With the release and free-to-play conversion of The Old Republic by Bioware and talk of Obsidian seeking to do a new Star Wars RPG, I think it's time to bring back that age old battle, even older than Fallout 3 vs New Vegas:
What is the best Star Wars RPG ever?
Knights of the Old Republic (Bioware)
vs
Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords (Obsidian)
We're going to assume you've modded both of them out, so you can have Solomon's Revenge for KotoR and The Sith Lord Restoration Mod for KotoR2.
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I'm going to come out and say out, KotoR2 blows the first game into dust. KotoR is not a bad game, but in comparison to 2 its bland, poorly written and unadventurous (Only in comparison). It's only advantages are a better ending and a nice twist.
Look at the party system. 1 has the robotic talk to X every Y missions and choose lightside suck up conversation options to advance relationship. In 2 the companions look at what you do and respond to them. In 1 it was possible to be best friends and trusted by the kind-hearted little orphan girl whilst you went around slaughtering puppies. In 2, she'd see you doing that and call you out on it and not trust you. In 2 that characters have complex motivations that you have to respond to you, one character in particular will like you more if you tell her 'I'll treat you as disposable then'. Another one likes to see you kind hearted, bbut murders excite him and stir up a part he's get surpressed. He's loyal, but he can see when you try to persuade and manipulate him and he hates it. In 2, how you gain people's trust says something about who they are and will often hint at the secrets in their backstories.
...and the characters themselves. KotoR has Jolee Bindo and HK-47 and maybe Bastila and everyone else is either unmemorable or actively boring (Carth). KotoR 2 has HK-47 but better, more meaningful and funnier (droid factory!). It has Visas Marr, unique with a huge backstory(also the hottest character to appear in star wars). It has Kreia, Atton, the Handmaiden and T3-M4
And lets talk about that. T3 appears in both games. In 1 he has no personality at all, Bioware looked at him and thought, well he's a robot and he can't speak, we can do nothing with him and so they included him as basically dead weight. In 2 he still doesn't speak and yet somehow he's got one of the strongest personalities in the game and is completely endearing.
Even the less memorable characters (GoTO, the engineer and the Bounty Hunter) have incredible backstories if you unlock them and big story moments. The only weak character is the Disciple.
And did I mention in KotoR 2 you can turn people into Jedi?
The writing in general is leagues better in 2. In 1 at the beginning of the game the dialogue clunks with exposition and people ask questions which they wouldn't ask if they really lived in that world (almost 'What is a jedi' type dialogue). In 2, they actually assume a history, instead of spouting exposition at you, your character will reveal information in his own dialogue options. People don't tell you about Malachor, instead _you_ talk about Malachor and we can pick up the meaning from that.
...oh and Malachor. KotoR 1 did that fairly well, but KotoR 2 amps everything up, talking about the very nature of war and how it destroys the people who take part in it. It actually makes you relive scenes from Malachor (which you can do in the mod for KotoR1 admittedly) and makes choices and finally decide if what you did was right. KotoR 1 shies away from that and lumps everything in the end to a 'Took over the galaxy/Got medals and had a party' dichotomy.
---------------------------------
I could talk more but I think it's clear by now that in my mind KotoR 2 is very much the superior game and if the last level had been more finished then there would be no contest at all
What is the best Star Wars RPG ever?
Knights of the Old Republic (Bioware)
vs
Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords (Obsidian)
We're going to assume you've modded both of them out, so you can have Solomon's Revenge for KotoR and The Sith Lord Restoration Mod for KotoR2.
--------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to come out and say out, KotoR2 blows the first game into dust. KotoR is not a bad game, but in comparison to 2 its bland, poorly written and unadventurous (Only in comparison). It's only advantages are a better ending and a nice twist.
Look at the party system. 1 has the robotic talk to X every Y missions and choose lightside suck up conversation options to advance relationship. In 2 the companions look at what you do and respond to them. In 1 it was possible to be best friends and trusted by the kind-hearted little orphan girl whilst you went around slaughtering puppies. In 2, she'd see you doing that and call you out on it and not trust you. In 2 that characters have complex motivations that you have to respond to you, one character in particular will like you more if you tell her 'I'll treat you as disposable then'. Another one likes to see you kind hearted, bbut murders excite him and stir up a part he's get surpressed. He's loyal, but he can see when you try to persuade and manipulate him and he hates it. In 2, how you gain people's trust says something about who they are and will often hint at the secrets in their backstories.
...and the characters themselves. KotoR has Jolee Bindo and HK-47 and maybe Bastila and everyone else is either unmemorable or actively boring (Carth). KotoR 2 has HK-47 but better, more meaningful and funnier (droid factory!). It has Visas Marr, unique with a huge backstory(also the hottest character to appear in star wars). It has Kreia, Atton, the Handmaiden and T3-M4
And lets talk about that. T3 appears in both games. In 1 he has no personality at all, Bioware looked at him and thought, well he's a robot and he can't speak, we can do nothing with him and so they included him as basically dead weight. In 2 he still doesn't speak and yet somehow he's got one of the strongest personalities in the game and is completely endearing.
Even the less memorable characters (GoTO, the engineer and the Bounty Hunter) have incredible backstories if you unlock them and big story moments. The only weak character is the Disciple.
And did I mention in KotoR 2 you can turn people into Jedi?
The writing in general is leagues better in 2. In 1 at the beginning of the game the dialogue clunks with exposition and people ask questions which they wouldn't ask if they really lived in that world (almost 'What is a jedi' type dialogue). In 2, they actually assume a history, instead of spouting exposition at you, your character will reveal information in his own dialogue options. People don't tell you about Malachor, instead _you_ talk about Malachor and we can pick up the meaning from that.
...oh and Malachor. KotoR 1 did that fairly well, but KotoR 2 amps everything up, talking about the very nature of war and how it destroys the people who take part in it. It actually makes you relive scenes from Malachor (which you can do in the mod for KotoR1 admittedly) and makes choices and finally decide if what you did was right. KotoR 1 shies away from that and lumps everything in the end to a 'Took over the galaxy/Got medals and had a party' dichotomy.
---------------------------------
I could talk more but I think it's clear by now that in my mind KotoR 2 is very much the superior game and if the last level had been more finished then there would be no contest at all
