I loved the original KOTOR. It was a beauifully well done tale that just felt like Star Wars.

So how come this new one, with a more complex and thoughtful storyline and some very clever new twists fail as badly as it did?

First of all: The characters are shallow. Really, really shallow. I felt the most for T3-M4, and he speaks in beeps and boops! Some of them get some moments, but really -- Artificial as it was, the lengthy discussions with other characters in the original worked. Obsidian were right to tie the new (and nifty) influence system into this, but they should have retained the subplot for every character, discussion tree for each character structure.

Two: The story is messy. Don't get me wrong. I love an obscure storyline. But this one is messy. Characters appear for no reason. Encounters appear with no particular logic. This needed tightening.

Three: It's just too complex. Star Wars isn't the place for epic greek tragedy or film noir, or a combination of the two like this. It's a place for pulpy space-opera heroics with hints of greco-romanesque mythology. I don't have a problem with the obvious good vs. evil distinctions of the first game, because Star Wars is a place where the good guys wear white, the bad guys wear black, and righteousness and damnation are revealed for all to see. This game failed to understand that.

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