KOTOR vs. KOTOR II: Which one is the better SW RPG?

I've had my share of great SW games, but these two are the best so far. Now I'm trying to figure out which one is better.
I think KOTOR II is an amazing game with an excellent storyline, but the original KOTOR will always be a classic in my mind. What do you think?

 

The story of the first is more rounded and the second is more ambitious, but as far as game play is concerned, they are both practically identical, so... what more do you want? The fact that one couldn't exist without the other doesn't make for a strong comparison.
Anyway, if you've played them both and can't make up your mind as to which one is better, why not toss a coin? Heads means you like KOTOR more, tails means you like KOTOR 2 more, if it lands on its side, pretend that you don't have an opinion and make another thread on your favourite message board.

 

Anyway, if you've played them both and can't make up your mind as to which one is better, why not toss a coin?

Or make a thread about it, that's really what I like to do.

I can see why they demoted you Rich. *sigh*

 

KOTOR for story and KOTOR II for gameplay. Sith Lords built upon the character development set from the first game. They added more powers, prestige classes and made gunfighting more viable. Which made for more flexible character development. I loved my dual blaster wielding exile. It was amusing gunning down Sith Lords with my Force powered gunslinger. It's too bad that they cut so much content in order to make a quick release of the game. It could have been a great game, the end of the game was terrible.

 

Both are really excellent.

 

When it comes to gameplay it's KOTOR II for me, which isn't really a surprise, as they simply improved on the first game. KOTOR has the advantage of being like it was supposed to be, unlike KOTOR II.

All in all, I prefer the first one, but that may be because it came first
It's a bit hard to beat out my best gaming experience ever combined with nostalgia, coming in slightly behind that is still quite an accomplishment

 

That's pretty much how I feel about it. I didn't mind KOTOR2's ending though- I wish it wouldn't have been quite so open-ended, but I don't think it was terrible by any means.

 

I hate the whole damn KotOR sub-universe
I started replaying KotOR last Wednesday
Taris isn't anywhere nearly as mind-numbingly tedious to trudge through as P.. Pegasus... Paragorn... whatever the hell that asteroid you blow up was called; it gets a lot better after Dantooine, wheras TSL has some neat ideas but it all seems pointless, especially at the end

So, I prefer one of the two games I can't really stand, which I guess isn't saying much

 

KOTOR is a great game all and all because of the storyline and gameplay, but they both have very cryptic endings. I did hate why they took less than a year to make KOTOR 2 because rushing a game will only make it worse. The ending in the Trayus Academy was pathetic, but the game was still excellent. And about the whole coin flipping thing, not helping too much :/

 

And why is that? Do you have a coin with two of the same side or did it land on its edge? lol

 

We must graph out the results of the coin flipping to see which is better.

 

Should I make the spreadsheet?

 

As others have said KOTOR is a better story but K2 is better game play. To me, going back to play KOTOR is a tad constraining in comparison. I have replayed K2 much more often.

 

I'm actually waiting for Project Gizka to finish before I buy KOTOR 2. Quite frankly, there's too many games out there for me to concern myself with some unfinished but ambitious game.

 

I personally like the first one better but the second one was still very fun. The second one would have been better had it not felt rushed at the end.

 

KotOR has the polish while TSL is rough. Personally I play the original more because it was actually finished, but I feel that had TSL been given a couple more months to become a finished product rather than a beta test which I was charged full price for I believe it would easily be a superior game due to increased depth in both gameplay and story.

 

I've got to say for overall experience, KOTOR II was better.

KOTOR however had a much better climax...certainly more thrilling and larger in scale.

Additionally, much of the great parts of KOTOR II are the ways they take elements of KOTOR and show them a different way.

Case in point, I love how you revisit Dantooine and see it from a different perspective...it's almost alien, but if you pay attention to how you enter areas and look at things, you get that creepy "there's something familiar about this place" vibe.

Nar Shadaa and Onderon win over Manaan and Tatooine (yet AGAIN).

So in the end, take both together, and love them for their own reasons.

 

I prefer the first pretty much because I like the story much better. Finding the Star Maps IMO was better than finding the Jedi Masters.

 

I agree with this...though I found the worlds of KOTOR I boring compared to KOTOR II. Manaan being the highpoint.

Ideally, make a game with Manaan, Onderon, Nar Shadaa, and Kashyyyk next time.

GENERAL STRIKE AGAINST "OOINE" worlds!

 

I might pick KOTOR 2 if they had actually finished the damn game before releasing it, but since it's only 75% of a game I have to pick KOTOR, which stands as my #2 fave game of all time after Mass Effect and just slightly above Jade Empire. Go Bioware!

 

Wow...that's drinking the koolaid if ever I've seen it.

But you need to replace Mass Effect and Jade Empire with Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter...those were better games.

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KOTOR 2 not being done is irritating...and the cropped content really bothers me...but that doesn't change that there is a depth to KOTOR 2 that even KOTOR lacked. Even at 75% the game just feels more involved.

One major kudo for 2 over 1 is they very carefully avoid the "hero with amnesia" schtick...now granted, Revan's story is a winner in this department...but to avoid the cliche rpg mechanic completely is a great feat. And moreover, even though you aren't dumb as to who you are, you also aren't "told" your story so much as get many MANY opportunities to shape it.

oh...and getting to turn your NPCs...I love making the handmaiden and Bao-Dur fall to the darkside!

One last thought I just had...does anyone else think 2 had a little more grime to it? KOTOR was very pretty, very clean...Manaan in particular...Dantooine prior to bombs...even Kashyyyk was pristine. 2 had a more "lived in" feel, which perhaps adds to the world involvement I mentioned before.

 

I liked them both but for story I liked Kotor II because there was more there. Sadly a lot of cut if that all had been there it would have been a much larger game and easily better then the first.

 

Jade Empire also feels like an unfinished game. What's with the giant overworld map that only gets 5% filled in? What's with the hasty succession of short levels after Imperial City?

 

Agreed. When I finished Jade Empire I was like "Really? That's it?" But with Mass Effect it's the opposite, that game spans the whole galaxy! I'm thinking they may have been planning some downloadable content for JE but just never got around to it when they started ME.

 

Yeah...the whole "expandable content" thing with games is a crock...as much as gamers crave it, the companies make more income off NEW games.

I think Bethesda with the Elder Scrolls expansions is the only ones to ever do it right...and even they are pulling up work on Oblivion WAY earlier then they did on Morrowind.