SW: KotOR II TSL : Five Years On

[Darth InSidious]

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords was released for Xbox in North America on December 6 2004, and February 2005 for PC, and on Xbox outside the US. Which makes this post more than a little late, appearing as it does in the game's sixth year.

 

cont, p94

 

As I've said, we're a little with this announcement, but nevertheless, it's with great pleasure that StarWarsKnights.com inaugurates its KotOR 2 5th Anniversary Retrospective... er, thing!

 

What's coming, you ask? Updates, updates, UPDATES! We've got articles and more articles, reviews, retrospectives, and maybe even some multimedia.

 

For now, though, and to start the ball rolling, why not share your memories of your first encounters with and your first impressions of KotOR and KotOR II: TSL?

[mimartin]

Knights of the Old Republic was the first RPG I ever played and quickly became my favorite game. So I eagerly anticipated the release of The Sith Lords. I actually made the mistake of telling my mother that I wanted this game, so she told me not to purchase it for myself because it may be under the tree. I may be a lot of things, but one thing I’m not is patient. So I had a copy on the day of release and another copy Christmas morning.

 

I had avoided most of the information before the release of TSL so my first impression was WOW! I get to be a Jedi right away. Followed quickly by “What no force powers?”

 

My second impression was the game started out what I considered slowly. One of the joys I had in KOTOR was getting Task and the Carth right away. In TSL I kept meeting NPC, but neither wanted to join my PC. Found Peragus long, but not boring by any means. Liked the atmosphere Obsidian created with the empty mining facility, was intrigued trying to figured out how the PC got there and where all the miners were. Even after first starting the game I was already planning my next playthrough so I would be better equipped to open a door or access certain dialogue or a terminal.

 

I played the game up until Christmas and then volunteered to ride to LA in the back seat so I could play TSL on our trip to watch Texas vs. Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Spending a week in LA before the football game was difficult as all I wanted to do was play the TSL.

[Totenkopf]

Got TSL on the strength of K1, which I didn't actually play until spring of '06 (got it on Christmas '04). K1 was also the 1st RPG I'd played as well. My initial impression of TSL at the end was....is that it? It took only about 60-66% of the time to complete vs K1. Was a bit disappointed that you mostly only fought droids for much of Peragus and in later playthroughs have tended to try to shorten my stays on both Peragus and Telos. However, the fact that there are so many mods you can add to enhance both games has made them feel less stale over time.

[adamqd]

I was so psyched about its release, I contacted a distant cousin who lives in Boston USA, and got him to go and Buy me TSL for xbox on the day of release and mail it to me in the UK... I then took my xbox to a shop and had it Chipped so I could play NTSC games lol.

 

Great game, not as good as KotOR IMHO, but Still top 5 of all time

[Miltiades]

I remember KotOR for PC being released at around the same time as Jedi Academy. I wasn't really aware of KotOR at the time and I think I confused the two when I bought KotOR. I actually was disappointed for a moment when the game began, but then hours passed and I got sucked into it. KotOR was the game that introduced me to the RPG genre, and I immediately knew it was the perfect genre for me.

 

TSL was still only the second RPG I played, however. It was pretty much the only game I was looking forward to between the release of the two games. I never had the problems other people seemed to have and was really impressed by it. For me, especially because of the characters, the second was an improvement on the first and it is still my favorite game of all time. But I would keep loving them both.

[Tysyacha]

I actually played TSL before I played the original KOTOR. In fact, it was THE single game that prompted me to join LucasForums! A match made in heaven was this--er, I mean, "destined to be, in the way of the Force." I actually like TSL better than KOTOR, all because of one character: Kreia.

 

I HATED the end of the game, but I still loved playing it up until then just to hear Kreia's conversations. TSL inspired me to write the "Vremya" story series and create the "Tysyacha Dvukh" Exile character. Without that game, I never would have found LF or such a wonderful community of friends, readers, and fellow gamers. I owe TSL everything in that regard. What a great game!!!

[Mav]

Most of my memories from TSL come from painfully beta testing the USM. :\

 

I miss svösh and T7 and Sep... I do still see Dtrips and CZ on occasion though

[Sith Holocron]

Unlike most people, I see KOTOR and TSL in a slightly different way than everyone else because I played TSL first. I had heard all about the first game through someone else that had played it - including the twist. I saw it on sale at a website and thought "Hey, maybe this is the game I'll actually play the whole way through!" (I seem to acquire games and then I never get around to finishing them. Eventually I'll actually play The Force Unleashed.) Play it I did and then - when I was searching more information I discovered both the modding community here (and elsewhere) and also the "machinima" community that has gathered around it -and I never left it.

 

Now to actually learn modding - well -that's another story!

[Shem]

And the sad part is they didn't continue the popular series. And no, TOR doesn't count IMO.

[Darth InSidious]

SWK Fifth Anniversary, Part I

 

To start the ball rolling with on the Fifth Anniversary of TSL, we're going to go right back to the beginning. Back, in fact, to the dark, antediluvian days before either KotOR game existed...

 

Full Article

[Darth Avlectus]

Ah for once a thread where we don't abuse TSL for being the oddity. Thank you Darathy (can I call you that or is it a priveledge only for friends?).

 

My first exposure was when a friend of mine just *had* to get an XBOX and buy this in the first release. He saved up the part for me of fighting Nihilus and Malachor V.

 

At the time I couldn't quite appreciate it because I was so dazzled with the films and the upcoming ROTS finale. Still, it spurred the idea that more can be done with the RP world and to not be afraid to be imaginative and push the boundaries a bit. You know, get out of the orthodox, think outside the box.

 

After awhile I became more curious about KOTOR. So I bought it in 2006. My only experience with RPGs prior was thin:

Dragon Warrior for the NES, Rogue (a classic DOS game), Odyssey Legend of Nemesis demo, and Dungeon Masters 2 Legend of Skullkeep demo.

Fast forward past all the down time spent due to technical poblems I finally ran it on my PCG-FRV35 Sony Vaio and pushing its inferior software to the limits. I beat it in early 2007 about a year after purchasing. Afte this...

 

Spent quite a while with no action. Became really curious about TSL. Heard all the negative criticisms over and over. Blahblahblah. Wanted to see if all the trash talk had any weight to it. Became unbearably hungry for it. Had low expectations. Bought it in late 2007. Unfortunately it sat because I had no computer to play it on. Got a new computer in mid 2008. By fall, I had worked my around to TSL. I played it for 2 weeks straight and beat it and pleasantly found it was quite a bit better than I had anticipated. Flaws and all. It even had a rather open storyline. It once again changed how I looked at RP, fanfic, and storyline. Though it was a small and elemental step, it was nonetheless a fundamental step for me.

 

So people who whined about it not having a good storyline...bah they were just expecting a more structured story that fit the mold. They didn't like going outside their comfort zone. I felt quite at home thank you.

 

Also, ever since I read that terrible SW novel, something about 'crystal dwarf', and saw the antagonist wielded a silver lightsaber I wanted to play a game where I got to use one. TSL was just that game.

 

Just my .

[Miltiades]

Spent quite a while with no action. Became really curious about TSL. Heard all the negative criticisms over and over. Blahblahblah. Wanted to see if all the trash talk had any weight to it. Became unbearably hungry for it. Had low expectations. Bought it in late 2007. Unfortunately it sat because I had no computer to play it on. Got a new computer in mid 2008.

Mordin, is that you?

 

OT: I remember that TSL trailer quite well. Played it over and over again.

[Rtas Vadum]

It was a friend(cousin, actually) of mine who first showed me the games. While I did know of them both, I only had the interest of starting the first(which as I did, watching the first cut-scene that shows Revan, he says, quite easily, "That's you." - or something to that effect). My opinion of that(which I only had after I read into the game's story a bit), was that I liked the idea. I wasn't too fond of the beginning, as then I thought it just took forever to get through Taris. Not to mention on my un-needed fear of the Swoop Race, as I had no idea it was so simple. All that aside, I couldn't help but love the story when I finally finished it.

 

TSL, however, was obviously different. At first, my thinking was that Peragus was just like Taris, in that it would likely take just as long to finish. Maybe, but just considering that opening trailer on the Xbox version, and the darker tone was quite obvious...and I liked it. Though on this occasion, I loved to find out that you did start as a Jedi, but the whole "Work-for-your-saber" thing still applied. That aside, the game's settings were obviously different as well. Where in K1, all of the planets were lively places, here they are ravaged by different things, most of these ranging from local gangs(Narr Shaadda), emptiness(Korriban), Political Tension(Onderon), and of course, the Mandalorian War. Though this time, one could say that the reveal wasn't so much about the Exile, but rather Kreia, Sure, you could figure out that she is going to be the one to betray you(namely if you see the Kreia's fall cutscene), but that still leaves the question, of when.

 

Of course, playing TSL on the Xbox doesn't really make you think the game was rushed, at all(at least, I didn't notice). I didn't know about either the cut-content, or about any opinion people had, so that really wasn't a factor when playing the game. Either way, I still like both games.

[Darth Avlectus]

Mordin, is that you?

 

Err...maybe...I could be anyone if I only got the reference.

[Miltiades]

Err...maybe...I could be anyone if I only got the reference.

Mass Effect 2's Mordin Solus always talks in sentence fragments. I immediately thought of him when I read your post.