Here's what I'm playing, anyway...
Watching TLJ got me to replay Knights of the Old Republic 2, and man, I forgot how good this game is. It's a deeply flawed game, and not just because huge chunks of it were cut. (I'm playing with the Restored Content Mod anyway, so the ending is actually playable and has things like resolution! and character arcs!) But the game is still boatloads of fun, and it's kind of nice to have some Star Wars media that at least tries to have some ambiguity about whether the "dark side" is wholly evil and the "light side" is wholly good. And it's even got some vague TLJ parallels what with the whole "I'm (possibly) the last Jedi but the Jedi kind of suck anyway, also my enemy is incredibly emo and Force bonds exist" thing.
My New Year's resolution this year is to reflect more on the media I consume, so here's my sort-of review of KOTOR 2:
If you like RPGs and you like Star Wars, but you haven't played the KOTOR games yet, you should do that. They're very good. They're set a few thousand years before the movies and focus on a civil war among the Jedi that ended up with a bunch of Sith running around who you have to defeat with your plucky band of adventurers. It's a lot like Mass Effect, except with D&D-style combat, worse graphics, lightsabers, and the ability to be cartoonishly evil. (this should come as no surprise, given that Bioware made KOTOR 1 and then made Mass Effect 1 instead of KOTOR 2) You have all sorts of versatility to build a character to your exacting specifications, but that's irrelevant because you're just going to run around with a lightsaber slapping people with the Force regardless.
The backstory is that the Mandalorians were planning on invading the entire galaxy. The Jedi council wasn't going to do anything, but this one Jedi named Revan was like "that's dumb" and rounded up a bunch of followers to fight the Mandalorians and won very decisively. And then turned evil and started taking over the galaxy anyway, causing a huge civil war between the Jedi and Revan's followers. The first game takes place during this civil war, as you're trying to end it. The second game takes place a bit later, focusing on an ex-Jedi who followed Revan during the Mandalorian War and now is trying to figure out what's happening to all the remaining Jedi, who seem to have mysteriously disappeared.
KOTOR 1 is a pretty straightforward Star Wars story, with very obvious good and evil and a nice fat plot twist in the middle. KOTOR 2 is almost a complete inversion that deconstructs a ton of Star Wars tropes. KOTOR 1 is all about how powerful and cool the Force is, whether you go light side or dark side. It's all about Sith vs. Jedi. KOTOR 2 is all about ambiguity and how the Force isn't everything. You can go completely light side in KOTOR 2, and yet maintain that the Jedi are a terrible idea, for example. There's tons of characters who were aligned to one side or the other but grew disillusioned with it. And there's even a lot about how to ordinary people, they really don't see much of a difference between "very tiny but powerful group that swans around not helping anyone (but claims to be good)" and "very tiny but powerful group that swans around not helping anyone (but is claimed to be evil)". The first game focuses on how you can reshape the future of the entire galaxy, taking place during a war that's capped off with a huge space battle. The second game makes it clear that it's about your personal demons, and even when you do manage to save the galaxy (or doom it), it's unlikely anyone is ever going to know it was you.
I don't know if this necessarily makes it a better story. A lot of people would argue that the game is needlessly cynical. But I certainly think it makes it interesting. It's true that it's pretty heavy-handed; the supposed good guys tend to have nuance, but the bad guys basically just set fire to puppies and eat babies. (I'm pretty sure Darth Nihilus literally does.) And it's not very subtle--all your companions are incredibly secretive, up until you click the right conversation options in the right order and they spill every single thing that's ever happened to them. (A certain character literally can go from "I love murdering Jedi" to "I wanna be a Jedi" in one five-minute conversation that's bizarrely easy to unlock.) The big plot twist is, in retrospect, not much of a twist if you were paying attention at all. Even with the Restored Content Mod, it's really obvious that huge chunks of the game were cut, and I can't imagine playing without the mod.
And yet I love the game to bits. I love the varied environments and atmosphere, even if I hate some of the level design. (*shakes fist at the endless running up and down corridors on Nar Shaddaa*) I love the characters, even when they're as subtle as rocks. (especially HK-47 the assassin droid, my favorite Star Wars character of all time) Even if the central plot twist isn't that great, I love all the little mysteries that the game explores (why Revan turned to the dark side, what actually happened during the Mandalorian War, why this crazy old woman is following you around, etc.). And, come on. It's a Star Wars game where you play as a Force user. Lightsabers are great.
tl;dr: i am easily entertained by lightsabers and murderous droids
_________________ I generally forget to say, so if it's relevant and I don't mention it--I'm from Southern Michigan and speak Inland North American English. Yes, I have the Northern Cities Vowel Shift; no, I don't have the cot-caught merger; and it is called pop.
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