Key differences between K1 and TSL...

[JayDominus 5]

The main difference is that writing-wise KotOR is a reconstruction of Star Wars while KotOR II is a deconstruction.

 

KotOR picks together everything we know and love about Star Wars, character archetypes and plot points lifted straight from the original trilogy are put together in one big package. Kind of like Episode VII, only clever and subtle and not in-your-face about it. While it can sometimes be dark, in general it's fun, it's cheesy (of course it is, it's Star Wars, go read Azimov for serious sci-fi) and it's the work that made me into a Star Wars fan. Since I grew up with the Prequels and had no means of watching the OT back in the day, the whole Vader is Luke's daddy plot twist was kind of spoiled to me from the get-go... which only made the Darth Revan plot twist all the more shocking. It's one of two times when a character reveal left me with my jaw on the floor (the second time was at the end of the last (well, now penultimate) Witcher book).

 

KotOR II is dark, twisted, mysterious and, at times, unpleasant. The sense of camaraderie from the first game is replaced with distrust and paranoia, the goals are unclear (and once the Jedi Masters are gone, they are less clear than ever) and everybody has ulterior motives. It's really not the game I was expecting a KotOR sequel to be. And since I was about twelve when I first played it... yeah, I kind of resented it for it. It punished me for trying to be the good guy, didn't have most of the cast from the first one and what the hell was up with that ending. While nowadays I appreciate it more for its writing and philosophy and deconstructive angle, a part of that resentment still remains within me.

 

Oh, and TOR is about taking everything about KotOR and KotOR II and flushing it into a toilet.

[Mutilator57 140]

The main difference is that writing-wise KotOR is a reconstruction of Star Wars while KotOR II is a deconstruction.

 

KotOR picks together everything we know and love about Star Wars, character archetypes and plot points lifted straight from the original trilogy are put together in one big package. Kind of like Episode VII, only clever and subtle and not in-your-face about it. While it can sometimes be dark, in general it's fun, it's cheesy (of course it is, it's Star Wars, go read Azimov for serious sci-fi) and it's the work that made me into a Star Wars fan. Since I grew up with the Prequels and had no means of watching the OT back in the day, the whole Vader is Luke's daddy plot twist was kind of spoiled to me from the get-go... which only made the Darth Revan plot twist all the more shocking. It's one of two times when a character reveal left me with my jaw on the floor (the second time was at the end of the last (well, now penultimate) Witcher book).

 

KotOR II is dark, twisted, mysterious and, at times, unpleasant. The sense of camaraderie from the first game is replaced with distrust and paranoia, the goals are unclear (and once the Jedi Masters are gone, they are less clear than ever) and everybody has ulterior motives. It's really not the game I was expecting a KotOR sequel to be. And since I was about twelve when I first played it... yeah, I kind of resented it for it. It punished me for trying to be the good guy, didn't have most of the cast from the first one and what the hell was up with that ending. While nowadays I appreciate it more for its writing and philosophy and deconstructive angle, a part of that resentment still remains within me.

 

Oh, and TOR is about taking everything about KotOR and KotOR II and flushing it into a toilet.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[sEcOnDbOuToFiNsAnItY 60]

The main difference is that writing-wise KotOR is a reconstruction of Star Wars while KotOR II is a deconstruction.

 

KotOR II can be a reconstruction if you go uber lightside.

 

Despite all the crap the game throws at you, it is incredibly satisfying to laugh in its face and proceed to: fell the Sith; save the Republic; bring together a bunch of dysfunctional, damaged people and giving them therapy plus friendship; rebuild the Jedi Order; and (if you choose so) find some romance.

 

Case in point, Atton's reliability is directly proportional to and reliant on how well you treat him.

[Eauxps I. Fourgott 81]

Since I grew up with the Prequels and had no means of watching the OT back in the day, the whole Vader is Luke's daddy plot twist was kind of spoiled to me from the get-go... which only made the Darth Revan plot twist all the more shocking. It's one of two times when a character reveal left me with my jaw on the floor (the second time was at the end of the last (well, now penultimate) Witcher book).

 

Heh, for me, the Revan twist was the one that was spoiled for me (in this case, by a friend who didn't realize that I didn't know yet). I was too young to remember what I felt about the "I am your father" thing.

 

 

 

the goals are unclear (and once the Jedi Masters are gone, they are less clear than ever)

 

Well, at the beginning, you're just trying to escape Peragus and then recover your ship, and then you're looking for the Jedi Masters. But yeah, after that, it's kind of convoluted and hard to tell what's going on. Not the best think in my opinion.

 

 

 

It punished me for trying to be the good guy

 

One issue I had was similar to this, except that I felt that whatever I did in the first game, especially if I faithfully followed the light side and saved the galaxy, was largely irrelevant and played down. It was kind of annoying.

[Mutilator57 140]

One issue I had was similar to this, except that I felt that whatever I did in the first game, especially if I faithfully followed the light side and saved the galaxy, was largely irrelevant and played down. It was kind of annoying.

Hehehehe never had this problem - I don't think I even bothered to do an LS playthrough until like 2007 - 3 or so years after the game even came out!

 

Anyway even with the many DS runs I did, I was never really happy about the quality and open-ended nature of the ending, the lack of closure irritated me immensely. Although in retrospect I was probably too young to have understood the story fully anyway but appreciate it for what it is today.

[JayDominus 5]

KotOR II can be a reconstruction if you go uber lightside.

 

Despite all the crap the game throws at you, it is incredibly satisfying to laugh in its face and proceed to: fell the Sith; save the Republic; bring together a bunch of dysfunctional, damaged people and giving them therapy plus friendship; rebuild the Jedi Order; and (if you choose so) find some romance.

 

Case in point, Atton's reliability is directly proportional to and reliant on how well you treat him.

KotOR II's deconstruction is not about the events that happened in it, but about the views it presents on the universe, the Jedi and the Force, using Kreia as the mouthpiece. While she dies in the end and you can rebuild the Order, you never quite end up provided with why the Jedi ARE good for the Republic and galaxy at large. Frankly, the revelation of what actually happened at Malachor V serves to drive the deconstructive point home.