Recent reviews by KuroGFX

Star Wars and Nietzsche

a really inverse narrative to the precedent star wars narratives revolving around the mythological heroic journey and really star wars in general

not to say its a subversion of the franchise but I enjoy how it commentates on elements of the force and its 2 polarizing ideologies and the paradoxes they have ingrained in them flawed as they are

the Jedi teaches apathy and detachment from emotions but this becomes a double-edged sword for making those same Jedi easier to fall to the dark side due to a life of suppressing and denying emotion

the sith's paradox is the constant power without purpose to the point where it wields you not the other way around which is also an extension to the force and how despite the many sith and Jedi using the force as a tool in the end it uses them in its will to achieve a balance within itself which usually leaves insurmountable suffering in its wake as millions die to achieve a transient balance for a time till the pendulum of the universe continues to swing

in some ways its a bit of a stab at religion with how religion mostly pagan Christianity teaches a sort of similar apathy towards life denoting heaven afterlife and to simply sit and wait for heaven to come

in this sense, the narrative of the exile cutting themself off from the force is a very Nietzsche-themed death of god subtext of living with your own purpose with the death of god instilling purpose unto people

their own purpose, not a subservient one

and in the end what is the force in star wars except for a metaphysical quantification of God albeit instead of an individualistic moniker it's more a supernatural extension of metaphysical energy binding the galaxy in a web of intricacy where one action at a certain place and time causes echos to reverberate

ngl the game is a bit glitchy sometimes with bugs like being stuck in corners and the inability to move after battle sometimes unless you use a combination of controls to unstuck your characters not to mention they're are ways to undermine the difficulty of bosses

though I do enjoy the ability to characterize my own experience as with any RPG especially a rich lore narrative like Knights of the Old Republic 2

the game feels extremely short but this is based on a first playthrough and I believe I missed a portion of content which I will attempt to revisit and actively lookout for in a second run

all in all, highly recommend the first Knights of the Old Republic and the second installment as well since they both play off each other in a fugue-like manner with the second game contrasting many of the romanticized heroic tones of the first game contrasted with a more speculative and gray understanding of situations and powers at work

With a very Darks Souls tinged essence of a ruined and hollow kingdom fallen to decay imbued with melancholia and a somber grey atmosphere you make your way through cracked nests traversing and mapping your way through various tunnels scuttling with insects, vermin, and other restless creatures lured in by a forgotten kingdom under Dirtmouth village

The Metroidvania style gameplay remains semi-standard with an early game prioratized around getting material required to map areas as you traverse and save points that let you update your map based on your traversal path

an ominous yet crestfallen soundtrack playing quiet and provoking melodies in conjunction with serene scenery and ambient background audio make for an engaging dark fantasy exploration element

highly recommend especially for the music and atmospheric qualities though in my defense I have a high preference for games which seem to be imbued with a sense for lore-rich environmental storytelling and in that sense with all the symbolic references to dark souls as well as a hereditary aesthetic carried over in the form of enemies which seem forlorn and "hollow" and the insatiability that draws all towards a forgotten kingdom that is now highly dangerous carries a similar trait towards the Souls series of games