This review contains spoilers
9/10
I will always love Knights of the Old Republic, it holds a dear place in my heart and is easily my favorite out of any star wars game, especially in terms of writing and the many, many questions the story brings into the morality and greyline between the jedi and sith. I have played KOTOR throughout my life, and especially with KOTOR II, I take something out of it, even after playing it a second time on the dark side playthrough.
Story
KOTOR II's writing is easily my favorite out of any of the star wars game, and it saddens me that the themes of this game are barely touched ever again, and only certain aspects like what happens to one who has to cut themselves from the force like in fallen order are discussed again. KOTOR II's story focuses on the exile, who was cut from the force due to becoming a wound in the force after the horrors of war have taken place. Many of the characters are what happens to soldiers after a gruesome war that they don't even know if they won or not, and the psychological aftereffects that take place. I simply love the story of KOTOR II and how it handles breaking down the black and white views of the jedi and sith (which are again, retconned now thx disney). During war, people don't see jedi or sith, they see 2 jedi with too much power for anyone to comprehend and flawed beliefs. Now of course there are some hiccups in the story, especially without the restored content mod you will just have blanks in the story that aren't explained due to cut content, and even so the plot isn't very standard, as it mainly focused on the player's journey on learning about the flaws of the force compared to KOTOR I that had a more streamlined plot to experience. With the restored content mod, the story that obsidian wanted to tell is easily digestible, and tackles much stronger messages that no other star wars games has even come close to.
Characters
KOTOR II's characters, especially the cast (and especially one character), are super strong. KOTOR I's cast also had strong overall characters, with some weak ones like Juhanni. KOTOR II's companions are almost all super strong, with the weak ones writing wise either being mira or the disciple, which is a character I didn't experience as I did male all 2 runs. Diving into all the character's backstories can unmask a really engaging story to uncover, and the big ones that stood out are Atton, Bao-Dur, Handmaiden, HK-47 and ESPECIALLY, Kreia. I could easily write a whole essay on Kreia with how interesting her story is to the point where I believe the story and Kreia are one of the same. The one thing I love about the entire cast in KOTOR II is that while they all share pains, especially those who were involved in the war and Malachor V, there is also one common theme... Their beliefs CONSTANTLY clash with each other. KOTOR I's crew easily became friends with each other no problem, but every time you experience a cutscene in the ebon hawk in KOTOR II... the companions while they have some sharing moments, tend to argue, fight against one another, yell over who is right or wrong, aruge about the morality of sending your troops to war knowing they will die no matter. Every time I went into the ebon hawk and saw a cutscene was about to play I would always be excited cause most of the cutscenes are just a joy to experience. While a TON of the scenes with the crew were simply cut, the restored content mod brings these scenes back again and even at some points, enhances them to match what the developers wanted to show till the time issue came sprinting in. Atton's past about being a skilled jedi hunter, HK-47's remarks on how to kill a jedi, Bao-Dur's horror stories of having to build machines that will haunt him back for the war, Visa's home being taken by her, Handmaiden trying to understand why her parents left her, G0-T0's reveal of who he is, and my god Kreia's teachings and her frustrations with both the sith's arrogance and the jedi's lack of action causing them to never understand wars they think they are helping by not interfering, but are instead blinding them of what is really going on around the world. The characters are easily a highlight of this game, and with all the restored content, makes this game a memorable experience.
Gameplay
KOTOR II's gameplay utilizes the same format as the predecessor, a turn-based RPG with dnd mechanics, but makes the dnd mechanics invisible enough to where if you don't understand them, you will never know they even exist. Understanding DND mechanics (specifically 3rd edition, which is similar enough to 5e that I was able to quickly exploit the mechanic), the game was a ton of fun to play through. It is a shame this style of combat is considered out of date to others, and I am glad that BG3 showed that DND mechanics can still have its place in the market, but if there is one issue with the gameplay, is what I said before. If you understand the DND mechanics, the game can easily be broken into bits. While as a kid I was unable to understand what was going on, so the difficulty of the game was balanced enough, now that I have played through BG3 and can finally see the invisible DND mechanics that run this game, the game became a bit TOO easy. The issue with the mechanics of this game is that the enemy AI are simply too weak, and the abilities the game gives you can make the game easily broken no matter if you choose to go all lightsaber or all force ability. Going all combat focused with lightsaber, stacking attack turns with double lightsaber, master flurry and master of speed giving an additional 2 attacks per turn makes many fights trivial, as 97% of the enemies weren't balanced around you doing 5 attacks each turn. Going all force means you will have so much wisdom that no enemy can resist your force powers, and will almost always fail your insanity checks which takes them out of combat, then spam force storm or any other offensive force ability to wipe out literally any amount of enemy thrown at you. The only time the game throws a challenge is when the enemy you are forced to fight has a shit ton of health, high damage output and a high DC roll, making you have to rethink what force abilities to use, and having to use your more defensive abilities just to survive. Apart from those few, the game doesn't really give you a reason to stray away from those 2 strategies. Apart from the difficulty, I love the mechanics of this game to death, and will defend it from anyone who says that it is out of date, but it is easily breakable.
Music
KOTOR II's ost is pretty damn good. the composer was able to recreate that feeling of star wars, which the KOTOR I was also able to recreate. Overall I do like KOTOR II's ost better, as there are some standouts that I just enjoy a ton, but KOTOR I's ost is still super memorable for a reason. There isn't a song I will listen outside of the game of course, but the ost added a ton to this game and I give it credit for that. The battle themes, main theme, final boss theme and especially the rebuilt jedi enclave song are the ones that stand out to me the most.
Last Positives/Nitpicks
- not taking into account, but the additional planet restoration mod, M4-78 is in my opinion, not a mod you should have installed as a first playthrough. The planet is really bland gameplay wise, and while the song is pretty good, the voice acting was just terrible as it is obviously amateur, with a writing difference that easily stands out with how much worse it is compared to the base game's writing. I am glad they brought this planet back, and at a mod's perspective it is massively impressive, but compared to the rest of the game stands out as a fault, and should only be experienced as a curiosity, not as a first playthrough planet.
- Revan's ghost having sooooo much DC (base 80 + modifers like are you fr), is pretty funny. He has so much DC that even moves with DC 100 with descriptions that it is impossible to miss, can possibly miss was just hilarious to me.
-Love the restoration mod, but the abrupt ending can still be pretty jarring.
-KOTOR II's limbo of canon is pretty sad, even if it were to be canon due to extended universe no longer being canon, the future novels and swtor basically disregards this game anyways, which is pretty sad to me.
-Some companion's character arc don't go as far as others, Especially Mandalore who I would had hoped would have more, but at least I was able to experience it, as the base game doesn't even have enough influence points to experience his full story.
Conclusion
I will always cherish KOTOR II. While I do understand the one fatal flaw, you REQUIRE the TSLCRM to even experience this game to the fullest, with the mod installed the game easily beats KOTOR I for me personally, and easily has my favorite writing out of the entire series game wise. I can finally put this game to rest now as I have done a LS and DS run of this game, which are super worth it, as both runs have so many different story and companion differences, even if the plot stays the same mostly. While I never did a female run, It is pretty unlikely I will come back, as the main difference is the Disciple, which I heard is not that good of a companion. I will always recommend KOTOR II to others, as this game holds a special place in my heard despite all of its flaws.
9/10
I will always love Knights of the Old Republic, it holds a dear place in my heart and is easily my favorite out of any star wars game, especially in terms of writing and the many, many questions the story brings into the morality and greyline between the jedi and sith. I have played KOTOR throughout my life, and especially with KOTOR II, I take something out of it, even after playing it a second time on the dark side playthrough.
Story
KOTOR II's writing is easily my favorite out of any of the star wars game, and it saddens me that the themes of this game are barely touched ever again, and only certain aspects like what happens to one who has to cut themselves from the force like in fallen order are discussed again. KOTOR II's story focuses on the exile, who was cut from the force due to becoming a wound in the force after the horrors of war have taken place. Many of the characters are what happens to soldiers after a gruesome war that they don't even know if they won or not, and the psychological aftereffects that take place. I simply love the story of KOTOR II and how it handles breaking down the black and white views of the jedi and sith (which are again, retconned now thx disney). During war, people don't see jedi or sith, they see 2 jedi with too much power for anyone to comprehend and flawed beliefs. Now of course there are some hiccups in the story, especially without the restored content mod you will just have blanks in the story that aren't explained due to cut content, and even so the plot isn't very standard, as it mainly focused on the player's journey on learning about the flaws of the force compared to KOTOR I that had a more streamlined plot to experience. With the restored content mod, the story that obsidian wanted to tell is easily digestible, and tackles much stronger messages that no other star wars games has even come close to.
Characters
KOTOR II's characters, especially the cast (and especially one character), are super strong. KOTOR I's cast also had strong overall characters, with some weak ones like Juhanni. KOTOR II's companions are almost all super strong, with the weak ones writing wise either being mira or the disciple, which is a character I didn't experience as I did male all 2 runs. Diving into all the character's backstories can unmask a really engaging story to uncover, and the big ones that stood out are Atton, Bao-Dur, Handmaiden, HK-47 and ESPECIALLY, Kreia. I could easily write a whole essay on Kreia with how interesting her story is to the point where I believe the story and Kreia are one of the same. The one thing I love about the entire cast in KOTOR II is that while they all share pains, especially those who were involved in the war and Malachor V, there is also one common theme... Their beliefs CONSTANTLY clash with each other. KOTOR I's crew easily became friends with each other no problem, but every time you experience a cutscene in the ebon hawk in KOTOR II... the companions while they have some sharing moments, tend to argue, fight against one another, yell over who is right or wrong, aruge about the morality of sending your troops to war knowing they will die no matter. Every time I went into the ebon hawk and saw a cutscene was about to play I would always be excited cause most of the cutscenes are just a joy to experience. While a TON of the scenes with the crew were simply cut, the restored content mod brings these scenes back again and even at some points, enhances them to match what the developers wanted to show till the time issue came sprinting in. Atton's past about being a skilled jedi hunter, HK-47's remarks on how to kill a jedi, Bao-Dur's horror stories of having to build machines that will haunt him back for the war, Visa's home being taken by her, Handmaiden trying to understand why her parents left her, G0-T0's reveal of who he is, and my god Kreia's teachings and her frustrations with both the sith's arrogance and the jedi's lack of action causing them to never understand wars they think they are helping by not interfering, but are instead blinding them of what is really going on around the world. The characters are easily a highlight of this game, and with all the restored content, makes this game a memorable experience.
Gameplay
KOTOR II's gameplay utilizes the same format as the predecessor, a turn-based RPG with dnd mechanics, but makes the dnd mechanics invisible enough to where if you don't understand them, you will never know they even exist. Understanding DND mechanics (specifically 3rd edition, which is similar enough to 5e that I was able to quickly exploit the mechanic), the game was a ton of fun to play through. It is a shame this style of combat is considered out of date to others, and I am glad that BG3 showed that DND mechanics can still have its place in the market, but if there is one issue with the gameplay, is what I said before. If you understand the DND mechanics, the game can easily be broken into bits. While as a kid I was unable to understand what was going on, so the difficulty of the game was balanced enough, now that I have played through BG3 and can finally see the invisible DND mechanics that run this game, the game became a bit TOO easy. The issue with the mechanics of this game is that the enemy AI are simply too weak, and the abilities the game gives you can make the game easily broken no matter if you choose to go all lightsaber or all force ability. Going all combat focused with lightsaber, stacking attack turns with double lightsaber, master flurry and master of speed giving an additional 2 attacks per turn makes many fights trivial, as 97% of the enemies weren't balanced around you doing 5 attacks each turn. Going all force means you will have so much wisdom that no enemy can resist your force powers, and will almost always fail your insanity checks which takes them out of combat, then spam force storm or any other offensive force ability to wipe out literally any amount of enemy thrown at you. The only time the game throws a challenge is when the enemy you are forced to fight has a shit ton of health, high damage output and a high DC roll, making you have to rethink what force abilities to use, and having to use your more defensive abilities just to survive. Apart from those few, the game doesn't really give you a reason to stray away from those 2 strategies. Apart from the difficulty, I love the mechanics of this game to death, and will defend it from anyone who says that it is out of date, but it is easily breakable.
Music
KOTOR II's ost is pretty damn good. the composer was able to recreate that feeling of star wars, which the KOTOR I was also able to recreate. Overall I do like KOTOR II's ost better, as there are some standouts that I just enjoy a ton, but KOTOR I's ost is still super memorable for a reason. There isn't a song I will listen outside of the game of course, but the ost added a ton to this game and I give it credit for that. The battle themes, main theme, final boss theme and especially the rebuilt jedi enclave song are the ones that stand out to me the most.
Last Positives/Nitpicks
- not taking into account, but the additional planet restoration mod, M4-78 is in my opinion, not a mod you should have installed as a first playthrough. The planet is really bland gameplay wise, and while the song is pretty good, the voice acting was just terrible as it is obviously amateur, with a writing difference that easily stands out with how much worse it is compared to the base game's writing. I am glad they brought this planet back, and at a mod's perspective it is massively impressive, but compared to the rest of the game stands out as a fault, and should only be experienced as a curiosity, not as a first playthrough planet.
- Revan's ghost having sooooo much DC (base 80 + modifers like are you fr), is pretty funny. He has so much DC that even moves with DC 100 with descriptions that it is impossible to miss, can possibly miss was just hilarious to me.
-Love the restoration mod, but the abrupt ending can still be pretty jarring.
-KOTOR II's limbo of canon is pretty sad, even if it were to be canon due to extended universe no longer being canon, the future novels and swtor basically disregards this game anyways, which is pretty sad to me.
-Some companion's character arc don't go as far as others, Especially Mandalore who I would had hoped would have more, but at least I was able to experience it, as the base game doesn't even have enough influence points to experience his full story.
Conclusion
I will always cherish KOTOR II. While I do understand the one fatal flaw, you REQUIRE the TSLCRM to even experience this game to the fullest, with the mod installed the game easily beats KOTOR I for me personally, and easily has my favorite writing out of the entire series game wise. I can finally put this game to rest now as I have done a LS and DS run of this game, which are super worth it, as both runs have so many different story and companion differences, even if the plot stays the same mostly. While I never did a female run, It is pretty unlikely I will come back, as the main difference is the Disciple, which I heard is not that good of a companion. I will always recommend KOTOR II to others, as this game holds a special place in my heard despite all of its flaws.
9/10