BlazingWaters
Though my affection for them has waned over the years, I’m still a pretty big fan of Leliana. Sheryl Chee did a great job outlining a character who, clearly being the youngest of the crew, went through a troubling development via toxic relationship with Orlesian bard mastermind Marjolaine coinciding with her increased skill and knowledge of the trade, culminating in a broken bond and fractured belief before finding a new, spirited sect to take refuge under once her tragedy had ran its course, and Corinne Kempa does an equally commendable job at giving her the softspoken yet cunning mannerism that fits the character like a glove. Really, I’m just bummed she’s segued into the Archer line for the main game, cause (cross)bow builds are severely outclassed in every regard when it comes to the Rogue and Warrior options, but it’s not like she didn’t pick up the slack I guess.
I assume her popularity amongst the crowd was large enough to earn her own add-on, cause what you do here is essentially play out that story. It’s not quite 1:1 in detail, since you’re in Denerim and not Orlais like where the betrayal happens for instance, but it doesn’t really matter much. Another thing to note is that Lukas Kristjanson was the main writer for this, which I could somewhat pick up since its vibe and appeal is much more in-line with the Orzammar arc which is where he was one of the penners; saboteurs, parasocial intrigue, various ways to handle a situation (a particularly hilarious one being implicating a knocked out guard for all the crimes you did), things of that nature. This is fun, and thankfully it doesn’t feel like a haphazard plot like Warden’s Keep or overly exhausting as Darkspawn Chronicles, but like… it still shares the same problem of being too short to really mean much. Plus, I don’t know, I think I’d rather have one centered on Zevran’s dilemma. I was very satisfied with what Leliana told that I wasn’t burning for more, meanwhile Zevran’s monologuing on his turning point is vague enough to really make something out of it.
Still though, it’s good enough. This time it actually does feel like a 1-2 hour side adventure for starters, not to mention it really lets you get a feel for how hilariously busted the dual-wielding rogue/dodge-tanking warrior/mage composition is in DAO alongside again, all the quirky funny bits you can partake in. This is already a game with hit-and-miss DLC content, so this standing out as something I can replay after each new session without it being out of obligation means something. Plus, going through this and doing a specific quest unlocks Battledress of the Provocateur, which of all the busted-ass armaments the DLCs inserted onto the base game (and Awakening) through one reason or another, this stands out for being, hands down, the single best armor you could give to a Rogue. I had to willingly stop myself short of equipping it onto my MC on top of every other item I wanted to get some semblance of balancing in a game already uneven in that regard.
I assume her popularity amongst the crowd was large enough to earn her own add-on, cause what you do here is essentially play out that story. It’s not quite 1:1 in detail, since you’re in Denerim and not Orlais like where the betrayal happens for instance, but it doesn’t really matter much. Another thing to note is that Lukas Kristjanson was the main writer for this, which I could somewhat pick up since its vibe and appeal is much more in-line with the Orzammar arc which is where he was one of the penners; saboteurs, parasocial intrigue, various ways to handle a situation (a particularly hilarious one being implicating a knocked out guard for all the crimes you did), things of that nature. This is fun, and thankfully it doesn’t feel like a haphazard plot like Warden’s Keep or overly exhausting as Darkspawn Chronicles, but like… it still shares the same problem of being too short to really mean much. Plus, I don’t know, I think I’d rather have one centered on Zevran’s dilemma. I was very satisfied with what Leliana told that I wasn’t burning for more, meanwhile Zevran’s monologuing on his turning point is vague enough to really make something out of it.
Still though, it’s good enough. This time it actually does feel like a 1-2 hour side adventure for starters, not to mention it really lets you get a feel for how hilariously busted the dual-wielding rogue/dodge-tanking warrior/mage composition is in DAO alongside again, all the quirky funny bits you can partake in. This is already a game with hit-and-miss DLC content, so this standing out as something I can replay after each new session without it being out of obligation means something. Plus, going through this and doing a specific quest unlocks Battledress of the Provocateur, which of all the busted-ass armaments the DLCs inserted onto the base game (and Awakening) through one reason or another, this stands out for being, hands down, the single best armor you could give to a Rogue. I had to willingly stop myself short of equipping it onto my MC on top of every other item I wanted to get some semblance of balancing in a game already uneven in that regard.
2005
Layers upon layers, another piece built from those conniving Canadians!
For one reason or another, I put down Jade Empire twice before. I’m not really sure why, I thought what I played was interesting enough to finish as part of my journey in BioWare’s catalog, so I’m just gonna blame this on my poor attention span yet again. I digress, after replaying KOTOR1 and KOTOR2, I figured now was a good time to finish this since I knew it’d be relatively shorter than Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate, both of which I want to cover when I have full energy because as anyone who’s binged decently lengthed RPGs back-to-back under a busy schedule can tell you, shit’s soul draining! So now that I finished it for the first time, let’s talk about it… after going over the PC port. In terms of getting this to work on modern hardware, it’s quite a step-down of tinkering when compared to KOTOR1, not quite as reliant on patches and mods. Most of the configuration can be done with the game’s INI file, such as increasing anti-aliasing and anisotropic filters which can also be combined with the graphic card control panels, as well as allowing for a higher framerate (which, in terms of physics timing, only messes up cloths and clouds), but there’s two issues that need to be taken care of externally. Get this file dropped onto the game’s folder to avoid massive stutters or anything of that nature, and set the compatibility on the game’s EXE file - the literal game EXE, not the config or launcher EXE - to Windows XP2/3 in case it doesn’t start, and you’ll be set. As is generally the case of old titles, prioritize buying it on GOG, but if you’re like me and settled on a Steam copy, know that getting it to work there is, thankfully, pretty painless! The additions contained within SE aren’t much, so I’ll give a brief overview: touched up graphics, tweaked/new enemy AI to address complaints about the difficulty being easy - which in turn has a new unlockable setting for NG+ runs - which at the end of it all doesn’t really matter for reasons I’ll elaborate on later, one new character to choose as your main character, and some new form of attacks/weapons. An IGN interview back in late 2006 goes into more detail, but suffice to say, you’ll play a slightly different experience on the original Xbox release a la Backwards Compatibility or real hardware compared to this version that’s also available on Mac and Mobile platforms. This is also why I didn’t log that version on here to begin withplus this page is far more likely to get clicked on anyway.
So, what is Jade Empire anyway? In BioWare’s long-running career, it’s one of their more neglected titles, something I merely found murmurs and hushed whispers upon discovering it a few years ago. Well, remember when BioWare passed up the offer to make a sequel to KOTOR1 and recommended Obsidian? During this period, sects of the studio were working on two ideas and starting up another, all of which not being based on any existing property: Dragon Age, penned by David Gaider and starting up around 2002; Mass Effect, which was spearheaded by Casey Hudson and soon Drew Karpyshyn that would kick off in 2004; and this one, chiefly written by Mike Laidlaw and Luke Kristjanson, with Kevin Martens as lead designer, Mark Darrah being the leading programmer, and Jim Bishop serving as its director, containing co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk as producers while it was underway during 2001 - actually, these two in particular have been wanting to create JE for a while, with Zeschuk at the 2011 DICE Summit revealing info an old prototype called Five Fingers Of Death they showed to Interplay, whereupon the publisher “laughed them out of the building” after viewing. This time, however, would be different, thanks to a steady incline of the studio’s quality product releases, skillset within the people, as well as tech advancements necessary to make it a reality. This wasn’t the first original title BioWare released, and shit if you really wanna stretch that meaning it wasn’t even the second, but it does mark the biggest turning point of the three aforementioned endeavors, as well as serving as the missing link between the Canadian’s past philosophy of pulp-centric prose and meticulous RPG mechanics, with a new one more focused on streamlining several aspects so as to make its approach available for anyone and everyone along with that Narrative Trick I mocked before. They weren’t settling on dealing licensed deals anymore, they were looking to expand the scope and scale, and hopefully make an immensely alluring setting to explore on top of that. Of course we uh, now know what has happened to them after the fact, but let’s ignore the passage of time for a bit shall we?
It’s funny I mention the Trick, cause speaking as someone that’s seen this structure ad nauseam during this span of BioWare’s life, Jade Empire’s a bit of a fresh air by comparison. There is a set of McGuffins to pick up, but they’re not necessarily the main focus so much as a secondary effect of the main plot concerning the Emperor and their strong-armed, paramilitaristic force dubbed the Lotus Assassins, ones that have kidnapped your Master Li. This, in turn, means sprinklings of Ancient Civilization lores are dispersed during key points within the story, not every single time you hit a story check from a McGuffin pickup. Actually, the game as a whole favors linearity, having different hubs with subareas to explore and revisit but not quite to the same degree of open-ended exploration as KOTOR1, DA, and ME, plus even this stops being the structure once the third act hits where it very much is a straight shot to the end. Sure, some old tropes are still here, such as the your tutorial area being torn asunder, prompting your premade MC from a selection of six (seven in SE), a well-meaning yet uncertain Lawful Good companion, and a Checkered Past Soldier at your side to head off in search of your mentor, but to my surprise, so much I’ve come to learn and witness in ME and DA have their start HERE. Kang, a mad scientist whose ingenuity with technology is only matched by his off-kilter diction? That’s just what Mordin would end up becoming in ME2! Young Wild Flower, a child whose death had been intervened by the presence of spiritual beings, anchoring her life to the mortal world once more? Wynne, is that you? The back-and-forth spats the cunning yet detached Silk Fox and the aforementioned starting companion Dawn Star remind me so heavily of what Morrigan and Alistair would end up doing, though heavily lacking in quips. It’s not just the character archetypes that this applies to, Jack Wall is the composer here and, alongside the OST being pretty damn underrated in general befitting of the aesthetic and tone, numerous pieces feel like a starting point for what he’d later do for the company, especially a certain Suicide Mission… actually that section the music plays in as a whole reminds me of it. Now that I think about it, earlier than that there was a utilization of a moment akin to the ME3 PTSD montage. Makes sense, it’s a popular writing tool after all, and to give credit it's handled fairly better- aw fuck wait a section earlier than that did the Beam Run uhhhh shit ok let’s move on NOW-
Above all else, the intricacy placed onto the worldstate is immensely alluring. Now, my combings of non-Japanese East Asian media, especially those under the Wuxia genre or Classic Chinese Literature, is rather meek, merely pertaining to action movies starring Jackie Chan, region-raised directors such as King Hu and their films, or at the loosest of ties other arts also inspired by it like Avatar The Last Airbender. I know enough about common pieces and setups that are abound here such as the Journey Of The West vibes or some of the popular cliches in those mediums, and have learned key details like companion Black Whirlwind being based off of Outlaws Of The Marsh’s Li Kui, but I’m not fully confident about how deep the influences permeate, nor am I in a place to judge on how culturally appropriative the application of these aesthetics and feel have become with some exceptions (Henpecked Hou is the comedy relief bellying a whole lot of stereotypes, and of course you can expect a white-dominant voice cast), a topic that Mark Darrah has reminisced on in a video he made three months ago. With all that said, this mixture of cultures culminates in a world I’m utterly fascinated by, a feeling I haven’t felt in an RPG in quite a while. Seeing the type of direction Matt Goldman took regarding the fictionalized setdressings and world ethos on full display is utterly captivating, with all its steampunk elements intertwining with the spiritual/mythological elements from Eastern folklore, as well as all the different Ages, Dynasties, and country-specific iconographies and coloring. From the serene, humble starting area of Two Rivers, to the riverside touchstone that is Tien’s Landing, to perusing Imperial City’s many, many quadrants and gathering spots, plus all the interconnected locales that can be visited, special sects of Heaven and celestial beings that inhabit it, even seeing the effort placed into having a fictional language ruleset and structure thanks to the hiring of University of Alberta’s psycholinguistics student Wolf Wikeley, it’s all been a consistent treat to gawk over. Gotta give props to all the different menu backgrounds available at each story point as well! I even kept up with all the in-game supplementary material, though with numerous screencaps since this doesn’t have a Codex menu, it seems like that started in ME1.
And that narrative man, alongside all the sidequesting to be had and some quirky moments to enjoy, I always kept myself in check due to all I’ve heard about the story being pretty outstanding by the studio’s standards. While there’s still some tropes and ruses either from themselves or the genre influences it’s taking from, I was pretty invested as to where things were going despite the slow burn, and when I finally hit that obligatory twist… I was floored for the rest of it, and began to see what others had meant. I wish this site had a spoiler text insertion option instead of an all-or-nothing toggle, because there’s so much I want to detail in regards to the subject in question and how, as someone that’s gotten used to all of the studio alumni’s writing quirks, it was enthralling to see what might be not only their best villain from this era and beyond, but also their best twist purely from an implication and revelation standpoint. I love Saren, and Loghain’s a very cool antagonistic force, but even I have to bow to the mighty grandmaster that’s here, especially since they give you equal respect upon defying them over and over to the end. On the other side of the coin is the Water Dragon, a mystical being that guides the player through all the trepidations and obstacles that awaits them, always being an curious and enigmatic force that you aren’t quite sure as to what exactly their exact goal is leading up to, or if it’s even something you want to help with. The way both of these intermix within the plot is fantastic, and it really helps sell the scope as to what exactly is currently happening, and why you need to push onward to fix it all in your fashion. The thing is, for as great and near-masterful as the narrative and worldbuilding are, the rest of the material in this game is merely solid. Good, even! But it hurts seeing something so bursting and emboldened with potential, just not quite reach it, a feeling I haven’t been levied upon in quite some time.
Expanding more on the party depth, they’re a step above what KOTOR1’s crew are like, but still aren’t quite as intriguing as I’d like them to be. There’s Zin Bu, who’s really just the everpresent merchant that allows you to stock up on any new items, sort of like how it was done in ME1’s Normandy Requisition Officer and DAO’s Bodahn. The aforementioned comedic relief Henpecked Hou, a cook who used to partake in the Drunken Master style, having stories that revolve around his harmful relationship with his wife mixed with bad luck shenanigans, which is like… fine, but not really fulfilling. Black Whirlwhind’s the gung-ho axe warrior who’s expositions revolve around his oddjobs and how they end in gratuitous and violent outcomes. Again, this is fine, even got me to chuckle, but there’s not enough substance to last, and his arc that becomes available in the Imperial City’s Arena feels so haphazardly inserted, like there was supposed to be more but got harshly truncated. Sky, a devilish yet heartfelt rogue, is just a guy you pick up, has a backstory with his daughter and family but this doesn’t really go anywhere - in fact, numerous times I have stumbled upon wikis sourcing that Chris Priestly, part of the quality assurance team, detailed how Sky was supposed to more within his arc and development until it was all cut before release. I can’t exactly verify it since the forum has shut down and from hitting multiple dead ends on Wayback Machine, but it really wouldn’t surprise me since not only would this explain the rather bewildering cutscene interaction near the end, but his arc feels very much like a prototype that Zevran in Dragon Age would utilize. Wild Flower and Kang are probably the best executed when it comes to this simpler approach, these two have their own sets of interactions you have to delve into either in dialogue or concocting different formulas in Lord Lao’s Furnace, pertaining to Flower’s spirit demon dilemma of Chai Ka and Ya Zhen as well as Kang’s lost memories resurfacing with each success, and the completion of these arcs are wrapped up neatly and tightly. The only ones that have any amount of depth (excluding a few more due to spoilers) are Sagacious Zhu, the previously described Checkered Past Soldier, Dawn Star who’s your designated and also previously described Lawful Good companion, and Silk Fox, a self-assuring rebellious royal princess who hooks up to get to the bottom as to what’s happening as well. Thing is, they also don’t quite hit as well as they should because again, it feels like they’re suffering from a lack of development. Moments that should register as emotional climaxes, especially when it comes to Zhu’s musings and actions, don’t land enough of an impact due to this nagging feeling of an arc being fast-forwarded unto the conclusion - this is especially the case with Silk Fox, since you only recruit her to the team in Chapter 3, effectively the game’s mid-point. As for Dawn Star, well, she’s just utterly boring, nothing you haven’t really seen before especially in Bioware titles. The only real praise I can give is they at least feel like a unit, each of them have their own interjections they expound out loud, a step in the right direction after how hollow KOTOR1’s party interaction ended up, helping with the fact that you can direct SF, DS, and Sky onto the Closed Fist path as well - on that note, here’s what the general systems are like.
Since this is an action-RPG hybrid, Bioware’s usual streamline implementations make a lot more sense here, and eases up as to what the bare essentials are like for the stat side of the equation. You have three to manage, Body which relates to Health, Spirit ostensibly being Magic to harness Chi, and Mind ostensibly being Stamina to control Focus, with two combinations of them funneling into the three classic persuasion tactics, Charm, Intuition, and Intimidation. Both the persuasions and the stats can be increased or decreased with essence gems you plop onto your special Dragon Amulet, an important tool that also plays pretty heavily onto the plot, alongside other benefactors like evasion cost, XP additions, the (dis)frequent appearance of special orbs during combat, and other miscellaneous effects. As a result, build variety in this regard comes more into speccing two of the three stats, and slotting on gems that either enhance those, or boost other attributes, which you know what? Works super well for what it is. It’s nothing extravagant or managing as their other titles, but for the type of angle this is gearing towards, it works pretty damn well, and each time I thought that a particular scenario needed one of these stats to be higher, it was easy to answer as such. They also make for extremely easy money pooling considering you can trip over them in the world like it’s nothing. There’s also minigames you can participate in, most of them pertaining to a verti-shump heavily inspired by the likes of Legendary Wings, Xevious, and… Ikaruga?! Damn, I can’t believe Sheldon Carter was playing some kino shit before the design outlines. Anyway, these are alright, not at all challenging but serve their role as decent distractions fine enough, and a majority of them are completely optional meaning you can skip them to your heart’s content. A major detraction, however, is this game’s morality system. In layman’s terms, it’s the prelude to the original Mass Effect trilogy’s Paragon/Renegade binary, and if you’re not familiar with the trappings that entails, we’re presented with a misaligned and over-the-top Super Good vs. Extremely Evil choices instead of Idealized Unity vs. Pragmatic Survivalist. Sure, sometimes in the game you get choices that actually boxes them into these supposed categories, like Tien’s Landing’s fate either being about the central community of people or prospership from sailors and wayward souls, but in the forest above that town you’re subjugated into either helping a tricky yet well-meaning fox spirit, or actual, literal cannibal demons. So, ya know, not really thought out! I suppose a silver lining is that, some of these Closed Fist prompts are so outlandishly cruel and insane, that playing a route purely dedicated to this would make for one of the funniest experiences in a Bioware title. I’ve seen and dabbled some of these in action, it’s actually kind of a riot even if it’s unintentionally so.
Deo Perez and Aidan Scanlan go over the process about the kinematic inspirations and mechanics of combat, although, and this could be my upbringing of the Odyssey Engine titles clouding my sight, despite being a new engine this feels like an overhaul of those entries’ action-queue lineup to be more real-time and cutting down on the waiting. I played this whole thing on K+M controls though so maybe I’m just insane. I digress, this is likely one of their better combat systems solely cause it’s easy to break in half. With Chi being able to heal you upon held use and Focus being a slow-mo ability that trickles down (yes this is as useful as it sounds), you have seven style branches to choose from, Martial, Weapon, Magic, and Transformation are all damage-inducing techs, with Support being self-explanatory along with two unique ones that don’t fall into any of that. You upgrade each of a skill’s three attributes somewhat akin to a TTRPG spreadsheet, getting enough points on level ups to fulfill the required amount for augmentation. Despite the rather awkward motions and inputs, the actual moment-to-moment fighting isn’t all that bad, honestly, I’d even say when it all comes together it can be pretty invigorating. When participating as intended it can be pretty fun flipping, blocking, and changing into different techs for all sorts of actions. The problem is that, of the titles in this era of Bioware, this game is the easiest to break. See, you’re likely to end up sticking with the same 3-5 styles throughout the venture, only because you like their approaches or because they’re just outright broken (more on this in a bit). On the one hand, this is an understanding compromise, since wuxia and martial media are all about using the same pool of abilities at all times with little deviations and variations upon them. On the other hand, this thought process falls off hard because the hierarchy of combat prowess is incredibly lopsided, DPS with mid-long reaches and fast animation being favored over pure might with slow startups or stubby punches with weak range. Legendary Strike has cool kicks and motions, but I tossed it aside since Leaping Tiger is much faster and longer reach to close the gap on enemies. The staff is pretty good for foes that are either in front of or a bit away from you, but it gets obfuscated by twin axes in the midgame that do the same job yet better. Mirabelle, a unique GUN style obtained as an optional reward from a quest involving John Cleese’s character, is utterly broken cause it does great damage even starting out, and has an animation cancel that’s supremely easy to figure out and abuse, to the point of outright stunlocking an opponent with ease including the final boss! And that’s just with Martial and Weapons, don’t get me started on Magic, Support, and Transformations, including the Jade Golem and Storm Dragon styles! Even disregarding all of that, the enemy AI in general doesn't really put up much resistance. I played on Normal from start to finish, and despite a rough beginning, the skill curve plateaus since you can easily figure out then exploit enemy patterns and movements, block or flip to the side, then start to whale on them back - and like I said at the beginning, Special Edition supposedly rebalances the difficulty, but I didn’t really feel a difference or a desire to change up my tactics. Once again, I’ll point you all towards Mark Darrah’s comment.
It’s been a good week or so since finishing Jade Empire, and it’s been on my mind for all that time. It’s a weird title, feeling half-baked despite all the effort and love placed into it, with all its charm and ideas hitting just right, and the overall execution still tight enough to make for an entertaining and good time. In an old GamesIndustry article I once linked, Greg Zeschuk had lamented that, if they could’ve held it off for just a bit longer, perhaps they could’ve made it an Xbox 360 launch release, a unique opportunity for both the company as well as a better foothold for the game to plant itself in. Even with that, multiple of the old staffers have expressed in interest in revisiting the IP, and there’s been uncoverings of canceled plans for a successor, getting to the point that art director Matt Rhodes had shared concept arts both on his Instagram and ArtStation pages. Despite all of this… nothing has come about since, and with the way Bioware has been careening downward towards potential closing, I don’t think it ever will unfortunately. This is what’ll make recommending it somewhat difficult and tricky; do you want to play a game that, despite its untapped potential and unlikely chance of revival, is unique in most cases amongst its peers to make up for it? Are you a Bioware nut that just has to play all of their games no matter what? Have a weekend's break and want to spend it succinctly? Do you just want an excuse to nerd out over all the Chinese implementations and culture? Then go right ahead! At the end of it all, the worst you’ll feel is underwhelming disappointment, with the best being the enamourment of a captivating space.
For one reason or another, I put down Jade Empire twice before. I’m not really sure why, I thought what I played was interesting enough to finish as part of my journey in BioWare’s catalog, so I’m just gonna blame this on my poor attention span yet again. I digress, after replaying KOTOR1 and KOTOR2, I figured now was a good time to finish this since I knew it’d be relatively shorter than Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate, both of which I want to cover when I have full energy because as anyone who’s binged decently lengthed RPGs back-to-back under a busy schedule can tell you, shit’s soul draining! So now that I finished it for the first time, let’s talk about it… after going over the PC port. In terms of getting this to work on modern hardware, it’s quite a step-down of tinkering when compared to KOTOR1, not quite as reliant on patches and mods. Most of the configuration can be done with the game’s INI file, such as increasing anti-aliasing and anisotropic filters which can also be combined with the graphic card control panels, as well as allowing for a higher framerate (which, in terms of physics timing, only messes up cloths and clouds), but there’s two issues that need to be taken care of externally. Get this file dropped onto the game’s folder to avoid massive stutters or anything of that nature, and set the compatibility on the game’s EXE file - the literal game EXE, not the config or launcher EXE - to Windows XP2/3 in case it doesn’t start, and you’ll be set. As is generally the case of old titles, prioritize buying it on GOG, but if you’re like me and settled on a Steam copy, know that getting it to work there is, thankfully, pretty painless! The additions contained within SE aren’t much, so I’ll give a brief overview: touched up graphics, tweaked/new enemy AI to address complaints about the difficulty being easy - which in turn has a new unlockable setting for NG+ runs - which at the end of it all doesn’t really matter for reasons I’ll elaborate on later, one new character to choose as your main character, and some new form of attacks/weapons. An IGN interview back in late 2006 goes into more detail, but suffice to say, you’ll play a slightly different experience on the original Xbox release a la Backwards Compatibility or real hardware compared to this version that’s also available on Mac and Mobile platforms. This is also why I didn’t log that version on here to begin with
So, what is Jade Empire anyway? In BioWare’s long-running career, it’s one of their more neglected titles, something I merely found murmurs and hushed whispers upon discovering it a few years ago. Well, remember when BioWare passed up the offer to make a sequel to KOTOR1 and recommended Obsidian? During this period, sects of the studio were working on two ideas and starting up another, all of which not being based on any existing property: Dragon Age, penned by David Gaider and starting up around 2002; Mass Effect, which was spearheaded by Casey Hudson and soon Drew Karpyshyn that would kick off in 2004; and this one, chiefly written by Mike Laidlaw and Luke Kristjanson, with Kevin Martens as lead designer, Mark Darrah being the leading programmer, and Jim Bishop serving as its director, containing co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk as producers while it was underway during 2001 - actually, these two in particular have been wanting to create JE for a while, with Zeschuk at the 2011 DICE Summit revealing info an old prototype called Five Fingers Of Death they showed to Interplay, whereupon the publisher “laughed them out of the building” after viewing. This time, however, would be different, thanks to a steady incline of the studio’s quality product releases, skillset within the people, as well as tech advancements necessary to make it a reality. This wasn’t the first original title BioWare released, and shit if you really wanna stretch that meaning it wasn’t even the second, but it does mark the biggest turning point of the three aforementioned endeavors, as well as serving as the missing link between the Canadian’s past philosophy of pulp-centric prose and meticulous RPG mechanics, with a new one more focused on streamlining several aspects so as to make its approach available for anyone and everyone along with that Narrative Trick I mocked before. They weren’t settling on dealing licensed deals anymore, they were looking to expand the scope and scale, and hopefully make an immensely alluring setting to explore on top of that. Of course we uh, now know what has happened to them after the fact, but let’s ignore the passage of time for a bit shall we?
It’s funny I mention the Trick, cause speaking as someone that’s seen this structure ad nauseam during this span of BioWare’s life, Jade Empire’s a bit of a fresh air by comparison. There is a set of McGuffins to pick up, but they’re not necessarily the main focus so much as a secondary effect of the main plot concerning the Emperor and their strong-armed, paramilitaristic force dubbed the Lotus Assassins, ones that have kidnapped your Master Li. This, in turn, means sprinklings of Ancient Civilization lores are dispersed during key points within the story, not every single time you hit a story check from a McGuffin pickup. Actually, the game as a whole favors linearity, having different hubs with subareas to explore and revisit but not quite to the same degree of open-ended exploration as KOTOR1, DA, and ME, plus even this stops being the structure once the third act hits where it very much is a straight shot to the end. Sure, some old tropes are still here, such as the your tutorial area being torn asunder, prompting your premade MC from a selection of six (seven in SE), a well-meaning yet uncertain Lawful Good companion, and a Checkered Past Soldier at your side to head off in search of your mentor, but to my surprise, so much I’ve come to learn and witness in ME and DA have their start HERE. Kang, a mad scientist whose ingenuity with technology is only matched by his off-kilter diction? That’s just what Mordin would end up becoming in ME2! Young Wild Flower, a child whose death had been intervened by the presence of spiritual beings, anchoring her life to the mortal world once more? Wynne, is that you? The back-and-forth spats the cunning yet detached Silk Fox and the aforementioned starting companion Dawn Star remind me so heavily of what Morrigan and Alistair would end up doing, though heavily lacking in quips. It’s not just the character archetypes that this applies to, Jack Wall is the composer here and, alongside the OST being pretty damn underrated in general befitting of the aesthetic and tone, numerous pieces feel like a starting point for what he’d later do for the company, especially a certain Suicide Mission… actually that section the music plays in as a whole reminds me of it. Now that I think about it, earlier than that there was a utilization of a moment akin to the ME3 PTSD montage. Makes sense, it’s a popular writing tool after all, and to give credit it's handled fairly better- aw fuck wait a section earlier than that did the Beam Run uhhhh shit ok let’s move on NOW-
Above all else, the intricacy placed onto the worldstate is immensely alluring. Now, my combings of non-Japanese East Asian media, especially those under the Wuxia genre or Classic Chinese Literature, is rather meek, merely pertaining to action movies starring Jackie Chan, region-raised directors such as King Hu and their films, or at the loosest of ties other arts also inspired by it like Avatar The Last Airbender. I know enough about common pieces and setups that are abound here such as the Journey Of The West vibes or some of the popular cliches in those mediums, and have learned key details like companion Black Whirlwind being based off of Outlaws Of The Marsh’s Li Kui, but I’m not fully confident about how deep the influences permeate, nor am I in a place to judge on how culturally appropriative the application of these aesthetics and feel have become with some exceptions (Henpecked Hou is the comedy relief bellying a whole lot of stereotypes, and of course you can expect a white-dominant voice cast), a topic that Mark Darrah has reminisced on in a video he made three months ago. With all that said, this mixture of cultures culminates in a world I’m utterly fascinated by, a feeling I haven’t felt in an RPG in quite a while. Seeing the type of direction Matt Goldman took regarding the fictionalized setdressings and world ethos on full display is utterly captivating, with all its steampunk elements intertwining with the spiritual/mythological elements from Eastern folklore, as well as all the different Ages, Dynasties, and country-specific iconographies and coloring. From the serene, humble starting area of Two Rivers, to the riverside touchstone that is Tien’s Landing, to perusing Imperial City’s many, many quadrants and gathering spots, plus all the interconnected locales that can be visited, special sects of Heaven and celestial beings that inhabit it, even seeing the effort placed into having a fictional language ruleset and structure thanks to the hiring of University of Alberta’s psycholinguistics student Wolf Wikeley, it’s all been a consistent treat to gawk over. Gotta give props to all the different menu backgrounds available at each story point as well! I even kept up with all the in-game supplementary material, though with numerous screencaps since this doesn’t have a Codex menu, it seems like that started in ME1.
And that narrative man, alongside all the sidequesting to be had and some quirky moments to enjoy, I always kept myself in check due to all I’ve heard about the story being pretty outstanding by the studio’s standards. While there’s still some tropes and ruses either from themselves or the genre influences it’s taking from, I was pretty invested as to where things were going despite the slow burn, and when I finally hit that obligatory twist… I was floored for the rest of it, and began to see what others had meant. I wish this site had a spoiler text insertion option instead of an all-or-nothing toggle, because there’s so much I want to detail in regards to the subject in question and how, as someone that’s gotten used to all of the studio alumni’s writing quirks, it was enthralling to see what might be not only their best villain from this era and beyond, but also their best twist purely from an implication and revelation standpoint. I love Saren, and Loghain’s a very cool antagonistic force, but even I have to bow to the mighty grandmaster that’s here, especially since they give you equal respect upon defying them over and over to the end. On the other side of the coin is the Water Dragon, a mystical being that guides the player through all the trepidations and obstacles that awaits them, always being an curious and enigmatic force that you aren’t quite sure as to what exactly their exact goal is leading up to, or if it’s even something you want to help with. The way both of these intermix within the plot is fantastic, and it really helps sell the scope as to what exactly is currently happening, and why you need to push onward to fix it all in your fashion. The thing is, for as great and near-masterful as the narrative and worldbuilding are, the rest of the material in this game is merely solid. Good, even! But it hurts seeing something so bursting and emboldened with potential, just not quite reach it, a feeling I haven’t been levied upon in quite some time.
Expanding more on the party depth, they’re a step above what KOTOR1’s crew are like, but still aren’t quite as intriguing as I’d like them to be. There’s Zin Bu, who’s really just the everpresent merchant that allows you to stock up on any new items, sort of like how it was done in ME1’s Normandy Requisition Officer and DAO’s Bodahn. The aforementioned comedic relief Henpecked Hou, a cook who used to partake in the Drunken Master style, having stories that revolve around his harmful relationship with his wife mixed with bad luck shenanigans, which is like… fine, but not really fulfilling. Black Whirlwhind’s the gung-ho axe warrior who’s expositions revolve around his oddjobs and how they end in gratuitous and violent outcomes. Again, this is fine, even got me to chuckle, but there’s not enough substance to last, and his arc that becomes available in the Imperial City’s Arena feels so haphazardly inserted, like there was supposed to be more but got harshly truncated. Sky, a devilish yet heartfelt rogue, is just a guy you pick up, has a backstory with his daughter and family but this doesn’t really go anywhere - in fact, numerous times I have stumbled upon wikis sourcing that Chris Priestly, part of the quality assurance team, detailed how Sky was supposed to more within his arc and development until it was all cut before release. I can’t exactly verify it since the forum has shut down and from hitting multiple dead ends on Wayback Machine, but it really wouldn’t surprise me since not only would this explain the rather bewildering cutscene interaction near the end, but his arc feels very much like a prototype that Zevran in Dragon Age would utilize. Wild Flower and Kang are probably the best executed when it comes to this simpler approach, these two have their own sets of interactions you have to delve into either in dialogue or concocting different formulas in Lord Lao’s Furnace, pertaining to Flower’s spirit demon dilemma of Chai Ka and Ya Zhen as well as Kang’s lost memories resurfacing with each success, and the completion of these arcs are wrapped up neatly and tightly. The only ones that have any amount of depth (excluding a few more due to spoilers) are Sagacious Zhu, the previously described Checkered Past Soldier, Dawn Star who’s your designated and also previously described Lawful Good companion, and Silk Fox, a self-assuring rebellious royal princess who hooks up to get to the bottom as to what’s happening as well. Thing is, they also don’t quite hit as well as they should because again, it feels like they’re suffering from a lack of development. Moments that should register as emotional climaxes, especially when it comes to Zhu’s musings and actions, don’t land enough of an impact due to this nagging feeling of an arc being fast-forwarded unto the conclusion - this is especially the case with Silk Fox, since you only recruit her to the team in Chapter 3, effectively the game’s mid-point. As for Dawn Star, well, she’s just utterly boring, nothing you haven’t really seen before especially in Bioware titles. The only real praise I can give is they at least feel like a unit, each of them have their own interjections they expound out loud, a step in the right direction after how hollow KOTOR1’s party interaction ended up, helping with the fact that you can direct SF, DS, and Sky onto the Closed Fist path as well - on that note, here’s what the general systems are like.
Since this is an action-RPG hybrid, Bioware’s usual streamline implementations make a lot more sense here, and eases up as to what the bare essentials are like for the stat side of the equation. You have three to manage, Body which relates to Health, Spirit ostensibly being Magic to harness Chi, and Mind ostensibly being Stamina to control Focus, with two combinations of them funneling into the three classic persuasion tactics, Charm, Intuition, and Intimidation. Both the persuasions and the stats can be increased or decreased with essence gems you plop onto your special Dragon Amulet, an important tool that also plays pretty heavily onto the plot, alongside other benefactors like evasion cost, XP additions, the (dis)frequent appearance of special orbs during combat, and other miscellaneous effects. As a result, build variety in this regard comes more into speccing two of the three stats, and slotting on gems that either enhance those, or boost other attributes, which you know what? Works super well for what it is. It’s nothing extravagant or managing as their other titles, but for the type of angle this is gearing towards, it works pretty damn well, and each time I thought that a particular scenario needed one of these stats to be higher, it was easy to answer as such. They also make for extremely easy money pooling considering you can trip over them in the world like it’s nothing. There’s also minigames you can participate in, most of them pertaining to a verti-shump heavily inspired by the likes of Legendary Wings, Xevious, and… Ikaruga?! Damn, I can’t believe Sheldon Carter was playing some kino shit before the design outlines. Anyway, these are alright, not at all challenging but serve their role as decent distractions fine enough, and a majority of them are completely optional meaning you can skip them to your heart’s content. A major detraction, however, is this game’s morality system. In layman’s terms, it’s the prelude to the original Mass Effect trilogy’s Paragon/Renegade binary, and if you’re not familiar with the trappings that entails, we’re presented with a misaligned and over-the-top Super Good vs. Extremely Evil choices instead of Idealized Unity vs. Pragmatic Survivalist. Sure, sometimes in the game you get choices that actually boxes them into these supposed categories, like Tien’s Landing’s fate either being about the central community of people or prospership from sailors and wayward souls, but in the forest above that town you’re subjugated into either helping a tricky yet well-meaning fox spirit, or actual, literal cannibal demons. So, ya know, not really thought out! I suppose a silver lining is that, some of these Closed Fist prompts are so outlandishly cruel and insane, that playing a route purely dedicated to this would make for one of the funniest experiences in a Bioware title. I’ve seen and dabbled some of these in action, it’s actually kind of a riot even if it’s unintentionally so.
Deo Perez and Aidan Scanlan go over the process about the kinematic inspirations and mechanics of combat, although, and this could be my upbringing of the Odyssey Engine titles clouding my sight, despite being a new engine this feels like an overhaul of those entries’ action-queue lineup to be more real-time and cutting down on the waiting. I played this whole thing on K+M controls though so maybe I’m just insane. I digress, this is likely one of their better combat systems solely cause it’s easy to break in half. With Chi being able to heal you upon held use and Focus being a slow-mo ability that trickles down (yes this is as useful as it sounds), you have seven style branches to choose from, Martial, Weapon, Magic, and Transformation are all damage-inducing techs, with Support being self-explanatory along with two unique ones that don’t fall into any of that. You upgrade each of a skill’s three attributes somewhat akin to a TTRPG spreadsheet, getting enough points on level ups to fulfill the required amount for augmentation. Despite the rather awkward motions and inputs, the actual moment-to-moment fighting isn’t all that bad, honestly, I’d even say when it all comes together it can be pretty invigorating. When participating as intended it can be pretty fun flipping, blocking, and changing into different techs for all sorts of actions. The problem is that, of the titles in this era of Bioware, this game is the easiest to break. See, you’re likely to end up sticking with the same 3-5 styles throughout the venture, only because you like their approaches or because they’re just outright broken (more on this in a bit). On the one hand, this is an understanding compromise, since wuxia and martial media are all about using the same pool of abilities at all times with little deviations and variations upon them. On the other hand, this thought process falls off hard because the hierarchy of combat prowess is incredibly lopsided, DPS with mid-long reaches and fast animation being favored over pure might with slow startups or stubby punches with weak range. Legendary Strike has cool kicks and motions, but I tossed it aside since Leaping Tiger is much faster and longer reach to close the gap on enemies. The staff is pretty good for foes that are either in front of or a bit away from you, but it gets obfuscated by twin axes in the midgame that do the same job yet better. Mirabelle, a unique GUN style obtained as an optional reward from a quest involving John Cleese’s character, is utterly broken cause it does great damage even starting out, and has an animation cancel that’s supremely easy to figure out and abuse, to the point of outright stunlocking an opponent with ease including the final boss! And that’s just with Martial and Weapons, don’t get me started on Magic, Support, and Transformations, including the Jade Golem and Storm Dragon styles! Even disregarding all of that, the enemy AI in general doesn't really put up much resistance. I played on Normal from start to finish, and despite a rough beginning, the skill curve plateaus since you can easily figure out then exploit enemy patterns and movements, block or flip to the side, then start to whale on them back - and like I said at the beginning, Special Edition supposedly rebalances the difficulty, but I didn’t really feel a difference or a desire to change up my tactics. Once again, I’ll point you all towards Mark Darrah’s comment.
It’s been a good week or so since finishing Jade Empire, and it’s been on my mind for all that time. It’s a weird title, feeling half-baked despite all the effort and love placed into it, with all its charm and ideas hitting just right, and the overall execution still tight enough to make for an entertaining and good time. In an old GamesIndustry article I once linked, Greg Zeschuk had lamented that, if they could’ve held it off for just a bit longer, perhaps they could’ve made it an Xbox 360 launch release, a unique opportunity for both the company as well as a better foothold for the game to plant itself in. Even with that, multiple of the old staffers have expressed in interest in revisiting the IP, and there’s been uncoverings of canceled plans for a successor, getting to the point that art director Matt Rhodes had shared concept arts both on his Instagram and ArtStation pages. Despite all of this… nothing has come about since, and with the way Bioware has been careening downward towards potential closing, I don’t think it ever will unfortunately. This is what’ll make recommending it somewhat difficult and tricky; do you want to play a game that, despite its untapped potential and unlikely chance of revival, is unique in most cases amongst its peers to make up for it? Are you a Bioware nut that just has to play all of their games no matter what? Have a weekend's break and want to spend it succinctly? Do you just want an excuse to nerd out over all the Chinese implementations and culture? Then go right ahead! At the end of it all, the worst you’ll feel is underwhelming disappointment, with the best being the enamourment of a captivating space.
If nothing else, this add-on is worth experiencing once purely for the concept. "What if the MC had never existed or died during the prologue, and it was up to the second-in-command to take up arms for the plot's events" is a rather uncommon structure the gaming medium has subjected participants onto, and it takes full advantage of that. Seeing Denerim on the side of Darkspawn is pretty entertaining, controlling each of the units as the Vanguard and playing around with their kits for a change, with the ability to mow down all the (un)named NPCs and party members when you reach them - Oghren at the bar, Wynne with the Circle and Templars, Zevran with the Elves, etc etc, all with their own altered codices for comedic effects. Not to mention, seeing the choices Alistair, or perhaps Morrigan being the puppeteer (makes more sense and is reinforced to be the former though), had made to get this far makes things super funny. Sure, I can see them being able to round up Wynne with Greagoir thanks to Alistair's Templar ties, but Cauthrien being here must meant some next level diplomacy was involved to convince her to drop Loghain's side, and I feel like they should know better than to trust Howe the weasel. Plus, golems? Werewolves?! Seems like someone's just a bit too gung-ho about ends justifying the means...
Unfortunately, this has a fatal flaw: the combat. I'm saving all my critiques and complaints for the raw meat and mechanics for the main game, but suffice to say that as someone who finds it overall adequate, this unfortunately doubles down on troublesome AI, dull encounter designs, awkward and obnoxious pathfinding, and all the meticulous micromanagement of the base game, so if you didn't like that - ESPECIALLY on console where it was more tedious with all the controller hotswaps - you're definitely not gonna like this. In fact, I'd say the friendly AI here is even worse, cause I've had more instances of them standing there doing nothing despite my tactics lineup giving them optimal commands and there being no obstructions for the pathfinding part, therefore forcing me to stop what I was doing and direct them myself. Also, if you're gonna play this on a higher difficulty, turn off the Ogre's Hurl ability and control it yourself, or else you'll have them use it often in a huddle and take friendly fire from it, which sucks - actually, you're better off putting it on Easy and cruising through it, this has a bit of a rep for being a ballbuster even with all the prep time you have, and it's well earned! I only ever beat it on Hard because I'm a stubborn bastard. This tries to spice it up by having a sort of "if x, then y" puzzle gimmick; Shrieks are your stealthy Rogues to sneak past ballista barrages and disrupt them, Genlocks and Hurlocks are your standard Warriors/Archers, Ogres are your tough Berserker Tanks to destroy obstacles, Emissaries are your Mages, and Blight Wolves are the Mabari. Thing is though, there isn't enough to spice up the monotony of what is, essentially, a 2-hour combat gauntlet round, without any of the positives and brief respites the base campaign offers.
Also, it just feels... cheap. Like yea it's expected as such cause it's a short DLC, and of course there'd be reused assets since we're in the Denerim battle, but there isn't even a proper ending here - once you kill Alistair, Leliana, Morrigan, and Barkspawn (more cases of Bioware acknowledging online communities), the Archdemon swoops by and then... kicked back to the main menu. Stuff like that just permeates the feeling of a quick buck, which is likely the case since it came out about two months after the Awakening expansion. As stated, it's worth playing once for the quasi-unique experience and the weapon unlock Blightblood, itself a pretty good sword for one-handed users, for the two full-sized stories. Beyond that? Not worth it.
Unfortunately, this has a fatal flaw: the combat. I'm saving all my critiques and complaints for the raw meat and mechanics for the main game, but suffice to say that as someone who finds it overall adequate, this unfortunately doubles down on troublesome AI, dull encounter designs, awkward and obnoxious pathfinding, and all the meticulous micromanagement of the base game, so if you didn't like that - ESPECIALLY on console where it was more tedious with all the controller hotswaps - you're definitely not gonna like this. In fact, I'd say the friendly AI here is even worse, cause I've had more instances of them standing there doing nothing despite my tactics lineup giving them optimal commands and there being no obstructions for the pathfinding part, therefore forcing me to stop what I was doing and direct them myself. Also, if you're gonna play this on a higher difficulty, turn off the Ogre's Hurl ability and control it yourself, or else you'll have them use it often in a huddle and take friendly fire from it, which sucks - actually, you're better off putting it on Easy and cruising through it, this has a bit of a rep for being a ballbuster even with all the prep time you have, and it's well earned! I only ever beat it on Hard because I'm a stubborn bastard. This tries to spice it up by having a sort of "if x, then y" puzzle gimmick; Shrieks are your stealthy Rogues to sneak past ballista barrages and disrupt them, Genlocks and Hurlocks are your standard Warriors/Archers, Ogres are your tough Berserker Tanks to destroy obstacles, Emissaries are your Mages, and Blight Wolves are the Mabari. Thing is though, there isn't enough to spice up the monotony of what is, essentially, a 2-hour combat gauntlet round, without any of the positives and brief respites the base campaign offers.
Also, it just feels... cheap. Like yea it's expected as such cause it's a short DLC, and of course there'd be reused assets since we're in the Denerim battle, but there isn't even a proper ending here - once you kill Alistair, Leliana, Morrigan, and Barkspawn (more cases of Bioware acknowledging online communities), the Archdemon swoops by and then... kicked back to the main menu. Stuff like that just permeates the feeling of a quick buck, which is likely the case since it came out about two months after the Awakening expansion. As stated, it's worth playing once for the quasi-unique experience and the weapon unlock Blightblood, itself a pretty good sword for one-handed users, for the two full-sized stories. Beyond that? Not worth it.
So at first, I wasn't gonna bother writing this since it would more or less be how I outlined ME3's From Ashes last year, but since I developed more thoughts surrounding the DLC and Shale themself once finishing the questline, it's become a bit more justified. Off the bat though, this shouldn't have been a Day One DLC deal. It was during that era where EA (and/or maybe Bioware? I'm unsure who's at fault here) thought that the best way to secure finance was to bundle in a special pack-in with every new copy fresh on release a la download codes, which I never got the intention for reasons I don't think I'd have to elaborate on. This is made mostly moot now since Ultimate Edition, the version people are extremely likely to pick up nowadays, bundles everything together, but it sure was a sign of things to come, even if Shale isn't quite as integral and significant to the game's plot/worldbuilding as Javik later becomes...
Speaking of, Shale! I like them, maybe not quite to the level of "mainstay if not doing round robin swaps", but they're still a rather common pick for any situation and build archetype I put myself in. This is mainly from how they're augmented, which makes for one of the better parts of not only this add-on, but the entire game. See, Shale's kit is stylized after a Jack Of Trades approach, containing four branches which allows them to become either a rock-hurling archer, a hard-hitting DPSer, a stonewalling tank, or a beefy support unit, all of which have their own talents to pick up in each level ups. Set up the right tactics and/or controlled micromanagement, and they do most of these roles super well, even to the point of outpacing other companions vying for the same slots on occasion... when they work. Unfortunately, DAO's bug-riddled state has crept onto the mighty golem so some of their talents are majorly borked, making them less effective than they ought to be. I already have the essential PC mods detailed for the main game's review, but as a quick prelude to that you're gonna need Shale's Talents - Fixes Only and some files from Dain's Fixes mentioned in the other mod's page. Even without those they still function well, just ya know... a lot weaker.
As for their writing, they're more or less my main source of humor. The overall party comp makes Bioware's obvious and continuous inspirations of pop culture gags and Whedonism more tolerable (to a degree anyway), so that combined with David Gaider's rather humorous development backstory for their pigeon hate, mean you get a sassy ass partner in a game already containing a handful of them. I'm somewhat easy to please when it comes to this personality role to begin with, but there's something charming about always seeing the Honnleath exit cutscene, some of the dialog options you can pick when conversing, tagged along during the main story with their own unique interjections and (dis)approval flags, or the usual party banter out in the overworld, especially if they're pertaining to Sten (quick bonding due to similar philosophies), Wynne (somewhat gradual togetherness even if it can be quite besmirching), and Alistair (half and half). There was already a reason to pick them up as early as possible, due to the level area for Honnleath just low enough for newcomers to clear and being a quick enough detour, as well as having some really good gear to compliment any of the three classes - especially Helm Of Honnleath, which is hands down one of the best helmets in the game (EDIT: I forgot to mention Cadash Stompers as well, these are also really good equipment though not as much) - this is just adding more on top of an already delectable companion DLC.
My only (other) issue is that, for a character who's main arc is about their identity and blanked memories, to the point designer Rob Bartel stated the intention behind their voice delivery, containing an intrinsic tie to the Anvil Of The Void arc of Orzammar's questline regarding Caridin and her voluntary action amongst the Dwarven troops to becoming a golem, not to mention they can potentially die if brought along and choosing to oppose the old Smith Paragon... there's a lack of substantial material in this regard. It's hard to explain; they're not quite as "new buddy excuse" as Zaeed and Kasumi later became since Shale actually interacts with and plays a major role in the base game, but they don't have nearly the same substantial pull Javik has in regards to a beating presence and lore+worldbuilding additions aside from a couple of lines and a sliver of new codices. They're sorta like Kang The Mad from Jade Empirea game I should finally write about since it's been a week after beating it, they have meaningful contributions and I appreciate their roles outside of that, but the sudden wrap-up of their arc feels rather awkward. Honestly though, maybe it's for the best. Shale's pretty content with themselves and finally getting closure to something they pondered about since their introduction, and they didn't need some grand change to reflect their new state: they're now fully comfortable about who they were and what they are now, having grown appreciative to you for doing everything for them even if there wasn't a motive to do so, culminating in being referred to as "you" signifying an equal level. That's pretty dang satisfying for me.
Speaking of, Shale! I like them, maybe not quite to the level of "mainstay if not doing round robin swaps", but they're still a rather common pick for any situation and build archetype I put myself in. This is mainly from how they're augmented, which makes for one of the better parts of not only this add-on, but the entire game. See, Shale's kit is stylized after a Jack Of Trades approach, containing four branches which allows them to become either a rock-hurling archer, a hard-hitting DPSer, a stonewalling tank, or a beefy support unit, all of which have their own talents to pick up in each level ups. Set up the right tactics and/or controlled micromanagement, and they do most of these roles super well, even to the point of outpacing other companions vying for the same slots on occasion... when they work. Unfortunately, DAO's bug-riddled state has crept onto the mighty golem so some of their talents are majorly borked, making them less effective than they ought to be. I already have the essential PC mods detailed for the main game's review, but as a quick prelude to that you're gonna need Shale's Talents - Fixes Only and some files from Dain's Fixes mentioned in the other mod's page. Even without those they still function well, just ya know... a lot weaker.
As for their writing, they're more or less my main source of humor. The overall party comp makes Bioware's obvious and continuous inspirations of pop culture gags and Whedonism more tolerable (to a degree anyway), so that combined with David Gaider's rather humorous development backstory for their pigeon hate, mean you get a sassy ass partner in a game already containing a handful of them. I'm somewhat easy to please when it comes to this personality role to begin with, but there's something charming about always seeing the Honnleath exit cutscene, some of the dialog options you can pick when conversing, tagged along during the main story with their own unique interjections and (dis)approval flags, or the usual party banter out in the overworld, especially if they're pertaining to Sten (quick bonding due to similar philosophies), Wynne (somewhat gradual togetherness even if it can be quite besmirching), and Alistair (half and half). There was already a reason to pick them up as early as possible, due to the level area for Honnleath just low enough for newcomers to clear and being a quick enough detour, as well as having some really good gear to compliment any of the three classes - especially Helm Of Honnleath, which is hands down one of the best helmets in the game (EDIT: I forgot to mention Cadash Stompers as well, these are also really good equipment though not as much) - this is just adding more on top of an already delectable companion DLC.
My only (other) issue is that, for a character who's main arc is about their identity and blanked memories, to the point designer Rob Bartel stated the intention behind their voice delivery, containing an intrinsic tie to the Anvil Of The Void arc of Orzammar's questline regarding Caridin and her voluntary action amongst the Dwarven troops to becoming a golem, not to mention they can potentially die if brought along and choosing to oppose the old Smith Paragon... there's a lack of substantial material in this regard. It's hard to explain; they're not quite as "new buddy excuse" as Zaeed and Kasumi later became since Shale actually interacts with and plays a major role in the base game, but they don't have nearly the same substantial pull Javik has in regards to a beating presence and lore+worldbuilding additions aside from a couple of lines and a sliver of new codices. They're sorta like Kang The Mad from Jade Empire
I'm truly amazed at the type of entries IGDB has that Backloggd can use.
If you have no idea what the hell this is, it's a short module the team made to show off the game's toolset, distributed by and in collaboration with PC Gamer in their November 2009 magazine issue. No voice-acting, no extensive storyline, just you and a Dwarven partner going down to the Aeducan Thaig - here referred to as "Ruined Thaig" - in order to help Bhelen set the stage for the Dwarven Noble origin storyline. Simple, to the point, and even provides a fair bit more intrigue to the game's Dwarf setting, which was always one of the better parts of the game (Deep Roads isn't real).
There's no real reason to go through this nowadays, especially since it's only pre-installed on GOG versions with Steam and Ori- er, "EA App" having to rely on an install with its dazip file. If nothing else it's an OK distraction, and though I don't know how popular the toolset was when it came to creating custom campaigns, I do know it did help with a couple of mods and tweaks due to how its infrastructure is laid out, so that's cool!
If you have no idea what the hell this is, it's a short module the team made to show off the game's toolset, distributed by and in collaboration with PC Gamer in their November 2009 magazine issue. No voice-acting, no extensive storyline, just you and a Dwarven partner going down to the Aeducan Thaig - here referred to as "Ruined Thaig" - in order to help Bhelen set the stage for the Dwarven Noble origin storyline. Simple, to the point, and even provides a fair bit more intrigue to the game's Dwarf setting, which was always one of the better parts of the game (Deep Roads isn't real).
There's no real reason to go through this nowadays, especially since it's only pre-installed on GOG versions with Steam and Ori- er, "EA App" having to rely on an install with its dazip file. If nothing else it's an OK distraction, and though I don't know how popular the toolset was when it came to creating custom campaigns, I do know it did help with a couple of mods and tweaks due to how its infrastructure is laid out, so that's cool!
2008
played via remaster on Steam
Gonna be retiring this on my Class B License for the time being, if only cause I've had my fill atm and want to have another racing title on the side. Still about as good as I remembered! The only big negatives I've developed in this replay is the open world - not necessarily the idea or execution, but its double edge nature. While exploring Paradise City and finding all its little secrets and cool stunts/shortcuts is still enjoyable, it unfortunately obfuscates the career progression - instead of rising up thanks to tight finishes, style mastery, or hard evasion/ram tactics, it becomes a bit of an errand duty where the "progression" comes from simply having to do more tasks, some of which you've likely already finished, just to "feel" higher. I wouldn't exactly mind this too much, but it doesn't exactly put in a good drive of engaging with the systems or other cars if you only ever have the desire to change them on the rare mission that gives you trouble, or all the Burning Routes the game has littered about. Need For Speed Most Wanted 2005, while not necessarily an exact replica of the formula and structure, does a much better job at incentivizing all the challenges and goals to push further along. I didn't do much with the Big Surf Island content, nor all the other DLCs the Remaster has bundled in, so I'm not quite sure how those would affect the structure and loop.
Like I said, it's a double edge sword, but I do get the other side of the intention. NFSMW05 was about pushing further and further along for street cred and revenge, this one's just about cruising to deliciously mid-late 2000s pop/rock/occasional metal tunes as I drift and swerve around pedestrians, do barrel rolls and flat spins on ramps, and just cruise around Paradise City on my own leisure. Handling for each of the cars I dabbled with feel how they should, with Aggressive and Stunts being my go-tos for all manner of the occasion. The way each of the key areas are designated to each point of the compass also contributes to a general sense of where specific challenges and aesthetics are, to the point I didn't really bring up the map as often and went with my gut and flow. Despite its contentious nature for the playerbase back then and uncommonly now, Alex Ward, the creative director, did right for the direction considering he was really trying to push this up for the EA suits. Also he's a GOAT for recognizing the underrated sandbox thrill that is Mercenaries Playgrounds Of Destruction fr fr. I'm not sure how much the open world aspect of Burnout Paradise impacted the racing genre as a whole, since again this wasn't necessarily the first stab at it, but there's been drips of titles aiming to capture that summertime vibe and leisure, and considering I've seen people look upon this as fondly as the earlier Burnout titles - specifically 3 and revenge - its success is more than warranted.
...Also holy fucking shit I hate EA's stupid ass Not Origin software, it's actually aggravating the amount of times I threw myself getting this to work on PC. Stick with a PS4/Xbone/Switch release for this one.
Gonna be retiring this on my Class B License for the time being, if only cause I've had my fill atm and want to have another racing title on the side. Still about as good as I remembered! The only big negatives I've developed in this replay is the open world - not necessarily the idea or execution, but its double edge nature. While exploring Paradise City and finding all its little secrets and cool stunts/shortcuts is still enjoyable, it unfortunately obfuscates the career progression - instead of rising up thanks to tight finishes, style mastery, or hard evasion/ram tactics, it becomes a bit of an errand duty where the "progression" comes from simply having to do more tasks, some of which you've likely already finished, just to "feel" higher. I wouldn't exactly mind this too much, but it doesn't exactly put in a good drive of engaging with the systems or other cars if you only ever have the desire to change them on the rare mission that gives you trouble, or all the Burning Routes the game has littered about. Need For Speed Most Wanted 2005, while not necessarily an exact replica of the formula and structure, does a much better job at incentivizing all the challenges and goals to push further along. I didn't do much with the Big Surf Island content, nor all the other DLCs the Remaster has bundled in, so I'm not quite sure how those would affect the structure and loop.
Like I said, it's a double edge sword, but I do get the other side of the intention. NFSMW05 was about pushing further and further along for street cred and revenge, this one's just about cruising to deliciously mid-late 2000s pop/rock/occasional metal tunes as I drift and swerve around pedestrians, do barrel rolls and flat spins on ramps, and just cruise around Paradise City on my own leisure. Handling for each of the cars I dabbled with feel how they should, with Aggressive and Stunts being my go-tos for all manner of the occasion. The way each of the key areas are designated to each point of the compass also contributes to a general sense of where specific challenges and aesthetics are, to the point I didn't really bring up the map as often and went with my gut and flow. Despite its contentious nature for the playerbase back then and uncommonly now, Alex Ward, the creative director, did right for the direction considering he was really trying to push this up for the EA suits. Also he's a GOAT for recognizing the underrated sandbox thrill that is Mercenaries Playgrounds Of Destruction fr fr. I'm not sure how much the open world aspect of Burnout Paradise impacted the racing genre as a whole, since again this wasn't necessarily the first stab at it, but there's been drips of titles aiming to capture that summertime vibe and leisure, and considering I've seen people look upon this as fondly as the earlier Burnout titles - specifically 3 and revenge - its success is more than warranted.
...Also holy fucking shit I hate EA's stupid ass Not Origin software, it's actually aggravating the amount of times I threw myself getting this to work on PC. Stick with a PS4/Xbone/Switch release for this one.
Awaken.
Cold, sterile whirrs of the orchestra haunt the air as you gaze upon the two gender, three class selection yet again. Each string plucked, each horn blasted, every meticulous arrangement give way to the being’s charred mien, its toxic animosity plaguing the environment’s atmosphere. Yet, ironically, it’s from this upsetting disposition that merely makes it more alluring, as it bares its tale for dissection. This is the side of Star Wars very few have dared to venture towards, with fewer still having ever done so today.
As for the PC side, I appreciate Aspyr getting the go-ahead on re-releasing it on Steam and GOG alongside widescreen and even Mac OS & Linux support, with a downgrade path available for those who decide to dabble in such for one reason or another, but we can still embellish it with mods like before: JC’s Minor Fixes as well as their Supermodel and Feats Fix, Head Model Fix, Prestige Saving Throws Fix, and finally Widescreen UI Fix plus Improved Widescreen Experience are all the important stuff you’ll need for your descent into KOTOR2’s underbelly, and thankfully there’s no extra steps to get this all working on the Steam release. “But what abou-” save all questions until the end, thank you. I’m unsure of how the mobile and (relatively) recent Switch port are, but once again this is part of Xbox’s backwards compatibility if you’re more concerned with playing it out-the-box instead. This is gonna be a long spiel that could’ve probably been trimmed a bit, so the TL;DR is that it’s about as epic as Paranoia Agent.
To expand on what I meant by its bold venture, it should be important to reiterate the time period this was released in, and again I’ll run through this quickly since it’s old grounds. Bioware constructed the first game as a means to combine the meat of A New Hope’s space serial escapade feel with the aesthetical and newly encroaching ideas the Prequel films were, though in a polarizing fashion, establishing. Double this with the Extended Universe reaching as far as it ever has, and it resulted in a move that paid off immensely, quickly becoming the fastest-selling Xbox title at that time in just four days and critical acclaim from critics, newcomers, and fans of the IP. Bioware, however, didn’t pick up the offer to do a followup - though James Ohlen did reveal an idea as to what they could’ve done - and instead focused on other endeavors, these experiences and certain ideas being utilized in Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1, and Dragon Age Origins. Because of this, they suggested newly formed Obsidian Entertainment, mainly containing ex-Black Isles alumni many of whom were close to Bioware, to take up the reins for a successor. Drafting up its story before the the first game had finally hit the shelves, as well as founder and CEO Feargus Urquhart sharing that lead designer and writer Chris Avellone was currently combing through everything related to the IP besides the first game, the original KOTOR graphic novels, and the original movies. Of course, blood was spilt during the course of conception staining the package’s physique, but that’s for a later discussion. What resulted from the scour and cogitation is a narrative that slowly turns into a thesis analysis about the brand’s iconographies and writing facets.
The first game popularized (and perhaps introduced, but it bears repeating that side stories were bountiful during this era) the idea of a Gray Jedi, one that isn’t wholly siding with either the Jedi or the Sith’s teachings. Nowadays multiple people have simplified the term into the defacing statement “Force-Wielding Centrists”, and understandably so considering the rampant and crass fixation this has garnered during this span. Though in fairness there is more to the ideology than that; Jolee, the progenitor painted in a Neutral alignment, still had his heart set on the belief of the Light, mentoring the MC via his life story and anecdotes meant to teach and guide their fate and affecting actions in accordance to a number of events including The Twist, as well as what comes after. Though he has his disagreements with the Jedi Council, such as his own thoughts about what love can do to a person, his major dissatisfaction from the Council comes from his trial treatment of doing/contributing to A Lot Of Dumb Shit being given a pardon, with the justification being a “hard lesson of wisdom” and “mitigating the circumstances” after the wartime, even being offered a chance of becoming a full Jedi. In his own words, that was when the Jedi had failed him. If you’ve played both games, you can see where I’m going with this: Kreia, while utilizing the same mentorship, is the inverse of Jolee in almost every way: instead of once beholding to Light, she has unburdened herself from it and the Dark entirely; instead of divulging his past as a way to teach the pupil, she surrounds herself in a wall of deceit, rarely letting herself be open for any reason whatsoever; instead of a kooky grandpa confiding and nurturing you in his own special way, it instead feels like a snide grandma is looming over you, cautiously creating a barrier mostly enclosed to not let its secret eek away, yet containing a crack little enough to allow and lure in personal dialog exchanges. Neither of them deal in absolutes, they’re beholden to their goals under the roots of what was once something they confided in, and it's from their experiences and turmoils that shape their ostentatious pupils during the course of each game’s adventure. This is also where the best part of the game is unleashed.
Since Chris Avellone was the main writer for a majority of the events within this game, it should be relayed that a lot of his penning focuses on three aspects: relics of those old and forgotten, the bruised and demoralized psyche of man, andgoth chicks manifested chains that shackle someone or something down. Kreia, largely and rather blatantly attributed as Chris Avellone’s spokesperson, prattles and challenges the nature of Star Wars’ good v. evil mantra, as well as how it uses the Force as a predetermined, all-powerful, metaphysical entity. It’s pretty plain to see, really, especially since he was open about it in a blog post over on the Obsidian forum page, going as far as to detail other influences such as Ravel Puzzlewell from his prior work Planescape Torment, the ending of Chinatown, and illuminating on one draft for the game’s story that got scrapped save for a few ideas. The details are those not many have ever divulged unto: if the Force, an entity that engenders itself onto places, subjects, and even basic commodities is a constant metaphysical practice, what happens if one is just… excised from its grasp? Severed from the cord, be it willingly or from immense destruction? Echo is used in curious intent, whether it’s by caustic trauma or corroded history, the past is ever-present to all that you meet in your venture. This idea manifests in two forms, the first being that the endeavors you witness are all tied to a scar buried deep within the planet’s core: Telos, a shambling pulse for the Republic’s longshot war rebuild project that can be further driven by either the Ithorian’s Ecologism beliefs or Czerka Corp’s Economistic desires; Nar Shaddaa, borning a refugee and bounty hunting hotspot of those plagued by recent battles from the Mandalorians and the Jedi Civil War, who’s inhabitants can either be mended with charity or drove further into pain unto a bygone end, all under the watchful eye of The Exchange; Dantooine and Korriban can be revisited, and in their bombed runoff lie either a discordant community of settlers and mercs trying to breathe anew in the aftermath or a pile of corpses intoxicating and fuming the air with decrepit energy and influenced thralls from their agony; Onderon, though very much well off compared to the last planets, suffers from an internal power struggle between those that rely and compel upon a strong reliant ally, or keep their independence and sought to fend for themselves amongst political trickery and faking deals, while its old jungle moon Dxun seeps with wartime feeling, as the creatures of this land occupies much of the old battlegrounds and encampments while Mandalorians keep to themselves in training for their triumphant return. All touched by war, all feeling the wake it has left behind, an abundant amount of denizens terminating the distinction between what makes a Jedi and what makes a Sith, all serving as a practice for yourself to endure and learn from, where the reactions grow into a potent substance further in.
The other sense is one of ethnomethodology, centering its experiment around your crew and the main pieces of the story. Largely brought about by a common goal, the party this time around is of a dichotomous feeling, rarely ever trusting each other on a deeper level aside from yourself. G0-T0 and returning T3-M4, though harboring secrets, has one taken to the side of approaching means that receive the most benefit and anyway while the other keeps to himself to honor the wishes and promises of his old comrades among his new ones, hoping to one day meet them again. Bao-Dur and Mandalore - who’s not so subtly exposed as the returning Canderous - have been marred by the experiences of the Mandalorian War, yet while one seems to have deep regret for his actions despite them being necessary due to breeding and expounding hatred, the other seems to seek a return of their glory days in a front to keep themselves from fading from existence, as well as to prove useful to one they used to call a friend. Handmaiden and Visas are two trainees under a Jedi/Sith, marginalized from either being the offspring of an infidelity affair or enslaved after the vanquishing of her kind, both either reaffirmed or further drowned under the tutelage of the Male Exile, whereupon females cannot be able to recruit the Handmaiden at all. HK-47, though not having a difference within the crew, aims to figure out the newfound creations of droids under his module, belaboring his rusted assassination skills against the fresh machines that stalk everyone. Mira and Hanharr, though bounty hunters with forceful upbringings, has one seated with pervasive beneficiaries so that no one else has to face a loss of companions, or march towards brutality to fuel their revenge against those that had broke his spirit physically and mentally, a narrative that’s mechanically felt as you can only get one or the other through Light or Dark methods. The Disciple and Atton Rand are both people that seemed to have a personal history with the old Jedi order and certain clusters of them, but while one carries their memory on through historical foundings and musing, the other wants nothing to do with that anymore, seemingly harboring a deep-rooted trauma while continuously feigning acknowledgement of it. This is also where the Female Exile can vie for one or the other and in turn fuel jealous remarks, with Disciple getting the boot if you’re playing as a Male. Through this disharmony sings life that the old Ebon Hawk crew couldn’t achieve before, something that bellows stronger as it possibly can with the newly introduced Influence mechanic allowing gain of (dis)trust depending on what you do/respond to someone/something. Some have criticized this for being something that requires hyperspecific setup and rollouts to get the most out of everyone, and while true in some regard, I find that the approach that this falls under bolsters the concept of the thread being told here.
Many hardcore enthusiasts proclaim this theological exercise is about Avellone himself “hating” Star Wars, but that is fundamentally untrue. He fell in love with KOTOR1, saying that he wouldn’t have changed much of anything in it from that blog post at all, and it’s a feeling that has remained consistent since. It’s a nagging topic that I loathe discussing in relation to this game, the duology, and the brand as a whole, this position as a “deconstruction” or “subversion” of Star Wars quite simply isn’t the case. Inspect the insignias, unravel the metaphors and allegories buried beneath, and what unfolds is an extension of ideas that had come before and even after. If we pertain this to just the movies, most of them follow a character, usually our MC, being tasked with a herculean objective that confronts their predisposed ideas and mannerisms, and the falling action and aftermath that follows after. This had happened with Luke and Vader in the Originals, this had happened to Obi-Wan and Anakin when the Prequels were coming out, and it had even happened in The Last Jedi with Rey and Kylo, where the exploits challenge their faith and companionship of the people and themselves, self-identification against an armada of fascistic forces hoping to weaponize the past for arrogant pragmatisms. It had also happened with the last game’s protagonist, laying upon the meaning of the Jedi’s actions amongst their harsh yet rare punishments and stubborn ideologies, and it continues again with the form of the Exile, a being drastically altered after participating in the Mandalorian War on the side of Revan’s army. From witnessing a grand hero(ine)/villain(ess)’s rise to action and the archetypical storytelling that follows against Darth Malak’s iron fist, here you witness the consumption of power and might the Force delivers upon those who overly rely on it through the thematic bridges of Darth Sion’s intense pain and hatred being the ironic fuel of his livelihood, Darth Nihilus tossing their humanity aside to become a husk in an all-consuming quest to feed off Force energy for dominance, Atris’ feverish upholding and fixated search of Jedi and Sith teachings soon clouding her mind and inner emotion thereby dooming anyone near her, and the old Jedi Council walking away from it all and harboring their own set of opinions as to what the trail ever actually meant to them, most carry out in the background as you face each planet’s own set of dilemmas that as well tie back into the idea. This, all of this, is the embodiment of two sides of a principle that George Lucas himself was familiar with, serving as drive of not just the first movie, but the bone to Star Wars’ foundation as a whole. They serve to complement each other, not to upstage another.
With a number of analytic nerd bullshit said, I don’t want to barter this as a “you play this RPG for the story” deal, cause the inner mechanics are still quite interesting and robust to go over. The combat function of this will be quick because er… to be real, little has changed positively or negatively. You can largely copy the paragraph I wrote in my KOTOR1 review and paste it here with little deviation. Well, I suppose that wouldn’t be true? Even on Peragus Mining Facility combat has seen some small yet well needed tweaks. We have stances now, finally, making the friendly AI easier to be relied upon by giving them what you’re setting them up as and leaving them to it even if they can still be just as dumb and “awkwardly standing doing nothing” as ever. Dice rolls, modifiers, and other little influences are tuned up and/or overhauled to help alleviate fights, making it much more worthwhile to use stuff like stims, grenades, and even mines and stealth which I almost never used in the previous game across all my runs. There’s been some added Force Powers with a select few now having a utility effect for certain hazards such as Stun Droid for mines, as well as new feats making it much more fulfilling to craft different builds to slot different niches onto a member. That last aspect is less so an outright improvement of KOTOR1 and more so righting a wrong made; in 1, there weren’t that many scenarios where it felt like you could use one partner over another for a particular obstacle, be it because the skills are all simplified that it made the diversity lesser or because it just wasn’t necessary altogether. Because of all the changes being made, this has thus been ameliorated so that you do have reasons to create different strike teams, like having Atton on mine/stealth duty while Handmaiden/Mandalore take up the soldier aspect, or Visas doubling up damage and support, or Mira blasting foes away alongside her explosive wrist rockets and poisonous darts, and more. Party composition feels more alive than ever, especially now that you’re able to convert more people into Force-wielders to help give them just a bit more of an edge, even in its most fringe cases.
Stat management itself has been vastly augmented, fully embracing its RPG heritage that was dabbled with before. While you can blow through the preceding title with a meager pile of skills, all of them are now integral for one build or another, especially in regards to the newly revamped lab station and workbenches where you can craft new materials, ingredients, even some armaments to help bolster your entourage’s prowess, which also means that some PMs can be the builder of these items so long as they have met the required stats. The three Jedi classes from before - Guardian, Sentinel, and Consular - are now changed in a way so that each one isn’t necessarily stronger or weaker than the other unless you’re super specific on metagaming, on top of three new prestige classes for the Jedi/Sith side allowing even more opportunities to craft an idea that’s unique for your playthrough. If you wish, you can also choose to not wield a lightsaber at all, never hindered or besmirched for this and giving higher meaning in a roleplaying, challenging, or “fuck it we ball” sense. I opted for a Monk-style build, mainly dealing with unarmed attacks with a dash of supportive Force powers and Shock, which was pretty damn amusing. With changes to perk pickups now allowing for cross-classing, or using the Dex attribute as the leading hit chance, and regenerative health/Force capabilities comes more wriggle room to branch out from designated roles, as well as skill checks being introduced to help give your character more of an edge in information or decision making, even if some understandably prefer the more truncated and easy-to-understand mold Bioware had shared before. There’s still a smidge too much combat, and the DnD calculations are just as numb-inducing as ever, but coinciding with how this title is just as easy to break as ever, most of them at least try to be more grand in scale and evocation, such as the Two-Front Siege in Onderon, Nar Shaddaa’s companion swaps befitting a heist, Dantooine almost getting there with the Settler/Mercenary conflict, the entirety of Korriban, and others that would make this review much longer than it already is. Helping matters is that the morality aspect is less cheese-inducing, the prose for the dialog option being more sensible, acutely worded options and the aforementioned skill checks helping to instill a better sense of involved conversations. So long as you aren’t being outwardly hostile or abiding the virtuous code, you can be as sassy/sarcastic/downright goofy as you want to people, which is a godsend when going through the two titles back to back. Heck being evil’s pretty cool now since it’s at least entertaining, like getting one or both guys to kill themselves a la jumping into Shaddaa’s center hole, forging a dead salvager’s will to claim all of their possessions, being able to manipulate people’s actions into your own gain, the works. I don’t think there will ever be an RPG that will truly get the mechanical side of moralism just right, but in this case, it isn’t suffering from overzealous ambition or foolish pride… mostly.
Alright time to drop the mystic nasal-voiced YouTuber BS and talk about what I don’t like, and even find to be strict downgrades. KOTOR1’s pacing is akin to A New Hope, and 2’s with Empire Strikes Back; one’s quick and seamless transitions help goad you into following the action more succinctly, while the other’s more focused on the introspective journey and highlighting the turmoil of what has happened to the world since, even if it results in a disjointed and plodding shift. For a specific example, I love the Peragus Mining Facility introduction. It’s such a great setter for the type of mood and tone this establishes, and is also one of my favorite tutorial prologues - er… one that’s after the actual tutorial prologue anyway… - ever in a game. Aping System Shock’s scenario to tell the tale of an out of the way facility, one that’s necessary for another planet’s hope of survival and Republic’s war efforts, to the decrepit ship that is the Harbinger where Sion makes his brooding, shocking entrance that continues to play up the player’s backstory and integral slot of what has and will happen, all the meanwhile teaching the player the different tools and trades the sequel either keeps the same or changes from before, alongside a clear improvement of texture and graphical quality and even cutscene direction, is a fascinating route to take that pays off immensely. It’s such a great opening that I even spent more time here than I reasonably should have across my numerous starts, I love it that much. Telos, however, drags it down poorly. Like, the Citadel Station stuff is fine. The abundance of loading zones and the small sidequest platter makes exploration rather meek, but the overall layout is compact enough that it doesn’t get super tedious, plus we got more chances of setup within the narrative, party banter, and worldbuilding/atmosphere. However, it just doesn’t stop there, now we have to head down to the surface because we need to pick up Bao-Dur, and you get thrown into so many combat encounters with minefields and stupid AI shenanigans that it gets exhausting - and that’s before you enter a station where even MORE enemies and trap-ridden spots! What the hell happened?! How did we go from such breakneck pacing in the first game and ESPECIALLY in the opening hours of this one, to drudging through this muck of muted/heightened greens, yellows, and grays? I can’t believe Atris’ facility is one of the first instances I’ve had where I thank God that I’m being blasted by pure white in something, it’s such a refreshing scene that also includes one of the best (and initial) dialogue sequences in the entire game, just you and Atris in an endless battle of back-talks and inquisitive setup that then kickstarts the second act.
Telos isn’t the only place where the pacing is shot, but it is very much the most egregious spot. Since we’re still under Bioware’s McGuffin Structure, you’re prioritizing planets in any which way, although this time it’s more obvious as to which speck is more or less fulfilling in their breadth of content. I (and from the looks of it, most) follow the order of Nar Shaddaa -> Dxun/Onderon -> Dantooine -> Masters Of The Palace -> Korriban, which meant I had to saddle up on more exposition, more queries on key figures, and having to come to grips with party builds since that’s what NS is centered around. I do think it’s a rad place, as well as how it ties into the game’s mechanical and thematic revelations, but doing that after Telos’ slogful third adds a bit of salt to the wound, especially since this also has its last third be centered on combat. Dantooine feels utterly lacking in meat even despite the unfinished nature, being credulously absolute about its faction storyline when almost every other beat either obsequiously or holistically illuminates the inner turmoil boiling within everyone. Dxun and Korriban are… actually pretty well paced, given their stories, so no major ire there. The overall art direction and compartmentalized layout soils it as well, gone is the classification of a planet's distinct color and texture, they now typically share the same greens, greys, and yellows, mainly surrounded by hard materials and boxy structures that’re even more copy-pasted than KOTOR1’s rooms, gnawing into repetition a fair bit. There's also the difficulty, but let's be real here, if you're accustomed to CRPGs, neither of them are gonna test your mettle much, so arguing about which game is "more busted and pitifully easy" is incredibly moot - if you’re a newcomer entirely, well, prepare for some spikes early on. I have a couple of other reservations, but they’re either wholly subjective (I’m not as into Mark Griskey’s compositions as Soule’s, but it’s still pretty damn good ambiance with its own set of grand slams), comparatively minor and/or the same issue as before (still able to exhaust companion’s arcs within a few rounds of exchanges, and I find any attempt to idolize Revan’s past stratagems to be really annoying), or is tied into the absolute biggest issue and the thing this game’s known for, being unfinished.
Of all the post-Black Isle “broken” titles I’ve played, this one is the most immediate. Alpha Protocol manages to skate by freely despite its blunders, Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines and New Vegas’ seams hold on for about two-thirds, and though little playtime was made I hear Arcanum and Temple Of Elemental Evil are on the same boat. KOTOR2, meanwhile, has its essence feel mangled right about the time you exit the first act, which in turn either lessens or worsens. While the people at Obsidian admitted their overambition bellied up the workload, LucasArts rushing it out to meet a Christmas deadline had ultimately doomed it, and with it came many attempts to stitch, alter, and overall duct-tape it all into one package. Ideas and executions cut short due to this, and it makes what could’ve been very intriguing and bombastic setpieces and events feel skewered and stilted by comparison, with the only truly whole places being in its first act, Korriban, and Dxun/Onderon. Because of this, it also means the exploration of the two umbrella thoughts - selflessness and pragmatism - are undercut due to some leaning much more to one side than another, something that likely would’ve been avoided if given a proper format pass. This all comes to a head with Malachor V, the planet where the belligerent bonds and war-torn disillusions have been born form, being so routinely mocked for being so utterly lacking in content, so disjointed in its attempts to finalize each arc for the 11-party entourage, so vapidly dull in what its attempting to tell in battle, that the ending quite literally jumpcuts to the credit crawl after the climactic battle has come to a close, several threads abruptly aborted before they could ever have a chance to show themselves. One of the more known cut pieces, M4-78, can be restored thanks to the Enhancement Project mod, but there’s a reason for a consensus of saving it for a future run; it’s boring as hell and contributes little to the grand scheme outside of a conversation with a Jedi Master who was supposed to be there, and considering most of what it showcases have been repurposed or reorganized into other areas as expressed by designer Kevin Saunders in an old forum post as well as dabbling into this in GDM’s Post-Mortem section of their April 2005 issue, this again adds to the tale of its fractured state.
There’s also the famous Restored Content Mod, some insistently declaring it’s a required install for not only its namesake, but also the numerous bugfixes it contains. And, listen, those bugfixes are indeed valuable, but the reason I held off on mentioning it til now is because the “reinserted cuts” only pertains to about 10-15% which, by the way, only majorly bandaids that last stretch, meaning you might not even get to see much if you abandon early on! Outside of that, the rest falls victim to hyperfixation, in that anything not in it must’ve clearly been from unavailable time, not from change of plans/ideas mid-development. Additional fights in a game already filled with them, awkward cuts to dialog/cutscenes that do nothing but fill up time on info you infer or already know about, rubberbanding lost scenarios half-cooked like HK-47’s assault on a Telos factory or shoving in unneeded standoffs Atton and Bao partake in during Nar Shaddaa’s rescue arc, and even a few sidequest changes such as those found with Dantooine’s Kaevee and Saedhe’s original head model. By adhering to the author's intent so strictly and rigidly, they circled back onto the same overambition that befall those before. I’m not saying the leaders behind this project are all awful, clearly they’re passionate about their goal and love, earning them all kudos from both Obsidian’s staff and Aspyr’s, but I don’t doubt that there was a reason Aspyr couldn’t be able to put this on the Switch after all. If you still want to play TSLRCM despite it all, then heed my advice: after making that your first install, go after the Tweak Pack and Community Patch to mitigate and enhance the overall flow, then install the mods from the beginning. I also recommend the Darth Sion & Male Exile mod to give him more depth than he would’ve otherwise if you weren’t playing as a female.
But well, that’s sort of the thing regarding this title, isn’t it? There’s poetic irony in a game about husks and cataclysmic trauma bearing weight for the process of healing via (dis)compassionate bonds, reinvigoration of self and faith, and confrontation about selfish desires and fallen ideals be so warped by the mandated whims of a publisher looking for big bags during the holiday, amongst the sea of mainly old blood looking to develop their own studio after their last one was seeing signs of burning down from within and above. There’s a looming, harrowing presence that follows the two studios that nurtured its being following suit, themselves having experienced cycles of discarded ideas, woeful collapse, and revitalized spirit. There’s a heartwarming sensation pulsating through the community resuscitating life into this and its predecessor in their own ways, when most everyone have either moved on or is keeping newfound exposure in limbo. There’s vindicated conceit in knowing that something I had been pouring my time onto since I was merely five, something that had already affected my mentality long before I knew about the confounding and everchanging nature of moralism, seemed to have clutched unto others and taught them much of the world as well.
At last, I now see what I’ve been looking for amongst the dead.
Cold, sterile whirrs of the orchestra haunt the air as you gaze upon the two gender, three class selection yet again. Each string plucked, each horn blasted, every meticulous arrangement give way to the being’s charred mien, its toxic animosity plaguing the environment’s atmosphere. Yet, ironically, it’s from this upsetting disposition that merely makes it more alluring, as it bares its tale for dissection. This is the side of Star Wars very few have dared to venture towards, with fewer still having ever done so today.
As for the PC side, I appreciate Aspyr getting the go-ahead on re-releasing it on Steam and GOG alongside widescreen and even Mac OS & Linux support, with a downgrade path available for those who decide to dabble in such for one reason or another, but we can still embellish it with mods like before: JC’s Minor Fixes as well as their Supermodel and Feats Fix, Head Model Fix, Prestige Saving Throws Fix, and finally Widescreen UI Fix plus Improved Widescreen Experience are all the important stuff you’ll need for your descent into KOTOR2’s underbelly, and thankfully there’s no extra steps to get this all working on the Steam release. “But what abou-” save all questions until the end, thank you. I’m unsure of how the mobile and (relatively) recent Switch port are, but once again this is part of Xbox’s backwards compatibility if you’re more concerned with playing it out-the-box instead. This is gonna be a long spiel that could’ve probably been trimmed a bit, so the TL;DR is that it’s about as epic as Paranoia Agent.
To expand on what I meant by its bold venture, it should be important to reiterate the time period this was released in, and again I’ll run through this quickly since it’s old grounds. Bioware constructed the first game as a means to combine the meat of A New Hope’s space serial escapade feel with the aesthetical and newly encroaching ideas the Prequel films were, though in a polarizing fashion, establishing. Double this with the Extended Universe reaching as far as it ever has, and it resulted in a move that paid off immensely, quickly becoming the fastest-selling Xbox title at that time in just four days and critical acclaim from critics, newcomers, and fans of the IP. Bioware, however, didn’t pick up the offer to do a followup - though James Ohlen did reveal an idea as to what they could’ve done - and instead focused on other endeavors, these experiences and certain ideas being utilized in Jade Empire, Mass Effect 1, and Dragon Age Origins. Because of this, they suggested newly formed Obsidian Entertainment, mainly containing ex-Black Isles alumni many of whom were close to Bioware, to take up the reins for a successor. Drafting up its story before the the first game had finally hit the shelves, as well as founder and CEO Feargus Urquhart sharing that lead designer and writer Chris Avellone was currently combing through everything related to the IP besides the first game, the original KOTOR graphic novels, and the original movies. Of course, blood was spilt during the course of conception staining the package’s physique, but that’s for a later discussion. What resulted from the scour and cogitation is a narrative that slowly turns into a thesis analysis about the brand’s iconographies and writing facets.
The first game popularized (and perhaps introduced, but it bears repeating that side stories were bountiful during this era) the idea of a Gray Jedi, one that isn’t wholly siding with either the Jedi or the Sith’s teachings. Nowadays multiple people have simplified the term into the defacing statement “Force-Wielding Centrists”, and understandably so considering the rampant and crass fixation this has garnered during this span. Though in fairness there is more to the ideology than that; Jolee, the progenitor painted in a Neutral alignment, still had his heart set on the belief of the Light, mentoring the MC via his life story and anecdotes meant to teach and guide their fate and affecting actions in accordance to a number of events including The Twist, as well as what comes after. Though he has his disagreements with the Jedi Council, such as his own thoughts about what love can do to a person, his major dissatisfaction from the Council comes from his trial treatment of doing/contributing to A Lot Of Dumb Shit being given a pardon, with the justification being a “hard lesson of wisdom” and “mitigating the circumstances” after the wartime, even being offered a chance of becoming a full Jedi. In his own words, that was when the Jedi had failed him. If you’ve played both games, you can see where I’m going with this: Kreia, while utilizing the same mentorship, is the inverse of Jolee in almost every way: instead of once beholding to Light, she has unburdened herself from it and the Dark entirely; instead of divulging his past as a way to teach the pupil, she surrounds herself in a wall of deceit, rarely letting herself be open for any reason whatsoever; instead of a kooky grandpa confiding and nurturing you in his own special way, it instead feels like a snide grandma is looming over you, cautiously creating a barrier mostly enclosed to not let its secret eek away, yet containing a crack little enough to allow and lure in personal dialog exchanges. Neither of them deal in absolutes, they’re beholden to their goals under the roots of what was once something they confided in, and it's from their experiences and turmoils that shape their ostentatious pupils during the course of each game’s adventure. This is also where the best part of the game is unleashed.
Since Chris Avellone was the main writer for a majority of the events within this game, it should be relayed that a lot of his penning focuses on three aspects: relics of those old and forgotten, the bruised and demoralized psyche of man, and
The other sense is one of ethnomethodology, centering its experiment around your crew and the main pieces of the story. Largely brought about by a common goal, the party this time around is of a dichotomous feeling, rarely ever trusting each other on a deeper level aside from yourself. G0-T0 and returning T3-M4, though harboring secrets, has one taken to the side of approaching means that receive the most benefit and anyway while the other keeps to himself to honor the wishes and promises of his old comrades among his new ones, hoping to one day meet them again. Bao-Dur and Mandalore - who’s not so subtly exposed as the returning Canderous - have been marred by the experiences of the Mandalorian War, yet while one seems to have deep regret for his actions despite them being necessary due to breeding and expounding hatred, the other seems to seek a return of their glory days in a front to keep themselves from fading from existence, as well as to prove useful to one they used to call a friend. Handmaiden and Visas are two trainees under a Jedi/Sith, marginalized from either being the offspring of an infidelity affair or enslaved after the vanquishing of her kind, both either reaffirmed or further drowned under the tutelage of the Male Exile, whereupon females cannot be able to recruit the Handmaiden at all. HK-47, though not having a difference within the crew, aims to figure out the newfound creations of droids under his module, belaboring his rusted assassination skills against the fresh machines that stalk everyone. Mira and Hanharr, though bounty hunters with forceful upbringings, has one seated with pervasive beneficiaries so that no one else has to face a loss of companions, or march towards brutality to fuel their revenge against those that had broke his spirit physically and mentally, a narrative that’s mechanically felt as you can only get one or the other through Light or Dark methods. The Disciple and Atton Rand are both people that seemed to have a personal history with the old Jedi order and certain clusters of them, but while one carries their memory on through historical foundings and musing, the other wants nothing to do with that anymore, seemingly harboring a deep-rooted trauma while continuously feigning acknowledgement of it. This is also where the Female Exile can vie for one or the other and in turn fuel jealous remarks, with Disciple getting the boot if you’re playing as a Male. Through this disharmony sings life that the old Ebon Hawk crew couldn’t achieve before, something that bellows stronger as it possibly can with the newly introduced Influence mechanic allowing gain of (dis)trust depending on what you do/respond to someone/something. Some have criticized this for being something that requires hyperspecific setup and rollouts to get the most out of everyone, and while true in some regard, I find that the approach that this falls under bolsters the concept of the thread being told here.
Many hardcore enthusiasts proclaim this theological exercise is about Avellone himself “hating” Star Wars, but that is fundamentally untrue. He fell in love with KOTOR1, saying that he wouldn’t have changed much of anything in it from that blog post at all, and it’s a feeling that has remained consistent since. It’s a nagging topic that I loathe discussing in relation to this game, the duology, and the brand as a whole, this position as a “deconstruction” or “subversion” of Star Wars quite simply isn’t the case. Inspect the insignias, unravel the metaphors and allegories buried beneath, and what unfolds is an extension of ideas that had come before and even after. If we pertain this to just the movies, most of them follow a character, usually our MC, being tasked with a herculean objective that confronts their predisposed ideas and mannerisms, and the falling action and aftermath that follows after. This had happened with Luke and Vader in the Originals, this had happened to Obi-Wan and Anakin when the Prequels were coming out, and it had even happened in The Last Jedi with Rey and Kylo, where the exploits challenge their faith and companionship of the people and themselves, self-identification against an armada of fascistic forces hoping to weaponize the past for arrogant pragmatisms. It had also happened with the last game’s protagonist, laying upon the meaning of the Jedi’s actions amongst their harsh yet rare punishments and stubborn ideologies, and it continues again with the form of the Exile, a being drastically altered after participating in the Mandalorian War on the side of Revan’s army. From witnessing a grand hero(ine)/villain(ess)’s rise to action and the archetypical storytelling that follows against Darth Malak’s iron fist, here you witness the consumption of power and might the Force delivers upon those who overly rely on it through the thematic bridges of Darth Sion’s intense pain and hatred being the ironic fuel of his livelihood, Darth Nihilus tossing their humanity aside to become a husk in an all-consuming quest to feed off Force energy for dominance, Atris’ feverish upholding and fixated search of Jedi and Sith teachings soon clouding her mind and inner emotion thereby dooming anyone near her, and the old Jedi Council walking away from it all and harboring their own set of opinions as to what the trail ever actually meant to them, most carry out in the background as you face each planet’s own set of dilemmas that as well tie back into the idea. This, all of this, is the embodiment of two sides of a principle that George Lucas himself was familiar with, serving as drive of not just the first movie, but the bone to Star Wars’ foundation as a whole. They serve to complement each other, not to upstage another.
With a number of analytic nerd bullshit said, I don’t want to barter this as a “you play this RPG for the story” deal, cause the inner mechanics are still quite interesting and robust to go over. The combat function of this will be quick because er… to be real, little has changed positively or negatively. You can largely copy the paragraph I wrote in my KOTOR1 review and paste it here with little deviation. Well, I suppose that wouldn’t be true? Even on Peragus Mining Facility combat has seen some small yet well needed tweaks. We have stances now, finally, making the friendly AI easier to be relied upon by giving them what you’re setting them up as and leaving them to it even if they can still be just as dumb and “awkwardly standing doing nothing” as ever. Dice rolls, modifiers, and other little influences are tuned up and/or overhauled to help alleviate fights, making it much more worthwhile to use stuff like stims, grenades, and even mines and stealth which I almost never used in the previous game across all my runs. There’s been some added Force Powers with a select few now having a utility effect for certain hazards such as Stun Droid for mines, as well as new feats making it much more fulfilling to craft different builds to slot different niches onto a member. That last aspect is less so an outright improvement of KOTOR1 and more so righting a wrong made; in 1, there weren’t that many scenarios where it felt like you could use one partner over another for a particular obstacle, be it because the skills are all simplified that it made the diversity lesser or because it just wasn’t necessary altogether. Because of all the changes being made, this has thus been ameliorated so that you do have reasons to create different strike teams, like having Atton on mine/stealth duty while Handmaiden/Mandalore take up the soldier aspect, or Visas doubling up damage and support, or Mira blasting foes away alongside her explosive wrist rockets and poisonous darts, and more. Party composition feels more alive than ever, especially now that you’re able to convert more people into Force-wielders to help give them just a bit more of an edge, even in its most fringe cases.
Stat management itself has been vastly augmented, fully embracing its RPG heritage that was dabbled with before. While you can blow through the preceding title with a meager pile of skills, all of them are now integral for one build or another, especially in regards to the newly revamped lab station and workbenches where you can craft new materials, ingredients, even some armaments to help bolster your entourage’s prowess, which also means that some PMs can be the builder of these items so long as they have met the required stats. The three Jedi classes from before - Guardian, Sentinel, and Consular - are now changed in a way so that each one isn’t necessarily stronger or weaker than the other unless you’re super specific on metagaming, on top of three new prestige classes for the Jedi/Sith side allowing even more opportunities to craft an idea that’s unique for your playthrough. If you wish, you can also choose to not wield a lightsaber at all, never hindered or besmirched for this and giving higher meaning in a roleplaying, challenging, or “fuck it we ball” sense. I opted for a Monk-style build, mainly dealing with unarmed attacks with a dash of supportive Force powers and Shock, which was pretty damn amusing. With changes to perk pickups now allowing for cross-classing, or using the Dex attribute as the leading hit chance, and regenerative health/Force capabilities comes more wriggle room to branch out from designated roles, as well as skill checks being introduced to help give your character more of an edge in information or decision making, even if some understandably prefer the more truncated and easy-to-understand mold Bioware had shared before. There’s still a smidge too much combat, and the DnD calculations are just as numb-inducing as ever, but coinciding with how this title is just as easy to break as ever, most of them at least try to be more grand in scale and evocation, such as the Two-Front Siege in Onderon, Nar Shaddaa’s companion swaps befitting a heist, Dantooine almost getting there with the Settler/Mercenary conflict, the entirety of Korriban, and others that would make this review much longer than it already is. Helping matters is that the morality aspect is less cheese-inducing, the prose for the dialog option being more sensible, acutely worded options and the aforementioned skill checks helping to instill a better sense of involved conversations. So long as you aren’t being outwardly hostile or abiding the virtuous code, you can be as sassy/sarcastic/downright goofy as you want to people, which is a godsend when going through the two titles back to back. Heck being evil’s pretty cool now since it’s at least entertaining, like getting one or both guys to kill themselves a la jumping into Shaddaa’s center hole, forging a dead salvager’s will to claim all of their possessions, being able to manipulate people’s actions into your own gain, the works. I don’t think there will ever be an RPG that will truly get the mechanical side of moralism just right, but in this case, it isn’t suffering from overzealous ambition or foolish pride… mostly.
Alright time to drop the mystic nasal-voiced YouTuber BS and talk about what I don’t like, and even find to be strict downgrades. KOTOR1’s pacing is akin to A New Hope, and 2’s with Empire Strikes Back; one’s quick and seamless transitions help goad you into following the action more succinctly, while the other’s more focused on the introspective journey and highlighting the turmoil of what has happened to the world since, even if it results in a disjointed and plodding shift. For a specific example, I love the Peragus Mining Facility introduction. It’s such a great setter for the type of mood and tone this establishes, and is also one of my favorite tutorial prologues - er… one that’s after the actual tutorial prologue anyway… - ever in a game. Aping System Shock’s scenario to tell the tale of an out of the way facility, one that’s necessary for another planet’s hope of survival and Republic’s war efforts, to the decrepit ship that is the Harbinger where Sion makes his brooding, shocking entrance that continues to play up the player’s backstory and integral slot of what has and will happen, all the meanwhile teaching the player the different tools and trades the sequel either keeps the same or changes from before, alongside a clear improvement of texture and graphical quality and even cutscene direction, is a fascinating route to take that pays off immensely. It’s such a great opening that I even spent more time here than I reasonably should have across my numerous starts, I love it that much. Telos, however, drags it down poorly. Like, the Citadel Station stuff is fine. The abundance of loading zones and the small sidequest platter makes exploration rather meek, but the overall layout is compact enough that it doesn’t get super tedious, plus we got more chances of setup within the narrative, party banter, and worldbuilding/atmosphere. However, it just doesn’t stop there, now we have to head down to the surface because we need to pick up Bao-Dur, and you get thrown into so many combat encounters with minefields and stupid AI shenanigans that it gets exhausting - and that’s before you enter a station where even MORE enemies and trap-ridden spots! What the hell happened?! How did we go from such breakneck pacing in the first game and ESPECIALLY in the opening hours of this one, to drudging through this muck of muted/heightened greens, yellows, and grays? I can’t believe Atris’ facility is one of the first instances I’ve had where I thank God that I’m being blasted by pure white in something, it’s such a refreshing scene that also includes one of the best (and initial) dialogue sequences in the entire game, just you and Atris in an endless battle of back-talks and inquisitive setup that then kickstarts the second act.
Telos isn’t the only place where the pacing is shot, but it is very much the most egregious spot. Since we’re still under Bioware’s McGuffin Structure, you’re prioritizing planets in any which way, although this time it’s more obvious as to which speck is more or less fulfilling in their breadth of content. I (and from the looks of it, most) follow the order of Nar Shaddaa -> Dxun/Onderon -> Dantooine -> Masters Of The Palace -> Korriban, which meant I had to saddle up on more exposition, more queries on key figures, and having to come to grips with party builds since that’s what NS is centered around. I do think it’s a rad place, as well as how it ties into the game’s mechanical and thematic revelations, but doing that after Telos’ slogful third adds a bit of salt to the wound, especially since this also has its last third be centered on combat. Dantooine feels utterly lacking in meat even despite the unfinished nature, being credulously absolute about its faction storyline when almost every other beat either obsequiously or holistically illuminates the inner turmoil boiling within everyone. Dxun and Korriban are… actually pretty well paced, given their stories, so no major ire there. The overall art direction and compartmentalized layout soils it as well, gone is the classification of a planet's distinct color and texture, they now typically share the same greens, greys, and yellows, mainly surrounded by hard materials and boxy structures that’re even more copy-pasted than KOTOR1’s rooms, gnawing into repetition a fair bit. There's also the difficulty, but let's be real here, if you're accustomed to CRPGs, neither of them are gonna test your mettle much, so arguing about which game is "more busted and pitifully easy" is incredibly moot - if you’re a newcomer entirely, well, prepare for some spikes early on. I have a couple of other reservations, but they’re either wholly subjective (I’m not as into Mark Griskey’s compositions as Soule’s, but it’s still pretty damn good ambiance with its own set of grand slams), comparatively minor and/or the same issue as before (still able to exhaust companion’s arcs within a few rounds of exchanges, and I find any attempt to idolize Revan’s past stratagems to be really annoying), or is tied into the absolute biggest issue and the thing this game’s known for, being unfinished.
Of all the post-Black Isle “broken” titles I’ve played, this one is the most immediate. Alpha Protocol manages to skate by freely despite its blunders, Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines and New Vegas’ seams hold on for about two-thirds, and though little playtime was made I hear Arcanum and Temple Of Elemental Evil are on the same boat. KOTOR2, meanwhile, has its essence feel mangled right about the time you exit the first act, which in turn either lessens or worsens. While the people at Obsidian admitted their overambition bellied up the workload, LucasArts rushing it out to meet a Christmas deadline had ultimately doomed it, and with it came many attempts to stitch, alter, and overall duct-tape it all into one package. Ideas and executions cut short due to this, and it makes what could’ve been very intriguing and bombastic setpieces and events feel skewered and stilted by comparison, with the only truly whole places being in its first act, Korriban, and Dxun/Onderon. Because of this, it also means the exploration of the two umbrella thoughts - selflessness and pragmatism - are undercut due to some leaning much more to one side than another, something that likely would’ve been avoided if given a proper format pass. This all comes to a head with Malachor V, the planet where the belligerent bonds and war-torn disillusions have been born form, being so routinely mocked for being so utterly lacking in content, so disjointed in its attempts to finalize each arc for the 11-party entourage, so vapidly dull in what its attempting to tell in battle, that the ending quite literally jumpcuts to the credit crawl after the climactic battle has come to a close, several threads abruptly aborted before they could ever have a chance to show themselves. One of the more known cut pieces, M4-78, can be restored thanks to the Enhancement Project mod, but there’s a reason for a consensus of saving it for a future run; it’s boring as hell and contributes little to the grand scheme outside of a conversation with a Jedi Master who was supposed to be there, and considering most of what it showcases have been repurposed or reorganized into other areas as expressed by designer Kevin Saunders in an old forum post as well as dabbling into this in GDM’s Post-Mortem section of their April 2005 issue, this again adds to the tale of its fractured state.
There’s also the famous Restored Content Mod, some insistently declaring it’s a required install for not only its namesake, but also the numerous bugfixes it contains. And, listen, those bugfixes are indeed valuable, but the reason I held off on mentioning it til now is because the “reinserted cuts” only pertains to about 10-15% which, by the way, only majorly bandaids that last stretch, meaning you might not even get to see much if you abandon early on! Outside of that, the rest falls victim to hyperfixation, in that anything not in it must’ve clearly been from unavailable time, not from change of plans/ideas mid-development. Additional fights in a game already filled with them, awkward cuts to dialog/cutscenes that do nothing but fill up time on info you infer or already know about, rubberbanding lost scenarios half-cooked like HK-47’s assault on a Telos factory or shoving in unneeded standoffs Atton and Bao partake in during Nar Shaddaa’s rescue arc, and even a few sidequest changes such as those found with Dantooine’s Kaevee and Saedhe’s original head model. By adhering to the author's intent so strictly and rigidly, they circled back onto the same overambition that befall those before. I’m not saying the leaders behind this project are all awful, clearly they’re passionate about their goal and love, earning them all kudos from both Obsidian’s staff and Aspyr’s, but I don’t doubt that there was a reason Aspyr couldn’t be able to put this on the Switch after all. If you still want to play TSLRCM despite it all, then heed my advice: after making that your first install, go after the Tweak Pack and Community Patch to mitigate and enhance the overall flow, then install the mods from the beginning. I also recommend the Darth Sion & Male Exile mod to give him more depth than he would’ve otherwise if you weren’t playing as a female.
But well, that’s sort of the thing regarding this title, isn’t it? There’s poetic irony in a game about husks and cataclysmic trauma bearing weight for the process of healing via (dis)compassionate bonds, reinvigoration of self and faith, and confrontation about selfish desires and fallen ideals be so warped by the mandated whims of a publisher looking for big bags during the holiday, amongst the sea of mainly old blood looking to develop their own studio after their last one was seeing signs of burning down from within and above. There’s a looming, harrowing presence that follows the two studios that nurtured its being following suit, themselves having experienced cycles of discarded ideas, woeful collapse, and revitalized spirit. There’s a heartwarming sensation pulsating through the community resuscitating life into this and its predecessor in their own ways, when most everyone have either moved on or is keeping newfound exposure in limbo. There’s vindicated conceit in knowing that something I had been pouring my time onto since I was merely five, something that had already affected my mentality long before I knew about the confounding and everchanging nature of moralism, seemed to have clutched unto others and taught them much of the world as well.
At last, I now see what I’ve been looking for amongst the dead.
1999
Track One: Messij
The first Wipeout game, developed by Liverpool-based studio Psygnosis with a team headed by lead designer Nick Burcombe and artist Jim Bowers, was a trailblazer when it unleashed upon the scene in mid-1995. More specifically, this period is right when the PS1 unveiled itself, with the game’s launch being day-and-date in PAL regions and only two months after for Americans, to prominently exhibit what Sony’s latest 3D console was capable of. Stunning art/color direction and pristine modeling with aplomb, alongside other showings such as its different yet similar approach of the racing scene at the time thanks to influences from titles like Jim Bowers' own Matrix Marauders, Michael Powell's Powerdrome, and of course Tadashi Sugiyama & Hideki Konno’s Super Mario Kart; Sheffield’s Designers Republic-aided art decos and other projected adverts such as an infamous magazine page concerning DJ Sara Cox; a helping hand under a CGI quasi-promo showcase found in the cult film Hackers; and being yet another stepping stone for the bustling, increasingly reaching techno music from Europe/Midwest America largely composed in-house by Tim “CoLD SToRAGE” Wright, was one of several sparks to drum up and lure consumers onto the new kid in town, even after ports to other systems such as Windows, Saturn, uh Windows, again, and oh hey it’s on the web too, all coupled by unearthed development turmoils from the past and the now. It’s not quite the must play racing title amongst its contemporaries, its contents rather meek with physics to grow inure unto and obstacles to endure over, but its credit is fully earned while still delivering some solid racing experience today.
Wipeout XL, or Wipeout 2097 for PAL peeps, came out about a year later and really amped it up: tighter controls alongside a more sensible “beginners to pros” outline of team selections, a fair bit more content for single or multi action, more licensed songs from heavy hitting artists such as The Prodigy, Future Sound Of London, and Chemical Brothers just to name but a few, and a much, much more potent and stronger line of courses to cruise and ram yourself into. If the first game was “merely” good, the second one’s just an all-out heavy hitter that’s able to stand toe-to-toe even today. Something something Wipeout 64 yadda yadda interesting idea to remix the prior entries with subpar execution blah blah not worth it and also F-Zero X came out much, much earlier. Close to a consolidation change into becoming Studio Liverpool at the turn of the millennium, we focus our eyes on the sublime, the third game now being handled from newish branch Leeds Studio where designer Wayne Imlach led production.
Track Two: Icaras
An immediate alteration at first blush is the change between XL’s charged, in-your-face presentation to a more minimalistic approach befitting the Y2K aesthetic that was taking off at the time. UI and icons sprinkled onto the raceways are much more low-key in their nature, a design philosophy artist Nicky Wescott has unveiled as intentional to befit that of a fashion statement. Tracks still harken to a colder feel, although this time it’s all set within a singular metropolis with different quadrants each track is regulated under, such as the docks of Porto Karo, the industrial-fueled Hi-Fumii, and the rooftop-run skyline under the moonlight courtesy of Manortop. It’s not just the UI, tracks, the boxart, or even being one of a handful of PS1 entries that support widescreen that forgoed the bombastic look of before, even the soundtrack has accommodated unto the stripped-back approach, now organized by rising DJ Sasha. Though the hardcore loops and big beat cold cuts have remained, it’s now living in coexistence amongst tracks that opt to delve into melodic trances and progressing more on the House side of electronica. It’s been expanded, yet never letting go of its marked influences. Truthfully, I can’t tell you whether or not this is an improvement from the sounds provided by XL. They aim for different appeal, and in both cases they hit the target with precise ease. Forced to pick, though, and I’m going with the trances.
In terms of the presentation’s other facets, this should be brought up in terms of the best looking and best sounding PS1 titles in the console’s history. I understand a lot of the heavy-lifting is due to its late release, but seriously, I adore how the team managed to utilize the minimalistic UI and aircraft designs with ambitious scale and detail. You got Mega Mall with its multi-level complexes and onlooking pedestrians as you go through a downward corkscrew and other opened facilities, Stanza Inter’s grey-splotted district juxtaposed by its yellow-lit tunnels with blues and reds pointing towards the buildings and adverts, the afternoon bliss of P-Mar Project with trees having their petals fall as you screech towards its four banks, there’s just so much put on display and making the most out of the hardware I’m shocked I haven’t seen anyone point it out before. That’s not even mentioning the harsh thumps on the walls, or the scrapes that occurs when just barely making it around the obstacles that lay before you, or the boosts and weapons hitting their mark, or even the sound of the menu being affected by where you’re currently at. Special points goes to the announcer lady, hearing her lowly hum ENGAGED, AUTO-PILOT, WARNING, PLASMA, and more is sweetly therapeutic.
Track Three: High Fidelity
Purely on feel, all the anti-gravity crafts have been tweaked to perfection when compared to previous drivers, carefully balancing their heft as well as the ability to smoothly swerve around corners, heightening the sensation factor of going as fast as you possibly can before someone or something sends knocks your kilos off. Air drifting has been the slickest it’s been as well, always consistent with the amount of taps I bring to the shoulder buttons to narrowly shift weight before coming into contact with the rails and bumpers. Being able to obtain a faux-damage boost from hitting the wall in just the right angle never gets old, as is using the hyperthrust feature in exchange for lowered shield energy to speed by foes right when they least expect it, or gaining major air bonus in either legit manners or in attempted humor. Shifting the nose up or down for either a slow brake to prepare for ramp jumping and angling, or perhaps crashing on down back to the road and using downward slopes to get a bit of a rush. It also helps that the four starting teams with four unlockables coming out are tuned to such a degree that I have no doubt you’d be able to find a favorite somewhere here. Personally, I’m a Qirex, Icaras, and Pirhana (yes that’s how it’s spelt here) type of guy; just the right amount of weight for each needs with a lower-than-average shield count, all made up thanks to quick acceleration and record-high km/h. Getting all of this right takes some practice - you WILL continuously bump into walls and fuck up corners, trust me - but after time you’ll be zooming through those that gave you trouble with relative ease, and it’s always such a good comeback feeling.
While I mentioned the look of the courses, their layout is addictive and easily the best roster the series has dished out up to this point. I don’t think I’ve been so motivated to improve my time and find all sorts of little saves since I touched Jak X last year, which was already a damn good title on its own. I already mentioned most of them, but even my lesser favorites such as Terminal and Sampa Run have their own appeal in either look or adrenaline-pumping draw. And that’s just the main courses for general singles and challenge tourneys, there’s also the prototype ones to uncover that I plan on doing myself. There’s a lot on offer and honestly, I’m tempted to get them from this point forward, albeit on my off days and not as a continued manner.
Track Four: Xpander
The scale doesn’t stop there though, because after the initial launch it’s got two sorts of revisions. Of the two is the more popular Wipeout 3 Special Edition, released in 2000 only in PAL regions, containing minor stat and visual tweaks, AI bugfixes, streamlined menu navigation along with autosaving and autoloading, four-person multiplayer action with the Link Cable peripheral and the necessary two PS1 + two TV set combo, plus more courses, even containing three from the first game and five from XL. There is, however, an important info to share: aircraft physics have been significantly overhauled to be even faster and looser than before, and while it’s appreciated in making Vector class races dart by quicker, it becomes way more troublesome on Rapier where the Pirhana team vehicle reaches breakneck speed, requiring more practice and finesse before you can really handle it. This also means having to adapt the old tracks with W3SE’s vehicle physics, putting more time and effort on deck in order to hit those golds and attain a satisfying time trial clock. Not that it matters, though, since the track lineup for this mode is hit-and-miss; I rushing through Gare D’Europa, Talon’s Reach, and Odessa Keys is still just as compelling, and Sagarmatha feels even better to blitz over, but Altima VII, Arridos IV, and Terramax haven’t quite been accommodated with the new physics even on Venom class, with Phenitia Park being even worse off with its annoyingly sharp turns and tight roadways allowing for bumps against the opponents. It’s still doable, no doubt, but if you’re playing this for the first time, I suggest instead going through the initial PAL launch or NA versions, or as a personal recommendation and the version I spent the most time on when writing this review, the Japanese release. No, legit, released prior to SE but after the PAl and NA copies, it was the one that first introduced all the benefits SE sans the throwback courses and some visual tweaks, plus the physics is the perfect middle ground between float and heft instead of leaning towards one or the other, making it a smoother transition from XLand 64 for those that have been dipping in, or just the series in general for newcomers. No matter which iteration you settle on, though, I have no doubt you’ll be under its spell as one of the best racing titles you’ll ever get to experience.
It’s a shame the IP more or less got treated as a B-grade hitter for Sony, ever since 3 received comparatively low sales likely from launching right at the end of the PS1’s lifespan, and Wipeout Fusion being treated with mixed reception from fans. There’s also the fact that Sony didn’t uh, really market it following those two entries. I certainly didn’t know this franchise continued on growing up, having missed out on the ACTUALLY RATHER POPULAR PSP titles Pure and Pulse, the digital-only (with a lone physical release in Europe) Wipeout HD which is a collection of the prior two on the PS3, and Wipeout 2048, the Vita title that I think is self-explanatory as to why that one didn’t do so hot. All of this, unfortunately, has culminated in the collapse of Studio Liverpool in 2012, throwing two shared ideas in the bin as well. Not helping was, from what I can look into, the dwindling spotlight on the arcade racing genre as a whole, with several franchises either becoming MIA like F-Zero, Project Gotham, and Outrun, or beginning to fade away like Ridge Racer, Burnout, and Midnight Club, with each new attempt to revitalize the genre being overlooked (I believe Blur would be a good example, quickly becoming a cult classic due to various factors). Admittedly, I’m just becoming a racing fan myself after all these years, so I’m still pretty green around the ears in some regard, but I also don’t think it’s all that wrong to note how sim-style open world laid racing titles have become for several years, especially with Forza and Gran Turismo hitting the charts as strongly as ever. To ease up on the bitterness, it’s not like I can really blame them for the shifting change of the landscape - especially since I have a couple of GT and Forza titles myself to chew on - and if nothing else, there was a bit of a miracle release made for the PS4: Wipeout Omega Collection, containing Wipeout HD, its DLC expansion Fury, and 2048. I’ve only lightly invested my time into this release, but it’s definitely an interesting release that I can’t wait to sink into down the line, especially in 1080p/60fps, even reaching up to 4K on the Pro… huh? A recent title came out and it’s for mobile devices? Nah man that can’t be right, you’re pullin my leg here! Next you’re gonna follow up by saying it’s some weird card management game with microtransactions and a rarity system, that sounds really dumb.
The first Wipeout game, developed by Liverpool-based studio Psygnosis with a team headed by lead designer Nick Burcombe and artist Jim Bowers, was a trailblazer when it unleashed upon the scene in mid-1995. More specifically, this period is right when the PS1 unveiled itself, with the game’s launch being day-and-date in PAL regions and only two months after for Americans, to prominently exhibit what Sony’s latest 3D console was capable of. Stunning art/color direction and pristine modeling with aplomb, alongside other showings such as its different yet similar approach of the racing scene at the time thanks to influences from titles like Jim Bowers' own Matrix Marauders, Michael Powell's Powerdrome, and of course Tadashi Sugiyama & Hideki Konno’s Super Mario Kart; Sheffield’s Designers Republic-aided art decos and other projected adverts such as an infamous magazine page concerning DJ Sara Cox; a helping hand under a CGI quasi-promo showcase found in the cult film Hackers; and being yet another stepping stone for the bustling, increasingly reaching techno music from Europe/Midwest America largely composed in-house by Tim “CoLD SToRAGE” Wright, was one of several sparks to drum up and lure consumers onto the new kid in town, even after ports to other systems such as Windows, Saturn, uh Windows, again, and oh hey it’s on the web too, all coupled by unearthed development turmoils from the past and the now. It’s not quite the must play racing title amongst its contemporaries, its contents rather meek with physics to grow inure unto and obstacles to endure over, but its credit is fully earned while still delivering some solid racing experience today.
Wipeout XL, or Wipeout 2097 for PAL peeps, came out about a year later and really amped it up: tighter controls alongside a more sensible “beginners to pros” outline of team selections, a fair bit more content for single or multi action, more licensed songs from heavy hitting artists such as The Prodigy, Future Sound Of London, and Chemical Brothers just to name but a few, and a much, much more potent and stronger line of courses to cruise and ram yourself into. If the first game was “merely” good, the second one’s just an all-out heavy hitter that’s able to stand toe-to-toe even today. Something something Wipeout 64 yadda yadda interesting idea to remix the prior entries with subpar execution blah blah not worth it and also F-Zero X came out much, much earlier. Close to a consolidation change into becoming Studio Liverpool at the turn of the millennium, we focus our eyes on the sublime, the third game now being handled from newish branch Leeds Studio where designer Wayne Imlach led production.
Track Two: Icaras
An immediate alteration at first blush is the change between XL’s charged, in-your-face presentation to a more minimalistic approach befitting the Y2K aesthetic that was taking off at the time. UI and icons sprinkled onto the raceways are much more low-key in their nature, a design philosophy artist Nicky Wescott has unveiled as intentional to befit that of a fashion statement. Tracks still harken to a colder feel, although this time it’s all set within a singular metropolis with different quadrants each track is regulated under, such as the docks of Porto Karo, the industrial-fueled Hi-Fumii, and the rooftop-run skyline under the moonlight courtesy of Manortop. It’s not just the UI, tracks, the boxart, or even being one of a handful of PS1 entries that support widescreen that forgoed the bombastic look of before, even the soundtrack has accommodated unto the stripped-back approach, now organized by rising DJ Sasha. Though the hardcore loops and big beat cold cuts have remained, it’s now living in coexistence amongst tracks that opt to delve into melodic trances and progressing more on the House side of electronica. It’s been expanded, yet never letting go of its marked influences. Truthfully, I can’t tell you whether or not this is an improvement from the sounds provided by XL. They aim for different appeal, and in both cases they hit the target with precise ease. Forced to pick, though, and I’m going with the trances.
In terms of the presentation’s other facets, this should be brought up in terms of the best looking and best sounding PS1 titles in the console’s history. I understand a lot of the heavy-lifting is due to its late release, but seriously, I adore how the team managed to utilize the minimalistic UI and aircraft designs with ambitious scale and detail. You got Mega Mall with its multi-level complexes and onlooking pedestrians as you go through a downward corkscrew and other opened facilities, Stanza Inter’s grey-splotted district juxtaposed by its yellow-lit tunnels with blues and reds pointing towards the buildings and adverts, the afternoon bliss of P-Mar Project with trees having their petals fall as you screech towards its four banks, there’s just so much put on display and making the most out of the hardware I’m shocked I haven’t seen anyone point it out before. That’s not even mentioning the harsh thumps on the walls, or the scrapes that occurs when just barely making it around the obstacles that lay before you, or the boosts and weapons hitting their mark, or even the sound of the menu being affected by where you’re currently at. Special points goes to the announcer lady, hearing her lowly hum ENGAGED, AUTO-PILOT, WARNING, PLASMA, and more is sweetly therapeutic.
Track Three: High Fidelity
Purely on feel, all the anti-gravity crafts have been tweaked to perfection when compared to previous drivers, carefully balancing their heft as well as the ability to smoothly swerve around corners, heightening the sensation factor of going as fast as you possibly can before someone or something sends knocks your kilos off. Air drifting has been the slickest it’s been as well, always consistent with the amount of taps I bring to the shoulder buttons to narrowly shift weight before coming into contact with the rails and bumpers. Being able to obtain a faux-damage boost from hitting the wall in just the right angle never gets old, as is using the hyperthrust feature in exchange for lowered shield energy to speed by foes right when they least expect it, or gaining major air bonus in either legit manners or in attempted humor. Shifting the nose up or down for either a slow brake to prepare for ramp jumping and angling, or perhaps crashing on down back to the road and using downward slopes to get a bit of a rush. It also helps that the four starting teams with four unlockables coming out are tuned to such a degree that I have no doubt you’d be able to find a favorite somewhere here. Personally, I’m a Qirex, Icaras, and Pirhana (yes that’s how it’s spelt here) type of guy; just the right amount of weight for each needs with a lower-than-average shield count, all made up thanks to quick acceleration and record-high km/h. Getting all of this right takes some practice - you WILL continuously bump into walls and fuck up corners, trust me - but after time you’ll be zooming through those that gave you trouble with relative ease, and it’s always such a good comeback feeling.
While I mentioned the look of the courses, their layout is addictive and easily the best roster the series has dished out up to this point. I don’t think I’ve been so motivated to improve my time and find all sorts of little saves since I touched Jak X last year, which was already a damn good title on its own. I already mentioned most of them, but even my lesser favorites such as Terminal and Sampa Run have their own appeal in either look or adrenaline-pumping draw. And that’s just the main courses for general singles and challenge tourneys, there’s also the prototype ones to uncover that I plan on doing myself. There’s a lot on offer and honestly, I’m tempted to get them from this point forward, albeit on my off days and not as a continued manner.
Track Four: Xpander
The scale doesn’t stop there though, because after the initial launch it’s got two sorts of revisions. Of the two is the more popular Wipeout 3 Special Edition, released in 2000 only in PAL regions, containing minor stat and visual tweaks, AI bugfixes, streamlined menu navigation along with autosaving and autoloading, four-person multiplayer action with the Link Cable peripheral and the necessary two PS1 + two TV set combo, plus more courses, even containing three from the first game and five from XL. There is, however, an important info to share: aircraft physics have been significantly overhauled to be even faster and looser than before, and while it’s appreciated in making Vector class races dart by quicker, it becomes way more troublesome on Rapier where the Pirhana team vehicle reaches breakneck speed, requiring more practice and finesse before you can really handle it. This also means having to adapt the old tracks with W3SE’s vehicle physics, putting more time and effort on deck in order to hit those golds and attain a satisfying time trial clock. Not that it matters, though, since the track lineup for this mode is hit-and-miss; I rushing through Gare D’Europa, Talon’s Reach, and Odessa Keys is still just as compelling, and Sagarmatha feels even better to blitz over, but Altima VII, Arridos IV, and Terramax haven’t quite been accommodated with the new physics even on Venom class, with Phenitia Park being even worse off with its annoyingly sharp turns and tight roadways allowing for bumps against the opponents. It’s still doable, no doubt, but if you’re playing this for the first time, I suggest instead going through the initial PAL launch or NA versions, or as a personal recommendation and the version I spent the most time on when writing this review, the Japanese release. No, legit, released prior to SE but after the PAl and NA copies, it was the one that first introduced all the benefits SE sans the throwback courses and some visual tweaks, plus the physics is the perfect middle ground between float and heft instead of leaning towards one or the other, making it a smoother transition from XL
It’s a shame the IP more or less got treated as a B-grade hitter for Sony, ever since 3 received comparatively low sales likely from launching right at the end of the PS1’s lifespan, and Wipeout Fusion being treated with mixed reception from fans. There’s also the fact that Sony didn’t uh, really market it following those two entries. I certainly didn’t know this franchise continued on growing up, having missed out on the ACTUALLY RATHER POPULAR PSP titles Pure and Pulse, the digital-only (with a lone physical release in Europe) Wipeout HD which is a collection of the prior two on the PS3, and Wipeout 2048, the Vita title that I think is self-explanatory as to why that one didn’t do so hot. All of this, unfortunately, has culminated in the collapse of Studio Liverpool in 2012, throwing two shared ideas in the bin as well. Not helping was, from what I can look into, the dwindling spotlight on the arcade racing genre as a whole, with several franchises either becoming MIA like F-Zero, Project Gotham, and Outrun, or beginning to fade away like Ridge Racer, Burnout, and Midnight Club, with each new attempt to revitalize the genre being overlooked (I believe Blur would be a good example, quickly becoming a cult classic due to various factors). Admittedly, I’m just becoming a racing fan myself after all these years, so I’m still pretty green around the ears in some regard, but I also don’t think it’s all that wrong to note how sim-style open world laid racing titles have become for several years, especially with Forza and Gran Turismo hitting the charts as strongly as ever. To ease up on the bitterness, it’s not like I can really blame them for the shifting change of the landscape - especially since I have a couple of GT and Forza titles myself to chew on - and if nothing else, there was a bit of a miracle release made for the PS4: Wipeout Omega Collection, containing Wipeout HD, its DLC expansion Fury, and 2048. I’ve only lightly invested my time into this release, but it’s definitely an interesting release that I can’t wait to sink into down the line, especially in 1080p/60fps, even reaching up to 4K on the Pro… huh? A recent title came out and it’s for mobile devices? Nah man that can’t be right, you’re pullin my leg here! Next you’re gonna follow up by saying it’s some weird card management game with microtransactions and a rarity system, that sounds really dumb.
Hmmmmm, after seeing a let's player I'm watching go through this title, I'm reminded of a lot more negatives and nagging flaws I have in regards to this. I'm gonna do another bullet point style one, especially since I'm very confident a lot of this will stay relevant if I ever decide to do a full replay:
- The writing, from the top, is weaker. BW1 are far from the most in-depth RPGs you'll ever play, and anyone trying to exclaim otherwise should take it down some notches, but if there's one thing I can say about them, it's how that duology strives to incorporate every key personnel into its narrative. In fact, I'm pretty sure this was the first big push to do so instead of just utilizing the Rival, Professor, and Champion like before. In some instance, I can understand this such as a few Gym Leaders opting to converse very little and sending you on your way due to having bigger priorities now, but utilizing Cheren and Bianca again despite having their stories already told is a strange decision that could've been better used for newer NPCs, and N's epilogue arcs isn't quite as compelling upon both the game itself, and reflection. It also doesn't help most of the interpersonal drama that are present isn't as compelling this go-around, with Hugh's ""arc"" being so boilerplate and nonsensical it genuinely stunned me from how rival characterization have devolved back to the level of growth displayed by Silver when they’re trying for a Barry.
- On the note of writing, the pacing also took a hit. Pokemon titles have generally had a problem balancing the adventure feel with the story interactions after RBY/FRLG, and while it doesn't get Gen 6 level of poor, I'm honestly sad to say I could make a good argument that it gets pretty close. The flow of route -> city/story event -> badge -> sidegame content -> story event -> repeat gets dulled by how much they elucidate every minute detail without the substance to back them up, and there's also two entire sections from Mistralton to Opelucid then Humilau to the end where it's a barren trek across linear areas upon linear areas that, again, don't have much going on. It's strange to go from two titles that have the strongest sense of increasing scale and conflict, to this one where it struggles to juggle it despite pulling off bold moves of its own.
- Yea I'm gonna say it, I'm not a fan of the Nat Dex mixture in this title. We're not even talking about "ohhhh but the intentional soft reboot vibe" here, I see them Riolus, Magnemites, and Elekids/Magbys amidst all the other strong Unovan natives in the opening hour and I get the feeling I'm playing some weird romhack, not a proper Game Freak title. Pokemon placements are usually dictated not just by the environment and how it affects their habitual nature, but also by how their strengths/weaknesses can affect and influence a player's team composition. We can argue about which game does this better or how this one area fails to invoke that feeling, but regardless I don't think it's surprising that this is the next biggest split fans have amongst BW1 v. BW2 arguments due to how abundant steamroll options have become now, doubly so since it accentuates Unovan Dex's already prevalent flaw of containing a gross number of late-post game evos. A simple handwave of “well, it’s not as bad as Gen 2 and Diamond/Pearl!” shouldn’t be my takeaway when taking all of it into account when the previous game did a much better job of emphasizing and balancing this.
- I appreciate the switch up in regards to gym progression, both in regards to the stages' gimmicks as well as the inclusion of Cheren and Roxie, and I'm all for the idea of Easy and Challenge Mode, but because of their implementation - especially in regards to unlocking them - it meant the general team pool has been weakened even regarding the series' overall standards both at the time and now. I'm not asking for Perfect IV 6-team High Power Move spread here, but I expect more than just rolling into Iris' chamber with an adequate enough team without any finagling of intense training against her own, then swiftly mop the floor with just three members, and my only option for "tougher" rounds is locked behind a completely obtrusive method who's big altercations are a few level increases with maybe some item and/or move additions. At least Alder was able to put up a fight despite containing his own air of ease, so it's a shame that, in regards to League trials, Cynthia, Steven, and heck even Blue's fights have yet to be matched.
A lot of my problems come purely from how downscaled they are when compared to the first game, which in my eyes is still the peak of the mainline titles' bold swings and feverish ideals regarding personal growth and frictional stances. As I said, despite making sense in some regard, most of them are watered-down retreads instead of doing something new to accentuate the timeskip. Let it be known though that the sequel does have some moments that I enjoyed:
+ One common critique I see of BW1's story is how we never get to see enough members of Team Plasma that actively struggle against their actual goal and what Ghetsis, himself, actually wants. BW2 mends this to a noticeable degree by not only its nature of a sequel to show how much the inhabitants have altered their lifestyle, but also making sure to put emphasis on the type of activities ex-Plasma members have been up to since then. I'm willing to concede the idea not going far enough within the meat of the plot simply because chatting up with the folks and how their views of these things have affected them, exploring a few new regions that have opened up, the Memory Link feature, as well as seeing more of Ghetsis' aggressive manners and especially Colress do more than enough to fill that particular aspect.
+ I still very much maintain that their introduction should've been handled much better, and I'll admit to never caring that much about Pokemon's post game reaps, but if you're someone that does this is one of, if not the most bang-to-back deal I've experienced in the series (note: I have yet to play Gens 7, 8, and 9). Though it sucks some of these are locked behind now-offline services, the sheer volume of things to do that are still available is nothing to scoff at, to the point I can see this being a whole year project if you put your mind to it.
+ Presentation wise, this is about as good as its last outing, which is no big surprise. Same with the music, just as good as last time and there's no real negative feeling I have for how they do things here.
+ Again, I'm still not hugely in favor with how the Mons are plopped around, but there's enough sensibility going around that trying to make a team has been a delight to fuss and ruminate over for future runs, be it casual or challenge-based. The stuff done to parts that involve move tutoring have also largely helped in this regard, even if again things are just a bit too easy for my liking (though ya know, if I want a difficult experience, I wouldn't be playing Pokemon to begin with).
One view I've gleaned over the years is how deciding whether BW1 or BW2 is the better entry largely comes down to whether you're the narrative or mechanical believer of their core. I should also mention I played BW2 years after BW1, which meant I was more aware and perceived numerous other wrinkles in comparison. The first game's writing and atmosphere is the apex of what I look forward to in the franchise with only one exception, so I will always continue to prefer that title over this one, but all things considered, BW2's a rather great followup that I can't quite get too mad that there are those that choose it instead.
- The writing, from the top, is weaker. BW1 are far from the most in-depth RPGs you'll ever play, and anyone trying to exclaim otherwise should take it down some notches, but if there's one thing I can say about them, it's how that duology strives to incorporate every key personnel into its narrative. In fact, I'm pretty sure this was the first big push to do so instead of just utilizing the Rival, Professor, and Champion like before. In some instance, I can understand this such as a few Gym Leaders opting to converse very little and sending you on your way due to having bigger priorities now, but utilizing Cheren and Bianca again despite having their stories already told is a strange decision that could've been better used for newer NPCs, and N's epilogue arcs isn't quite as compelling upon both the game itself, and reflection. It also doesn't help most of the interpersonal drama that are present isn't as compelling this go-around, with Hugh's ""arc"" being so boilerplate and nonsensical it genuinely stunned me from how rival characterization have devolved back to the level of growth displayed by Silver when they’re trying for a Barry.
- On the note of writing, the pacing also took a hit. Pokemon titles have generally had a problem balancing the adventure feel with the story interactions after RBY/FRLG, and while it doesn't get Gen 6 level of poor, I'm honestly sad to say I could make a good argument that it gets pretty close. The flow of route -> city/story event -> badge -> sidegame content -> story event -> repeat gets dulled by how much they elucidate every minute detail without the substance to back them up, and there's also two entire sections from Mistralton to Opelucid then Humilau to the end where it's a barren trek across linear areas upon linear areas that, again, don't have much going on. It's strange to go from two titles that have the strongest sense of increasing scale and conflict, to this one where it struggles to juggle it despite pulling off bold moves of its own.
- Yea I'm gonna say it, I'm not a fan of the Nat Dex mixture in this title. We're not even talking about "ohhhh but the intentional soft reboot vibe" here, I see them Riolus, Magnemites, and Elekids/Magbys amidst all the other strong Unovan natives in the opening hour and I get the feeling I'm playing some weird romhack, not a proper Game Freak title. Pokemon placements are usually dictated not just by the environment and how it affects their habitual nature, but also by how their strengths/weaknesses can affect and influence a player's team composition. We can argue about which game does this better or how this one area fails to invoke that feeling, but regardless I don't think it's surprising that this is the next biggest split fans have amongst BW1 v. BW2 arguments due to how abundant steamroll options have become now, doubly so since it accentuates Unovan Dex's already prevalent flaw of containing a gross number of late-post game evos. A simple handwave of “well, it’s not as bad as Gen 2 and Diamond/Pearl!” shouldn’t be my takeaway when taking all of it into account when the previous game did a much better job of emphasizing and balancing this.
- I appreciate the switch up in regards to gym progression, both in regards to the stages' gimmicks as well as the inclusion of Cheren and Roxie, and I'm all for the idea of Easy and Challenge Mode, but because of their implementation - especially in regards to unlocking them - it meant the general team pool has been weakened even regarding the series' overall standards both at the time and now. I'm not asking for Perfect IV 6-team High Power Move spread here, but I expect more than just rolling into Iris' chamber with an adequate enough team without any finagling of intense training against her own, then swiftly mop the floor with just three members, and my only option for "tougher" rounds is locked behind a completely obtrusive method who's big altercations are a few level increases with maybe some item and/or move additions. At least Alder was able to put up a fight despite containing his own air of ease, so it's a shame that, in regards to League trials, Cynthia, Steven, and heck even Blue's fights have yet to be matched.
A lot of my problems come purely from how downscaled they are when compared to the first game, which in my eyes is still the peak of the mainline titles' bold swings and feverish ideals regarding personal growth and frictional stances. As I said, despite making sense in some regard, most of them are watered-down retreads instead of doing something new to accentuate the timeskip. Let it be known though that the sequel does have some moments that I enjoyed:
+ One common critique I see of BW1's story is how we never get to see enough members of Team Plasma that actively struggle against their actual goal and what Ghetsis, himself, actually wants. BW2 mends this to a noticeable degree by not only its nature of a sequel to show how much the inhabitants have altered their lifestyle, but also making sure to put emphasis on the type of activities ex-Plasma members have been up to since then. I'm willing to concede the idea not going far enough within the meat of the plot simply because chatting up with the folks and how their views of these things have affected them, exploring a few new regions that have opened up, the Memory Link feature, as well as seeing more of Ghetsis' aggressive manners and especially Colress do more than enough to fill that particular aspect.
+ I still very much maintain that their introduction should've been handled much better, and I'll admit to never caring that much about Pokemon's post game reaps, but if you're someone that does this is one of, if not the most bang-to-back deal I've experienced in the series (note: I have yet to play Gens 7, 8, and 9). Though it sucks some of these are locked behind now-offline services, the sheer volume of things to do that are still available is nothing to scoff at, to the point I can see this being a whole year project if you put your mind to it.
+ Presentation wise, this is about as good as its last outing, which is no big surprise. Same with the music, just as good as last time and there's no real negative feeling I have for how they do things here.
+ Again, I'm still not hugely in favor with how the Mons are plopped around, but there's enough sensibility going around that trying to make a team has been a delight to fuss and ruminate over for future runs, be it casual or challenge-based. The stuff done to parts that involve move tutoring have also largely helped in this regard, even if again things are just a bit too easy for my liking (though ya know, if I want a difficult experience, I wouldn't be playing Pokemon to begin with).
One view I've gleaned over the years is how deciding whether BW1 or BW2 is the better entry largely comes down to whether you're the narrative or mechanical believer of their core. I should also mention I played BW2 years after BW1, which meant I was more aware and perceived numerous other wrinkles in comparison. The first game's writing and atmosphere is the apex of what I look forward to in the franchise with only one exception, so I will always continue to prefer that title over this one, but all things considered, BW2's a rather great followup that I can't quite get too mad that there are those that choose it instead.
Brass and string instruments line up to give the biggest hurrah, as you gaze upon the two gender, three class options that lay before you. The swelling of the entourage coming together to invigorate you, the player, into stepping into worlds far, far away. This is the tried and true Star Wars motif since its prospering popularity over the years.
You know what isn’t Star Wars though? This PC port, by gods it stinks worse than the rotted remains you see in Rancor pits! It’s one of those “lackluster yet serviceable at release, slowly deteriorating over time due to tech advancements” cases, and though there’s a whole heap of mods to sift through, here’re the essentials: KOTOR 1 Community Patch, the first method of PCGamingWiki’s outline to get proper widescreen alongside even more widescreen mods to make it look better, and finally Dialogue Fixes via its PC Response Moderation variant (I’ll touch upon what that lil tidbit is later). Oh, by the way, get this on GOG above all else, unless you want to spend more time getting the Steam copy to work with all of this. If your reaction to this is “wow, that looks like a lot of file unzipping!”, well first of all some of these are installer-based, and secondly you’re correct! Even as someone that doesn’t mind doing mod tinkering I grow exasperated each time I have to do this travailing setup! I’m pretty sure the mobile, Switch port, and especially Xbox’s backwards compatibility releases are all sound though, with the exception of the Switch port’s Tower Of Hanoi puzzle in Korriban being bugged out where Aspyr not only recommends avoiding it, but flat out tells you to get the optional reward for this optional bit in a cheat menu.
As for the game in question, well let’s speed by the background real quick. I’m sure most of this is common knowledge by now, but during some email discussion in 99 and some pre-production in 2000, the team at Bioware was given a choice by LucasArts: either do an Episode II title, or do one that’s set 4 millennia before. Feeling that the latter option provided more freedom, they opted for that, and dealt with very little pushback granted from transferring their concept works over to the Skywalker Ranch. PC was an obvious choice given their preceding works, but the Xbox was chosen for factors such as its familiar PC-like architecture, its at-the-time recent success, as well as the fact they would be releasing one of the first RPGs in the console’s already small pool. As much as I like to go in-depth with behind the scenes info, ehhhhhhh I kinda don’t care enough this time around. To reiterate, I feel like KOTOR1’s dev story is known enough that going over it would be pretty superfluous, despite some ideas and comparisons they bring up being relevant to what I’m about to go over. I’ll cap this off by discussing how, if I’m not mistaken, this was the first instance of BioWare’s One Narrative Pony that they’d rely on for their 2000s reign. You know, the one that’s structured like a Mad Libs template: As the first act unfolds, you, MAIN CHARACTER, are going about your day until suddenly, EVIL FACTION has arrived unprompted and is currently wrecking your and the denizens of STARTING AREA’s asses! Once the bout has settled, as well as completing about one, one and half places worth of tutorials, you’re then transferred under the leadership of GOOD FACTION. With a deliberate task set upon you, an uncovering of the secret SPECIAL MCGUFFINS tied to ANCIENT CIVILIZATION sparsely acknowledged from tales of yore, this prompts you to go towards 3/4/5 plot-significant places to try and find them all, making up the bulk of the second act. On the transitory phase of Act 2->3, MAJOR PLOT REVELATION has occurred regarding you and/or the people you’re working under and/or the villain, thereby altering the ways in which you’ve interacted with the beats of the story leading up to this point! After doing one last mission, you’re then on your way to the big climactic battle against EVIL FACTION, conversing in one last rapport of your fair-hearted crew before you march onward, cementing your good/evil/somewhere in between ending once and for all.
While I’mmaking fun of criticizing Bioware’s writing, I’m choosing to jump several rungs and talk about their character writing cause it’s uh… very lackluster. Though I won’t make any grand sweeping declaration due to not yet finishing all their RPG titles, missing out on Baldur’s Gate 1&2 and stopping Neverwinter Nights and Jade Empire way too early, I nonetheless can’t really bring myself to care that much about this iteration of the Ebon Hawk’s crew anymore. A major cognition I’ve developed is how aggressively simple a majority of them are, with the only key cohorts being Bastilla and Carth Onasi whom I’ll discuss last. Now, there’s nothing wrong with simplicity, and Bioware’s well within their rights to stick with this since there are other RPG contributors that strive harder and more bolder within the market both at the time and especially now. Hell, this even works to its benefits cause Jolee, Canderous Ordo, and HK-47 were my favorites due to the former’s enigmatic disposition “I’m too old for this shit” from the Jedi/Sith conflict after bearing witness to several of their foibles as well as getting wrapped up under a friend’s trial case in Manaan, as well as listening to the latter two’s stories of action and killcounts both from their intricate details as well as just being humorous to hear and even witness amongst their overworld banters. That said, the rest of the crew do not share this, and in fact are hindered severely from rigidly staying as they are all the way to the end. Mission’s teen rebel attitude never goes further than what you’d experience in Taris, nor does the reveal of her brother and her shattered ideal of him ever go deeper than “she then realizes the harsh truth that he’s kind of a bad luck scammer tumbling downward”; Zaalbar’s entire deal is only unveiled once you reach Kashyyyk, and even then because of story reasons he’s MIA for a major chunk until the end where you have to convince him to side with his well-meaning and good leading father or his hostile, egotistical older brother with both containing little depth to work off of; T3-M4 gets absolutely nothing, not even bonus modifier unlocks like HK, which in fairness makes some sense since he’s supposed to be the R2D2 expy but does hurt when going back knowing he gets just a smidge more room in the sequel; Juhani’s the closest a non-lead companion gets to having a fully fleshed arc influenced by your behalf, but tragically this also falls short due to its flimsy execution regarding her origins, her fuel of hate, and how your influence reach to her inner struggle of sticking with the Light or embracing the Dark end up not mattering. Also stings that, not only does she have the most amount of bugs riddled within her progression flags, her lesbian kindling with the female PC is woefully truncated likely due to the intolerance same-sex relationships had - and continue to have - been dealing with for years.
Taking the role of secondary and tertiary leads respectively are Bastilla, a Padawan who’s ambition and training are only matched by her stubbornness and unwillingness to see reason amidst your actions to the narrative, and Carth, a Republic soldier staunchly believing in just while continuously on edge due to past betrayals and the uncertainty of what he is never dwelled upon. This, in turn, leads to them having the most amount of growth and screentime as both PMs and chess pieces, becoming more stuck to the tangled web and ties on the Dark Lord Malak and his rampant, increasing army’s might as they try to take hold of the galaxy’s grasp. This has the double-sword approach however due to also meaning that their character flaws are at full display, doubly so if you’re doing the Male or Female romance route, which means someone attuned to RPGs, Star Wars, or both have heard about these two in passing at some point in a negative light. Truthfully, I like these two compatriots, to the point that finding the time to tease them turns out to be particularly amusing, and I can't imagine the first game’s story working without them. There is, however, such a thing as too much, and the way Bastilla’s nagging tutorships while she props herself up to be more important, Carth’s Lawful Good attitude contributing to No Fun Allowed actions every single time one has occurred, especially if you take upon two of the DS-aligned partners, alongside yet another case of Bioware needing to stop doing romance cause they suck ass at meaningfully presenting the parties involved as budding lovers and not Action Dolls A&B that’ll quiver before you just by selecting enough of the wooing options, while being as thoroughly unappealing if you do wish to take the relationship further and ending them as unceremoniously as they start them, means that they overtuned their quirks too much even if the intent was, obviously, to make their brewing troubles known. Another harmful thing to everyone involved is how the game’s pacing and progression blockers are attributed, since due to a majority of the cast being unlocked right when you exit Taris and all of them can be quickly chatted up after every major quest with seldom few locked behind level ups, this means about half of them can either finish or begin their specific questline right when you finish the first actual planet. This last point, however, I’ll lighten up on since it can be spaced out adequately, and it seems like each division of Bioware were aware of how abusable and lite this tactic can be, with subsequent titles having much more sensible flag checking, even if they are, yet again, occasionally bugged…
Speaking of planetary scouring, I’ll give credit and say that the pacing on getting through each of them is very apt and rarely too strenuous. Since each zone you travel to and fro on are typically linear, boxy environments with dungeons delving to the corridor route, the locales both in these spots and the in-betweens are compact enough to run through. This also mitigates backtracking to be a mere annoyance, since all sidequests regarding the people inhabiting these balls of life are commonly placed at the civilized areas at the beginning, with very few actually plopped onto the dungeon’s surfaces, and even then they’re also made sure to go hand-in-hand with that planet’s Star Map excavation. Bolstering this is Jeremy Soule’s contribution to the music which, although I’m not as enamored by anymore, is still something I largely enjoy hearing, be it the soothing keys and strings in Manaan’s Ahto City, the booming tunes exuding the doom lingering in Kashyyyk’s Shadowlands, or the haunted hymns that surround you as you stride through Korriban’s Sith Academy. Incredible stuff from someone working within the confines of an 8MB/s MIDI system at the time! All said, there’s still bumps on the road, and as you can imagine they take form whenever they call to go back-and-forth between the important NPCs and/or special item, or clog up the exploration part entirely. Taris tends to get the brunt of the negativity, but honestly aside from the tutorial popups - which you can turn off, even - it’s designed enough that trips (in my case, two laps regarding before and after rescuing Bastilla) regarding everything to do and everyone to meet are all rounded up during each As to Bs to Cs markers via key interests marked either on the map or from visual cues. Dantooine, on the other hand, requires far more traversal across its expansive plains due to the story blocks only being placed down after one menial task after another from the Council has been answered, likely as a way to ease players into not only their new lightsaber toys, but also Force Powers as well. Fine enough, but did they really need to have the maximum amount of combing have to take up to four trips for utter completion? Plus, the atmosphere of a thriving megapolis that slowly deteriorates as you descend further down the planet’s levels is more thrilling to me than being within an arm’s reach of an academic facility kissed by autumn grasses and orange hues.
Something that will persistently elongate the ventures, however, is combat and how encounters within this are handled, which seems to be the main sticking point everyone has nowadays. Since this is following up on the studio’s Dungeons & Dragons releases prior to this, it also means every check and balance is stuck to the rules from those tabletops - actually, it’s more accurate to say it’s following those established by Wizards Of The Coast’s Star Wars Roleplaying Game, itself being derived from the d20 system on D&D 3e, all under the Odyssey Engine - itself an updated iteration of their previous Aurora Engine - albeit much more simplified in an attempt to cattle as much of the mainstream audience as possible. Despite its choreographed moves and grounded-level camera, it still very much plays like a typical cRPG real-time battle system, with the closest it gets to being truly turn-based having to dig through the options and enable auto-pausing after every action has been taken. This, already, is a cumbersome direction to get a grasp over, but what doesn’t help is that the moment-to-moment loop is lopsided. Resource management is dabbled less so on the inventory culls and management on where/how you use physical items or the Force, and more on how much of your time you’re willing to tax off just to take down a typical group of 3-5 thugs at a time. Even during the times in which an uptick of enemy hostility is expected, such as raiding enemy bases, going through ruins/caves/abandoned settlements, or tasked with a challenge by a supervisor, so much of your time is being spent less so on strategizing the battlefield and the ways in which to get around them, and more on figuring out which ways makes you go into hyperdrive from the area of combat quickly and effectively, all under the scrutiny of rounded up dice rolls. In layman’s terms I’m pretty damn annoyed that battles in this game rely so heavily on just wasting time and energy instead of putting pressure on my squad to pull my skin out of the fryer in any meaningful way, a feeling I imagine is accentuated if this is your first rodeo for this game or even RPGs as a whole, but the repeat runs have dulled all of my senses and enervative me to the point that I stare blankly whenever a Kinrath stalks up to me like it owns the place. Not helping is the fact that the friendly AI is really, really stupid, getting stuck in place or failing to execute a simple task well within their line of sight at least once in every major planet. A majority of this isn’t me spouting cynical, erroneous assumptions, due to Casey Hudson, Ray Muzyka, James Ohlen, and Greg Zeschuk themselves elaborating on this and more in the Post Mortem section of Game Developer Magazine’s December 2003 issue.
Coinciding my issues is how, seemingly because of the established MO, build variety and skill management is downscaled to such rigid measures as well, meaning that you actively have to try as much as possible to make your PC or companion’s builds suck shit. With this game’s Warrior, Mage, and Rogue being dignified by Soldier & Guardian, Scout & Consular, and Scoundrel & Sentinel respectively you’d assume there’s ups and downs for each of them. Well, sorta? Strength influences melee and chances to hit, with Dexterity influences stealth, defense and dodges, ranged, and even lightsaber should it be specced higher than Strength. Those two alone already affect build construction, but there’s also Wisdom for defensive/supportive Force wielders as well as Constitution if you’re looking to construct some tanky meats. Aside from that though, builds tend to be tossed to the wayside since there’s not enough motivation and lures to try out as many combinations as possible, due to the fact the actual skills in question are majorly superfluous. Persuade is never not useful in RPGs that feature it, and dumping a few points in Awareness and/or Repair/Computer Use is fine enough, but you’re never gonna use Stealth and Security since there’s no reason to ever use them due to the former rarely, if ever, being an effective manipulation against hostile squadrons and there’s no penalty for bashing locked objects open regarding the latter, Treat Injury and Demolitions fall off the wayside once you hit the midgame due to better options becoming available for both medical and combative fronts, and trying to dump points on the tech-specific trees you didn’t pick after settling on its alternative is just wasting points. When taking PMs into consideration as a way to offset these lowered priority, this becomes a smidge better, but yet again there’s catches since some are just flat-out better at any role you design them under than others, like Mission being an outclassed ranger compared to Carth, perhaps Juhani, and HK-47, or T3-M4 being the go-to utility unlocker for everything due to his high spread amongst those stats and even further with the littlest effort in min-maxing. That’s all in regards to skills, with feats I don’t have as much issue cause there’s an adequate room to wriggle and flex under for everyone, despite the knowledge I have of the game’s combat encounters and each planet’s speciality, such as classifying one person under the Dueling stance and another under Two Weapon Fighting making huge waves for how they handle foes. It’s a weird point because I understand all of this was done with the aforementioned market and demographic in mind, but I can’t help but feel like my options and ability to roleplay who I want are limited. About the only good I can say for this department is that, since this is a Bioware title, breaking encounters to your absolute favor is yet again delightfully joyful.
What really grinds me in that last point, is about the general writing and more specifically, how Light Side vs Dark Side playthroughs are written. It’s no secret Bioware’s knack for morality is troubling, the binary slots they tend to do becoming mocked for how extremely good or extremely evil PCs can become, and nowhere is that more evident than in this game. Even as someone that sticks with “Good” paths in RPGs, being one here is unfulfilling since I’m basically sucking up to someone in the most overt, dignified way possible, made even worse with how childish every remark you can choose to say (this is why I specify picking the PC Response Moderation variant way earlier, it’s still kind of bad but options sound a lot more sensible comparatively). DS players get an even worse outing cause it’s the most bog-standard “you’re a jerk and everyone hates you but that’s OK cause you’re super-duper powerful” type of spiel you’d see in other titles of the genre, with not that many options that harken to that obscenity. Well, there is one important choice near the end that serves as a pretty viable RP moment, and this in turn can lead to one of the funniest Evil moments in any Bioware game ever, so that’s one hopeful spark. In regards to every other bit of writing it’s solid enough, I suppose. Worldbuilding feels strangely downplayed, an odd circumstance since this is way before the established OT or even Prequel ages, and any turn to embellish something is almost certainly cut off right when it allures you with questions, such as the mystery of the Sand People’s intelligence or Kashyyyk’s origins being afflicted by the Star Map’s placement in the Shadowlands. Tatooine -> Kashyyyk -> Manaan -> Korriban isn’t my preferred order just cause of the plot ramp up making the most sense, it’s also cause I get to deal with all the weakest offerings first so that I can relish in the variety of options available to consider in the last two. The only huge writing portion I can credit for a great job is the twist, which even in my efforts to keep as spoiler-free as possible, is likely the first thing that pops into your mind when thinking about this title. Heavy-handed for sure, I can’t deny that the setup and foreshadowing that follows is handled in such an effective moment that I don’t even particularly blame Bioware for utilizing that Narrative Pony I jabbed at earlier, especially since it led to them ironing out some kinks to deliver stronger executions. Like, consider the Protheans from Mass Effect real quick and compare them to how the Builders are established, it’s almost like Drew Karpyshyn went for a re-edit of his initial draft! My only real problem is that how the falloff of this is handled due to its bizarre underplay, which I figure is due to the fact that choosing any planet in any order meant they couldn’t be too wild with the variables, and the fact that Malak just kind of sucks? He has cool Moments but he himself isn’t cool, he’s sort of a dork. Maybe that was the point, but nonetheless gimme Loghain and Saren any day.
A lot of this review has been casting a negative light on it, despite the rather positive score I gave it. It’s largely due to the fact that I know Bioware - be it this team and the key figures appointed or the studio’s name as a whole - can do better, and have even experienced them do better in their titles to begin with. But, hey, you know what? I still had fun at the end of it all. As stated, that pacing is exceedingly well-tuned, which is great for them since one of their main goals was establishing this as a 40-60 hour sink, which meant that even during its lowest I was only ever slightly annoyed instead of suffering in agony like in their other titles, and a majority of the problems I shared are largely spiked from my change in views as to what I want in an RPG. In fact, the only negative I have that’s substantial in any way - aside from Malak, anyway - is that the Star Forge is completely and utterly awful as a final dungeon, highlighting all my issues with the combat and exploration, as well as blatantly spawning more enemies as soon as you defeat them, like gross! I hope BG1&2 and JE don’t have final dungeons anywhere near as bad as that, cause god Bioware has only gotten me to feel satisfied in an endgame area one time despite all the titles I’ve played from them thus far. Anyway, back to my main point: I recognize KOTOR1 as a pretty solid game all-around, and I also think it was the right type of title to get my tyke years hurdled onto the RPG genre amongst a few others I had growing up. That was a long time ago, though, and my taste has evolved and morphed many times over the years, to the point that I can’t exactly hold KOTOR1 to the high position as I once had it on before, even in my rosy attempts to believe otherwise. Come to think of it, it seems like even back then the lure and pull of its sequel was stronger and more gratifying despite the scars it bears.
You know what isn’t Star Wars though? This PC port, by gods it stinks worse than the rotted remains you see in Rancor pits! It’s one of those “lackluster yet serviceable at release, slowly deteriorating over time due to tech advancements” cases, and though there’s a whole heap of mods to sift through, here’re the essentials: KOTOR 1 Community Patch, the first method of PCGamingWiki’s outline to get proper widescreen alongside even more widescreen mods to make it look better, and finally Dialogue Fixes via its PC Response Moderation variant (I’ll touch upon what that lil tidbit is later). Oh, by the way, get this on GOG above all else, unless you want to spend more time getting the Steam copy to work with all of this. If your reaction to this is “wow, that looks like a lot of file unzipping!”, well first of all some of these are installer-based, and secondly you’re correct! Even as someone that doesn’t mind doing mod tinkering I grow exasperated each time I have to do this travailing setup! I’m pretty sure the mobile, Switch port, and especially Xbox’s backwards compatibility releases are all sound though, with the exception of the Switch port’s Tower Of Hanoi puzzle in Korriban being bugged out where Aspyr not only recommends avoiding it, but flat out tells you to get the optional reward for this optional bit in a cheat menu.
As for the game in question, well let’s speed by the background real quick. I’m sure most of this is common knowledge by now, but during some email discussion in 99 and some pre-production in 2000, the team at Bioware was given a choice by LucasArts: either do an Episode II title, or do one that’s set 4 millennia before. Feeling that the latter option provided more freedom, they opted for that, and dealt with very little pushback granted from transferring their concept works over to the Skywalker Ranch. PC was an obvious choice given their preceding works, but the Xbox was chosen for factors such as its familiar PC-like architecture, its at-the-time recent success, as well as the fact they would be releasing one of the first RPGs in the console’s already small pool. As much as I like to go in-depth with behind the scenes info, ehhhhhhh I kinda don’t care enough this time around. To reiterate, I feel like KOTOR1’s dev story is known enough that going over it would be pretty superfluous, despite some ideas and comparisons they bring up being relevant to what I’m about to go over. I’ll cap this off by discussing how, if I’m not mistaken, this was the first instance of BioWare’s One Narrative Pony that they’d rely on for their 2000s reign. You know, the one that’s structured like a Mad Libs template: As the first act unfolds, you, MAIN CHARACTER, are going about your day until suddenly, EVIL FACTION has arrived unprompted and is currently wrecking your and the denizens of STARTING AREA’s asses! Once the bout has settled, as well as completing about one, one and half places worth of tutorials, you’re then transferred under the leadership of GOOD FACTION. With a deliberate task set upon you, an uncovering of the secret SPECIAL MCGUFFINS tied to ANCIENT CIVILIZATION sparsely acknowledged from tales of yore, this prompts you to go towards 3/4/5 plot-significant places to try and find them all, making up the bulk of the second act. On the transitory phase of Act 2->3, MAJOR PLOT REVELATION has occurred regarding you and/or the people you’re working under and/or the villain, thereby altering the ways in which you’ve interacted with the beats of the story leading up to this point! After doing one last mission, you’re then on your way to the big climactic battle against EVIL FACTION, conversing in one last rapport of your fair-hearted crew before you march onward, cementing your good/evil/somewhere in between ending once and for all.
While I’m
Taking the role of secondary and tertiary leads respectively are Bastilla, a Padawan who’s ambition and training are only matched by her stubbornness and unwillingness to see reason amidst your actions to the narrative, and Carth, a Republic soldier staunchly believing in just while continuously on edge due to past betrayals and the uncertainty of what he is never dwelled upon. This, in turn, leads to them having the most amount of growth and screentime as both PMs and chess pieces, becoming more stuck to the tangled web and ties on the Dark Lord Malak and his rampant, increasing army’s might as they try to take hold of the galaxy’s grasp. This has the double-sword approach however due to also meaning that their character flaws are at full display, doubly so if you’re doing the Male or Female romance route, which means someone attuned to RPGs, Star Wars, or both have heard about these two in passing at some point in a negative light. Truthfully, I like these two compatriots, to the point that finding the time to tease them turns out to be particularly amusing, and I can't imagine the first game’s story working without them. There is, however, such a thing as too much, and the way Bastilla’s nagging tutorships while she props herself up to be more important, Carth’s Lawful Good attitude contributing to No Fun Allowed actions every single time one has occurred, especially if you take upon two of the DS-aligned partners, alongside yet another case of Bioware needing to stop doing romance cause they suck ass at meaningfully presenting the parties involved as budding lovers and not Action Dolls A&B that’ll quiver before you just by selecting enough of the wooing options, while being as thoroughly unappealing if you do wish to take the relationship further and ending them as unceremoniously as they start them, means that they overtuned their quirks too much even if the intent was, obviously, to make their brewing troubles known. Another harmful thing to everyone involved is how the game’s pacing and progression blockers are attributed, since due to a majority of the cast being unlocked right when you exit Taris and all of them can be quickly chatted up after every major quest with seldom few locked behind level ups, this means about half of them can either finish or begin their specific questline right when you finish the first actual planet. This last point, however, I’ll lighten up on since it can be spaced out adequately, and it seems like each division of Bioware were aware of how abusable and lite this tactic can be, with subsequent titles having much more sensible flag checking, even if they are, yet again, occasionally bugged…
Speaking of planetary scouring, I’ll give credit and say that the pacing on getting through each of them is very apt and rarely too strenuous. Since each zone you travel to and fro on are typically linear, boxy environments with dungeons delving to the corridor route, the locales both in these spots and the in-betweens are compact enough to run through. This also mitigates backtracking to be a mere annoyance, since all sidequests regarding the people inhabiting these balls of life are commonly placed at the civilized areas at the beginning, with very few actually plopped onto the dungeon’s surfaces, and even then they’re also made sure to go hand-in-hand with that planet’s Star Map excavation. Bolstering this is Jeremy Soule’s contribution to the music which, although I’m not as enamored by anymore, is still something I largely enjoy hearing, be it the soothing keys and strings in Manaan’s Ahto City, the booming tunes exuding the doom lingering in Kashyyyk’s Shadowlands, or the haunted hymns that surround you as you stride through Korriban’s Sith Academy. Incredible stuff from someone working within the confines of an 8MB/s MIDI system at the time! All said, there’s still bumps on the road, and as you can imagine they take form whenever they call to go back-and-forth between the important NPCs and/or special item, or clog up the exploration part entirely. Taris tends to get the brunt of the negativity, but honestly aside from the tutorial popups - which you can turn off, even - it’s designed enough that trips (in my case, two laps regarding before and after rescuing Bastilla) regarding everything to do and everyone to meet are all rounded up during each As to Bs to Cs markers via key interests marked either on the map or from visual cues. Dantooine, on the other hand, requires far more traversal across its expansive plains due to the story blocks only being placed down after one menial task after another from the Council has been answered, likely as a way to ease players into not only their new lightsaber toys, but also Force Powers as well. Fine enough, but did they really need to have the maximum amount of combing have to take up to four trips for utter completion? Plus, the atmosphere of a thriving megapolis that slowly deteriorates as you descend further down the planet’s levels is more thrilling to me than being within an arm’s reach of an academic facility kissed by autumn grasses and orange hues.
Something that will persistently elongate the ventures, however, is combat and how encounters within this are handled, which seems to be the main sticking point everyone has nowadays. Since this is following up on the studio’s Dungeons & Dragons releases prior to this, it also means every check and balance is stuck to the rules from those tabletops - actually, it’s more accurate to say it’s following those established by Wizards Of The Coast’s Star Wars Roleplaying Game, itself being derived from the d20 system on D&D 3e, all under the Odyssey Engine - itself an updated iteration of their previous Aurora Engine - albeit much more simplified in an attempt to cattle as much of the mainstream audience as possible. Despite its choreographed moves and grounded-level camera, it still very much plays like a typical cRPG real-time battle system, with the closest it gets to being truly turn-based having to dig through the options and enable auto-pausing after every action has been taken. This, already, is a cumbersome direction to get a grasp over, but what doesn’t help is that the moment-to-moment loop is lopsided. Resource management is dabbled less so on the inventory culls and management on where/how you use physical items or the Force, and more on how much of your time you’re willing to tax off just to take down a typical group of 3-5 thugs at a time. Even during the times in which an uptick of enemy hostility is expected, such as raiding enemy bases, going through ruins/caves/abandoned settlements, or tasked with a challenge by a supervisor, so much of your time is being spent less so on strategizing the battlefield and the ways in which to get around them, and more on figuring out which ways makes you go into hyperdrive from the area of combat quickly and effectively, all under the scrutiny of rounded up dice rolls. In layman’s terms I’m pretty damn annoyed that battles in this game rely so heavily on just wasting time and energy instead of putting pressure on my squad to pull my skin out of the fryer in any meaningful way, a feeling I imagine is accentuated if this is your first rodeo for this game or even RPGs as a whole, but the repeat runs have dulled all of my senses and enervative me to the point that I stare blankly whenever a Kinrath stalks up to me like it owns the place. Not helping is the fact that the friendly AI is really, really stupid, getting stuck in place or failing to execute a simple task well within their line of sight at least once in every major planet. A majority of this isn’t me spouting cynical, erroneous assumptions, due to Casey Hudson, Ray Muzyka, James Ohlen, and Greg Zeschuk themselves elaborating on this and more in the Post Mortem section of Game Developer Magazine’s December 2003 issue.
Coinciding my issues is how, seemingly because of the established MO, build variety and skill management is downscaled to such rigid measures as well, meaning that you actively have to try as much as possible to make your PC or companion’s builds suck shit. With this game’s Warrior, Mage, and Rogue being dignified by Soldier & Guardian, Scout & Consular, and Scoundrel & Sentinel respectively you’d assume there’s ups and downs for each of them. Well, sorta? Strength influences melee and chances to hit, with Dexterity influences stealth, defense and dodges, ranged, and even lightsaber should it be specced higher than Strength. Those two alone already affect build construction, but there’s also Wisdom for defensive/supportive Force wielders as well as Constitution if you’re looking to construct some tanky meats. Aside from that though, builds tend to be tossed to the wayside since there’s not enough motivation and lures to try out as many combinations as possible, due to the fact the actual skills in question are majorly superfluous. Persuade is never not useful in RPGs that feature it, and dumping a few points in Awareness and/or Repair/Computer Use is fine enough, but you’re never gonna use Stealth and Security since there’s no reason to ever use them due to the former rarely, if ever, being an effective manipulation against hostile squadrons and there’s no penalty for bashing locked objects open regarding the latter, Treat Injury and Demolitions fall off the wayside once you hit the midgame due to better options becoming available for both medical and combative fronts, and trying to dump points on the tech-specific trees you didn’t pick after settling on its alternative is just wasting points. When taking PMs into consideration as a way to offset these lowered priority, this becomes a smidge better, but yet again there’s catches since some are just flat-out better at any role you design them under than others, like Mission being an outclassed ranger compared to Carth, perhaps Juhani, and HK-47, or T3-M4 being the go-to utility unlocker for everything due to his high spread amongst those stats and even further with the littlest effort in min-maxing. That’s all in regards to skills, with feats I don’t have as much issue cause there’s an adequate room to wriggle and flex under for everyone, despite the knowledge I have of the game’s combat encounters and each planet’s speciality, such as classifying one person under the Dueling stance and another under Two Weapon Fighting making huge waves for how they handle foes. It’s a weird point because I understand all of this was done with the aforementioned market and demographic in mind, but I can’t help but feel like my options and ability to roleplay who I want are limited. About the only good I can say for this department is that, since this is a Bioware title, breaking encounters to your absolute favor is yet again delightfully joyful.
What really grinds me in that last point, is about the general writing and more specifically, how Light Side vs Dark Side playthroughs are written. It’s no secret Bioware’s knack for morality is troubling, the binary slots they tend to do becoming mocked for how extremely good or extremely evil PCs can become, and nowhere is that more evident than in this game. Even as someone that sticks with “Good” paths in RPGs, being one here is unfulfilling since I’m basically sucking up to someone in the most overt, dignified way possible, made even worse with how childish every remark you can choose to say (this is why I specify picking the PC Response Moderation variant way earlier, it’s still kind of bad but options sound a lot more sensible comparatively). DS players get an even worse outing cause it’s the most bog-standard “you’re a jerk and everyone hates you but that’s OK cause you’re super-duper powerful” type of spiel you’d see in other titles of the genre, with not that many options that harken to that obscenity. Well, there is one important choice near the end that serves as a pretty viable RP moment, and this in turn can lead to one of the funniest Evil moments in any Bioware game ever, so that’s one hopeful spark. In regards to every other bit of writing it’s solid enough, I suppose. Worldbuilding feels strangely downplayed, an odd circumstance since this is way before the established OT or even Prequel ages, and any turn to embellish something is almost certainly cut off right when it allures you with questions, such as the mystery of the Sand People’s intelligence or Kashyyyk’s origins being afflicted by the Star Map’s placement in the Shadowlands. Tatooine -> Kashyyyk -> Manaan -> Korriban isn’t my preferred order just cause of the plot ramp up making the most sense, it’s also cause I get to deal with all the weakest offerings first so that I can relish in the variety of options available to consider in the last two. The only huge writing portion I can credit for a great job is the twist, which even in my efforts to keep as spoiler-free as possible, is likely the first thing that pops into your mind when thinking about this title. Heavy-handed for sure, I can’t deny that the setup and foreshadowing that follows is handled in such an effective moment that I don’t even particularly blame Bioware for utilizing that Narrative Pony I jabbed at earlier, especially since it led to them ironing out some kinks to deliver stronger executions. Like, consider the Protheans from Mass Effect real quick and compare them to how the Builders are established, it’s almost like Drew Karpyshyn went for a re-edit of his initial draft! My only real problem is that how the falloff of this is handled due to its bizarre underplay, which I figure is due to the fact that choosing any planet in any order meant they couldn’t be too wild with the variables, and the fact that Malak just kind of sucks? He has cool Moments but he himself isn’t cool, he’s sort of a dork. Maybe that was the point, but nonetheless gimme Loghain and Saren any day.
A lot of this review has been casting a negative light on it, despite the rather positive score I gave it. It’s largely due to the fact that I know Bioware - be it this team and the key figures appointed or the studio’s name as a whole - can do better, and have even experienced them do better in their titles to begin with. But, hey, you know what? I still had fun at the end of it all. As stated, that pacing is exceedingly well-tuned, which is great for them since one of their main goals was establishing this as a 40-60 hour sink, which meant that even during its lowest I was only ever slightly annoyed instead of suffering in agony like in their other titles, and a majority of the problems I shared are largely spiked from my change in views as to what I want in an RPG. In fact, the only negative I have that’s substantial in any way - aside from Malak, anyway - is that the Star Forge is completely and utterly awful as a final dungeon, highlighting all my issues with the combat and exploration, as well as blatantly spawning more enemies as soon as you defeat them, like gross! I hope BG1&2 and JE don’t have final dungeons anywhere near as bad as that, cause god Bioware has only gotten me to feel satisfied in an endgame area one time despite all the titles I’ve played from them thus far. Anyway, back to my main point: I recognize KOTOR1 as a pretty solid game all-around, and I also think it was the right type of title to get my tyke years hurdled onto the RPG genre amongst a few others I had growing up. That was a long time ago, though, and my taste has evolved and morphed many times over the years, to the point that I can’t exactly hold KOTOR1 to the high position as I once had it on before, even in my rosy attempts to believe otherwise. Come to think of it, it seems like even back then the lure and pull of its sequel was stronger and more gratifying despite the scars it bears.
2002
I've been sitting on this for about three years now, immediately beelining to it after finishing the first one. I always try and goad myself into properly finishing it before moving onto 3, but at this point, my drive to press on have evaporated, and despite only playing a quarter of the total package and in general being a short romp, I'm fine labeling it one of the biggest disappointments I've ever experienced here and now.
Pang has said much about my grievances, especially in regard to how the first few gadgets you pick up are posited as lock-and-key items instead of meaningful kit extensions, but I'll throw a few of my own quibbles:
- I dunno who at the studio decided the emphasis on boss fights was necessary, but it's one of the biggest signs that Nintendo's Three Strike rule should not be used for everything. Bosses weren't standout in the first game anyway, but it's somehow worse in this one since not only were the tells in the two fights I faced obnoxiously obvious, but there's just. So much goddamn waiting. Even middling Zelda bosses knew when's the best time to give the opening.
- Environments are way too boxy for my liking. First game, even after the tutorial, had you navigating different rooms and elevations to sell you on the locale you're tasked with. Here, that only started to happen about thrice, with every other level I've had being mainly flat terrains with little deviation to explore. Of my points, this is the one I'm willing to yield the most on. Maybe the design does get better, and it's just an unfortunate growing pain.
- Holy shit the controls. In my brief time playing this, I've whiffed more ape captures than in my entire duration of the predecessor. Any sense of weight and momentum is gone, instead replaced with a stupidly stiff movement and an uncomfortable sense of spring of the swings, which leads a little more credence that letting the player mess around and grow comfortable with 'grounded' movement is better in situations such as this one. The only satisfying part is how the double jump system operates; one jump clears horizontals, the next culls it to trade it for verticals. Also, somehow the camera's regressed in between games, but I'll admit it was still like... tolerable.
- Not gonna mention the OST downgrade since I don't take that much stock onto ratings as others do (but I will very much agree regardless), so instead I just want to say none of the game's more cutesy sounding bytes really did much for me. I'm not even sure why, it isn't totally different. Maybe the presentation boost is messing with me? I dunno.
I know some will see this and say "hey, you only played about a quarter of the game, you should really just play more of it before dropping!" or something to that effect. Understandable as this sentiment may be, and as staunch and stubborn as I typically am when it comes to doing something, I genuinely just can't myself to care with this one. Completely flabbergasted how this part of Japan Studio's offices went from making one of the best platformers ever at the twilight of the PS1's years, to an awkward and very "testing the waters" followup right around the time the PS2 was settling onto its footing. Hoping 3's better, and since I know a friend that had the exact feelings I'm facing be rather positive in what they've played of the sequel, maybe it's indeed the case.
Pang has said much about my grievances, especially in regard to how the first few gadgets you pick up are posited as lock-and-key items instead of meaningful kit extensions, but I'll throw a few of my own quibbles:
- I dunno who at the studio decided the emphasis on boss fights was necessary, but it's one of the biggest signs that Nintendo's Three Strike rule should not be used for everything. Bosses weren't standout in the first game anyway, but it's somehow worse in this one since not only were the tells in the two fights I faced obnoxiously obvious, but there's just. So much goddamn waiting. Even middling Zelda bosses knew when's the best time to give the opening.
- Environments are way too boxy for my liking. First game, even after the tutorial, had you navigating different rooms and elevations to sell you on the locale you're tasked with. Here, that only started to happen about thrice, with every other level I've had being mainly flat terrains with little deviation to explore. Of my points, this is the one I'm willing to yield the most on. Maybe the design does get better, and it's just an unfortunate growing pain.
- Holy shit the controls. In my brief time playing this, I've whiffed more ape captures than in my entire duration of the predecessor. Any sense of weight and momentum is gone, instead replaced with a stupidly stiff movement and an uncomfortable sense of spring of the swings, which leads a little more credence that letting the player mess around and grow comfortable with 'grounded' movement is better in situations such as this one. The only satisfying part is how the double jump system operates; one jump clears horizontals, the next culls it to trade it for verticals. Also, somehow the camera's regressed in between games, but I'll admit it was still like... tolerable.
- Not gonna mention the OST downgrade since I don't take that much stock onto ratings as others do (but I will very much agree regardless), so instead I just want to say none of the game's more cutesy sounding bytes really did much for me. I'm not even sure why, it isn't totally different. Maybe the presentation boost is messing with me? I dunno.
I know some will see this and say "hey, you only played about a quarter of the game, you should really just play more of it before dropping!" or something to that effect. Understandable as this sentiment may be, and as staunch and stubborn as I typically am when it comes to doing something, I genuinely just can't myself to care with this one. Completely flabbergasted how this part of Japan Studio's offices went from making one of the best platformers ever at the twilight of the PS1's years, to an awkward and very "testing the waters" followup right around the time the PS2 was settling onto its footing. Hoping 3's better, and since I know a friend that had the exact feelings I'm facing be rather positive in what they've played of the sequel, maybe it's indeed the case.
2018
I've been meaning to replay a Classic Mega Man title for a while, half because there's been a decent span of time having passed since I last touched them - a little over three years after replaying 4 and 9, about five for the rest - and cause Weatherby's been going through them on-and-off for the past few months. That man played Power Battle, that's how you know he's dedicated to the cause of the super fighting robot. I settled on Mega Man 11 cause I want to see if it holds up. Though it's not quite to the same degree as my initial impressions, I still had a damn good time all the same.
It's kind of hard to talk about this title without having to mention the reveal, at least for me it is. Like, even if you weren't all that big into the franchise or were just an onlooker (me), watching the 30th Anniversary trailer back in its December upload, seeing that long span of absolutely nothing in the 2011-2017 period, then having gameplay footage pop up, it was like... whoa. This real? I ain't dreamin, right? That out of place, completely new design concept in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 actually meant something? Then you had the demo and its kinda weird state - mainly in reference to Block Man's level as a whole, which I'll get into - but the actual control and feel of the Blue Bomber was just right enough that you could place confidence in it, and it turned out to be a solid one through and through? Crazy turn of events. This also led to even more turnaround on Kenji Inafune's reputation due to Mighty No. 9 becoming washed out (I haven't played it myself... yet, I'm just going by public perception here), as well as the info that his departure of Capcom leaving this esoteric void of not knowing what to do next. Random thing to feel nostalgia for but like, it's probably one of the bigger "holy shit" moments I went through especially since it was right when I became an adult and graduated high school. Anyway, enough memorabilia and fuzzy feelings, time to talk about the game in question.
Off the bat, if there’s one aspect that feels absolutely tight, it’s the weapon roster. No joke, this might be my favorite of the Classic lot, at minimum containing my favorite designated niches in regards to stuff like the shield, floor crawling, and lobbers. Acid Barrier lasting the right length and being able to soak up all kinds of bullets makes it a mainstay for any tight situations; Bounce Ball’s three shot component and its upward/downward angle enables either a softening or outright kill for any enemy in any spot; Tundra Storm, Scramble Thunder, and Blazing Torch’s reliability on getting rid of aerial or cheekily tucked foes in varying yet all equally satisfying ways; and finally Pile Driver’s dash-like capability covering an adequate amount of distance while impaling any decently-weighted threat with a pinned explosion culminates in this being one of the most fun kits to try and utilize with. Even the two remaining armaments I’m not totally sold on, the Block Dropper and Chain Blast, are still quite entertaining to use in their own right and are still of nice backups in a pinch. I’m also pretty glad that the Mega Buster’s Charge Shot is in the same state it has in 4, 6, and 7, that being it’s a solid fallback tool that doesn’t completely decimate the difficulty that lies ahead. These also have their own idiosyncratic quirks for the stages, types of enemies, or both such as Tundra Storm and Acid Barrier being able to get rid of the spots Arc Weldy torched upon, but weirdly enough this feels lesser from what I can tell. Rush Jet and Rush Coil definitely got the shaft though, instead of being a loyal dog that gets attention he’s sort of regulated to the “help me get the goody” item that other entries have. Granted, I’ve mentioned before I haven’t touched these in a good while so it’s possible I’m misremembering, but yea. To reiterate, though, this set is still a joy to experiment with, even when excluding the new Double Gear system. I recall there being some press statements by the team that you can complete the game without having to overly use it, and as someone that’s spent most of their time without it, I can attest to it. The chances I’ve felt where I was forced to use it in order to survive were pretty slim, and even then it’s not like they’re not cool to use either… sorta. I never really got the deal with Power Gear, since its boosted power isn’t quite enough to encourage me to activate it for any of my equipment, but I do enjoy how Speed Gear’s handled with its slowdown for those “oh god I need to settle everything down ASAP” spurs.
If there’s anything I felt could’ve been ironed out, it’s the stage design. Now, it’s not like they’re bad, otherwise I’d give it a much lower score, and they have some of the best theming in the franchise from an old camp for scouts to a wholeass amusement park with dubious rides and contraptions, but the pacing and actual layouts are… weird. I think the Wily Fortress in this game is the best example, cause the first stage starts off pretty damn overwhelming and leans too harshly on enemy drops, with the boss of it being a major pain to deal with regardless of using its weakness or not… but then the second stage is like, majorly easy to brute force over, with far less do-or-die scenarios and a rather lowkey curve when it came to upping the ante. It’s challenging still, but it’s off regardless. Then you just have the boss rush after that and Wily himself, and they’re probably the best at balancing the ease and rigorous obstacle courses, and of course become an embarrassing cakewalk if you have the weapon energy to dish out. When it comes to the robot masters themselves, they’re a great bunch in terms of designs and personality displays, but the fights range from stilted decency (Acid Man, Blast Man, Torch Man, Block Man) to grand bouts (Bounce Man, Fuse Man, Tundra Man, Impact Man). Far from my favorite bosses to deal with, but again I’d say they’re solid enough. The only notable issue, and probably the most discussed topic, is checkpoint placements. No matter the difficulty, these checkpoints are bizarre. Each time I felt like I progressed just enough to have a space to come back to in case I die, I’m instead sent several screens back than I had assumed, and therefore have more to redo. This is especially painful on Torch Man’s, Acid Man’s and dependent on what you’re doing, Impact Man’s stages, due to containing precise instances that if having costed time, means you have to go back to it - and perhaps another dastardly obstacle - all over again. And, look, I’m not a knockback hater, I harken to and engross myself in Classicvania design pretty heavily and find it to be an effective tool in getting the player to both gauge what they’re attempting to do while also having to cost them something in these types of sidescrollers, but compared to other games in the series 11’s needlessly harsher than before, having a bigger push backwards and a noticeably lengthy stun time before you can get back to moving. I wouldn’t say it’s one of the hardest games in the line - certainly nowhere near the level of BS 9 offers, the first-outing jank 1 has in its core, or the rocky road 2 dabbles with on occasion - but it’s something that could’ve used more fine-tuning.
It’s not like you don’t have ways to cheese 11, either. The shop this time is curiously generous and not requiring much effort to grind out bolts this time around. No joke, I got by just stocking up on Lives, two cases of Energy and Weapon Tanks, Beat, Eddie, and the Energy Balancer (then later its upgraded variant EB Neo) plus later the Buddy Caller perk and was more-or-less fine the whole way through. I’m also perplexed at some of the items you have to unlock for use; Pierce Protector’s fine if you need the extra hand, but having to die from the spiked pits five times beforehand feels like a backhanded help, and I’d rather the Power Shield be something that’s on by default instead of having to tank a specific threshold of damage to purchase cause again, the knockback here is egregious. I know the latter half highlighted more on the bad instead of the good considering the rating, but it’s really because 11’s more or less emblematic as to what type of package Classic Mega Man can dish out: you got the overconfident mooks, the embarrassingly quick ways of unleashing mayhem, and throughout it all you just got a fun-ass pack of funky robot dudes and dudettes to spar against amidst the hodgepodge of gizmos and doodads to work with. Even before this I always thought to myself “man I have to replay MM11, that’s a good ass game there”. For a quick break, it’s definitely one way to expend it and have a feel-good aura afterwards. Now if only Capcom can actually give us a new Mega Man game...
It's kind of hard to talk about this title without having to mention the reveal, at least for me it is. Like, even if you weren't all that big into the franchise or were just an onlooker (me), watching the 30th Anniversary trailer back in its December upload, seeing that long span of absolutely nothing in the 2011-2017 period, then having gameplay footage pop up, it was like... whoa. This real? I ain't dreamin, right? That out of place, completely new design concept in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 actually meant something? Then you had the demo and its kinda weird state - mainly in reference to Block Man's level as a whole, which I'll get into - but the actual control and feel of the Blue Bomber was just right enough that you could place confidence in it, and it turned out to be a solid one through and through? Crazy turn of events. This also led to even more turnaround on Kenji Inafune's reputation due to Mighty No. 9 becoming washed out (I haven't played it myself... yet, I'm just going by public perception here), as well as the info that his departure of Capcom leaving this esoteric void of not knowing what to do next. Random thing to feel nostalgia for but like, it's probably one of the bigger "holy shit" moments I went through especially since it was right when I became an adult and graduated high school. Anyway, enough memorabilia and fuzzy feelings, time to talk about the game in question.
Off the bat, if there’s one aspect that feels absolutely tight, it’s the weapon roster. No joke, this might be my favorite of the Classic lot, at minimum containing my favorite designated niches in regards to stuff like the shield, floor crawling, and lobbers. Acid Barrier lasting the right length and being able to soak up all kinds of bullets makes it a mainstay for any tight situations; Bounce Ball’s three shot component and its upward/downward angle enables either a softening or outright kill for any enemy in any spot; Tundra Storm, Scramble Thunder, and Blazing Torch’s reliability on getting rid of aerial or cheekily tucked foes in varying yet all equally satisfying ways; and finally Pile Driver’s dash-like capability covering an adequate amount of distance while impaling any decently-weighted threat with a pinned explosion culminates in this being one of the most fun kits to try and utilize with. Even the two remaining armaments I’m not totally sold on, the Block Dropper and Chain Blast, are still quite entertaining to use in their own right and are still of nice backups in a pinch. I’m also pretty glad that the Mega Buster’s Charge Shot is in the same state it has in 4, 6, and 7, that being it’s a solid fallback tool that doesn’t completely decimate the difficulty that lies ahead. These also have their own idiosyncratic quirks for the stages, types of enemies, or both such as Tundra Storm and Acid Barrier being able to get rid of the spots Arc Weldy torched upon, but weirdly enough this feels lesser from what I can tell. Rush Jet and Rush Coil definitely got the shaft though, instead of being a loyal dog that gets attention he’s sort of regulated to the “help me get the goody” item that other entries have. Granted, I’ve mentioned before I haven’t touched these in a good while so it’s possible I’m misremembering, but yea. To reiterate, though, this set is still a joy to experiment with, even when excluding the new Double Gear system. I recall there being some press statements by the team that you can complete the game without having to overly use it, and as someone that’s spent most of their time without it, I can attest to it. The chances I’ve felt where I was forced to use it in order to survive were pretty slim, and even then it’s not like they’re not cool to use either… sorta. I never really got the deal with Power Gear, since its boosted power isn’t quite enough to encourage me to activate it for any of my equipment, but I do enjoy how Speed Gear’s handled with its slowdown for those “oh god I need to settle everything down ASAP” spurs.
If there’s anything I felt could’ve been ironed out, it’s the stage design. Now, it’s not like they’re bad, otherwise I’d give it a much lower score, and they have some of the best theming in the franchise from an old camp for scouts to a wholeass amusement park with dubious rides and contraptions, but the pacing and actual layouts are… weird. I think the Wily Fortress in this game is the best example, cause the first stage starts off pretty damn overwhelming and leans too harshly on enemy drops, with the boss of it being a major pain to deal with regardless of using its weakness or not… but then the second stage is like, majorly easy to brute force over, with far less do-or-die scenarios and a rather lowkey curve when it came to upping the ante. It’s challenging still, but it’s off regardless. Then you just have the boss rush after that and Wily himself, and they’re probably the best at balancing the ease and rigorous obstacle courses, and of course become an embarrassing cakewalk if you have the weapon energy to dish out. When it comes to the robot masters themselves, they’re a great bunch in terms of designs and personality displays, but the fights range from stilted decency (Acid Man, Blast Man, Torch Man, Block Man) to grand bouts (Bounce Man, Fuse Man, Tundra Man, Impact Man). Far from my favorite bosses to deal with, but again I’d say they’re solid enough. The only notable issue, and probably the most discussed topic, is checkpoint placements. No matter the difficulty, these checkpoints are bizarre. Each time I felt like I progressed just enough to have a space to come back to in case I die, I’m instead sent several screens back than I had assumed, and therefore have more to redo. This is especially painful on Torch Man’s, Acid Man’s and dependent on what you’re doing, Impact Man’s stages, due to containing precise instances that if having costed time, means you have to go back to it - and perhaps another dastardly obstacle - all over again. And, look, I’m not a knockback hater, I harken to and engross myself in Classicvania design pretty heavily and find it to be an effective tool in getting the player to both gauge what they’re attempting to do while also having to cost them something in these types of sidescrollers, but compared to other games in the series 11’s needlessly harsher than before, having a bigger push backwards and a noticeably lengthy stun time before you can get back to moving. I wouldn’t say it’s one of the hardest games in the line - certainly nowhere near the level of BS 9 offers, the first-outing jank 1 has in its core, or the rocky road 2 dabbles with on occasion - but it’s something that could’ve used more fine-tuning.
It’s not like you don’t have ways to cheese 11, either. The shop this time is curiously generous and not requiring much effort to grind out bolts this time around. No joke, I got by just stocking up on Lives, two cases of Energy and Weapon Tanks, Beat, Eddie, and the Energy Balancer (then later its upgraded variant EB Neo) plus later the Buddy Caller perk and was more-or-less fine the whole way through. I’m also perplexed at some of the items you have to unlock for use; Pierce Protector’s fine if you need the extra hand, but having to die from the spiked pits five times beforehand feels like a backhanded help, and I’d rather the Power Shield be something that’s on by default instead of having to tank a specific threshold of damage to purchase cause again, the knockback here is egregious. I know the latter half highlighted more on the bad instead of the good considering the rating, but it’s really because 11’s more or less emblematic as to what type of package Classic Mega Man can dish out: you got the overconfident mooks, the embarrassingly quick ways of unleashing mayhem, and throughout it all you just got a fun-ass pack of funky robot dudes and dudettes to spar against amidst the hodgepodge of gizmos and doodads to work with. Even before this I always thought to myself “man I have to replay MM11, that’s a good ass game there”. For a quick break, it’s definitely one way to expend it and have a feel-good aura afterwards. Now if only Capcom can actually give us a new Mega Man game...
2007
replayed via Master Chief Collection w/ co-op partner MagesticSapling on Heroic, check his review out too!
”...But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw but me. Can you guess? Luck. Was I wrong?”
Even a little over a decade and a half after its 2007 release, there's a grand sense of scale emanating from the package, a feat not many things can be able to behold over, heightened from when HD displays were becoming the norm. Compared to the morphs development of the first Halo went through and the drastic, heavy toll the crew faced for its sequel, 3 felt like a spiritual refresh, a hardened attempt at righting some wrongs with a more relaxed atmosphere and time to put together mechanics and ideas such as Forge in place while keeping the magic of 2 intact, albeit once again not without some wrenches in the mix. Despite events such as key figures like Jason Jones taking sabbatical after conflicts from higher ups, no one had a real sense of where to take the story for a while during the start which led to a different committee doing the outline, and some lingering splinters of group activity, the blemishes of Halo 3 isn’t quite as potent as the ones you’d witness in the prior two entries. Though, all the same, it was pretty clear some like Marty O’Donnell, Joseph Staten, and Jaime Griesemer to name a few were about ready to move on from the brand and hopefully try for something else, which once again you can feel during the title’s closing third where it unfortunately yet understandably had to rush the finalization of Arbiter’s, Keyes’, Johnson’s, Guilty Spark’s, Cortana’s, and Chief’s arcs within the last hour. Still, the fact this is the only major thing I have to complain about in regards to the writing shows I don’t have much friction with the rest of it.
”Tank beats Ghost. Tank beats Hunter. Tank beats everything! Oh man, I could do this all day!”
An important mark with Halo is that, at least during its prime, it was able to cultivate both the nerdy lore-heavy narrative geeks alongside the junkie gung-ho dudebro crowd. I haven’t elaborated much on the multiplayer aspect of the series, mainly cause I don’t exactly play much of it anymore aside from again co-op, but I remember a lot of the maps specifically in 3 thanks to my brothers and brief dabbling of Xbox Live back when I was able to, as well as when it was made available to play on PC thanks to the MCC. Maps such as Sandtrap, Snowbound, High Ground, and Valhalla are about as etched into my brain similar to those who know the back of Dust 2 and Nuketown like the back of their hands. Anyway, I bring it up because the campaign this time around is when it starts to relish in its bombast appeal, bringing everyone in to bust some guts metaphorically or literally. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Red vs. Blue easter egg regarding passwords, or if you intentionally have the IWHBYD Skull on, or taking part in the many, many setpieces, or listening to yet another masterpiece of an OST by previously mentioned Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori, it wants, no encourages you to partake in the vigor and spectacle, to march on and press the fight onward. Dismiss its lulls of action or convexing moments, right around the corner will be something to push you back up on your feet.
They outnumber us three-to-one! Then it is an even fight.
What helps in this regard is the weapon balancing this time around. My experience with shooters has since dwindled over recent years, but even still I’m pretty confident in saying this is likely my favorite set of guns of the genre, at the very least near the apex of its long-spanning history. Old reliables return and receive much needed tuning such as the Needler, armaments that still needed an extra kick received them such as the Plasma Pistol, ones that needed a nerf got hit with the right amount such as the Energy Sword, and don’t even get me started on the new inclusions. The Spiker. The Mauler. The Flamethrower you can pick up in certain situations. Being able to rip apart then use the mounted turrets and newcomer missile pod. Abilities such as shields, flares, and the insanely questionable for campaign radar jammer. The Spike and Incendiary Grenades. Incoming vehicles such as the Hornet, Chopper, and Mongoose. The Spartan Laser. The Gravity Hammer. With the open-ended philosophy being tuned justly at last, and nearly every single level having their own unique quirk to make them stand out amongst one another, it’s such an ease to get into a power trip, plan accordingly and strike back when pushed against the wall, and really, just throw shit together and see what’ll make them tick. Or, to put it more bluntly, “blowing shit up has never felt so good”. Also helps that the movement and checkpoint system are the best they’ve ever been as well, with jumps and the degree in which you’ll be able to carve your assault being all the more tightened as you go along. Time seems to continuously escape me here, as what feels like five hours of fun instead happened in a mere two.
We’ll make it.
The ad campaign was, and truthfully still is, something that’s become a notable attachment of 3’s success. A faux interview between UNSC veterans and other minor adverts to help sell the idea that the struggle of finishing a fight was real. At least several instances exist of either battered soldiers, congratulatory banter between both the humans and a newly made alliance with the Elites, or hostile tension as to what must be done to wrap it all up and start preparing for a fresh future. Though, in a specific case, during Cortana - the level, I mean - the setting of High Charity had become a wreck of rampancy and turmoil. Commonly cited as the low point due to its perplexing layout and, reiterating, persistent onslaught of enemies hurling bullets, other projectiles, or even themselves towards you, it’s ironically something that perhaps pushed this aspect the hardest, at least to some degree; something that was once a high point of a species reduced to rot and decay, as you deal with an onslaught of the returning Flood to retrieve Cortana and finish the fight. A diatribe brokered between a being struggling to accept their demise, and an intelligence struggling to maintain their sanity. Even from this, however, someone was still resisting. Someone was still etching forward despite what the scenery had told them. Someone was, although rather awkwardly and hastefully, able to reaffirm someone’s mentality and stand back up from the scene of it all. The mask of their intention murk, it was him who was still able to keep everyone together even from way back in the initial start.
It’s from this, specifically, where a meek 8-year-old had begun to crystalize an emotion they didn’t quite understand yet: the feeling of a belief.
”...But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw but me. Can you guess? Luck. Was I wrong?”
Even a little over a decade and a half after its 2007 release, there's a grand sense of scale emanating from the package, a feat not many things can be able to behold over, heightened from when HD displays were becoming the norm. Compared to the morphs development of the first Halo went through and the drastic, heavy toll the crew faced for its sequel, 3 felt like a spiritual refresh, a hardened attempt at righting some wrongs with a more relaxed atmosphere and time to put together mechanics and ideas such as Forge in place while keeping the magic of 2 intact, albeit once again not without some wrenches in the mix. Despite events such as key figures like Jason Jones taking sabbatical after conflicts from higher ups, no one had a real sense of where to take the story for a while during the start which led to a different committee doing the outline, and some lingering splinters of group activity, the blemishes of Halo 3 isn’t quite as potent as the ones you’d witness in the prior two entries. Though, all the same, it was pretty clear some like Marty O’Donnell, Joseph Staten, and Jaime Griesemer to name a few were about ready to move on from the brand and hopefully try for something else, which once again you can feel during the title’s closing third where it unfortunately yet understandably had to rush the finalization of Arbiter’s, Keyes’, Johnson’s, Guilty Spark’s, Cortana’s, and Chief’s arcs within the last hour. Still, the fact this is the only major thing I have to complain about in regards to the writing shows I don’t have much friction with the rest of it.
”Tank beats Ghost. Tank beats Hunter. Tank beats everything! Oh man, I could do this all day!”
An important mark with Halo is that, at least during its prime, it was able to cultivate both the nerdy lore-heavy narrative geeks alongside the junkie gung-ho dudebro crowd. I haven’t elaborated much on the multiplayer aspect of the series, mainly cause I don’t exactly play much of it anymore aside from again co-op, but I remember a lot of the maps specifically in 3 thanks to my brothers and brief dabbling of Xbox Live back when I was able to, as well as when it was made available to play on PC thanks to the MCC. Maps such as Sandtrap, Snowbound, High Ground, and Valhalla are about as etched into my brain similar to those who know the back of Dust 2 and Nuketown like the back of their hands. Anyway, I bring it up because the campaign this time around is when it starts to relish in its bombast appeal, bringing everyone in to bust some guts metaphorically or literally. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Red vs. Blue easter egg regarding passwords, or if you intentionally have the IWHBYD Skull on, or taking part in the many, many setpieces, or listening to yet another masterpiece of an OST by previously mentioned Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori, it wants, no encourages you to partake in the vigor and spectacle, to march on and press the fight onward. Dismiss its lulls of action or convexing moments, right around the corner will be something to push you back up on your feet.
They outnumber us three-to-one! Then it is an even fight.
What helps in this regard is the weapon balancing this time around. My experience with shooters has since dwindled over recent years, but even still I’m pretty confident in saying this is likely my favorite set of guns of the genre, at the very least near the apex of its long-spanning history. Old reliables return and receive much needed tuning such as the Needler, armaments that still needed an extra kick received them such as the Plasma Pistol, ones that needed a nerf got hit with the right amount such as the Energy Sword, and don’t even get me started on the new inclusions. The Spiker. The Mauler. The Flamethrower you can pick up in certain situations. Being able to rip apart then use the mounted turrets and newcomer missile pod. Abilities such as shields, flares, and the insanely questionable for campaign radar jammer. The Spike and Incendiary Grenades. Incoming vehicles such as the Hornet, Chopper, and Mongoose. The Spartan Laser. The Gravity Hammer. With the open-ended philosophy being tuned justly at last, and nearly every single level having their own unique quirk to make them stand out amongst one another, it’s such an ease to get into a power trip, plan accordingly and strike back when pushed against the wall, and really, just throw shit together and see what’ll make them tick. Or, to put it more bluntly, “blowing shit up has never felt so good”. Also helps that the movement and checkpoint system are the best they’ve ever been as well, with jumps and the degree in which you’ll be able to carve your assault being all the more tightened as you go along. Time seems to continuously escape me here, as what feels like five hours of fun instead happened in a mere two.
We’ll make it.
The ad campaign was, and truthfully still is, something that’s become a notable attachment of 3’s success. A faux interview between UNSC veterans and other minor adverts to help sell the idea that the struggle of finishing a fight was real. At least several instances exist of either battered soldiers, congratulatory banter between both the humans and a newly made alliance with the Elites, or hostile tension as to what must be done to wrap it all up and start preparing for a fresh future. Though, in a specific case, during Cortana - the level, I mean - the setting of High Charity had become a wreck of rampancy and turmoil. Commonly cited as the low point due to its perplexing layout and, reiterating, persistent onslaught of enemies hurling bullets, other projectiles, or even themselves towards you, it’s ironically something that perhaps pushed this aspect the hardest, at least to some degree; something that was once a high point of a species reduced to rot and decay, as you deal with an onslaught of the returning Flood to retrieve Cortana and finish the fight. A diatribe brokered between a being struggling to accept their demise, and an intelligence struggling to maintain their sanity. Even from this, however, someone was still resisting. Someone was still etching forward despite what the scenery had told them. Someone was, although rather awkwardly and hastefully, able to reaffirm someone’s mentality and stand back up from the scene of it all. The mask of their intention murk, it was him who was still able to keep everyone together even from way back in the initial start.
It’s from this, specifically, where a meek 8-year-old had begun to crystalize an emotion they didn’t quite understand yet: the feeling of a belief.
2004
replayed via Master Chief Collection w/ co-op partner MagesticSapling on Heroic
Halo 2 was the first ever FPS I played, back during its release of November 9th, 2004, when I was merely five. I have no idea how or why my parents were able to let someone my age touch an M-rated game like that, especially since the disparity between mine and my older brothers’ age were rather minimal to begin with, but whatever. It’s the game that cemented not only Halo’s status as an icon of gaming, let alone one for the new generation of FPS franchises, but also gave Microsoft a solidified position on the console market that they’ve been holding over with scattered, rather downtrodden results. That last part is also accurate to the development of Halo 2, due to it being so rotted with crunch and issues influenced from personal life and suit meddling that its bleeding turmoil permeates throughout the campaign, especially during its closing hours and on Legendary difficulty, that it’s a miracle this was ever released and held to high acclaim to begin with. Though, words from the people involved are able to detail this…
Unlike the first game where it felt like a retrofitted Marathon entry, 2 feels more akin to Bungie’s lesser known (and equally harder to access) Myth duology, which in turn was a large homage to the dark fantasy series The Black Company. It’s not quite as apocalyptic or doomed by comparison, but similar inkling is felt: Chief may have won the battle on the first Halo ring, but the war on the Covenant - soon revealed to be the Prophets and Brutes specifically - was ever brewing into catastrophic degrees, and one Thel ‘Vadamee became branded as a heretic due to the immense failure that had occurred for that faction, yet was given a chance, albeit suicidal and high in cost, by becoming the Hierarchs’ newly designated Arbiter. The dualist approach of storytelling gives way to both heroes’ conflicts, with Thel learning about the corruption and outright lies the Prophets have utilized in their false ‘religion’ to propagandized and weaponize sects of the troops for their own gain, Chief once again picking up arms to fight back against the threat, and both of them learning that there’s far harsher secrets the Rings have below than anyone could imagine. Although the depth in narrative isn’t quite significant, and to reiterate the inharmoniously turbulence of the development unearths obvious changes (Miranda Keyes lol), there’s a grander, more palpable pulse beating throughout the campaign’s oscillating beats, there being differences and unveiling of the key individuals involved as the progression continues. It also helps that the attempts of humor is more potent, not luxuriating in the solemn revelations for too long if one cares more about the action than the inspection.
The two sides of Halo 2 also give way to the gunplay, because as everyone knows it’s called such since you can wield two guns. This makes certain weapons more viable, such as the Plasma Pistol becoming a better way of softening up any enemy, but it also serves to crutch others, such as the Needler’s capped damage output for faster speed can only ever become as powerful as it once was by procuring both and going to town. There’s similar improvements and blows outside of this, where the Energy Sword’s dominance is established as one of the best close-encounter finishers, while the Shotgun’s pellet spread and range deduction means it’s nowhere near the force of nature it once was and serves as a mere sidegrade at best to some of the other arsenals it shares favors with. Weapon swaps tend to occur more frequently from either helpful ammo drops, or from beneficial gains via enemy or careful observations in the environments that allows for management and hold of the situations at hand. Plus, a lot of things sound cooler, be it from the arsenal as I hear the pings and energized blasts from each piece, ambiances to , or the way, way improved music, incorporated more often to help give weight to the type of things you’d be doing even if it was in the smallest of doses. Those benjamins knew what they were doin from their breaks, it’s easy to revel in hard-ironed bravado if I had some backing music accompanying me.
It also helps that level design feels a lot more fleshed out as to what it wants to be, emphasizing the linear nature but using that open-space philosophy 1 tried to dabble in more succinct manners. They still couldn’t quite get the reuse aesthetics down, but it’s not as egregious as before at the very least, with better signage and distinctions made to guide the protagonists throughout the structures. Both may be lone wolfing it for a majority of the time, but the way they go about it is fairly unique. Chief’s able to push forward with little issues, while Arbiter needs to camo in quick pace to gain the upper hand, or altogether avoid the firefights. Arbiter largely deals with corridors or otherwise tight compactors in the places he visits, while Chief is able to breathe more often until the chokes tighten up. Of course, the biggest hurdles to go over are all the times you wait for things to happen. Like, a LOT of waiting. Like oh my god why is Oracle like that and why must I and my friend suffer through connection errors that just got patched the day we finished this. You also got the dang gondolas and transfer vehicles in Delta Halo that could seriously use a speedboost. I believe people mark Quarantine Zone as the game’s worst level, but at least you can rush through to the end and only have to deal with a slow ride against the Flood! The last quarter, specifically when Gravemind starts, is when it truly begins to showcase its uneven and cobbled together nature, cause it’s when the first game’s trapping of “just throw a lot at them” rears its head again, only this time worse because of the aforementioned balancing muddying up the encounters. As far as I’m concerned, being able to beat this solo on Legendary is a mark of a hardened player, something I doubt I’ll ever do at any point in my life.
It’s easy to deride 2 for a lot of things, since it’s the second Halo entry to have the flaws out in full force (I’ll go over Reach later…), but when all’s said and done, I’m not sure I can bring myself to agree fully. Top to bottom, I’m fairly confident in saying this is one of the best FPS titles to have graced the genre, especially considering the period it was released in where more landmarks were either on their way, or already established themselves. This one’s definitely a case of rose-tints being tied on, but what can I say, when I first laid my eyes on this, I was blinded by its beauty.
Halo 2 was the first ever FPS I played, back during its release of November 9th, 2004, when I was merely five. I have no idea how or why my parents were able to let someone my age touch an M-rated game like that, especially since the disparity between mine and my older brothers’ age were rather minimal to begin with, but whatever. It’s the game that cemented not only Halo’s status as an icon of gaming, let alone one for the new generation of FPS franchises, but also gave Microsoft a solidified position on the console market that they’ve been holding over with scattered, rather downtrodden results. That last part is also accurate to the development of Halo 2, due to it being so rotted with crunch and issues influenced from personal life and suit meddling that its bleeding turmoil permeates throughout the campaign, especially during its closing hours and on Legendary difficulty, that it’s a miracle this was ever released and held to high acclaim to begin with. Though, words from the people involved are able to detail this…
Unlike the first game where it felt like a retrofitted Marathon entry, 2 feels more akin to Bungie’s lesser known (and equally harder to access) Myth duology, which in turn was a large homage to the dark fantasy series The Black Company. It’s not quite as apocalyptic or doomed by comparison, but similar inkling is felt: Chief may have won the battle on the first Halo ring, but the war on the Covenant - soon revealed to be the Prophets and Brutes specifically - was ever brewing into catastrophic degrees, and one Thel ‘Vadamee became branded as a heretic due to the immense failure that had occurred for that faction, yet was given a chance, albeit suicidal and high in cost, by becoming the Hierarchs’ newly designated Arbiter. The dualist approach of storytelling gives way to both heroes’ conflicts, with Thel learning about the corruption and outright lies the Prophets have utilized in their false ‘religion’ to propagandized and weaponize sects of the troops for their own gain, Chief once again picking up arms to fight back against the threat, and both of them learning that there’s far harsher secrets the Rings have below than anyone could imagine. Although the depth in narrative isn’t quite significant, and to reiterate the inharmoniously turbulence of the development unearths obvious changes (Miranda Keyes lol), there’s a grander, more palpable pulse beating throughout the campaign’s oscillating beats, there being differences and unveiling of the key individuals involved as the progression continues. It also helps that the attempts of humor is more potent, not luxuriating in the solemn revelations for too long if one cares more about the action than the inspection.
The two sides of Halo 2 also give way to the gunplay, because as everyone knows it’s called such since you can wield two guns. This makes certain weapons more viable, such as the Plasma Pistol becoming a better way of softening up any enemy, but it also serves to crutch others, such as the Needler’s capped damage output for faster speed can only ever become as powerful as it once was by procuring both and going to town. There’s similar improvements and blows outside of this, where the Energy Sword’s dominance is established as one of the best close-encounter finishers, while the Shotgun’s pellet spread and range deduction means it’s nowhere near the force of nature it once was and serves as a mere sidegrade at best to some of the other arsenals it shares favors with. Weapon swaps tend to occur more frequently from either helpful ammo drops, or from beneficial gains via enemy or careful observations in the environments that allows for management and hold of the situations at hand. Plus, a lot of things sound cooler, be it from the arsenal as I hear the pings and energized blasts from each piece, ambiances to , or the way, way improved music, incorporated more often to help give weight to the type of things you’d be doing even if it was in the smallest of doses. Those benjamins knew what they were doin from their breaks, it’s easy to revel in hard-ironed bravado if I had some backing music accompanying me.
It also helps that level design feels a lot more fleshed out as to what it wants to be, emphasizing the linear nature but using that open-space philosophy 1 tried to dabble in more succinct manners. They still couldn’t quite get the reuse aesthetics down, but it’s not as egregious as before at the very least, with better signage and distinctions made to guide the protagonists throughout the structures. Both may be lone wolfing it for a majority of the time, but the way they go about it is fairly unique. Chief’s able to push forward with little issues, while Arbiter needs to camo in quick pace to gain the upper hand, or altogether avoid the firefights. Arbiter largely deals with corridors or otherwise tight compactors in the places he visits, while Chief is able to breathe more often until the chokes tighten up. Of course, the biggest hurdles to go over are all the times you wait for things to happen. Like, a LOT of waiting. Like oh my god why is Oracle like that and why must I and my friend suffer through connection errors that just got patched the day we finished this. You also got the dang gondolas and transfer vehicles in Delta Halo that could seriously use a speedboost. I believe people mark Quarantine Zone as the game’s worst level, but at least you can rush through to the end and only have to deal with a slow ride against the Flood! The last quarter, specifically when Gravemind starts, is when it truly begins to showcase its uneven and cobbled together nature, cause it’s when the first game’s trapping of “just throw a lot at them” rears its head again, only this time worse because of the aforementioned balancing muddying up the encounters. As far as I’m concerned, being able to beat this solo on Legendary is a mark of a hardened player, something I doubt I’ll ever do at any point in my life.
It’s easy to deride 2 for a lot of things, since it’s the second Halo entry to have the flaws out in full force (I’ll go over Reach later…), but when all’s said and done, I’m not sure I can bring myself to agree fully. Top to bottom, I’m fairly confident in saying this is one of the best FPS titles to have graced the genre, especially considering the period it was released in where more landmarks were either on their way, or already established themselves. This one’s definitely a case of rose-tints being tied on, but what can I say, when I first laid my eyes on this, I was blinded by its beauty.
2001
replayed via Master Chief Collection w/ co-op partner MagesticSapling on Heroic
Hmmm, not much I can say for this log or review. I will say that I am gonna concede a bit and admit that the common critique of repetition and exact room layout does show itself now that I've replayed it after a good while. People rightfully point to Library as the quality falloff, but Assault On The Control Room's when the ugliness shows. Having to do the same objective three times amidst constant onslaughts of enemy waves, as both of us haphazardly and confusingly figure out where to go despite our previous outings with the game, kinda sucked! Same goes for the "boss" fight at Maw, dunno why they'd expect you to keep scrounging for explosives for a precise shot against shafts at the top. I don't really mind that the back half of the game's just a mirrored reflection of the prior levels though, it makes sense from a narrative standpoint and some of the best moments, such as Keyes and 343 Guilty Spark, are found here anyway.
It's not truly nostalgia that's keeping me from marking it lower - this is actually the third Halo game I touched after 2 and 3, and one I've played the least of - because I still find the overall package to be pretty stellar despite its obvious and glaring trappings. Seeing a streak of explosions happen from grenades, Needler shots, rockets, Flood carriers, shit all of the above, activates a tank of dopamine within my head, even if later game's soundscapes (music included) are better on that front. Plus, I dunno, playing this on Heroic is still a fun time, and there's some quirks from either the AI or weaponry available that makes it pretty exhilarating that's either understandably or unfortunately lost later on that keeps it from feeling too obsolete from its sequels. Maybe I'm just a bit of a masochist though...
I've always maintained Halo's stories, within the games themselves anyway, don't become interesting and like, 'layered' with themes until the next one, but looking at this from the perspective of a pseudo-continuation of Bungie's Marathon trilogy makes it a little more exciting, Monitor and Cortana being the AI standees as they drivel and spout against one another. It's pretty cool, even if at certain points I check out and go through other stuff on my phone. Also listen I know this is pretty much something everyone brings up but like, oh my god, the Anniversary graphics suck so much ass. Just the absolute pinnacle of a """remaster""" missing the point of the original's art direction. The only time Sap and I found the remaster graphics to be an actual addition to what the original was doing is with Keyes' Alien homage fuckery.
I played this intermittently of reading I'm In Love With The Villainess' first light novel volume, the Kase-San& manga series, as well as Boogiepop Phantom and its preceding LN volume. Clearly, this was what Microsoft and Bungie wanted to happen all along, and I recommend you do the same. Or just go through those separately, idk I ain't the boss of you.
Hmmm, not much I can say for this log or review. I will say that I am gonna concede a bit and admit that the common critique of repetition and exact room layout does show itself now that I've replayed it after a good while. People rightfully point to Library as the quality falloff, but Assault On The Control Room's when the ugliness shows. Having to do the same objective three times amidst constant onslaughts of enemy waves, as both of us haphazardly and confusingly figure out where to go despite our previous outings with the game, kinda sucked! Same goes for the "boss" fight at Maw, dunno why they'd expect you to keep scrounging for explosives for a precise shot against shafts at the top. I don't really mind that the back half of the game's just a mirrored reflection of the prior levels though, it makes sense from a narrative standpoint and some of the best moments, such as Keyes and 343 Guilty Spark, are found here anyway.
It's not truly nostalgia that's keeping me from marking it lower - this is actually the third Halo game I touched after 2 and 3, and one I've played the least of - because I still find the overall package to be pretty stellar despite its obvious and glaring trappings. Seeing a streak of explosions happen from grenades, Needler shots, rockets, Flood carriers, shit all of the above, activates a tank of dopamine within my head, even if later game's soundscapes (music included) are better on that front. Plus, I dunno, playing this on Heroic is still a fun time, and there's some quirks from either the AI or weaponry available that makes it pretty exhilarating that's either understandably or unfortunately lost later on that keeps it from feeling too obsolete from its sequels. Maybe I'm just a bit of a masochist though...
I've always maintained Halo's stories, within the games themselves anyway, don't become interesting and like, 'layered' with themes until the next one, but looking at this from the perspective of a pseudo-continuation of Bungie's Marathon trilogy makes it a little more exciting, Monitor and Cortana being the AI standees as they drivel and spout against one another. It's pretty cool, even if at certain points I check out and go through other stuff on my phone. Also listen I know this is pretty much something everyone brings up but like, oh my god, the Anniversary graphics suck so much ass. Just the absolute pinnacle of a """remaster""" missing the point of the original's art direction. The only time Sap and I found the remaster graphics to be an actual addition to what the original was doing is with Keyes' Alien homage fuckery.
I played this intermittently of reading I'm In Love With The Villainess' first light novel volume, the Kase-San& manga series, as well as Boogiepop Phantom and its preceding LN volume. Clearly, this was what Microsoft and Bungie wanted to happen all along, and I recommend you do the same. Or just go through those separately, idk I ain't the boss of you.