I stream here and want more people to understand just how bad I am at video games: www.twitch.tv/thesaltfactory_ Schedule- Monday, Tuesday, Friday. Time- 2-4PM EST start, 6-9PM EST end. Thank. Also apparently my gamersupps code doesn't do what I said it did anymore. Now it seems to just give a percentage off. I think the free shipping on free samples was used up by you guys. So solid job there lol

First Obsidian doesn't finish KOTOR 2 and it becomes a classic, then years later Obsidian didn't finish New Vegas and it became a classic. We just need to make sure Obsidian never finishes their game 100%.

Basically, you can start the game and this video at the same time and by the time this video ends you'll still be in Peragus

Started in 2006 and I finally just got out of Peragus. Can’t wait for the rest of the story.

2:02:05 you passed by mandalorian that would let you fast travel back to the Ebon Hawk. So you missed the fast travel feature in both KOTOR 1 and 2 😂

"Canderous, is that you?" *"No, I'm his twin brother, Manderous."*

"Why am I still on Peragus?" That's a question KOTOR II fans have been asking for years

Decades later: Something you may not notice when playing the game is that you can toggle to first person view on characters and different characters have different ways of seeing things, e.g. Visas or droids will have a different filter for how they see the world than other characters do.

3:10:20 Nihlus was deemed a failure because he doesn't just consume the Force, he also consumes life. If left unchecked, he would have consumed all life in the galaxy, not just Force sensitive life. Kreia didn't want all life to end, only the Force.

Imagine playing male exile and not choosing Space Jesus for your avatar

"Obsidian's Unfinished Classic" thats not very specific

2:50:29 From what I understand, Atris' incoherent philosophy is partly the result of more cut content. The original plan was that you'd have to face someone called "Darth Traya", but it wouldn't necessarily be Kreia. Depending on your path through the game, either Kreia or Atris could've become Darth Traya. I think that's why Kreia says earlier that the Betrayer is yet to be revealed. She knew that there would be a big betrayal (Force visions, I guess), but it wasn't yet certain that she would be the one to betray you. I'm not sure she's being deliberately vague; rather, she's being as specific as she can be about a yet-uncertain future.

55:07 In argument to your questions. Han Solo wasn't attuned to the force, but he still turned on Luke's Saber while he was unconscious. Lightsabers aren't magical items. They are just extremely dangerous so typically only force users weld them

Keira dual wielding pistols is the most cursed thing I've ever seen.

I saw this video was 3 hours long and assumed the first hour was just peragus

Pro tip for beating the 5 sisters. Disengage from combat and just walk towards each of them while remaining on the mat. The combat system will compel them to back up to avoid clipping issues, but doing so will force them off the fighting mat and they'll lose.

Fun fact you can go into first person and look around. If you do so while controlling Visas she can see how good or evil things are, because she sees through the force.

Who’s going to tell him that on Dxun you can talk to the Mandalorian at the exit of the camp to fast travel back to the ship?

"I'm going to make my own jedi order! With pazak and handmaidens!"

3:09:11 "Kills Sion 3 times" Sion: "So anyway, about Kreia..."

Ironically, the quest on Nar Shadaa with the lady trying to get back with her husband actually works without a hitch in the game as it was shipped, that is, without the CRM.

You mention reprogramming HK-47 to make him more sympathetic to life, or wording to that effect. You actually can!!!! On Nar Shaddaa you can buy a HK passive component that will make him peace loving, its just a short easter egg and you quickly remove it but its super fun to see.

Small tidbits: Things like that odd bit of voice acting on Dantooine, some really weird cutscene inconsistencies and the droid planet can't really be blamed on the developers. Some of these weren't just cut content added back in by the Restored content mod, but cut content filled IN by the restored content mod, meaning some of those parts are the modders trying to piece together different data best they can. Think of it like, they have the level layout, they have some voice clips of the last few cutscenes and some loose script for a few of the NPCs and they then have to make up what connects all these assets together. On that note, the old Restored scene for the droid planet has Sion killing the Jedi Master you find there, and a few other scenes where he and Nihlus would interact and fight each other. The reason you don't learn as much about Hanhar is because, during the Nar Shadda story, he becomes the companion for Dark side players instead of Mira. On the subject of the 'black and white' conflicts in the game, it's less about 'One side is good and one side is evil' and more 'one side is appealing while the other side might be better in the long run'. The Onderon conflict being the best example as, while the general might be shadier and more ruthless than the moral Queen, he could ultimately be considered better for Onderon as he stops Onderon from losing all of it's culture and standing when being absorbed into the Republic. The Ithorians vs Czerka was basically a matter of asking if letting the Republic, which is very much on it's last leg, sink so much resource into restoring planets would only further destabilize the Republic. It's basically a microcosm of Kreia's lesson on Nar Shadda, what seems like a good deed in the short run can very well spell a worse fate in the long run if you let blind altruism guide you. Speaking of Onderon, there's a small funny moment where, if you side with the Queen, she rewards you with an artefact from her museum. However, you can steal the item before hand when you pass through there, meaning when you get to this scene, she assumes the General's men took it and she has to give you an extra reward. Kreia sees Nihlus as a failure since he is the ultimate example of what she hates, he's become a mindless incarnation of hunger, unable to do anything but seek life to feed on, relying on the force to stave off starving. He's the opposite of the exile, the representation of what the Exile would have become if they hadn't cut themselves off from the force on Malachor. He repels, you attract. He can't speak at all while you have a full dialouge list. He causes distress, you cause obsession. And in the end (as the darkness takes him), he is nothing, as Kreia told you he would be. Though, he became nothing because Kreia used Tobin/Queenie to lure him into a trap, but nothing none the less! Sion goes back to Kreia because ultimately, he needs her. Like he treats you like her son, he's like Kreia's neglected son who, no matter how hard he tries to forge his own path, he still wants mommy's approval. Well, on male playthroughs. On female playthroughs, Sion has fallen in love with you and wants to kill you to save you from Kreia. Best way to explain some of Atris's contradictions is projection. She's obsessed with you (in love with you if you're a male with some Oedipus-complex vibes, adores you if you're female) and see's you leaving for the Mandalorian War and subsequently your exile as you abandoning her, but that emotion is distasteful for her, so she convinces herself that her anger against you is because you were wrong and that what she's doing is completely different. If she admits that you were right, then she admits why she's really angry with you, and she can't accept that. Probably good you're doing the non-canon playthrough, because canon dictates that after Kotor 2, the Exile meets up with Revan and gets shanked by The Emperor's Wrath to set up The Old Republic MMO.

One of my favorite star wars stories despite feeling the game was incomplete. Long have I wished more recent star wars stories would abandon the good v evil conflict and take a harder look at the force in general and what that means in the context of the history of Star wars. Is everything that happens the will of the force? Does the force want balance or just constant conflict? IF something like that does exist, is there such a thing as free will. And would freedom be something to desire when faced with the prospect it could lead to the destruction of EVERYTHING.

Obsidian really is an underrated developer. No publisher treats them fairly.

pro tip: don't kill those sith guard on Peragus with the laser turret. If you let them onto the ship, you get a fuck tonne of XP

Jedi: *choking to death* Kreia: if we help him it will only make him weak in the long run. Me: ok Jedi: *dies* Me: *looks at Kreia* Kreia: Of course not helping him will make him weak at the present time.

I dont know if you touch on it later in the video but, Bao-dur is supposed to be boring and depressing. He is a man full of regret and sadness and feels responsible for all the devastation at Malachor V. IMO! He has some of the most real emotion to a character despite his monotone voice.

Fun fact about Kreia's force. If you have high influence on light side she will start to mirror you, but it never really goes above gray with hints of blue or a little redder. However, if you have low influence, she will literally be your anthesis. If you're high blue, she becomes high red. And if you're High Red, she becomes High Blue. She is the only companion who will completely invert their alignment because of influence.

"I despise the jedi council for their inaction" Wow, it's almost like Apathy is Death

You don't have to be a force user to use a lightsaber. Remember Han activates Lukes lightsaber in Empire Strikes Back to cut open the Tauntaun.

Salt Factory ending a critique about something with "Oh well..." is basically a death sentence

It's so refreshing to hear someone talk about the KOTOR games and not leave everyone in a sugar coma afterwards. I love the fluidity of your presentation, seamlessly transitioning between positive and negative points while also interjecting your own observations and thoughts. Quality work, both videos.

"I made dex and intelligence my dump stats" Everyone whose played the game before: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Dxun load zones are really big and it's a problem to treck back to the ship" That's why they give you a fast travel option by talking with the scout at the gate

2:23:00 you joke, but adhesive grenades are actually incredibly valuable for one reason: Master Vrook. If you go Dark Side and go to Dantooine for your first planet and attack Vrook, there is a good chance he will kick your ass because he will dodge EVERY. SINGLE. ATTACK. He will also spam force heal, negating any damage you do. He is probably the toughest of the Jedi masters to fight. Not only does an adhesive grenade guarantee that he cannot move (unlike the ice grenade), he also cannot use force powers. The adhesive grenade was the only way I could beat him my first few times playing this game, and I swear I could barely find any adhesive grenades up until I fought him.

So a funny thing about the dancing bit is that you can actually get Mira to do it by provoking her into doing it like the Tsundere she is.

HK-47 saying "Apathy is death." gets me everytime

the way HK said "apathy is death" like an old school horror movie announcer made me lose my mind laughing

Gotta love Czerka: "We don't understand what 'restoring nature' even *means* but whatever it is, it's both silly *and* prohibitively expensive!"

So the reason why Visas was maxed out in the light side when you found her is because depending on the influence you have with companions your own choices that would affect your light side or dark side points will affect your companions as well, I managed to turn mandolorian to the light side from the dark side in one play through just to see if I could. I don't know if what I did was supposed to be possible but it happened

Kreia is one of my favorite RPG villains. Part of what sold her as a character to me is that she's basically the nihilistic subversion of the wise old master trope. Basically Yoda if only Yoda were an old woman, _much_ crankier, judgmental and angry at the entire universe. Somebody who has his strength but whose life turned out all wrong and left her bitter. She's not some Palpatine either. She doesn't give a fig about galactic conquest. And despite all her lies and deception, there's one thing she's completely authentic about. She's a teacher who takes pride in her students. But she wouldn't be a Sith lord if she didn't play favorites with her children. She only has love to spare for two of them. The Dark Side part of her is basically internet neckbeard spite. She really needs to be _right_ and wants the validation of her peers and students. Being condemned for Revan's fall was a real black mark on her pride. She was attempting to win a moral victory by presenting the Exile to the Masters at the climax. And despite herself, actually being a Light Side Exile _is her ideal outcome._ She wants to prove that her methods could produce a Jedi 2.0. The synthesis of the thesis and antithesis of the Jedi and Sith conflict. A more human Jedi more in touch with his lower passions and to the people and the struggles around him and becomes better for it. Not these stiff-necked space priests that had them both tried for heretics. Having the surviving masters reject her magnum opus was more than she could bear.

"Obsidian's Unfinished Classic" Do you know how little that narrows it down?!

I did not click like. I did not subscribe. Such charity would only weaken you. May the algorithm be with you.

Bao-dur's voice acting comes off as a calm tech person, just there for logic, that is what I got so bias of nostalgia

There's actually a upgrade you can get for HK 47 that lets him care about life and his dialogue changes dramatically to where he's a super lovey-dovey loving life kind of droid however both the player character and HK have dialogue where they're just disgusted with how he's acting so they immediately change them back and then he gets like +2 perception

“Classic” and “unfinished” are two words forever associated with Obsidian aka Black Isle. Someday their publishers will let them release a finished classic that’ll rip a hole in the fabric of time. And then they’ll get to make Van Burren.

I'd like to point out at 2:10:19 when he gave the visa to the women the reason he gained dark side points was because you could finde out if you had force persuasion that she is planning with some peopl to bomb a place or something.

I have grown fond of this game over the years, and I would have loved Kotor 3 even more if Obsidian had finished it. This is the DS9 in the Star Wars franchise.

Anyone who's played an unpatched version of Kotor 2 really understands that "unfinished" for sure.

"Jedi Master sucks" *me, looking around at the army that's been stuck in stasis for the past 20 minutes* ...Okay

The dancing bit on Nar Shaddaa is there because you can sneak into the door behind him by putting both him to sleep by dancing and his dogs to sleep by putting booze in their water dish. There's a conversation you can sneak and ease drop on to learn about putting the dogs to sleep.

So a fun theory about Brianna (the Haidmaiden) is that her mother, Arren Kae, is actually Kreia. It doesn't matter too much, but its an interesting thing to think about.

Went to my moms house, tore apart the attic, definitely breathed in asbestos, found my old Xbox, thank you.

An almost 3 and a half hour salt factory video? You’ve blessed my Tuesday greatly.

I love how you dropped Dexterity and Intelligence when they're generally the two most important stats in the game. Intelligence nets you more skill points and helps you automatically solve a lot of puzzles. You don't need Charisma that much at all, and you definitely don't need Strength. Dexterity improves your chances of not getting hit, and increases your chances of hitting.

I knew as soon as you started describing the villain who it was. I never played the game, but dear god, I remember the backstory to him becoming a villain and it never leaves you. It’s batshit insane, and used as an example why superweapons are probably the most damning and dangerous weapons to the Force.

I’ll enjoy watching this over the course of the next several years

Never had any bugs with the refugee quests. Those were actually some of the more satisfying payoffs. The camp layout design did fucking suck though.

I remember on nar shada getting my first lightsaber for the first time and assaulting the bar with it felt amazing lol

Regarding Darth Nihilus, I always read his character as a version of the whole “vague evil force,“ kind of like in the fifth element. Also, he’s kind of what would happen if you took his nihilist (real subtle there, Obsidian) philosophy to its extreme. Nothing matters to him, except to feed. He doesn’t care about ideology, or race, or power. His name and past don’t matter, he just lives to consume now.

“I’m gonna go Sentinel, the class that’s really well set up for a skill and dex-defense build. I’m gonna make dexterity and intelligence lower.”

Look at our boi stretchin' to pass 10 minute mark

Ten year old me adored this game. Playing it sent chills down my spine, attempting to keep my allies on side and fighting Kreia at the end was iconic. I remember having trouble with the Dxun campaign and then having more trouble with Onderon. The handmaiden was too deep for young me but I’ve explored it in recent years. Atris deserved better. I play this and KOTOR roughly once a year. 29 year old me loves this game.

Dude I love your shit. I've watched this one at least 5 times over the last few months and I'm back again. Like legit full respect

The Oblivion Guard voice clips got me

It was KotOR 1 & 2 that made me truly adore the Mandalorians. Such a vivid culture

Always thought you burn a hole in the stone with your lightsaber, pushing it in deep enough so the hilt gets stuck in the hole created by the lightsaber

the thing that gives this a few more layers is that it's not as simple as "the jedi did nothing, therefore they're cowards." Because there was a time when the Jedi did go to war. It was during the clone wars, and their becoming warriors rather than "keepers of peace" was their eventual undoing. According to the Jedi teachings the Jedi do not wage war, so following that commandment it's the right choice for the Jedi to abstain. But that's the problem with the Jedi code, it's just flawed as shit and adhering to it closely just leads to catastrophe. I like to imagine the Jedi during the clone wars learned from what happened and joined the war because they were afraid of Jedi leaving en masse like they did in the mandalorian wars. That's why they decide to fight even though Windu says "the Jedi are keepers of the peace, not soldiers"

Honestly some of the characters in KotOR 2 are phenomenal, particularly Atton and Kreia. There's just so much depth to uncover, obviously the game has its flaws but a lot of that is down to its age. It makes me hesitant about a KotOR 3 because it just wouldn't be the same, but I desperately want more content that isn't in the form of an MMO.

Mans throws in a random "I'm married" there at the end. Congragulations.

The Fable music laced over your dialogue on Kreia was... spot on.

1:43:45 Handamiden's father was not a Jedi. His name was Yusanis, an Echani general. He didn't join Revan, he was actually killed by him in a duel

9:40 The part I found interesting about this conversation back when I was a kid first playing it was that depending on how you answer Atton through these "exposition dumps" you're actually setting up the history of the first game without having to import a save or anything.

FYI: Hanharr does join your party if you follow the Dark Side and then he is getting more fleshed out.

Visas Mar is a character who is strongly influenced by the main character from the get go. If you're light side she's lights side. The influence is affected by things like your charisma. Within the story, the Exhile has unique gift of forming strong force bonds with the people around them. Mira the bounty hunter once she joins the crew admits following the Exhile causes her to act against her standard ways. As a Bounty hunter, she's known for refusing to kill of at all possible. Following even a light side Exhile, she finds herself readily killing hundreds of people just because she's with the Exhile, and she's horrified by it. That's what the force bonds can do to other people.light side Story wise you can convert Anton, Mira, The Handmaiden/historian and boa dur to Jedi. It's a mixed bag whether it's useful or not. There are game guides out there that tell you how to do so. In converting them to Jedi, they serve as the lost Jedi who piece the order back alongside Bastila after the Exhile joins Revan in the unknown regions to face the true Sith.

Trading for the crystal on onderon gave you dark side points because if you force persuade her to reveal why she wants the visa, she explains she is transporting a huge shipment of explosives to kill people with.

Bioware said: "You're not giving us enough time!" EA: "How about even less?"

I think the best part of this game for me is the ability to roleplay. I always enjoyed the approach KOTOR 2 took to letting the player define their character. Yes, you are restricted to a specific backstory that sets up the current story (you followed people into a war you were forbidden to wage, you were a general, you were responsible for turning on a superweapon that decimated an entire planet and you were the one person who returned to your people to stand trial instead of following the rest of your army), but the entire story of the game revolves around the player character explaining their actions and defining their motivations. You meet all the people affected by those actions, you argue with people about those actions, you discuss how those actions effected you and whether you regret them or not. The player is defined enough to have a place in the setting, but with enough gaps left open for the player to give their own character there. Makes the companion conversations more interesting too, since it's not just a rather one-sided conversation of you asking for their backstory, but of them trying to understand how you tick and how you've changed.

1:32:00 Something I think would have been interesting is if they all gave their own spin on the information, giving you a different piece not based on which order you see them but on their perspective. Vrook for example might see the bond as a result of your emotions, and use it to chastise you, whereas Zez-Kai Ell would be more open to philosophizing about it and Kavar would take a more tactical or even medical approach in analyzing it. Even better is if that perspective allowed them to almost sort of "specialize" at giving one of the answers. Vrook being the strongest in his Jedi convictions could probably give you a solid answer about your exile, Zez-Kai has most likely been contemplating the force more broadly than when he was a Jedi and could give a more educated answer on your "force wound", and Kavar would probably jump at the chance to poke and prod at your bond to gain a better insight on it.

These videos really are amazing. I love your sense of humor and in depeth analysis. I always love seeing when you post new videos.

Most of the complaints seem to be due to the restored content mod (changing between cgi + in game cut scenes - really bad voice acting in Jedi Ruins etc) but I guess that is not obvious unless you have played the vanilla.

At 36:50, as someone who lives in a country half run by criminal familirs/sindicates, the exchange being criminal but sort of legal in the open is a very realistic view for a videogame, imo

1:42:10 the fable 2 menu music in the background fits so well given that Kreia and the old lady in fable look identical!!!

two things about the council scene, you do not need to be a Force user to wield a lightsaber, and some objects are imbued with the Force. Khyber Crystals (used in Lightsabers) are Force Sensitive of a sort for instance

Kreia is Avellone's best character, and he's written some awesome characters

I'm going to watch every minute. Get that youtube red money Salt.

1:30:00 He missed what would had been his favourite sidequest: finding a corpse in the jedi temple lead to a detective quest handling the testament 1:31:16 It’s in this room; He went right by it

I just started playing swtor, and im loving it. And when kreya said that a sith empire awaits beyond the outer rim, i was like, word? And it all makes sense.

47:25 "No way! How'd you get here before us?!" "...How DID we get here before them, Kronk?" "You got me; by all accounts it doesn't make sense." "Ah well, back to business."

Hot take; peragus on ur first playthrough is hella weird, dark, mysterious and kinda awesome considering u have to piece everything together to figure out what happened.

57:10 not having to worry about Kreia nagging you. *proceeds to FaceTime you via the force*

I used to play this on OG Xbox, it was laggy as hell, I still loved playing it everyday after school

Watching all of the characters do everything, even typing on consoles, casually with swords in their hands, is fucking hilarious.

You missed Kreia's lesson on strength, that strength isn't power unto itself, but to turn away from it.

35:25 "I still have no weapons, but that doesn't seem to matter as the other two in my party beat cheeks while I cast buffs" When I tell you I was crying

2:22:50 The loot that disappointed you so much is random. The best you can hope for is a Mandalorian Disintegrator which is the best pistol in the game.

Statement: Love is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope.

You can be a force gunslinger in this game. I actually played through the whole game as one myself, using force powers and dual blaster pistols. You do not need to use a lightsaber or melee weapons to be a jedi in Kotor2. Atton is actually a pretty damn effective force gunslinger if you ignore him being able to use a lightsaber.

This was incredible. Not just the mod, but the video itself. The arrangement, the pacing, the commentary, reveals etc. Absolutely awesome, dude. You have serious potential for more long form commentary content. I would say it was as enjoyable to watch as any great Hbomberguy video. Me and my wife sat and watched it, start to finish, in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. Couldn't take our eyes off it. Definitely subbing. Keep it up dude!