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?
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.
تقييم مجلة GMR لعملاقة الأر بي جي Star Wars:Kotor
