A game I had to wait years to play through, and while it didn't totally live up to what I expected, there's still plenty to love about it.
Battles take place in real-time, with characters automatically attacking until given other commands. You can freeze the action at any time so you can stop and think about what to do, cycling through your characters and browsing your available attacks and items. It's not a bad system, though there are sometimes issues with targeting or having a character stand still after giving them a command. There are battles that will be noticeably tougher than most, even after maxing out at the game's level cap of 20, but there are ways to overcome - if good armor isn't enough, just load up on stat-boosting items, or if there's room to run away, enemies can be led away from their groups to he dealt with one-on-one. Just be sure to save often in case anything goes wrong! The variety in weapons is also nice - melee or ranged, one-handed or two-handed, there are even options for dual-wielding. Several weapons can also be customized with upgrades, as can armor, and in the case of lightsabers, you can even modify the color of their beam.
The story and worlds are where this game really shines. The game features a decent selection of worlds old and new, each one with plenty of areas to explore, all stuffed with missions and side stories to find. There are some parts that are a bit of a pain, and you likely won't look forward to repeating them if you replay for the other ending.
Likewise, some companions are more interesting than others. They all have backstories that they'll open up about bit by bit as their journey with you continues. The only real downside to them is how little they react to changes in your alignment - being cruel and uncaring will sometimes get you scolded by certain companions, but very rarely will they make mention of it otherwise until the very end of the game. This also means you can't corrupt any of your companions, which I was most disappointed to discover. At most, you can goad them into making the wrong decisions, which will net you Dark Side points.
Overall, not a bad game! Just held back by the limitations of its era, and of whatever budgetary and time constraints its developers were given. It's an entertaining, open-ended Star Wars tale and a decent RPG in its own right.
Battles take place in real-time, with characters automatically attacking until given other commands. You can freeze the action at any time so you can stop and think about what to do, cycling through your characters and browsing your available attacks and items. It's not a bad system, though there are sometimes issues with targeting or having a character stand still after giving them a command. There are battles that will be noticeably tougher than most, even after maxing out at the game's level cap of 20, but there are ways to overcome - if good armor isn't enough, just load up on stat-boosting items, or if there's room to run away, enemies can be led away from their groups to he dealt with one-on-one. Just be sure to save often in case anything goes wrong! The variety in weapons is also nice - melee or ranged, one-handed or two-handed, there are even options for dual-wielding. Several weapons can also be customized with upgrades, as can armor, and in the case of lightsabers, you can even modify the color of their beam.
The story and worlds are where this game really shines. The game features a decent selection of worlds old and new, each one with plenty of areas to explore, all stuffed with missions and side stories to find. There are some parts that are a bit of a pain, and you likely won't look forward to repeating them if you replay for the other ending.
Likewise, some companions are more interesting than others. They all have backstories that they'll open up about bit by bit as their journey with you continues. The only real downside to them is how little they react to changes in your alignment - being cruel and uncaring will sometimes get you scolded by certain companions, but very rarely will they make mention of it otherwise until the very end of the game. This also means you can't corrupt any of your companions, which I was most disappointed to discover. At most, you can goad them into making the wrong decisions, which will net you Dark Side points.
Overall, not a bad game! Just held back by the limitations of its era, and of whatever budgetary and time constraints its developers were given. It's an entertaining, open-ended Star Wars tale and a decent RPG in its own right.