everyone's all "KOTOR II is so much better and mature!" yet all the companions suck shit.
mopey assholes droning on about their depressing pasts and guilt or whatever. SAD!
KOTOR I they're all catty stereotypes but they're FUN
I actually like the fact that they're mostly terrible people who hate each other. It highlights the narrative theme of the game that the
spoiler
pull of the force around the Jedi Exile is so strong that they made these band of misfits into people of extreme loyalty.
Unfortunately, some companions are really underdeveloped, probably due to the deadline cuts: Bao Dur, Mandalore, the Disciple.
Then there's Goto, who just sucks.
Both games are really good. KOTOR I is a re-imagining of the foundational Star Wars mythos - you've got Big Damn Heroes saving worlds and Big Damn Villains blowing them up, everyone chews the scenery and every action has big stakes. KOTOR II is a response to this very thing - what if being a Big Damn Hero makes you do something horrible? What if the Big Damn Villain actually has a point? It kinda falls apart because there's no coherent alternative put forward beyond "idk maybe sometimes you just gotta do something evil" and the player is totally free to reject that premise, but the exploration of those ideas is really compelling.
