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yes, play it.
Logically, if you are accepting the few reviews that suggest against the game then you must also except the 22,500 positive reviews recommending the game.
Now this.. Is something i stupidly didn't consider lol Shows how we can sometimes just focus on the negatives. Thank you :)
But this game is QUALITY. And games with such high levels of quality never get old..
If you're Star Wars fan you should definitely play it (and then play KOTOR2). If you're looking for easy & enjoyable game look elsewhere. Also it might be a good idea to wait for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake - it should be available in 2023 - but who knows what will come of it.
The greatest barrier of entry is the gameplay. KOTOR (and KOTOR 2) use a heavily modified version of the d20 system popular with D&D 3.5 edition. Meaning that most gameplay is accomplished through formulas and dice rolls. I can definitely be off-putting for a new player because there are quite a few quirks with the system. But as long as you think of things logically, then it tends to make sense. There are 3 starting classes, soldier, scout and scoundrel. The soldier is self-explanatory. A guy who can dish out a ton of damage and take a lot of hits too. But they struggle when it comes to skills and later force powers (I know someone is going to chime in about saving levels, but if its your first time playing and you're going in without a guide, which would be optimal, then you wouldn't know about saving levels). Then you've got the scout, who is kind of a combination of a fighter and skill guy. Jack of all trades, master of none type. Then the scoundrel who is sort of like a thief. They don't have a lot of health, but they get a lot of skill points and they can specialize in sneak attacks. Generally, the scoundrel is the most difficult for a new player. Soldier is easy. Scout is a decent pick too. Later on in the game you'll have the chance to become a force user with a choice of three classes. Jedi Guardian (who is basically like a force wielding soldier), Jedi Sentinel (who is a Jedi that specializes in skills) and Jedi Consular (who is a Jedi that specializes in force powers). Earlier I stated that if you think logically, then the d20 system makes sense. For example, if you create a soldier then you shouldn't have any issues when it comes to combat and I'd recommend the soldier for a first time playthrough since combat is 50% of KOTOR. But as a soldier, you can't expect to be very good at persuading NPCs. In fact, when it comes to dice rolls, you'll most likely always fail to persuade. So don't pick a soldier and expect to be good at persuasion or any skills. That's what I mean by "think logically". KOTOR isn't difficult, but so many RPGs these days will just let you win no matter what, and KOTOR isn't afraid to let you fail. You can absolutely create an overpowered character from the start, but it's unlikely if its your first playthrough.
tl'dr
KOTOR has an amazing story, locations and characters, but the gameplay can be a little off-putting if its your first time playing it. Don't be afraid to look up some tips, but I highly advise against a walkthrough.
First of all thank you for the indepth reply.
I think i get how you mean. As you say later on "RPGS these days will just let you win" which really gets on my T*ts lol. I do prefer the older type RPGS where you pick a role and somewhat stick to it and live as that character and try to think like that character. For e.g you wouldn't make a Theif and expect him to be a brute who uses double handed axes or a Brute who is suave and sophisticated who has high intellect, persuasion etc. I don't like RPGS that you can be good at EVERYTHING by the time you reach level 10.
I think I will pick up the game and maybe read a few non spoiler tips as you suggest. Thank you once again :)
Yes exactly!! That's precisely what I mean. It's not that KOTOR is difficult, but that your character can't really do everything. I mean they can once they reach a certain point or if you min-max your build. But the game doesn't expect you to min-max your character, nor does it want to be so easy and let you do everything with a single character. You're encouraged to do multiple playthroughs. It's a good balance. :D
KOTOR is probably the most Star Warsy Star Wars game, for all the good and bad attached.
Gameplay-wise, it's got a rhythm to it. The turn-based combat can sometimes make it choppy, the d20 system even choppier, but there's not only a level of system mastery -- where understanding the mechanics allows you to better overcome challenges. And even then, that mastery isn't particularly required for beating the game or enjoying its flow. You can build your character in a variety of ways, and watching them slowly progress into a battlefield master with all kinds of fun powers and abilities. There are a few powers where it is just so satisfying to use them, though that tends to come in later. It's not a particularly difficult game, though depending on how you approach sections your freedom can turn into peril.
Speaking of freedom, that was one of its real gems in the chest of pros this game has. Past a short tutorial you can practically take your character anywhere in the zone; a feat triumphed over by eventually allowing you to explore a whole plethora of zones, and deal with them in whatever manner you want. And what worlds they are. There's a large biodiversity to the locations, the situations, and overall systems you and your merry band of companions can travel to, again in the manner the player sees fit.
And what kind of companions you travel with is *also* a feature. You can take some rag-tag gunmen/droids for ranged slaughtering, or put together a team of Jedi to watch the swirl of force powers do the work. The companions -- in my opinion -- mostly aren't particularly interesting especially compared to the game's squeal, but they have a lot of fun moments and there are plenty of times where they can tug on your heart strings, if you're looking for that kind of story.
The story, in itself... is probably the strongest and weakest element of the series. It doesn't need to *do* a lot, and that's the point. It mimics the old Star Wars media perfectly; here's the dark lord with his dark laugh, the plot thingies to gather, and a lot of evil to defeat on your path to a heroic victory of celebration, have fun. Usually people will say that the story is *fantastic* because there's a certain thing that happens, and experiencing that *thing* for the first time can be nice... but it's a one trick pony, and writing has moved on in a lot of ways from it. I don't hold a high opinion, but a lot of people really like to celebrate this as the most Star Warsy Star Wars game, for better or worse. To many, very much better, especially with who they play as.
Your player character is (kinda sorta not really) a blank slate. This allows for easy projection and allows you to, again touching back to the freedom, carve out the path you want in your style, a style which mimicking the Star Warsy-ness can be benevolent or super duper evil. Will you be a gun-toting angel there to save the Republic from the evil guy *or* will you be a lightning-tossing evil bad guy yourself with his own evil bad guy plans and motivations? It's very one-dimensional, but there's a certain fun in the cheesiness, and fun is exactly what this game accomplishes.
Is this only still a popular game due to nostalgia? It's Star Wars and nearly 20 years old -- a time which is very much in "remember the days" territory -- so to say there isn't a drive of nostalgia to stake popularity would be a little silly. Again the writing is pretty bare bones and I doubt several sections would fly today -- especially regarding a certain companion -- and the mechanics are *old*... but it's fun. And it's diverse. And its success did act as a mark of pavement for not only Bioware's RPGs, but many other developments as well, such to the point where if anyone were to start tracing events back to what got the current gaming trends to where they are, somewhere along the line they'd find this game and say "it was good."
So no, probably not.
It's also a more mature experience than any of the movies and the other games. It explores the shades of grey within the force and does not make it just a clear good vs evil thing.
The voice performances are great, especially after playing the MMO, it stood out to me how amazing the voices are. They put a lot of emotion in the parts and it doesn't feel childish like the MMO's dialogue does.
There's some interesting moral dilemma's to come across. Many interesting characters to meet.
Regarding the mechanics, I advise to play on easy the first time. To get familiar with it.
Kotor as a game had more than 30-40 hours gameplay time which allowed the developers to add as much story as possible while the movies had to tell a story within 2 hours.