Originally posted by kegman
I hope it's not like Morrowwind. I bought the game but when I started playing and tried talking to a couple people. I never had the time to sit there and read for an hour. If it's not a lot of reading I'm going to pick it up.

Originally posted by El-Kabong
This was the killer app for me getting a X-Box. .

Originally posted by El-Kabong
I got my pre-order in quite some time ago. This was the killer app for me getting a X-Box. I've enjoyed the other games, but this is the one I'm jonesing for.

Originally posted by jrutz
Me too, this was the reason I went with an Xbox versus a GC or PS2. 7/16 can't come fast enough!

Originally posted by GatorDeb
Am I the only one that gets the sense that this is more adventure than RPG?

Originally posted by Groucho
For what it's worth, the game is built on a variant of the Aurora engine, so the closest equivalent in terms of gameplay and interface is Neverwinter Nights.

"Best RPG ever? Maybe. All I know is that while I type this message, it's calling me back to my Xbox. Here I come, baby!"


"Ok, since I just got back from eating a yummy meal, I am no longer shaking with hunger, and am able to type coherently. Consider that I know my way around a Final Fantasy game or two. IMO, the FF formula has gotten increasingly stale (new hero, new ways of calling summons summons, slightly new battle system, etc.). There's no discounting the high quality of Final Fantasy games, but are they all that much fun? Or just wondrous to experience?"

Summary:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is wondrous AND fun. KOTOR is, among other things:

1) Huge.

You aren't even a Jedi for the first ten hours or so, because you've been trying to rescue Bastilla, a Jedi warrior who's been captured. By completing all the side quests (you gain experience for talking to people) you become strong by leveling up. Since there's no time limit, it behooves you to embark on all the side quests, and in doing so, adds valuable allies to your party, and enables you to discover key weapons and armor that you wouldn't have found if you hadn't taken those quests.

Plus, once you've gotten through about 20% of the game, you then discover that you must travel to at least four new worlds. HUGE.

2) It's never boring.

Unlike many RPGs where the standard fetch quests make you feel like somebody's messenger boy, all the side quests (even settling a Romeo and Juliet-like war between two families) in KOTOR are enjoyable and worth doing just for the experience, not just the experience points.

3) Battle system rocks.

It's not quite real-time, it's not quite turn-based. It's somewhere inbetween. You choose your own actions, and can "stock" a sequence of actions (such as perform a regular attack, powerful attack, throw grenade, and then heal, in that order), leaving you free to cycle to one of your main character's two available allies to use their particular skills as well. If you choose to let them handle themselves, you can also program their strategies, such as setting Bastilla the Jedi to use Jedi skills (speed up, heal, push-back attack) until her Force points deplete. You can also have droids or warriors use their best abilities (grenadier, droid attack, etc.) to support you in battles.

4) Customization is king.

Being able to see, on the real in-game model, the outfits you assign to them, as well as the weapons and accessories, KOTOR takes on a very Diablo II-like style (or if you prefer, Neverwinter Nights) feel. Assigning items to different body parts is made easy thanks to the largely visual equip screen. You can also upgrade specifica armors and weapons, and even enhance your lightsaber with different crystals.

5) Branching paths.

Obviously, it's up to you whether you choose the light side or the dark side, but it is in your actions and deeds that determines this path. A staggering amount of conversations take place, and almost all of them have meaning.

Unlike Final Fantasy, where NPCs (non-player characters) usually have one or two trite lines of inconsequential hoo-ha to say, in KOTOR you actually have conversations. Sure there are a lot of NPCs with nothing to really add to your experience, but that ratio is kept slim compared to the amount of people who do. Since you get experience for furthering the story, it's in your best interest in both the experience gaining sense and the information-gathering sense to be as verbose as possible. There's a payoff there that most other RPGS simply don't have. The fact that the script is unbelievably well-written helps things. To be quite honest, KOTOR has some of the wittiest dialogue I've ever seen in an RPG.

And since I'm 32 years old, I can say that I've seen 'em all. Oh, and I'm currently playing my way towards the Dark side, and let me just say that the options in the dialogue become a lot funnier when you're evil. Fortunately, since the game was designed this way, you're not quite penalized for playing towards the Dark side. Your companions remain unaware of your leanings except by noting how impatient you seem, or how much danger you're in of being persuaded by the Dark side.

As soon as I'm done with the game as a Dark side-type, I'll play through again as a goody two shoes. While a couple things could make the experience a little smoother (interface things, mostly), it's nothing worth griping over, which leads me back to my original point:

Best. RPG. Ever?

Maybe.

Originally posted by trigun
I didn't think that NWN had multiple playable characters?