16 replies to this topic

[Xtreme-Void]

Hi, I just played Star Wars : Knight of The Old Republic,

There is something I really like, which is one of the character Bastila.

 

I play this game late, so I just found a lost gem, I found Bastila is an excellent and memorable character in the same level as Morrigan from Dragon Age Origins and Miranda Lawson from Mass Effect 2. They're strong but romantic female characters. They are better than most RPG characters.

 

I just want to thank you for making such memorable characters, and hope you can keep making memorable characters in the future.

 

 

 

 

[Taki17]

If you think KotOR 1 characters a great, wait for KotOR 2 and your mind will be blown, how real their personalities are. They scheme and hate behind eachother's backs, have vastly different opinions on the same topic and most of them don't even consider you a friend, and join you for furthering their own, personal agenda. KotOR II is unique among the Star Wars games, as it introduces you a whole other aspect of the universe, people and philosophies.

[Exile Isan]

I agree that KotOR II has much more interesting characters, especially Kreia. Heck I even think the Exile is more interesting than the PC in the first game. S/he certainly has more roleplay options than KotOR did.

[Taki17]

S/he certainly has more roleplay options than KotOR did.

Yeah, I especially like how the lightside-darkside morality is portrayed in the game. In KotOR 1, the lightside options (albeit portrayed a bit naive sometimes) are what any sane person would do, and the darkside is the murderous evil; whereas in KotOR 2, both sides are viable have good reasons behind their actions, creating a much more greyer morality in the game.

 

Do you agree with the Council, that it was a mistake to join the war? The game presents perfectly good reasons for it. Or do you still think it was justified to go to war? There are also logical reasons for this too.

 

Do you think the queen, who has been giving up a lot of her people's traditional values to bring them closer to the galactic society should be allowed to keep her throne? Or should her traditionalist cousin who opposes her be crowned instead? Again, both sides have good reasons.

[taglag]

Bastila is and interesting character, and as the voice for her is the same voice actor used for the Female Shepard in Mass effect, it does seem to be very good voice acting.

 

   I have always had, and have great memories of both KOTOR games. I still have them in there original Packages. And not to long ago replayed them. They are still very good stories, and a blast to play. KOTOR 2 is a real blast with the mod TSLRCM http://www.moddb.com...tent-mod-tslrcm

[Xtreme-Void]

I'm playing KotOR 2 now, I think Bastila character is more appealing to me. She is one of the best stand out character in a game series.

 

KotOR 2 party mostly have "problem", I dislike Carth character from KotOR 1 because he is have problem in trusting people even those who close with him.

[Taki17]

I'm playing KotOR 2 now, I think Bastila character is more appealing to me. She is one of the best stand out character in a game series.

 

KotOR 2 party mostly have "problem", I dislike Carth character from KotOR 1 because he is have problem in trusting people even those who close with him.

Most people have problems with themselves, others, society etc. It is part of what makes them (us) human.

 

Carth has a perfectly good reason not to trust people easily, as his former mentor wiped out entire planets without hesitation and followed the sith blindly. Other than him, I think Jolee is among the best characters, because he give logical reasons and informative insight about the grey side of the Force, and why are both the Jedi and Sith wrong in some aspects.

 

I don't know how far you are into KotOR 2, but when you have enough influence on them, the party members will open up about their backstories and tell you why they like/dislike the things they do. Like Atton will tell you what traumatic encounter with a Jedi made him to give up his career and go into hiding. Bao-Dur is still conflicted about a morally ambigious victory in the war that was achieved with his help. The Disciple and the Handmaiden will express their desire to become a Jedi, even though the path was denied for them in the past. Even T3 is having doubts about not being able to go with his former comrades and is worried about their well-being.

[Exile Isan]

Carth has a perfectly good reason not to trust people easily, as his former mentor wiped out entire planets without hesitation and followed the sith blindly. 

 

Especially when you consider said mentor/friend* then came back and bombed Carth's homeworld into oblivion. Killing his wife, and he thought, his son. I think I would have a hard time making friends and trusting them after that. He's also right that it's weird that the Jedi Order throw all this Star Map crap onto a newly trained recruit and his suspicion was not without merit.

 

@OP Bastila is not without problems either, you know. She's insecure, she's angry at her mother for giving her to the Jedi Order (perceived abandonment), she fears emotional attachment because of losing her father, and she's angry at the Order for using her for her Battle Meditation (I think she felt like she was just a useful tool to them and that they didn't care about her as a person) and Malak used that to turn her to the dark side. 

 

Being flawed/having problems is what makes characters interesting, and is part of the reason why I love Juhani so much. She's angry. Angry at the Mandalorians for destroying her homeworld which caused her parents to end up on Taris (a planet where is you are not human you are scum), where her father was murdered, her mother starved to death (so Juhani could live), and Juhani was sold into slavery to pay for her families debts. She was freed from slavery by Revan and the Jedi that went to fight the Mandalorians on the Outer Rim. She finally made it off planet was accepted by the Jedi Order. She still struggles with her anger (anger that she is entitled to if you ask me), she'll probably never be free of it, but she tries and that's all that matters. 

 

*I just realized Saul Karath was voiced by Robin Sachs!

[Taki17]

@OP Bastila is not without problems either, you know. She's insecure, she's angry at her mother for giving her to the Jedi Order (perceived abandonment), she fears emotional attachment because of losing her father, and she's angry at the Order for using her for her Battle Meditation (I think she felt like she was just a useful tool to them and that they didn't care about her as a person) and Malak used that to turn her to the dark side. 

Now you got me thinking if her generally "bossy" attitude early-mid in the game comes from her insecurity, or the too much expectation that is placed on her by the Jedi and the Republic (namely leading soldiers and starhsips into battle, and supporting them through words, actions and the battle meditation) ? Because Bastila seems like the type of person who takes her duties seriously, but would not admit it that she's overburdened or unable to do it, because people look up to her because for her unique abilites, and she knows that that thought alone, and being a Jedi who fights with the common grunts can inspire many. I guess it was the same reason Revan had so much support among the soldiers and the common folk during the mandalorian wars.

 

(it is so good to participate in KotOR thread every now and then, I'm getting tired of all these Dragon Age and Mass Effect drooling romance threads that just keep popping up everywhere...)

[Exile Isan]

Now you got me thinking if her generally "bossy" attitude early-mid in the game comes from her insecurity, or the too much expectation that is placed on her by the Jedi and the Republic (namely leading soldiers and starhsips into battle, and supporting them through words, actions and the battle meditation) ? Because Bastila seems like the type of person who takes her duties seriously, but would not admit it that she's overburdened or unable to do it, because people look up to her because for her unique abilites, and she knows that that thought alone, and being a Jedi who fights with the common grunts can inspire many. I guess it was the same reason Revan had so much support among the soldiers and the common folk during the mandalorian wars.

 

(it is so good to participate in KotOR thread every now and then, I'm getting tired of all these Dragon Age and Mass Effect drooling romance threads that just keep popping up everywhere...)

 

I think it's a little of both to be honest. The whole war effort for the Republic hinges on Bastila's battle meditation, for someone as young and inexperienced as she is that's a lot of pressure. So she hides behind a facade of confidence (which sometimes sounds like arrogance) and bossiness to hide her insecurity at being the sole hope of the Republic. That's too much expectation to put on one person and not have them crack.

 

I agree. That's kinda of why I've been hanging out here. 

[Xtreme-Void]

Bastila is a good person, she become dark not her fault but Malak's. She is a victim of Malak. She isn't a Jedi master yet, especially in Star Wars realm where Jedi can easily fall to darkness temptation.

 

She is not perfect, it's normal she is a human, but she don't have any "problem" like some of KotOR 2 crews, and she don't have attitude problem like Carth.

She can express herself the way she want it, I don't mind at all and she's not that stubborn she is the one who back down when argue with Carth. She can accept her fault.

 

Not perfect as a human don't mean she have problem. She is the most Jedi among others, I don't even believe she can be turned to dark side if not forced and for story sake.

[Taki17]

Not perfect as a human don't mean she have problem. She is the most Jedi among others, I don't even believe she can be turned to dark side if not forced and for story sake.

Malak did not needed much to break Bastila and turn her to the dark side, so one can only wonder if she would've turned eventually if the war dragged on. The council exploits her abilites, the soldiers depend on her for morale, she is reunited with Revan and has to play the ignorant about their past, plus her attitude might not be the most welcoming for others in the crew. I guess this is supported by the fact that it is quite hard to talk down from the dark path, as virtually the only one who can do it is the male Revan who was she in a relationship with - and again, she's not doing it for the Jedi or the Republic, but because Revan asked her to do so. I wonder if she comes back to the light fully, as she again gives in for her feelings.

[Exile Isan]

 I guess this is supported by the fact that it is quite hard to talk down from the dark path, as virtually the only one who can do it is the male Revan who was she in a relationship with - and again, she's not doing it for the Jedi or the Republic, but because Revan asked her to do so. I wonder if she comes back to the light fully, as she again gives in for her feelings.

 

Actually, that's not true. You can quite easily turn her back to the lightside even as a female Revan (done it just about every game I've played) you just have to choose the right dialog options when fighting with her. I think she does. I like to think she realizes that Malak used her just like everyone else did. I like to think Bastila realized that both extremes are bad and neither side is completely "right".

 

@Xtreme-Void Malak played on Bastila's own fears and faults to turn her to the dark side. This doesn't make her a bad person, just flawed like normal people. Like Carth, Mission, Zalbaar, Jolee, Canderous, and Juhani (especially Juhani, have I mentioned how much I love Juhani?). And like Atton, Mira, Bao-Dur, Visas, Mical, Brianna, and even Kreia. Hell even Darth Scion in interestingly flawed if you play as a female Exile. 

 

I also suggest you play KotOR again as a female character and romance Carth, maybe you'll get to see another side of him. You know the side that was bruised by his friend and mentor murdering his wife and son (or so he thought, his son is still alive), the side that feels completely helpless when it comes to all this crap with the Force etc. And the conversation where he apologizes for being a little bit of jerk. I can't remember if you get this conversation if you play as a male character, as I don't like Bastila's romance. Too much weird mental crap happened between the PC and Bastila to make me feel comfortable romancing her. And I felt like Juhani was a closer friend to my female PC (Have I mentioned I love Juhani?).

 

You know, I'm glad BioWare stopped doing that. Closing off content to PC's of the "wrong" gender. I mean Dorian and Cassandra were my female inquisitor BFF's and Dorian is gay and Cassandra is straight so it's not like I could romance either of them. It was nice to have a real friendship path. Unlike in KotOR, Bastila never felt like my PC's friend, not really. Same goes for Carth when I played a male character. Atton was different though, I felt like his friend when I played my male Exile. Of course there aren't any real romances in KotOR II. And it always annoyed me that the game automatically thought my Exile's should love/was in love with Atton or Brianna (depending on gender) when really my Exile's were in love/interested in Bao-Dur and Visas. 

[Taki17]

Actually, that's not true. You can quite easily turn her back to the lightside even as a female Revan (done it just about every game I've played) you just have to choose the right dialog options when fighting with her. I think she does. I like to think she realizes that Malak used her just like everyone else did. I like to think Bastila realized that both extremes are bad and neither side is completely "right".

Yeah, you got me there. In 13 years, I never ever managed to finish a playthrough with a female Revan and a male Exile. It just felt... out of place, but IDK why.

[Exile Isan]

I think I played male Revan twice... maybe three times and who knows how many times as a female character. KotOR II is more of an even split. Though I tend to play a female character there more too. 

[Taki17]

I tend to play male characters in RPGs because being a male myself, I'm having an easier time identifing as my character. I only choose female characters if story works better with a female lead, the only games so far were KotOR 2, Jade Empire and DA Inquisition. Games that definitely work better with a male lead in my opinion are Mass Effect and KotOR 1. In games where gender does not matter (Fallout, Skyrim etc.) I go with male again, because of my first reason.

[Exile Isan]

I tend to play female characters being female myself, I think a lot of people do the same. Play the gender they are.