Hell no, the Sith Emperor was a character only introduced for TOR. He has no presence in Kotor 1 or 2. Worse of all, Bioware stated that the only reason Revan turned Sith was because the Sith Emperor told him to. That's it, Revan was told to be evil. Kreia in Kotor 2 paints this amazing picture of Revan as a force user than rises above mere labels of Jedi or Sith. Kotor 2 characterizes Revan as a scary badass, where as TOR makes him into a whiny mullet man that the Sith Emperor molested with the dark side. A complete waste.
Even worse is that Revan was kept alive for 300 years by the Sith Emperor with alchemy, only to be killed by 4 randoms with cheesy dialogue. I swear the only reason I think Revan is in TOR is so that BW can preemptively kill any chance of a true Kotor 3.
Tell me about it. It's mind bogglingly stupid. Trading Revan, a character many were quite attached to and would gladly spend money on, for your run of the mill Emperor that has zero noteworthy traits to distinguish him from the other thousands of Evil Emperors out there.
Maybe I'm just late to the party. Have the fans been demanding for years a confrontation with the Sith Emperor?
Hehe, I just saw your post on Ryus' wall over how terribly Bioware handled Revan in TOR. Bioware should just have ignored Kotor 1/2 all together if they were just going to make it a side note. Instead, they essentially made sure no one could ever do another Kotor. Now we are all stuck with TOR's conclusion of the story and...its writing.
Also, this link is the entire reason Kotor 2 was retconned and why Revan was turned into a uncharismatic weak mullet man. All so that Bioware could make this,
Thanks JB! That's precisely the type of review I've been looking for. To be honest, I like Obsidian stories and characters, but generally the gameplay is imbalanced. They always seem to take on rather ambitious projects, which end up never being completely finished. Nonetheless, the game sounds fun and intriguing. Thanks again.
Sorry to intrude but I noticed your conversation with Ryus, in particular, your question about Alpha Protocol's quality. Well, it just so happens that I did a more thourough analysis of the game some time ago. It's here if you want it
Spoiler for Alpha Protocol:
The gameplay is, without a doubt, it's weakest element. There are three main classes. Spy, Soldier and thecnician. Stealth, shooting and explosives and the such. In theory, the gameplay is good. There are several different ways in which to complete the mission but the AI is horrible, shooting is annoying (especially if you didn't upgrade your ability with that particular gun) and you always have to hack computer or break locks. So, most of the time, you end up choosing one class but having to use all three which can leave you at a serious disavantadge.
Also, if you are trying to play as a spy, the game will soon make you want to tear you hair out. Hacking and breaking locks always activate the alarm if you fail. ALWAYS, even when it doesn't make sense. And, since the game doesn't let you save, instead there are checkpoints, you migth find yourseld doing the same thing over and over again so as to not set that alarm off.
There is a LOT to do and see, however. Your choices, both in dialogue and actions, matter. The smallest detail, and I emphasyze smallest, can screw up everything. For example,I ended up being shot by my LI simply because I forgot to check one room. Denied my happy ending.
The dialogue system is extremely intricate. I did some research and, apparently, I could have killed the Dragon a lot sooner had I choosen different dialoge options.
However, it is too ambitious. It tries to be too much and, ofc, there are some things that ended up being half-assed. For example, there is this point in the game where I have to make a decision between saving one of the LIs or defusing a bomb, The problem was, I had met that LI only two missions ago and I barely talked to her. It was a easy choice.
The plot is full of twists, it's intelligent and gives you a lot of freedom. You can even end up playing as a "Chessmaster" who has been manipulating events from the beginning.
You can distribute points ala classic roleplaying, ofc. Unfortunately, only in your field abilities. You can't put points in speech or something like that.
There is a lot of customization for your weapons and armor, not so much for your character tough.