I'm currently in Dantooine and I just unlocked my Sith Lord prestige class. So far, I've covered Peragus, Talos, and Nar Shadda. I think I have everyone except for Mandalore.
Anyway, I made a great decision picking this game back up after first playing it when it released on the Xbox. This is my first run through with the Restored Content Mod (honestly it's a patch), and since it's been about ten years since I last played it, I must admit KOTOR 2 has some amazing highs despite its flaws. These highs are in regard to the quality of writing and the NPCs, because there've been more than a few times where I've gone through a conversation multiple times to actually sit and listen to what's being told to me. I know folks talk about CRPGs and KOTOR 2 in the same conversation, and I'm not versed at all with hardcore computer RPGs, but KOTOR 2 allows to play a fucking role. The deeper I get into the game, the more I learn and, at the game's best, I'm given a decent number of responses in conversations that make sense without me being a suck-up pacifist or a homicidal maniac (though the game sometimes only has those choices unfortunately).
-Only losers dual wield sabers.
1) KOTOR 2 is a role playing game.
I love the setup of the Exile. No amnesia, yet he's (because fuck canon) a blank slate for me to paint my interpretation on. In conversations, he can either have a pained history over the events in Malachor V swimming in regret, or pride in serving the Republic, or whatever mix I want.
My character's name is Iacen. He has no qualms with his choice of serving under Revan, looks down upon the Jedi Order for their passivity, and is torn about being exiled and losing his connection to the Force. He has a growing animosity over the Order for allowing themselves to grow weak enough for the Sith to eat them alive, which he believes makes the Republic itself suffer.
The fact I can 9 times out of 10 pull off that character in conversations is a testament on the amount of thought put into producing scenarios that allow me to build my character beyond his stats. I can be a book, whereas Revan in KOTOR 1 was a checklist of either Light or Dark side choices.
-Discussing chaos theory with Kreia.
2) The characters are books I can read and write in as well.
The next big thing I love about this game is how deep characters can get. I know people give praise to Kreia, but the Ebon Hawk has more going on in it. Firstly, all the crew hate each other and more or less tend to leave each other alone if they can help it. This makes their interactions lively and interesting when they happen. They're also integrated into the story for the better, where no character doesn't seem just thrown in (aside from Bao-Dur, but at least he makes sense for having history with the Exile... that and I recall him having some major endgame stuff to do IIRC).
Also, I think it's astounding that characters outright lie to you without it being obvious. Kreia lies so much that it's hard to tell when she's telling the truth. To me, it goes beyond trying to set up a plot twist, but instead it's an a living, breathing plan she's trying her damnedest to keep moving. Same thing with Atton and his backstory, which is brought up in a cutscene where The Exile isn't present between himself and Kreia. She manipulates him into serving me, and he comes into an arc when he tells me of his past atrocities. The bonus here that cements this moment was how he privately confronts Kreia about it afterward and she, more or less, gives no fucks.
It may not be a surprise that most of your crew can become Jedi. In Atton's case, he's a Sentinel, but I didn't forgive him of his past. He was cool with this and simply wanted to have strength against those who do use the Force to invade his mind, regardless of being a Jedi or Sith.
Then you have Atris who's one of the last Jedi. The game successfully paints a dichotomy between her and The Exile by showing how rigid she is to her teachings and how you can choose to disregard them on whatever terms you want. Her sending the Handmaiden to join you made sense, the fact you influence the Handmaiden into possibly betraying Atris by having her around you, and Kreia's knowledge of this is an example of the long strings written into this game that keep going.
These characters have weight to them. G0-T0 wants to save the Republic for whatever reason regardless of the religious dispute between the Jedi and the Sith***, Visas so far explains the Sith teachings in a way that comes across as the other side of the Jedi coin where homicidal tendencies don't have to exist (so far). Even T3, who is BRILLIANT in concept. T3 is a true star. He knows EVERYTHING but doesn't say a word, and nobody knows enough to question him except for HK. How T3 deals with this was cold-blooded, and I hope I can see the end of this plot thread.
-This pic goes against everything this game stands for. Also wtf is with Handmaiden and Visas up there like light/dark reflections when they're two separate characters?
3) The game's worst parts aren't the bugs or the missing content - it's the fact it's Star Wars.
This game has some of the same trappings as what KOTOR 1 consisted of entirely. Not all NPC conversations are great and end up in murky shades between the light and dark, but some are stark ass kissing or unnecessary violence. Maybe they were made to give us affinity points? Not sure.
The affinity points should be taken away. I understand their place in a Star Wars game, but I think they hurt KOTOR 2 because the themes discussed in the game point to how it's possible that such a split may not exist due to one's beliefs. Kreia knocks this point home when she discusses Revan when she explains Revan and Malak never met any Sith to become who they turned into. KOTOR 2 analyzes the popular Star Wars universe in a way that's believable and intoxicating to me, so seeing I got Light or Dark points infuriates me.
In the end, I gotta say this game is phenomenal. The conversations matter and little events between characters stick out with their exemplary writing. IMO, this game straight murders KOTOR 1 and I'm not even done yet.
***I'd like to bring up how this game points out that everyday people and aliens who suffered or watched the Jedi Civil War mostly don't care who's a Jedi or a Sith. To them, Jedi are people with powers and lightsabers, which is why the war is called the Jedi Civil War (it also doesn't help that the war was between Jedi and Ex-Jedi :/ ). G0-To goes as far as to point out he wants the religious squabble to come to an end so the Republic can recover. Given the indulgent importance placed on Jedi within Star Wars media, this perspective shared by NPCs hits several points that both reinforce how large the galaxy is and the consequence war can have on people not even involved.
-The Jedi Bunch!
4) Comparisons to KOTOR 1
Comparing the narratives of both games, the sequel is superior. It's also better than KOTOR 1 in providing an RPG experience. KOTOR 1, however, provides players with two things that make it dear to most people:
1) It allows players to play as a heroic Jedi. Everyone praises your deeds and you are Jesus.
2) The game was actually complete.
KOTOR 2 on the other hand, you will get berated for your choices and will sometimes have to defend them. One go-to example seen a lot in KOTOR 2 praise is this one minor event in Nar Shadda where you can help a homeless refugee by giving him a few credits. You can either give him some or not. Regardless, Kreia asks why you did what you chose to do, and proceeds to explain the futility of such actions or lack thereof. In the following scene, you'll either see the man you gave money to get jumped by another homeless man, or if you told him to buzz off, he'll attack another person and steal his stuff. Bringing this up in KOTOR threads is fine, but I prefer other scenes that I feel are more representative of what the game pushes.
KOTOR 2 is the grey to KOTOR 1's black and white, but IMO there's no neutrality. By that, I mean, there's no apathy between the two extremes of being your atypical Light or Dark Jedi as portrayed in other Star Wars media. Instead, those shades of grey are provided by opinions and perspectives. G0-T0 wants to save the republic by resolving the zealous religious war between Jedi and Sith - he couldn't care less about which side wins as long as it stops so the Republic can rebuild. HK-47 (yes he's back - he's all philosophical now and it's quite effective) talks about the effect of small events can snowball into wars between planets. Hanharr, who is probably the most definitive of the traditional dark side characters, is a homicidal wookie who seeks to kill the human he has a life-debt with. Visas is also a Sith who joins you, yet she finds wanton killing unnecessary yet is under the opinion that life exists to die as a form of absolute peace and unity. Mandalore is the leader of the defeated Mandalorians (from the war Revan and Malak participated in before their betrayal) and is considered to be a dark-sided soldier, yet posits questions to the player about if the Republic should've fallen considering how weak it has always been - so weak that it can barely support its people.
Then look at KOTOR 1's cast. HK-47 has definitely grown up between KOTOR 1 and 2 (and got kinda stupid in The Old Republic after thousands of years). He was that funny assassin droid that wasn't afraid to kill. Bastila was the uptight Jedi who followed orders yet grew to allow herself to love your male character because that's what women in power are supposed to do by Bioware's standards. Carth lived and breathed the Republic and felt everything it did justified the means. I've forgotten what Juhani ever talked about, but Jolee Bindo was probably the most nuanced character on in your KOTOR 1 crew due to how he eschews the Order. He's relatively simple compared to the folks you have in KOTOR 2, but he's a nice middle ground - cool enough to not be a tool and not quite a character analyzation.
-who the fuck is this guy? ...Wait is this Revan? Whaaaa
Another noteworthy thing to bring up is how KOTOR 2 retroactively characterizes Revan - the all powerful Jedi mentioned a ton in KOTOR 1. Without getting into spoilers for that game or KOTOR 2, Revan has little to no character in KOTOR 1 and is simply revered. In the sequel, Kreia eventually talks to you about Revan and, again, brings up that Revan met no Sith yet took on the mantle of Darth and brought the Republic to its knees. Why is this? You ask. That's up for you to muse on. Kreia follows this question with another one: What if Revan was true to himself despite his betrayals? You learn that Revan had many masters, but returned to his first master to learn how best to leave The Order.
-Not Darth Vader
Finally, the villain from Malak served his purpose as your bad guy you worked to defeat in KOTOR 1. He was your carbon copy power hungry Sith with a whole lot of power. You want to bring him down, the game wants you to beat him, and it feels good when you finally do. He's the kind of bad guy that steals candy from a baby and laughs about it in the baby's face, but then gets mad that he can't eat the candy because he has no mouth and must scream.
-He's not a pretty sight
KOTOR 2 is weird in this case because, while there are antagonists, only about one feels like a villain and he's nowhere as threatening as the other folks you'll deal with. That would be Darth Sion, a Sith who also defected from The Jedi Order during the Mandalorian Wars. His body was obliterated, and he keeps himself intact using the dark side of the force. Of the bad guys, he's the one with the biggest axe to grind with the world. Whether or not he's effective at this, I can't say. I think he's a cool idea for a villain despite not showing up much in the game.
-How Stella Got Her Sight Back
Next up, you have Darth Nihilus, who's on the cover of most KOTOR 2 related stuff because of his mask. You'd think he'd be an actual character, but he isn't. In fact, not much is known about who he was other than he, too, served in the Mandalorian Wars and developed an inescapable hunger that manifested itself as the most powerful of all Sith teachings. He says nothing in the entire game except for untranslated, low-volume garble and is less a person and more of a husk that consumes all life. You pretty much learn everything about him from Kreia and Visas.
So these are some of your Sith Lords, given the subtitle for KOTOR 2: The Sith Lords. I didn't cover the third (and fourth) antagonists here because I feel I'd be giving out too much. You can probably figure out who they are upon watching cutscenes with them for a bit. This is good, despite lacking the OMG SURPRISE of KOTOR 1.
The reason I'm cool with this is because I feel there's two major themes so far I've noticed in KOTOR 2: cause and effect/the butterfly effect, and inevitability. Interacting with certain NPCs enough will potentially make you figure out that you'll clash blades with certain characters down the line. One of these characters' goal involves you, and the more you learn about this character, the more you get the idea everyone is their pawn. The other (the fourth) is sort of as tragic as the third, except you witness it first-hand, and it does help that it's implied that - given the chance, this character would kill you to prove a disgusting point.
