Interview Feargus talks about KOTOR II

[Jora]

And despite what Volourn says, Targos in IWD2 was good too. And it was designed by MCA.

 

[Sol Invictus]

You know what, I rather liked IWD2 inspite of all the lame combat sequences. I mean, really - if you trimmed down the game's monsters and got rid of the annoying Forest Maze, the game would have been pretty freaking decent. It had all the elements of a good RPG. I especially liked the locations, which reminded me of Durlag's Tower in Baldur's Gate expansion pack, which is probably one of the most memorable places in any RPG. I think either MCA or JE made that location, too.

I know JE made the Werewolf Island, and that was pretty freaking neat.

The thing I liked about the IWD/IWD2 games was the ambience of it all. Like in the crashed zepellin - it was kinda neat. It had that neat feeling to it. It's hard to explain.

 

[Spazmo]

You know what, I rather liked IWD2 inspite of all the lame combat sequences.

You mean 95% of the game? I'll admit that IWD2 did some neat things like the implementation of speech skills and even had some interesting locations and NPCs, but it was just a dull combat grind before long.

 

[Jed]

It was still more of a CRPG than NWN...

 

[Volourn]

Please Tora. Targos was a joke of village. OMG Under seige by goblins, and orcs. Lame.

Ex, face it, IWD2 sucked big time. Only HOW was worst amongst the IE games.

X, proof?

 

[Jed]

It's self-evident.

 

[Volourn]

That's not proof.

 

[Jora]

Please Tora. Targos was a joke of village. OMG Under seige by goblins, and orcs. Lame.

That's part of the plot J.E. made and (again) has nothing to do with how well MCA did the dialogues and role-playing opportunities in the first areas of the game.

 

[Jed]

"Self-evident" means that the only proof needed is to play both games. Unless you're a demented fan-boi named Volourn--what, not enough BioWare involvement in IWD2 for you? Their infamous path-finding was there all the way, baby!

 

[Azael]

Frankly, I think the idea about customizing your hilt to facilitate different fighting styles makes more sense than the magic gems of the previous games, but of course this just seems like an aestethic option.

Different fighting styles? Who said anything about implementing that?

No one, hence the underlined part.

 

[Sol Invictus]

I will agree with the assessment that IWD2 was indeed a much better role-playing game, with a much better story (I might add) than Neverwinter Nights. The combat in IWD2 was dull, at best, but it was never as horrendously crap as NWN. To this day, I still consider the Infinity Engine games some of the games I'll remember fondly for being some of the lucky few games I actually bothered to complete, and also for providing some of the best atmospheres I've ever experienced in any game.

Saint would probably disagree with me on the whole atmosphere business, as they didn't really provide much in terms of choices and such, but speaking in purely story-based aspects, those games had them nailed right in the head. They weren't very good with the whole 'choices' department of RPGs but they definitely had a good narrative. The stories themselves might have been uninspired, especially with BG and BG2, but the narrative was always gripping, in spite of the hackneyed plots.

The one thing that the IWD games had over the BG games and a lot of others was the fact that the plot was not so hackneyed, and the characters involved seemed 'real', inspite of the fantasy setting. I liked the whole bit about how the twins were driven out of the town after their mom had been found slain and their house burned to the ground by the villagers. I mean, really - it's those sorts of little details that JE Sawyer and MCA put into the game [IWD2] that went a really long way with me. The thing about these two guys, is that they brought their games to life, especially MCA with Planescape: Torment. You could sympathize with Ignus, and you could relate to Morte's plight. Let me ask you, how many games offer that degree of immersion?

 

[DemonKing]

I'm with Exitium here - I enjoyed the BG games, but despite being marketed as Dungeon Hacks, the IWD games actually had a very rich backstory and while IWD2 did feel a litle rushed, the original had quite a complex plot/story beneath all the dungon hacking.

I also prefered the background and portrait art in IWD to the Bio games (check out the water effects in the original IWD to any of the BIO IE games and tell me the Bio effects were better with a straight face - Volourn excluded, of course), plus the music and general atmosphere was top notch.

I didn't like the lame puzzle sections or the even lamer "Battlesquares" munchkin fest in IWD2, but compared to the NWN OC it was pure gaming heaven.

 

[merry andrew]

I'm so confused. Some say that IWD2 good, others say that it totally sucks. I know that I graduated high school, but this is tough!

The one thing that the IWD games had over the BG games and a lot of others was the fact that the plot was not so hackneyed, and the characters involved seemed 'real', inspite of the fantasy setting. I liked the whole bit about how the twins were driven out of the town after their mom had been found slain and their house burned to the ground by the villagers. I mean, really - it's those sorts of little details that JE Sawyer and MCA put into the game [IWD2] that went a really long way with me. The thing about these two guys, is that they brought their games to life, especially MCA with Planescape: Torment. You could sympathize with Ignus, and you could relate to Morte's plight. Let me ask you, how many games offer that degree of immersion?

Yup. For me, the combat in IWD2 wasn't much more than a ticket to more plot development. I also liked how the plot never pretended to be spectacular, as the unchanging premise was: An army is attacking the Ten Towns. Stop them.

 

[Volourn]

Merry, just differing opinions. You will *never* find a game whee you will get 100% agreement. Fallout series is about the only series of game that would get the thumbs up by 99.9% of the posters here. We all love Fallout.

 

[suibhne]

Merry, just differing opinions. You will *never* find a game whee you will get 100% agreement. Fallout series is about the only game that would get the thumbs up by 99.9% of the posters here. We all love Fallout.

Yeah, we all love Fallout - Fallout 1 (ONE), the first Fallout, Fallout the Prime - but don't go inserting your love of "the Fallout series" into our cuddly consensus. :twisted:

 

[merry andrew]

I didn't like Fallout 2 much but I loved Fallout

 

[Spazmo]

Yup. For me, the combat in IWD2 wasn't much more than a ticket to more plot development.

See, that's wierd. It's really the other way around. As for the stories in the IWD games, I'll admit they weren't bad and the series generally reeked of decentness (beautiful art and crafty dungeon design) but the problem was there was so... damn... much... repetitive... combat that it started feeling like a chore. Playing the IWD games makes me wish I had played them as P&P campaigns because it'd be way more fun with proper turn based D&D combat and staggered over several months in 6-8 hour bites where about 2-3 hours of actual progress are made.

 

[merry andrew]

As for the stories in the IWD games, I'll admit they weren't bad and the series generally reeked of decentness (beautiful art and crafty dungeon design) but the problem was there was so... damn... much... repetitive... combat that it started feeling like a chore.

I can see that. I just approached the war itself as a chore, but necessarily thorough, beautiful at times, and a pain in the arse if you really don't feel like doing it at the moment :wink:

 

[DemonKing]

We all love Fallout.

Well, can I be in the "like" category please before you speak for us all?

I enjoyed the two CRPGs very much, and even finished Tactics, but I wouldn't say that I "love" them in the way I have loved other games like some of the Wizardry or Eye of the Beholder games, or the original BG or IWD.

For me the rather dim NPC AI, bland joinable NPCs (especially in the original), painful inventory system, and often juvenile humour and language of the FO games stopped me from "loving" them...although when I think of some of the death animations I could almost consider changing my opinion. :wink:

 

[triCritical]

I think you just got served by Volourn, Exit.

Why? Because he is too stupid to recognize apples from oranges.