Once again, having played the game back on its heyday is very important to understand and appreciate it. The experience can be clunky today, it's a game from the first Xbox generation really. I played it like in 2004, in glorious PC. Now I'll examine the game in detail. While KOTOR1 is like another Star Wars movie (like what they intended with that other game, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis), KOTOR2 aims to deconstruct everything you know about the Star Wars universe. It's really dark and gritty, and your choices matter to a degree, if only to influence your companions. A more advanced form of what we got in Baldur's Gate, but less advanced than modern games. However, it must be noted that the game was rushed into a Christmas campaign, and therefore lots of content got axed. The bare minimum remains to understand the plot, which in the end, behaves like another Star Wars movie story. They had great ideas later used in some Obsidian games, but it wasn't meant to be. The game is perfectly playable, but it will feel lacking.
I'll start by saying that this score would have been pretty different if I tried the game for the first time nowadays, it'd probably feel clunky. However I first got the game in 1996 as a kid, and I loved every second of it. The DND rules aren't as complete as Baldur's Gate, but they're fine. You'll still be navigating perilous dungeons and killing monsters and getting cool loot with true DND flavour. I "completed" the game again during the confinement that happened here like in March/April. Spiritually completed, since I got to the ending, but the ending video bugged out. I still got some fun with the dungeons. The only problem was when completing the "seals", I thought I must have missed one quarter but it was there in the last dungeon. Pretty common happening with old games. Otherwise the game is defined by its heavy Egyptian feel, Har'Akir is an Egytpian-themed domain from Ravenloft. The game's roots can be traced to an AD&D pen-and-paper adventure called "Touch of death", that told the same story, but here it's spiced up I think. I prefer the videogame to the module. All in all I wish that companies brought pen-and-paper adventures to videogames as well as this today. Of course the reality is well different.
I paid about 3 dollars and it was more than a good price. As a short visual novel, and Western-made at that, it's really good. Keep in mind that the game focuses on YURI (lesbian affair), though this version, of course, lacks any adult content. For that you have got to get it elsewhere. Story-wise it's fine, a romp through some American sites, all that desert gets you thirsty but eh. I wish more human beings like Marina existed but all I get are Ambers... that's what happens when you mix 2D with 3D. Marina is practically a saint...
OK, I always regarded the Neptunia franchise, and by extension all Idea Factory/Compile Heart games, with certain suspicion, because I watched the rhythm at which they put games out; I think Idea Factory almost single-handedly maintained the PS Vita fed with games in its last years. You know how this can be described as, right? The game looks fine enough but with RPGs looks aren't the most important. For one the visual novel part seems really meh, and the RPG isn't great either. I prefer turn-based these days, and Re;Birth 1's system is almost turn-based, but mixed with some kind of action. It could really be described as Action RPG. Another thing is that I must have really gotten bad at exploration because I'm on the first dungeon and I think I've covered it all, but I can't progress further... this should be a little more intuitive. The dungeon's map really reminds me of Bioware games, but I haven't had problems finishing those as long as I liked them. My patience with Neptunia is running out, however. I spent about 7 dollars on the game but I think I can consider them forfeit by now. All in all the game didn't captivate me.
