Star Wars: The Old Republic Discussion

So, despite being shorter than I like it to be, KOTET is fairly concise enough that it doesn't feel like its riddled with fillers like parts of KOTFE. The best executive decision that the writers did to the story was to set aside returning companions and expand on existing character arcs particularly in regards of Vaylin and Valkorion. Some of the noticeable element of this expansion was how it plays upon choice and consequences. Every single step you take, you will deal with a lot of choices that have direct consequence to the later chapters.


One of these was how Torian and Vette was allowed more screentime and there's foreshadowing and clever scenes where you interact with these characters briefly which is enough to feel some attachment to them regardless if you have SW or BH background. As for the painful later chapters. I genuinely have no issues with it. I've expected something like Virmire would finally crop up with the ridiculous amounts of companions that you get in KOTFE. The only thing that frustrated me about this was how Vette was the obvious heroic choice to save and Torian was the preferred sacrifice. It was truly stupid how I didn't get any disapproval from everyone if I was indifferent to Torian's death but when the Wrath herself tried to be indifferent to Vette's death, immediately everyone accused her for being insensitive. She get a long letter from Gault about his time with her and how losing her like a star died.... What the frell? I told her to stay away from the front lines and she ignore it because she have another big toy gun and then when she got pinned down, she whined about h ow I was abandoning her and she's so helpless and alone... and then if I saved the damsel in distress, suddenly everyone acted like dead Torian is fine.... No. That's not fine! He's not a suicidal canon fodder! Move away Liara, I have another blue thing I'd like to throw into that volcano.

Anyway, I like how I'm right about Valkorion. In KOTFE, he was quite charming, fatherly, subtle and patient but he's progressively greedier and desperate in KOTET. Wrath didn't believe all of his BS while Darth Maul ate up everything like an idiot he is. With Wrath, they had the most interesting dynamic together and she have the best of lines "He rambles like a blowhard, I shower him with insults." The final showdown is nothing short of awesome as it was personal for her. It floored to me that she was was following the path where Revan and Scourge had tried and failed... its totally "I am no man" moment.

With Maul, I love how Valkorion labelled him simply as a lone Sith bloated with power. I guess that's an appropriate response when you stroke a man's ego and power fantasy enough... but I was surprised with Maul and the alternate DS scenes but it didn't feel quite as satisfying without...

....Arcann-bae...... I don't have any expectation when I found out that Arcann can be a companion but.... dang.... all the things I said about sexual tension and dark obsession.......and then your headcanon starts to come true and you just stare and *   キタ━━━ (゜∀゜) ━━━!!!!* as it happen...   apparently when we flip the switch, he turned into a royal cinnamon knight in shining armor with his lightsaber curving around you. I'm not blind enough to mistake the look on that man's face as anything other than pure adoration. He didn't stop staring with his clear blue eyes and saying pretty things like "It's time a worthy empress takes our place." "I believe in you" "I won't let you face him alone" and still remember the exact words I said to his father half a decade ago and "And I have you".  *faint* Also I like that Senya somehow noticed something going on and Valkorion sneering at them lovebirds. This is perfection.

Now that's unloaded.... I like the different ways of dealing Arcann. People who hated him and wanted him dead have that option early on but they did it amazingly well and its worth the replay value. I still can't see him as one-dimensional character as even in dark side, it was really clear that he was a mess. He's not just a defeated tyrant, it was his lowest point and you're practically pushing him to a point of no return. And his father's taunting him until the end was horrid and honestly, everything was the very definition of child abuse. I know practically everyone whined about daddy issues but compared to the things in Mass Effect and Dragon Age, in here, you can be the abuser and practically endorsing it. No matter how righteous you try to be or justify refusing to let Senya heal Arcann, you're still practically the monster of the situation... with a voice in your head gloating all over it.... Senya's last words about giving Arcann hope haven't actually sunk into me until I heard him recite "The pain only feels like it last for eternity". I did Voss ritual on all characters and the whole mystic thing and the ritual explicitly tells you that it doesn't change the person you are inside, it simply cleanse the darkness from your soul. I guess, he fought a Dark Lord of the Sith and he went to the dark side completely after he was wounded and was susceptible to its influence and by proxy, his father's. I guess Arcann's wounds never really heal and he felt constant pain for years. 

Also, I like how KOTET changed Vaylin's narrative from basic psychotic evil b*tch with mommy issues in KOTFE. The KOTET trailer explored her past and the story told through Senya's narrative rather than hers but it doesn't actually expand on her actual self in the present KOTET. The short story does help a bit with foreshadowing that Vaylin's feeling to her mother isn't quite clear cut as I assume. In KOTET, she is still psychotic and crazy but there's an added depth and a lot of vulnerability. Her paranoia and self-doubt grew as did with her desire to punish and hurt others until she get what she want which is to break the chains around her. Despite all of his faults, Arcann's move against Outlander was always calculated, using fear, intimidation to get what he wants and he was just as merciless which is expected from a Sith Emperor but Vaylin is a stark contrast against that. She doesn't care about everything but herself, what she want is always the priority. I am right that she is a textbook definition of a pathological narcissist but I'm wrong about her complete lacking in conscience. She was dealing with the remnant of it, there were traces of her love for her family but it was twisted. Her feelings for her brothers is genuine as it does for her mother which she had a love hate situation. It frustrated her deeply, she grew increasingly unpredictable, unstable and it was turning her inside out that she simply lashes at everything in her sight. While Arcann is made into a sympathetic villain, Vaylin made it easy for everyone to hate her and to justify the necessity of her downfall in Valkorion's plot. Which disappointed a lot of people who wanted her redeemed as well. However, with the ways things goes, I don't think her story ended in KOTET. Vaylin is a popular character to waste.

I noticed the latest patches did a number on KOTET. Difficulty level was toned down in my second playthrough compared to the December playthrough (then again, I was dealing with constant lag spikes). There's no more timer in Chapter 3 (some players especially older ones and even military vets with PTSD talk about the timer is making them stressed and causing severe anxiety). I hate how Arcann got nerfed in KOTET, I particularly love his fight in Chapter 12. A lot of fights are mind numbingly easy, some champion have 20% HP when you neared them. I guess I have replay everything in Veteran mode. Too bad there's no consequence to borrowing Valkorion's powers.

Also I found this two days ago when I went exploring at Nathema and hit the exhaustion zone.


Overall, I'm not too keen about the chapters where you have to move in walkers. Its a novelty thing but I wished it was optional. It make me remember driving Atlas Mech in ME3 but instead of point and shoot, you just tab at your enemy and shoot missiles while you're facing the other way. The party puzzle was mindnumbingly was easy as well once you know what you're doing. Also you can drop from the second floor to the first floor without dying.

I found out how people get Force Spike. It was Lord Dramath's primary weapon which you can use. You can pick it out and give him a generic lightsaber and keep the pike with you. Too bad no mods.