My thoughts on the game.. (POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

[Vrelic]

Well I have now officially beaten the game twice. Once on Jedi and once on Jedi Knight. To start off, I'd like to say that it was a VERY fun Sp experience, and possibly one of the best I have had yet.

 

The levels were very long and kept you active quite nicely. One of the aspects I really enjoyed was the ratio of jedi power to enemies/level length. In JK1, many parts you were forced to use a gun rather than your saber, and the force was helpful but not always helpful enough against hordes of enemies. On top of this, if you used the force just right, levels went by too quickly.

 

In JK2, you REALLY became a jedi: eventually you are extremely powerfull with the force in that you could easily mow through dozens of enemies at a time. Now even with this power, it was still pretty difficult because they changed it up a bit throwing Reborns at you, as well as VERY long complex levels with some interesting puzzles. This is how JK2 really shines, in my opinion. The ending was well done, the cutscenes were perfect, didn't find a single bug.

 

On the other hand... some of the things I didn't (and still don't in MP) really enjoy were how complex the saber engine was. Now you all might be thinking, "are you nuts? Complexity is what JK1 was lacking!" But this saber system just has wayy too many different swings, you are often puzzled as for which one to use at times. This is just the beginning.. In duels, such as in SP, it is VERY hard to anticipate the saber swing that an opponent will use. For instance, he may be charging you with a fast upward left to downward right swing and it happens so fast that you might have been executing a downward swing, what happens? That top-left - bottom-right swing slices you right on the neck unless your saber move was performed nearly at the exact same time, causing a saber lock. Saber locks I will dicuss a little later but anyway.. I think sabers were done very similar to JK1 in that you can die very quickly at times unless you are running around a lot. Blocking is possible but many times you won't be able to (just like in JK1). Dueling consists of running all over, jumping, and trying to get that slice in on the side or the back of the opponent wherever his saber may not be. On top of this, the "preferred" saber stance for 1-on-1 duels is the offensive (strong) stance, which is probably the most boring swing I have ever seen It probably takes 5 seconds or so to swing just once in that stance, in which time you are VERY vulnerable to quick attacks.

 

To sum that part up.. there are wayy too many saber combos and swings, as well as three stances that you are trying to calculate when to use and it becomes very confusing at times. Im sure of course with lots and lots of practice anyone could be very good, but the saber dueling system has gone a little over board in this game. JK1 sabering = too short, too luck-filled. JK2 sabering = short at times unless you run in circles a lot and jump, some luck involved, very complex. (Luck as in you try some swing and it just so happens that the opponent was swinging the opposite way and you get a good finishing slice in).

 

On to saber locks - I think in SP? They are pretty pointless. The computer can click wayy too fast lol Very rarely will you win saber locks in SP unless you have some turbo clicker machine heheh. And whats more? Soon as the lock is broken and you have lost it, then the computer performs a perfectly aimed slice on the spot you are most vulnerable. That kinda stuff just isn't cool in my opinion. In multiplayer however? It is fun! Two players trying to click for their lives.. then after broken? There is a chance for the loser to escape without damage if they are quick enough and say the winner is in a slow saber position (IE: strong eeek)

 

Onto the force skills. In MP I thought they tried to copy JK1 a little too much and just fix little problems that it had. But I believe these problems weren't really fixed correctly. Instead of force destruction, the dark side now has force drain and force rage. Both cool of course, but drain needs to be fixed a bit. It is just too cheap to use on jedis. While worrying about which saber move to perform next in that complex system, you also have to deal with force powers - too much stuff to control at once - as well as the knowledge that they could drain you any second and you have no chance to heal or escape with a jump, etc. If you press absorb too late? All force power is gone and you are helpless to their grip, etc. I think the force cost for this spell should really be decreased at least. Heres another great example: if you are dueling in the carbon chamber and are pulled into the pit? The dark sider could stand there draining you, you are stuck. No way you can force jump, no way you can push him, he can just sit there for hours draining you if he/she pleases. I think more work should have been done on evening the forces. Another thing.. when you transition from SP to MP you notice a lot of changes. 1: You no longer can use a mixture of both light and dark.. it's one or the other. 2: Force regens at a MUCH slower rate.

 

All in all, the game had a great SP story, lots of fun moments and duels, but the SP duels were a little bit too much luck involved. The saber system is a little too complex but Raven did an excellent job creating it no matter what, that must have taken MANY hours of work. I just think they tried a little too hard on it, hehe.

 

Ok that was a pretty long post Any thoughts from other people?

[Chanke4252]

you get used to the saber controls if you play enough, so you can control your swings better.

[Smoof]

I've played on the same difficulty lvls as you and had no problems with saber locks. I've only ever lost one or two in SP and I've had a lot. Also the saber really isn't based on luck. You're either good or you suck at it. I think I probably suck at it. I also suck at combining it with force powers. I had a Lan party with my friend the other day and he kicked my ass so bad cause he was good with the saber and good at using the force at the sametime. Although I will admit that force drain is very cheap...