TSL takes a more... "Obsidians legitimate threat" Kind of thing, i don't think anyone else could have summed it up that quickly haha!