I've just finished the game for the first time on light side, and while this means I'm far from finished from playing it I have put over 50 hours in and feel ready to post my major impressions.
As you can see from my score I think rather highly of KOTOR. I think overall it might be the most immersive and satisfying gaming experience on the Xbox. I know that's saying a lot and I'm not trying to take anything away from Halo. Halo is far more polished as an end product and has very few flaws to subtract from the overall game. But KOTOR has a lot going for it.
1.It's Star Wars, which means more to some people than it does to me, and that is a hell of a world or foundation to work with. KOTOR immerses you in that world to an incredible and admirable degree. As a story, it's better than the last two Star Wars films which may seem easy when you consider them, but not when you consider most games.
2.The light side/dark side equation works. Think Brute Force, think Blinx, think Matrix, etc. KOTOR is far better designed than any of those. It matters what you do and how you do it in this game and it fits into the narrative very well. That's quite an accomplishment.
3.I actually want to replay this game making different choices. For me, and this type of game, that's amazing. But there are constant moments of this game where you are POSITIVE that things could have gone differently. I'm quite sure that when I start again soon I'll be just as interested in what evil does in this precarious moral war/universe. Sure, a lot of RPG fans play their favorite games for hundreds and hundreds of hours. KOTOR won't kill you with FMVs. Add to this whole idea that there is downloadable content coming for the title.
4. I cared about the characters. Yea, it's good vs. evil whichever side you pick, but it's done well. The voice acting is so well done. There's just not as much painful weirdness and naivete that you find in Japanese RPGs (my opinion). Sure there's novelty in all that, but as an adult gamer I don't want to be constantly embarassed for the dialogue writer. There is a story and then more stories inside that story than I could have expected. You can get as involved as you like.
5. While the graphics didn't blow me away, they are very serviceable. They didn't take me out of the experience. The only real flaw is the repeated use of character faces. But at least everything that was going on with and around those characters was interesting enough to make me not mind too much. There are so many little quests that add the amount of depth YOU want.
I'm bored by many of the efforts of RPG developers just like I am by trite fantasy fiction. This is a notch above all that and a giant addition to console gaming. It's been recognized as such and I hope you'll take the time to see it as well. In my very humble opinion it's easily the best RPG on the current generation of machines, and I own all 4. Most won't agree, but I feel comfortable and confident in my pronouncement. This is Game of the Year material. If you own an Xbox and not this pioneering effort...well, I just don't get it.
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