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Malik
(12/27/04)
Finally the
holidays are mostly over. By that, I mean the family holidays are
over, and the silly hanging with people as you get drunk and play
games holiday is still upon us. I always like New Years more than
Christmas from a fun perspective. I figure any time in which we are
(assuming you're over 21...I don't condone, blah, blah...) assumed
to get drunk and be silly is a good time in my books. In fact, this
year Velveeta is throwing a party that will involve a good
assortment of games, drinks, and me with my digital camera (for the
required blackmail material, hehe). Anyway, that's a week out still,
so let's look at something else...
I got KOTOR2 from
Velveeta, as I was assuming. I don't mind a lack of surprise in my
gifts since I tend to be too inquisitive for my own good (which
leads to me ruining the surprise on my own). Plus, when the expected
is KOTOR2, how the hell could I complain? For those who are late in
getting KOTOR2, like I am, I am amazed. Not only am I amazed by how
little fanfare KOTOR2 is getting (this game is as much under the
radar as the original was on the radar), but also at the vast number
of improvements that have been installed since the original came out
(only 1.5 years ago).
I started my game
as a sentinel, or whatever the average class is. I figured that
being purely offensive is only fun in battles, and being highly
force ready is also only good when it comes to battles. I prefer to
be a role player (have fun from the plot and exploration), and the sentinel
is the only class that gets a good healthy number of skill
points...plus, not having a major loss to offense (feats) or mental
(force powers) worked out nicely. Also, like with KOTOR, I decided
to go the route that fits my RP style the best...
I play RPGs a lot.
In RPGs, you almost always play a uber-good hippy who only cares
about saving those around him/her. I mean look at any FF game, Xeno
games, Dragon Warrior games, and even the brooding Yuri of Shadow
Hearts fame...they all help people, even if the hero is supposed to
be an anti hero. Hell, Laharl from Disgaea even did this same thing
and he was striving to be the ultimately evil Demon Overlord. So,
with how often you have to play people with a soft spot, and with
how I, ultimately, went good on Fable, I decided the option for
KOTOR2 would be simple (like with KOTOR1, in which I saw two friends
go light side); Dark side all the way.
I started with a
few easy to find dark side points. It's like KOTOR2 is a little less
subtle on dialogue options. If you want to be evil, they throw those
dark points your way. I have no problem with that since I'm playing
a former Jedi who knows his past and has had dealings with Darth
Revan. I mean it's a great concept for the player to have some extra
chances for light and dark side points from the start.
Anyway, the game
itself is a lot like the original. That is to say that the visuals
are still the same (no complaints here...they looked beautiful last
year and they still look great in 2004...hell, I bet they'll look
damned pretty in 2005), the controls are the same (they worked great
before, so I hoped to see nothing changed...and for this I am
thankful), and the environments are somewhat similar (but in the SW
universe, the environments have always been limited, so anyone who
complains about this is not a SW fan).
However, there are
two major changes. The first one is that you now have more options
for your skills. Skills don't just come down to getting around an obstacle,
but rather they are involved in more of the exploration, creating
items, creating upgrades, and combining normally non-related skills
(open a door is security, but opening a broken door may require a
little help from using demolitions to acquire a mine and then using
demolitions again to blast the door open...that's a cool new use of
an old skill). The second change is the creation of items. You use
different skills, depending on the item you want to make, to use
different components to create anything from mines, to medpacks, to
lightsaber parts.
Plus, the add-on
parts for weapons are not limited to three parts anymore. You now
have, instead of just one handle to add to a vibroblade, a selection
of dozens of handles that can do anything from raise you attack and
damage to adding some other abilities to you weapon. Another example
is that you can add defense with an armor upgrade of one type, but
you could always add elemental resistance instead. The choices
become astounding, but not overwhelming.
Anyway, I aim to
have a rather friendly KOTOR2 review up by the end of this week. For
those keeping score, this is day one of my official vacation week.
I'll also get up a Malik's Bitchings that will look a little towards
my complaints on Sony (did I mention my PS2 is still getting worse
everyday? It is), not to mention some other complaints. I'm also
planning on replacing my PS2 soon, but I need to wait for the local
stores to get in their first post-Christmas shipments...which means
I'll be far more focused on KOTOR2 than Xenosaga for the next few
days, if not longer. Hell, I think K2 may claim all of my free time
with how addictive it is already.
Malik
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Malik
(12/28/04)
I'm getting in
KOTOR2 time as I can. However, a somewhat unexpected surprise
came about this week when an old friend showed up in town.
Combine that with the fact that I had to play ride-bitch (play
driver) for a friend coming back to town from his Christmas vacation
and my KOTOR2 time has suddenly become a little limited.
Instead of getting in this most addictive of RPGs, I've been going
more along the multiplayer route.
Last night, we
were planning to play some Smash Bros. Melee, but I came across
another surprise...this one was not so pleasant. My SSBM disk
has gone AWOL on me. Since it's a game that I never loan out,
and definitely one I wouldn't sell, this was a definite pain in the
ass. So, we ended up going with Naruto 3. I've played a
lot of 2-player N3, and way too much 1-player, but this was the
first time I could get in some 4-player. I have to say that
I'm both happy and unimpressed with how that went. I mean it
was good fun, for a while. However, between the targeting
method (you lock on to one opponent at a time and use the Z button
to cycle through people to aim at) being clunky and the broken-ness
of certain characters...well, we had fun, but not as much as Smash
would give us. At least, on the bright side, we learned the
the dog, who is a joke character, is damned cheap and good in
multiplayer. There is nothing like taking on a hyper ball of
fur that you can only hit with down attacks. There's also
nothing like playing with two newbs and two veterans of N3 and
watching a newb take everyone to school with the dog on his first
time playing the game (which included us not telling anyone the
instructions...not that they're hard to pick up).
Anyway, later on
in the night, we also played some 4-player Halo 2
(split-screen)...which was my first time playing H2 in about a month
and a half, and also my first time playing 4-player on one
system. I've played a lot of Halo in the past on split-screen,
and I never had any issues. In fact I joined a tournament with
some friends because of how good the split-screen felt. I
don't know how something that felt as good as Halo multiplayer could
ever be screwed up, but Bungee found a way...and with
authority. The multiplayer levels felt like crap, the screen
was too hard to see (mainly due to the weapons seeming to grow in
size in split-screen...all I could see was the SMG in my hands)...we
ended up quitting after only two games due to the crapiness of the
whole endeavor. I think I'll never speak of Halo2 4-player on
on TV ever again. For those who called Halo 2 the
be-all-end-all of FPS games for the year...sigh...reports of Halo
2's life were greatly exaggerated.
Anyway, I did
eventually get some SSMB time. Not much, but a couple
games. We had to wait for Meat Shield's triumphant return to
his home (where his copy of SSMB was behind locked door). So,
we did get in our ultimate goal...in the end. However, this
wasn't until almost 1:30 AM, and that left only a couple of games
before we had to call it.
Anyway, I did
finally get some more KOTOR2 in this morning. In fact, besides
typing this, I've been playing without a break for far too many
hours to count. Despite some small flaws (mainly
technical...load times, lag in loading, etc), this game is the
sequel that so many of us were wanting when KOTOR first graced the
XBox. The only real complaint I can think of so far is
actually a small one (I won't count the technical issues, since they
don't ruin the game...only slow it down); when I started to play
KOTOR 2, I decided to pick a portrait that looked a good deal like I
actually do in real life (the bearded dude). So, as I started
to fall to the dark side (which was only natural), I came across a
minor annoyance. The bearded dude starts, as his body decays
from the dark side, to look a hell of a lot like Santa Claus.
I don't know if this is Obsidian's way of saying that Santa is evil,
but it annoys me to think that I'm going to be playing out this game
as the jolly fat man (and if I take off my clothes, then I wear a
black and red suit, which is close enough to a big red suit for
me...).
Anyway, I have
more KOTOR 2 is play. I'm completely addicted to this game,
and it will devour my free time...but I can't complain...although
Xenosaga might.
Malik
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Malik
(12/29/04)
There's nothing
like celebrating one's birthday with a good old friend...that friend
being KOTOR 2. I've spent the last 5 hours of my birthday
devoted to KOTOR 2 and loving every minute. For those who keep
ragging on this great game for it's lack of innovation over the
previous title...sigh...these people have no idea what they are
talking about. I mean, when you have so many titles that are
sequels this year and so many lack any original content, like
Metroid Prime 2 (which only had a new ammo system and constant pain
from the environment) or Halo 2 (which only brought about a feeling
of sloppiness in the coding), there is not a damned thing wrong with
someone doing it right with KOTOR 2. There are changes, don't
get me wrong. However, the changes are not groundbreaking and
don't stand out as boldly as adding ammo to everything. For
example, you now have more control over the development of your
characters. In the original, if you didn't care for everyone
being so strongly light-side aligned (well, most people were), you
could only hope for a sudden alignment shift in the plot.
However, in K2, with the influence system (in which you build trust
in your party through dialogue) you can help to bend people to your
thinking.
Also, the newer
uses of skills, like using them for item creation, is a work of
brilliance. There's nothing like thinking, "maybe I
should take some treat injury so I can make better implants" to
help advance the game play. There may be no huge differences,
but the small and subtle steps are what separates a good sequel from
an obvious attempt to cater to too many people at once. If you
didn't care for Metroid Prime, you may like MP2 because of the big
changes, but you may hate it even more. Also, with Halo, you
may have loved playing multiplayer on the original only to hate the
visual changes on the sequel. With K2...if you loved the original,
then you'll like this one even more so, hands down.
Anyway, in K2,
today, I decided to take a different approach. I acted much
like I had with Fable. I grew tired of being evil. It
was easy and fun, in a sadistic way, but I felt like I was cheating
myself out of a bigger challenge. I mean the Jedi are
outnumbered and outclassed, but the Sith are rampant. Also,
having a former Jedi master tell me that I'll never amount to any
good just got to me. So, to spite her, I decided to make a
sudden shift before it was too late in the plot to do
otherwise. So, I went from about 80% dark-side to about 15%
light side without ever leaving the Ebon Hawk. Plus, I was
better able to build influence with my newer party members, which
means I can better control their growth. So, light-side is
definitely winning...also, not looking like Santa Clause is a
definite bonus...I just don't get why the alignment shift could
restore my ravaged looks since the light-side doesn't restore, it
only redeems. Oh well.
Anyway, I aim to
play some more today since I'm near my goal of having a light
saber. They really make you work for it in K2, unlike the
original, in which they practically threw the saber into your
hands. I'm also going to work some on some much needed
Geek-Asylum work (like a column for Friday). Then, after the
working stiffs get off work, I aim to celebrate my b-day with
style...maybe. It all depends on how much K2 claims my free
time.
Malik
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Malik
(12/30/04)
I will keep things
on the shorter side today. I was planning another full post,
but I just lost a shit ton of time because of KOTOR 2 and Obsidian's
love of not testing for bugs prior to releasing the game.
Basically, I am now at the point in the game when you can duel/spar
with one of your party members to increase influence and learn new
skills...to tell you how little of a spoiler this is; this is about
3/4 of the game (or more). However, I have been trying to find
a solution to my glitch on the net for the last 2 hours as Malik (my
avatar) and this character spar...here's a hint with what the glitch
is; they both ran out of vitality about 115 minutes ago and the
fight doesn't end. I'm thinking I'll have to miss out on some
of the game because of this shit, but I'm calling it quits on this
problem area...for now.
Anyway, this is
far from the only glitch I've hit so far. There's the old
glitch of KOTOR1 in which you tell someone to pick up a mine, but
rather than calmly approaching it and disarming it, the character
runs on top of it and explodes (pretty funny stuff, but it defeats
the concept of the "demolitions" skill. I mean my
soldier type characters are better at this form of demolitions than
my demolitions masters. Another fun bug is the one that
crashed the game while saving...thus you get screwed out of what
you've accomplished since you last saved and you have a bad
save file wasting hard drive space. Or, my favorite bug came
when I was trying to breakdown some items into components and then
the game reloaded...so I tried again and found that my last save
file was missing about 600 components.
I'm not really mad
at K2...I'm just a bit disappointed in his behavior. I treat
him so well and he does this to me...it's like a puppy that loves
it's owner so much and gets all excited to see it's master playing
with it, and then it goes and takes a dump in it's masters shoes
while the poor dude is not looking. Anyway, I'm still having
fun, but this damned game keeps taking metaphorical craps in my
shoes...only to watch as I put them on and wonders why I get so
pissed off.
So, my moral to
this is two-fold. First off, even the best games will have
something wrong with them. Secondly, if anyone knows a
solution for this sparring glitch, tell me and I will be most
happy. True, that's not a moral or a lesson, but it needs to
be said by someone who has lost a shit ton of free time because of
this damned game. Also, I can end the fights, but I cannot end
it in a way in which I will win (I drain her vitality, and then the
fight continues after I lose all my vitality until I pull out a
force power). Blah. Ok, I have too much to do and far
too little time to do it in.
By the way; Raggy,
thanks for the B-Day greeting (Velveeta sent it to me).
Malik
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Malik
(12/31/04)
The end of one of
the wackiest geeking years is upon us. There are many things
to reflect on in this amazing year. I did some of that work in
my latest Malik's Bitchings
(yes, it's a full length one, once again). Strangely enough,
things worked out perfectly in this regard with the week ending (my
usual time for Malik's Bitchings) and the year ending on the same
day. Anyway, as I said this year had a lot for us to think
about;
We saw Sony and
sequels making some weird and bad decisions...but that's in the
Bitchings.
Nintendo entered
the handheld world for the second time in one generation. This
time the DS was the weapon of choice, which is a definite step up
from their last attempt at this...the Virtual Boy. The DS also
saw some good competition, on paper at least, in the form of Sony's
PSP. The true conclusion of this battle is yet to unfold, but
it should be a fun ride for us geeks. In the end, since I've
only played the DS, I can say the DS is a strong competitor in the
crowded geeking market. As for the PSP...who knows? In
the end, the games will decide, and for Japan (the only country to
see both systems, so far) the choices of games makes both systems
look like crap. However, next year shows some strong
competition on both fronts. This is one adventure I'll
definitely be a part of.
We also saw a Fall
in which every game we wanted to see for the last 5 years hit the
shelves at the same damned time. We had Halo 2, Fable, Doom 3,
Metroid Prime 2, and Half Life 2 in the FPS/blockbuster area.
All games that should have been out at least a year earlier.
In the end, I'd have to give the the championship title to
HL2. However, it was a great fight with some rather unexpected
minor victories...and defeats.
On top of that,
RPG geeks saw everything from free form RPGs with KOTOR 2 and Fable,
to tactical heaven in Phantom Brave, classical style Shadow Hearts:
Covenant, and even some card style action (for those who like this
type of thing) in Baten Kaitos. The winner in this front would
be the unexpectedly low profile games of KOTOR 2 (it wasn't too low
profile, but far more subtle in it's presence than us KOTOR fans
would expect) and SH:C. However, in the end, each game was
it's own unique vehicle that all deserved a good play through.
Then we had
driving bliss with Burnout 3, Street Racing Syndicate, and NFS:
Underground 2, to name a few. In the end, Burnout 3 pwned
everyone.
However, we also
had some games that could not be put with anything else. They
were not expected, and they had no clear competition, beyond their
own obscurity. Yes, I'm talking about Katamari Damacy.
This would easily be my game of the year. It was $20, it was
addictive as hell, it was a game that you could play without
stopping, and you could even find yourself drawn in just watching
the game as the hypnotic insane rhythms bored through your brain.
There is far too
much to remember in this last year. I think it was a year for
the ages, just for the selection and abundance...and the problems
caused by the abundance. Plus, new handhelds are always a nice
addition to a year. So, I will end this remembrance with
KOTOR2 still blasting through my head.
However, before I
part ways for the year, I will throw out a little bit more of my
traditional ranting...tonight is Velveeta's New Years party, and I
decided to bring some more fun to the arena by getting Mario Party 6
last night. I got in a nice game with a few friends and think
I made the right decision. Even if Nintendo isn't doing
so...why release two Mario Party games in one year and charge $50
for both of them at the same time. I think Nintendo needs to
consider dropping the price on one of these games, and the choice is
obvious.
Also, I did manage
to unlock the glitched battle on KOTOR2. I just left the Ebon
Hawk, re-entered, saw a nifty cut-scene, and then the battle
worked. So, I'm working my way up to building trust with
everyone on my ship. My goal is to corrupt them all to the
light side. Yes, I know corrupt is a word usually reserved for
the dark side, but I'm corrupting them to the light
side...especially poor Handmaiden, who took a vow to never use the
force but will soon be a Jedi in my own image.
So, now I part
ways, for the weekend, to get in some KOTOR2 before the drunken
party games begin. To all of you, a happy New Years.
Keep it safe, and have fun. Peace.
Malik
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