#t3m4

Let's start with the characters.

First up is the dashing astromech himself, T3-M4.

THAT'S RIGHT.

HE HAS RETURNED.

My hype is immeasurable.

Dedicated archivists will already know my opinion, but T3 was easily one of my favorite characters in the first game, so seeing his familiar face....or optic sensor....again was a win.

Next is Kreia.

Kreia is an elderly Jedi who immediately decides she wants to mentor us.

This becomes slightly more understandable when it's revealed she's the former master of Darth Sion.

So far, however, most of her dialogue has consisted of vague mystical warnings,

appearing out of nowhere, "trust the Force", and "emotions lead to suffering".

In other words, she's currently hitting most of the stereotypical Jedi beats.

At the moment I find her more mysterious than interesting, but I also don't think I've seen enough of her yet to make a fair judgment.

Then we have Atton Rand.

We meet him in prison, which feels very on-brand because he immediately comes across as KOTOR II's version of "guy who doesn't trust anyone and carries a blaster", just like Carth.

Unlike Carth, though, he leans much harder into the scoundrel archetype.

Specifically, he feels like A New Hope Han Solo.

Calling it now, At some point this man is going to become an unwilling hero. The setup is written all over him.

Right now I like him well enough, but I'm hoping they don't waste his potential the way I felt KOTOR wasted Carth's.

Finally we have the main antagonist so far, Darth Sion.

Immediately, his design is more interesting than any of the major villains from the first game.

He actually looks intimidating.

He looks unique.

He looks like somebody whose presence should matter.

We still don't know much about his motivations beyond his hatred of both Kreia and the Jedi Order, but visually he's already making a much stronger first impression than Malak ever did.

Character-wise, I think there's a lot more potential here than there was at the beginning of KOTOR.

So for the first time in a while, I'm cautiously optimistic.

Now for the gameplay.

The combat system is basically identical.

Except now there's an unequip button.

And somehow even MORE menu scrolling.

This means that on top of occasionally disengaging from combat for no reason, you can now accidentally put your weapon away and start throwing hands.

While the mental image of my character dropping two swords to beat the absolute shit out of someone with a blaster is very funny, it is not an effective combat strategy.

One improvement I do appreciate is that you can now smash locked containers open.

There's a chance you'll break some of the loot inside, but honestly that's a trade I'm willing to make because I physically cannot leave unopened containers behind.

I also had a brief moment of panic when I realized there was a spacewalk section.

The underwater and spacewalk sections in KOTOR 1 were some of the most miserable gameplay I've experienced in Star Wars.

Then my character started speed-waddling across the exterior of the station like an escaped penguin.

I laughed out loud.

So thankfully that particular issue seems to have been fixed.

Unfortunately, the intro area also ends with a shooting gallery minigame.

And good lord.

The aiming sensitivity is absurd.

You have to mash the fire button constantly.

The cursor flies around like it's trying to escape the screen.

It was genuinely one of the most frustrating parts of the opening.

Overall?

Too early to make any major judgments.

But so far I already find the cast more interesting than KOTOR's opening cast, Darth Sion is making a much stronger first impression than Malak ever did, and T3-M4 remains incapable of disappointing me.

I'm Cautiously optimistic, Which is already a better starting position than KOTOR 1 managed.