Which KOTOR game has the best storyline?

Personally, I think that KOTOR II COULD have had the better storyline. But near the end everything was sort of blown off. I mean once you reach Malachor V for the big final battle, everything starts to suck. For some crazy reason the Ebon Hawk crashes and you somehow get out. And when you battle that one guy who's all scarred up and gray, you "convince" him to accept death. Thats pretty dumb. So I have to say that KOTOR may have not had that strong of a start, but at least the final battle was pretty cool.

 

The Sith Lords had the more intelligent and ambitious storyline by far.

Whether that makes it better than KotOR's story, however, is a another matter entirely.

KotOR's story was certainly more polished and complete.

 

KOTOR had the better Star Wars story line. It totally hearkens back to the classic swashbuckling, wise-cracking adventurous feel of the 70's and 80's. Plus, it has one of the best plot twists I've ever witnessed in any medium. At the same time, the whole thing is very point and click, sweet and simple with a memorable cast of characters and hits all the classic good and evil motifs.

KOTOR II on the other hand tries to tackle a much more complex story. It's not very well executed, but if you read all the info on Wookieepedia, it's actually quite a genius story line. There is some very captivating underground backstory going on with Revan and his companions; unfortunately it's overshadowed by the too-on-the-surface quest for Jedi Masters. KOTOR II had the potential to top itself, but unfortunately with the poor execution and the lack of a trequel to explain everything, it kind of pales in comparison to its predecessor.

_Max

 

KotOR 2's environment and the creepy music really drew me in in a way that the first game never did. However, looking back I think there were a lot of things I didn't like about the story.

-The concepts behind Sion and Nihilus seemed pretty lame, especially the latter who conveniently has world-killing Force powers straight out of Dark Empire.
-Influence was incredibly annoying, because it meant I need to explicitly go out of my way to do evil things in order to fish any backstory out of HK-47 or Canderous.
-Malachor V and the Trayus Academy seemed contrived, and the planet itself was so creepy it made me rush through it as fast as possible. Bad idea when I ended up with Bao-Dur's remote versus the Storm Beasts.
-Kreia's worship of Revan was also contrived, especially the bit about him purposely going to the dark side, making everything from the first game feel like a waste.

The one thing I did like was Kreia's motivations for what she was doing, and why she was so obsessed with your character in the first place.

 

KOTOR 1 has a better storyline, but I actually think the gameplay in Kotor 2 is better, but since this is about story Kotor 1 is better.

 

Yeah, I'd agree there.

 

I agree there, TSL had better layout and some things were better in the gaming aspect. On thing really annoyed me, and that's the influence. As someone mentioned before, in order to hear other people's stories, or unlock sidequests, one has to do certain things which are not very in character. Now, that *is* more realistic, but it's also quite annoying. And the best think which describes it, it this:
[image=http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y285/Amarth775/20050219.jpg]

 

KOTOR2 is fully of good ideas badly executed. The influence was a good idea badly executed, the idea of finding others that you can train is a cracking idea... shame you have to either kiss up to people to get Bao-dur to become a jedi or be down right evil to get any sort of story from HK-47.

Sion- a great idea that ends up the old womans pet and not a real problem when you come and challenge him at the end.

The Jedi masters- another good idea find someone to teach you the ways of the force- surely this could have been expanded so they show you the difference between Kreia and the real Jedi a bit like what is going to happen in TFU with Rahm Kota.

KOTOR has the better storyline and is better constructed as a story. KOTORII had a better engine and add ons e.g. Lightsabers, armour, customisation.

If KOTOR3 comes out hopefully we will get a game that has a great story with a great game engine.

 

Even in its flawed and tragically incomplete state, I still think KOTOR II has the superior storyline. Deeper, darker and up there with the EU's most sophisticated works.

KOTOR 1 is really quite straightforward. In terms of complexity, it only has that revelation. And personally, I find the Masters' betrayal of the Exile on Dantooine had far more of an emotional impact than the truth about Revan's identity.

 

Kotor 1's story is a lot more complex than Kotor 2's.

Kotor 1 has a love interest. Kotor 2, no.
1 has every character be developed and a conclusion for every character. 2? No.
1 has an ENDING. 2? None.
1 had developed Bad guys. 2? You only got to know a little about them.

The finished version of Kotor 2 doesn't really have a cohesive story that works. Maybe they did in the beginning when they were developing, but then again, this thread is about evaluating the finished product, not the concept.

 

I'm afraid, Lord_Vivec, that none of the points you make mean Kotor 1 is more complex. More complete, certainly. More rounded. But not more complex.

Kotor 1 has a love interest. Kotor 2, no.

Brianna and Visas for males, Disciple and Atton for females. The conversation trees with these guys eventually contain very clear romantic elements. Yeah, there's no professions of love or first kisses like Bastila/Carth. But max out your influence with any of these characters when playing the appropriate gender, and then try and tell me they're not love interests.

1 has every character be developed and a conclusion for every character. 2? No.

Admittedly every Kotor 1 party member has a sidequest and small, simple character arc. But how does that make it more complex than its sequel?

1 has an ENDING. 2? None.

We all know 2 has a messy, unsatisfying, flimsy excuse for an ending (though it does wrap up the central plotline i.e. Kreia and the Exile, and it does that well). KOTOR 1 has an infinitely fuller ending. Still not seeing how that makes it more complex, though.

1 had developed Bad guys. 2? You only got to know a little about them.

Wrong and wrong. A common and ill-conceived comparison.

Kotor 1 only has one 'developed' villain- Malak. In actual fact, we find out very little about him beyond that he was Revan's best friend who went Sith and betrayed him. Nor does he change as a character at all during the game- he's the same cackling camp baddie from start until finish.

Kotor 2 also has one developed villain- Kreia. A character who is not only far more complex than the one-dimensional Malak, but one of the most sophisticated characters Star Wars has ever produced.

Arguably Kotor 2 has another reasonably developed villain in Atris, the lonely and crazy Jedi hermit whose story is actually pretty tragic.

You might even count Vrook as another Kotor 2 villain.

Who else does Kotor 1 have, then? The likes of Calo Nord, Bandon and Uthar? Don't make me laugh. A generic bounty hunter and a couple of stock Sith. Sion and Nihilus might have no backstory, but at least they're interesting.

 

As a man who played The Sith Lords before I played KOTOR, I can only say this:

KOTOR 2 was a great game, a lot of fun, though a bit anti-climatic.

KOTOR blew me away and stands proudly as one of my two favourite games of all time.

You can argue as much as you like about how dark and artsy KOTOR 2`s story is, the fact remains that the original KOTOR`s story is a lot more Star Wars. For me personally, KOTOR 2 was a great, but flawed game. KOTOR was an experience. And a lot of the credit for that has to go the amazing story.

I dare anyone to find a more mind-blowing moment in gaming then the revelation that you are Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith.

To quote an article about the best vidogame stories at Gamesradar.com:

"Then comes the plot twist: you are/were/are going to be again the baddest of bad guys in the galaxy. Even if you had been playing as the perfect paragon of Jedi goodness until that point, the great reveal gives you pause. First you experience a barrage of philosophical questions: what makes a man evil; can evil be unlearned; etc.

And then you find yourself asking: ?Wait, am I supposed to be evil? Have I been playing the game wrong??

It?s a funny thing to see an entire generation of gamers grow up in one moment. That moment came when we poor souls who were conditioned to follow where a game led us stopped dead in our button mashing and realized that, no, we hadn?t been playing KOTOR wrong; we had a choice in the story. And whatever we chose, it would be effin? awesome."


Nuff said.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Both games had great storylines. KOTOR 1 had a more traditional Star Warsy feel, akin to that of the original Star Wars trilogy. When playing the first game, you really felt like you were part of the Old Republic. KOTOR 2, however, had a very dark storyline, but nonetheless a great one. I really can't decide which one is better.

 

KotOR felt more like the movies, KotOR II felt more like the Expanded Universe. That's how I'd separate the pair.

 

I am just wondering what would have happened if it were the reverse, if we had had KOTOR II first (then it would be KOTOR 1 but let's not confuse ourselves here ) then got blown away with KOTOR 1 much like ESB blew us away after ANH. It would have been interesting, getting all these hints about Revan but never seeing him and then getting to BE him in the second game.

Maybe that's one of the reasons why KOTOR 2 is so lacking, they managed to re-invent SW games with the first that we were expecting No 2 to be as good or even better. I remember similar reactions around the time Diablo II came out, the first Diablo being such a breakthrough, the same can be said for some films...

FTR, I thought that Malak was a poncy git of a villian and I don't know how someone as cool as Revan could have him as an apprentice. The next time you play KOTOR, pause the game when you fight him the second time and take a look at how much jumping he does. No wonder Revan liked the name "meatbag"

 

If we had KotOR II first, it'd have been the same basic story but without any references to Revan at all.

Obsidian wrote the first drafts of KotOR II before they'd ever even played KotOR I, apparantly. Hence the "jarring" transition. (Per Avellone)

(I know what you mean, though )

 

.....................what? 2's story is FAR deeper and FAR more complex. The difference is it's a lot more subtle, and clearly everything went right over your head. 2's story wasn't as cut and dry as the first one... and don't get me wrong, I LOVE the first game's story, it blows my mind, but its simple and straightforward. Nothing wrong with that, but it's laughable when someone calls it more complex than Kotor 2's. Most of the complaints you mentioned would have been solved had you just paid closer attention and maybe gone into optional dialogues more often.

 

I think KotOR had the better storyline but KotOR II's was far more complex and mysterious. I think the reason I like KotOR is the fact that it had all the elements of ANH and it had the revelation that you were Revan so, yeah KotOR was better.

I mean, KotOR II had better add-ons, armour, jedi robes and weapons but those things dont make a story better. George Lucas said it himself.

It's a tough choice between the two, but I think KotOR I wins.

 

KOTOR one definitely as you'll probably gather from the majority of agreeing posts. Also more than that Revan and Malak and even Bastilla were all such great characters (they all were but these 3 especially) with Revan simply stealing the show. I mean in all honesty you don't really see Revan's character all that much because you decide yourself but he's still become an undeniable favourite.

 

KOTOR 2 for sure had the better storyline. For KOTOR The light sided ending was soooo weak. I can't believe Yoda would state Once You start down the dark path forever....

Revan gets redeemed. Bastilla gets redeemed. I half expected to redeem Malak.

It was such an old GI JOE mini series. Travel around the galaxy.

And it had storylines that didn't pay off. Like when someone wants to buy cat girl, and you state you want to sell her, You can't freaking sell her. I tried it so many times.

I did like the Canderous back story in 1 alot.

The fact he didn't have as many good storys in 2, was my only serious complaint. And I couldn't stand GOTO. Those things bothered me more than the ending in 2.

 

Well, Obsidian had to cut out a lot of things in KOTOR II due to LucasArts pressuring them to release it for the Holiday season that year, so there is a lot of missing content and plotholes in KOTOR II that would have been filled in if it had been released at 100%. There's actually a Restoration Project going on for the PC version of KOTOR II, but that's somewhat beside the point.

As for which storyline is better, I honestly can't decide. KOTOR definitely had the more polished and "Star Wars-y" feeling storyline. All the companion characters were well fleshed-out with backstories and side quests, and the quest seemed a lot more grand and epic than KOTOR II. KOTOR II's story was a lot darker and more complex, and even with all the missing content and plotholes it felt a lot more personal than KOTOR's in that it was a lot more centered on the Exile's story (be it redemption or revenge) than a more galaxy-encompassing storyline like KOTOR's. I do have to say that I like KOTOR II's a little better, because I've always liked darker storylines.

EDIT: And I totally agree with SinRebirth.

 

I think, for me, it would have to go to KotOR 2. I agree that one had the better Star Wars story, but 2 made me think and feel about the character, because he was mine. Revan was a character that the developers created, but the Exile was someone the player could really get into (at least, from my point of view). The only part I really had problems with were the gaps in storyling, particularly the whole Malachor part. I never really understood how I got there and what happened to my team. In fact, the whole ending felt a little...disjointed. But overall, I enjoyed 2 more than 1.

But I will agree that 1 was more complete.

 

Oh, I'm sure Obsidian intended it to be a more complex storyline. However, in the final product itself, the storyline is more of a "WT*"

After all, this thread is "Which KOTOR game has the best storyline?" not "Which KOTOR game intended to have the best storyline."


Yes, I know I'm a few months late!