Well, I beat the game, and I have to say there were some really nice moments hidden in there that helped counter my initial impressions.  I'll probably write more about it when I have the energy, but I'll say right now that I'm glad I got a chance to play that thing.   This will be a short note, but there will be spoilers belowif you haven't played it (and I mention some vague things about KOTOR 2).  I suggest you walk on by if you want to go into it without anything ruined.

 
 --
 
 
I'm glad I saved Manaan for last, that was fun (if I did run into a few possible bugs). My favorite moment, though, had to be with the Sandpeople storyteller; that was when I knew it was special.  Didn't even get experience for the actual information, and I'm glad I didn't.  I liked how the story tied into something later, and I also liked Jolee's ideas about how the Jedi outlook on "love" is actually harmful in its severity, something that I wish the actual movies would have addressed more directly.
 
True to form I made the game freak out a few times.  My favorite was when I saved next to the door just before I met Bastila the final time.  When I loaded it, it put me IN FRONT of the door, so I already triggered the Bastila dialog even though the door was closed and my two companions were behind me.  When they froze in the normal game, she then shut the door behind me, but because the door was already closed, it OPENED just before the battle.  I then could run all the way back through the complex up to the first locked door, triggering the Ninja Gaiden endless enemy flow in certain areas (a source of frustration for me until I figured out they were endless). When I went back to Bastila after the battle, I kited a bunch of enemies from earlier in the area, and while talking to me about facing Malak, she stood up, drew her lightsaber, and started fighting them as she was talking, which I found hilarious, though not as funny as the Jolee conversation I reference in the title of this blog.
 
I replayed a bit of the beginning of KOTOR 2, and I was surprised how complex and upgraded the engine is.  For all the lack of an endgame, the serious continuity errors, and probably some other issues I've forgotten by now, KOTOR 2 definitely had some great enhancements to the basic engine, like alternate weapon configurations, nice expansion of attribute functions, and a labyrinthine, possibly overly complex, system for breaking things down and building your own equipment.  
 
Finally, I'd like to say it's pretty weird to see old saves.  I pulled up some of them and I was completely confused, thinking someone else had made them.  They happened to have been made during a rather difficult period in my life, so maybe my lack of memory of it has something to do with that.  I actually got pretty far, which was surprising to me considering I had no real memory of it.  
 
Anyone out there try to delve through their old saves and reconstruct what they were thinking?  Anyway, thanks for reading.  I don't feel like it now but I think I should probably write more about my feelings about KOTOR before too long.

Well, I beat the game, and I have to say there were some really nice moments hidden in there that helped counter my initial impressions.  I'll probably write more about it when I have the energy, but I'll say right now that I'm glad I got a chance to play that thing.   This will be a short note, but there will be spoilers belowif you haven't played it (and I mention some vague things about KOTOR 2).  I suggest you walk on by if you want to go into it without anything ruined.

 
 --
 
 
I'm glad I saved Manaan for last, that was fun (if I did run into a few possible bugs). My favorite moment, though, had to be with the Sandpeople storyteller; that was when I knew it was special.  Didn't even get experience for the actual information, and I'm glad I didn't.  I liked how the story tied into something later, and I also liked Jolee's ideas about how the Jedi outlook on "love" is actually harmful in its severity, something that I wish the actual movies would have addressed more directly.
 
True to form I made the game freak out a few times.  My favorite was when I saved next to the door just before I met Bastila the final time.  When I loaded it, it put me IN FRONT of the door, so I already triggered the Bastila dialog even though the door was closed and my two companions were behind me.  When they froze in the normal game, she then shut the door behind me, but because the door was already closed, it OPENED just before the battle.  I then could run all the way back through the complex up to the first locked door, triggering the Ninja Gaiden endless enemy flow in certain areas (a source of frustration for me until I figured out they were endless). When I went back to Bastila after the battle, I kited a bunch of enemies from earlier in the area, and while talking to me about facing Malak, she stood up, drew her lightsaber, and started fighting them as she was talking, which I found hilarious, though not as funny as the Jolee conversation I reference in the title of this blog.
 
I replayed a bit of the beginning of KOTOR 2, and I was surprised how complex and upgraded the engine is.  For all the lack of an endgame, the serious continuity errors, and probably some other issues I've forgotten by now, KOTOR 2 definitely had some great enhancements to the basic engine, like alternate weapon configurations, nice expansion of attribute functions, and a labyrinthine, possibly overly complex, system for breaking things down and building your own equipment.  
 
Finally, I'd like to say it's pretty weird to see old saves.  I pulled up some of them and I was completely confused, thinking someone else had made them.  They happened to have been made during a rather difficult period in my life, so maybe my lack of memory of it has something to do with that.  I actually got pretty far, which was surprising to me considering I had no real memory of it.  
 
Anyone out there try to delve through their old saves and reconstruct what they were thinking?  Anyway, thanks for reading.  I don't feel like it now but I think I should probably write more about my feelings about KOTOR before too long.

Yep. KotOR has some bugs, but you should know that the PC version is far less stable than the Xbox one, oddly enough. There was a glitch where the game would literally freeze every time at a certain spot unless I disabled those not so great anyways pre-rendered cutscenes. Not to mention the part where the last planet literally broke on me and I had to quicksave every few steps.  Also, Manaan should always be last, mostly because you can't go back after you finished it, and there are quite a few sidequests there, perhaps the most of any planet. 
 
The enhancements to the actual gameplay are perhaps one of the few things I will caveat to KotOR 2 over the first. However, the level of janky unfinishedness and lack of polish are readily apparent, on all levels.  You know, like how Korriban is only half an hour, because originally it was going to be the lead-in for the droid planet where you would actually find the jedi master?  But then they cut the entire planet and thus made Korriban a totally pointless and boring part of the journey.  I have already rehashed this rant over and over again, and I really have nothing else to say, so I will take my peace.

That's a pretty funny glitch to have experienced. I can't say I ever went out of my way to break the game like that, although I did reload that save before Bastila's door a couple times. Maybe I just got unlucky. =(
 
I've never reloaded my old saves (part of that problem is the save game battery thing dying in my SNES games). I should try it sometime, but I don't have many games with which I can do it, due to that aforementioned problem (didn't play many games with multiple save slots on N64, and my Gamecube is in relatives' hands now).

I haven't kept any of my old consoles, so there are no saves there. When I delete a game on my PC, the saves go with it. I even deleted all my old saves on my Wii. It's weird how I move on like that. If I'm going to play a game again, I start from scratch especially the PC. 
 
I do have some old saves on my Xbox 360 hard drive, '08 to current. I no longer have the games though, so no good there either, but the option to buy again is cool.
 
I haven't thought about playing KotOR 2. I've been dabbling in games. I tried to get back into Mass Effect again on the PC, but I'm not feeling it. I might try Morrowind again, but all my mods made it too perfect. I'm not feeling the mood, need to tweak it down a little bit. Still trying to finish Dragon Age: Origins. I'm at the end of my first play-through.  But even on easy, it's tough on the PC, but a little trial and error and you can win easy. 
 
And of course, there's my Wii time. Endless Ocean: Blue World take me away. And virtual golf for the Wii and the PC. I've been playing a lot of Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, might buy a membership. It's pretty addicting for a golfing enthusiast like me.
 
My next big wave of a game will be Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii, but I've been checking out Steam, might get something great on the cheap.