KOTOR 2 TSL: Why Telos is the worst planet

[@subtledemisefox]

Kotor 2 is also one of my favorite games of all time, but holy Christ does it have so many irritating things going on! Great video.

[@DrMustacho]

Beodur's shield breaker also works on personal shields and basically halves most enemies health first hit

[@DBArtsCreators]

You are entirely right on Telos's design - it is the worst designed planet in the release version of the game. So many ways it could have been better: * (Czerka vs Ithorians): Both sides could have been gray here, just switch who was here first. Czerka started the Restoration project for both profit & to rehabilitate their reputation after the Jedi Civil War; their angle is to make planet restoration fast & affordable, even if it is a haphazard project in the end. Meanwhile, the Ithorians came in later & are muscling out Czerka, using good PR & their legitimately better track record to justify taking their work; their angle is a greedy one, where they are bleeding the Republic for every penny, but they do give the Republic an arguably much better restoration of the world eventually. Ithorians would also pay better, since they aren't working on the cheap (unlike Czerka). In the same token, the Ithorians are working above the table (mostly), while Czerka often has to work under the table (mostly) to get the job done. Far more gray, and not much change to the plot. * (Citadel Station Layout): Instead of doorways and teleporting terminals, you should have been able to go to any module from any module as the only option, via a tram system. Have that system go down during the battle of Citadel Station at the game's end, forcing us to instead travel through its skeleton while we are on a ticking clock (with the order of rooms we travel through determining if we prevent the sabotage or not). Beyond that, the modules could have been made more unique: the Residential module, where the apartments are (more along the lines of Dantooine's Khoonda than the grand sweeping halls of artificial foliage that we got); the Merchant module, where you'd find the three Duros merchants; the Restoration module, where you'd find Czerka, the Ithorians & Exchange; the Security module, where you'd have Grenn's office, the prison cells, & the armory; the Dock module, where you'd find the docks & the hospital/clinic (with actual people & not just the diplomat there); & the Entertainment module, where there would actually be separate areas for the swoop racing, pazaak, bar & dancers, as well as a 'scenic' overlook. * (Bao-Dur): The Shield Breaker ability isn't bad (it helps against shielded enemies too; shields just suck in KotOR 1 & 2), and it makes sense that the skill monkey is fragile. What he should have had was an alternative to having the usual 'two-shields/bands' of the other characters though. Imagine if, instead of two shields, he could equip a non-droid shield as well as a droid special weapon (like the flamethrower or neural pacifier). Then at least he'd have something special only he (as one of the humanoid characters) could use. * (Abandoned Czerka Merc): The rescue could have just been a cutscene with consequences. Help him & new droids fill in the rooms you just traveled; more dangerous ones, on top of any enemies still present. Refuse to help & he runs off, only to show up again at a bad time & accidentally trigger a trap on the party (possibly killing him). And if you kill him, you simply prevent the other two outcomes that'd have made things more dangerous. * (Telos Academy & Telos's surface): These I actually think are alright, though you should have been able to have 3 party members with you at a time, not 2. That is a general problem with KotOR in general though.

[@PopeDuwang]

All of Citadel Station is the “worst part of KotOR”. Once you go to the planet surface, things begin to pick up & once you get to The Polar Region, the game has officially begun.

[@JamieBennett-q6j]

At least the Telos cantina music was fun 😂

[@sark581]

It was ok on my first playthrough but it becomes tedious afterwards. KOTOR 2 has one of the most unengaging beginnings.

[@lrakwons9799]

Please do more of these. This Has me cracking up, all of it is too true

[@OzStriker26]

Currently on my first play through and i’m really struggling to stay interested, think i’m like halfway through Telos right now….

[@WingZX1103]

You're welcome for the footage and my god Telos was hell

[@davemac9563]

Playing through telos right now. More like suffering through

[@BritishGuyGaming]

Worst planet by far

[@Questtangy]

It’s not that bad imo (it might be restored content that carries tho) I would def recommend playing with the restored content mod

[@coruscant100]

Finally, someone says it. This planet starts out good at first, but it gets tedious quickly with the numerous fetch quests and having to go back and forth so much. By the time I have to save whoever I helped from the mercenaries, I just want to get off the planet and don't come back.

[@SCRIABINIST]

It's for me just too long and too much running around. KOTOR 2 unlike it's prequel, has a horrible and uninteresting beginning. Peragus was boring, and Telos is too long. In my opinion, the planet looks really boring and musty as well, unlike Taris, which other than the undercity, looks amazing.

[@wolfpack95805]

The ambience of Kotor 2 is somehow made far too dreary and empty than even the theme of "the galaxy is brought to its knees by the sith" is meant to make it. In K1 there's this feeling of being in a big active galaxy with plenty of life, in half of K2's planets I feel like I'm passing through US backcountry cities with pop. 350. At several points my first playthrough I was wondering "did the Republic actually die while I was in a coma?" apart from one random pub soldier in Telos cantina and stuff. Nar Shaddaa should have Assassin's Creed 1 levels of shopkeeps and hutt-aligned thugs and beggars around, yet even that feels empty. Some of it's the lack of npc saturation, some of it's just oversized map areas with generic textures, but I can't shake this feeling I'm travelling through an empty galaxy aside from what I'm seeing in front of my face

[@bebejemzy1090]

I usually side with czerka when I play this level. The only part about this level is when I get to interact with Atris. It's fun toying with her and get her pissed off.

[@natsudragneel95240]

I prefer Telos over Peragus a million times.

[@BritishGuyGaming]

I prefer the Peragus story but both are long

[@PopeDuwang]

@@BritishGuyGamingAgreed. Peragus > Telos. Peragus while it can drag a bit, has an interesting plot line of mystery and dread that sets the mood of what to expect through the game. As for Telos, going back and forth from one part of the station to the other many times over quickly becomes a drag.

[@Questtangy]

@@PopeDuwangI love the vibe of peragus but it is realllllly long

[@PopeDuwang]

@@Questtangy I won’t deny that. It can drag a bit too long at points but at least you aren’t going to the same 4 rooms 8-10 times like at Telos.

[@jimmybailey7198]

I'm the weird one and runs through the entire citadel in like an hour on hard, doing everything I can with my run (male lightside, so no czerka lol) The game tells you what it wants from you. It's the most broken (not buggy, at least on version 1.0a not 1.0b, on xbox on og hardware not emulated) beautiful masterpiece!

[@SCARaw]

i disagree i like Telos Telos is a symbol of hope for the republic, entire republic need telos to restore to show that union can work if you wanna talk about the design: Telos is big and badly layout ugly very power creepy all choices have minimal consequences on the character, but there are obvious best reward choices you start in prison of scripts and returning here is painful because of far distance to market and nothing new happening Without killing: 100% light side give you like +15 from questos alone 100% dark side give you like -20 from questos alone Dialogue with Atris gives you +13 or -13...

[@Terminaut1]

The problem with paragus and telos, is that you can't freely go back and forth. They just feel smaller despite not actually being smaller.

[@micahcole9392]

Bao dur is not weak. You just have to level him correctly.

[@ColbyNeblett]

Idk i like it. The surface section can be pretty tough tho if youre playing on hard. I sometimes have to bump the difficulty down for the plains section lol

[@DarthRevanGaming-xx6vj]

amazing...

[@thenorsenut380]

Haha 😂 I think we've all felt this way about kotor 2

[@sebastian6613]

Peragus is even worse

[@DBArtsCreators]

Peragus at least has some intriguing mystery about it, even if it could have stood to be shorter.

[@thefinal9923]

@@DBArtsCreators For real. I only just started a playthrough for the first time, I don't think I'd care for it on repeats, but I enjoyed getting into all the logs and piecing the mystery together.

[@MDE_never_dies]

Am I the only one here who likes Telos? 😶 Edit: Except the time I soft-locked my game at Telos on my first playthrough in 2004 at 7 years old

[@DreadBoi504]

How tf did they make the first 2 planets god awful like omg 🤦‍♂️. After giving Peragus so much shid, I was happy to see Telos….until I started playing through it and honestly imo, it’s just as bad as Peragus (or maybe even WORSE!!!!) Like HOW?!? They went from the amazement of Taris in the first KOTOR to this is the 2nd installment?!? If I wasn’t such a fan of the first, this game would’ve been immediately DROPPED. If the first KOTOR started off like this, I would’ve never even loved the series.

[@wolfpack95805]

The game was way too unfinished at launch, Lucasarts just couldn't resist snatching up that holiday revenue... *rolls eyes*. Even with RCM the first 2 planets are just too empty and boring. It feels like a chore to get through them to get to the meat of the game; and once you're done with Telos, there's hardly any reason to choose to return.

[@walletracer9882]

@@wolfpack95805 Wasn't even a development problem though. In lore, both are incredible empty and damaged planets. Every planet in Kotor 2 is barren and depressing in its own right not matter how complete or incomplete they are. By comparison, everything in Kotor 1 was so much more alive.

[@Lafuerza_V]

Ok why are you pronouncing it “Kotar 2”