I'm playing games again... for the first time since...april?

I just beat Knights of the Old Republic. Which I just realized makes it the first faux rpg (action) game I've ever played begining to end without losing interest, or losing all my savegames. Which I really think is tragic. I got within a few small quests of beating fallout, and fallout 2, baldur's gate 2, and arcanum, and even final fantasy 7, but something always ended it prematurely. Ok, so I beat Diablo 2 in normal mode, but that hardly counts. A 3 year old could beat that game. Fallout, Fallout2, and Arcanum were all uninstalled by my parents, while I was off on my bicycle in the boondocks of kentucky. They're memory has been washed off of this computer's hard drive, along with 20 avi movies, and 8,000 mp3s. Baldur's Gate was lost to similar interference, and Final Fantasy 7... my memory card was stepped on.

That said, Knights of the Old Republic was a lot of fun. Even though it wasn't turn based, and the combat was super f***ing shallow, and the dialogue options were sort of pathetic, and the only true choice you had was the overall morality of the game. Despite all this it was still fun enough to keep me playing, though the final battle is a testament to how truly absurd the combat is. I just wound up running around the arena like final battle set piece, throwing my lightsaber to destroy all the little stations that would rejuvenate darth malak, and then once that was done, I'd use master speed to keep away from him, and i'd run in circles saber-throwing him to death. The sort of hit and run tactics you'd usually save for brawler beat em-up style games. It felt sort of demeaning. I think the graphics actually went a long way to making it enjoyable. I mean, if its going to be this super-rigid movie like experience, it might as well be a good looking movie right? As far as the character development went, all I have to say is that it needed more options for the light side. It seems like all of the light side powers either cause enemies to stand still stunned/paralyzed, so you can kill them, or prevent your enemies from doing the same to you. Then again, what can you really do with the force anyway? One super bad ass thing I did was choose to be a Scoundrel/ Jedi Consular, and I picked dual weild, and critical strike as my combat feats. Combined with the force power Master Speed, I had my character doing 4 critical hits within a single attack. This was augmented by the fact that the "back stab" aspect of the scoundrel(rogue) class meant I'd almost always be doing critical hits to enemies that weren't currently engaged in attacking me. This was extremely satisfying at first, but the simplicity of the combat really got to me after a while, and towards the end it was only the story that kept me going.

Another thing that really got to me was the feigned "multiple solutions approach" to engaging enemy bases/dungeons etc. It all comes down to three solutions, Combat/Slicing(hacking)/Repair. In almost every single "dungeon" there is a way to repair some broken down super-droid that you can engage in patrol mode so it will kill 60% of your enemies for you. There is also ALWAYS a computer terminal from which you can overload power conduits (instantly killing a number of enemies), override failsafes in patrol droids (instantly killing a number of enemies), shut down patrol droids (neutralizing them as possible enemies), shutdown turrets, and open all the doors in the base. At first this is satisfying, but then again, these options are available in just about every single fucking dungeon. No frigging variety...

Becoming a smuggler is just a matter of playing delivery boy. So is becoming a bounty hunter... Swoop racing is just frigging obnoxious. Becoming a gambler is a little more interesting, but that depends on what you think of the card game. I thought the card game was fun at first, (better than swoop "racing" at least) but it gets dull too.

In high school I met some guys that had been playing a star wars version of Dungeons and Dragons that one of them had designed in the 5th grade, and had been developing more and more until our senior year. This is still my favorite star wars role playing game of all time. Knights of the Old Republic had its highs and its lows, and a few continuity errors, and glitches if you went certain places before you triggered other events, but overall it was an entertaining game. But it certainly wasn't "Dave's game." My favorite memories of dave's pen and paper star wars game involved combat against two rodians, disabling one of them by shooting him in the face with a grappling hook, and poisoning another with a hypodermic needle i had integrated into my armored gauntlet. I then sucked the life force out the grappling hooked s.o.b. because i was an Anzati. I was an anzati bounty hunter with sealed combat armor that could release poison gas, and had telescoping hypodermic needles in its fingertips, and I was also on the run from Randy the Hutt, because I pissed him off in real life, so his character was trying to kill me. In KOTOR I was a consular that did 4 critical hits per turn over and over and over... You can decide which one is cooler i guess.

Pen and Paper will always rule all.

That said, I'm just begining "the Longest Journey" which I've heard great things about... So far they're all true. Good adventure game indeed.

blah blah blah blah blah.

 

I guess the point of this was, has anyone else played KOTOR all the way through, and what did they think of it?

 

I played it all the way through and didn't mind the monotony of it as much as you seem to have. I think I was a bad ass dark jedi consular with a more hack and slash way of doing things instead of critically hitting enemies in the back I'd strangle or electricute them (fun)

Like you, I didn't have much time for the minigames like swoop racing but I did alot of the side quests.

I did pretty much play for making a completely bad ass looking dark side character (the whole washed out eyes, pale skin and veins up the side of the head and dark robes), but mainly for the story, which I thought was great.

And again, like you! I enjoy P&P D&D more. It's just more free. I don't play it much but I enjoy the official Star Wars D&D alot.

 

On a completely unrelated note, getting World of Warcraft as soon as I can when it's released here (Wednesday 9 am because I am that sort of person) so I will likely not surface from my voluntary dark capsule of solitude until forced to by Real Life. Which, by the way, sucks because I am forced to do all sorts of shit to survive, like work. I need to win the lotto or something...

 

ha. you don't know about life-sucking forces till you have a baby.

 

Poor little dark elf.

His aikido lessons are cutting into his surfing...

 

I did not get to bed until 5 am because I was playing that much WoW. And now the servers are fucked. THANKS BLIZZARD, DON'T WORRY ABOUT LEARNING FROM OTHER PEOPLE'S MISTAKES!

 

WoW sucks, because it's fee costs as much as interent connections in my country (which are incredibly fucking high )

 

Nice thing about paper and pencil role playing game as you can change rules to suit your camg and world. I donot like the fix gold piece limit in D&D on towns and Cities. I know they are trying to stop the abuse of selling than 100,000 GP magic iten in trog of 90 people. May-be the buyer and seller decide to meet there. What about trade network of towns and cities where you can oder than 10,000 GP diamond sent to your castle near an village from abig city. Even in the ancient world and medival world
there where trade networks. Let say you want to unload 1800 1 carot diamonds you found awhile explorion than dungeon. Wait afew day to find than person willing to pay 95% of what they are worth.

 

BAD CHARLES!!!! BAD BAD BAD!!!!! NO COOKIES FOR YOU!!!!!

 

Do they tell you can change the rules or add rules. The money limit rules is too rigid. In real life it I was than multbillionair I can place than oder for my own oceam going ship than year ahead of time and pick it up than year later.

 

For the love of glorious and merciful Allah, STOP WITH THE RANDOM QUOTING!

*tries to break 3 year old habit in vain*

 

Just popping in to say that The Longest Journey is good stuff, but its a long game. The problem is that the graphics aren't that great compared to what they are now, even though it was just made a couple years ago.

 

I still play Daggerfall and arena, than the old SSI AD&D games along with wizardry, outpost 1.

 

Keep at it Chuck, you'll beat those infernal contraption's one day.

 

I won daggerfall over a hundred time already same with over game. I hate it when Hollywood reshoot a classic moive like Ocean 7 and ruin it.

 

Ocean's 7/11: a story of a forgein 7/11 shop owner pulling off a heist against the Second Department and other rival convenience stores

 

Call me crazy, but I liked Ocean's 7.... Hugh Grant's dreamy.