Sunday, October 26, 2014

Sith Warrior Done!

This post contains significant spoilers for the Sith Warrior storyline in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I finished the Sith Warrior storyline today. I did it without the class XP buff, so the old way with side missions. I played a female Juggernaut (tank) and went pure Light Side (except for two choices).

Overall, the story was excellent. The female voice actor, Natasha Little, was outstanding with a very rich, strong voice that perfectly matched the character. I also thought the story was very even, more than the other stories I've played. Each chapter was solid. It also was a superb story for the Warrior, demonstrating the rise through the ranks of the Sith.

The main villain was also good, and killing him at the very end (one of my two Dark Side choices) was very satisfying.

I also like the way Light Side worked in this story. Not so much a good person exactly, but more like a pure knight of the Empire, not spending time and effort on unnecessary and petty cruelties. I was wondering how the Emperor would react to a Light Side warrior, as you become his Wrath. But it was portrayed perfectly, as the Emperor simply did not care, was beyond the petty LS/DS conflicts of this galaxy.

The companions were mostly good. I especially liked the rivalry and contrast between Quinn, the smooth calculating officer, and Pierce, the rough frontline soldier. I used Jaesa most of the time, though.

So far, I would rank the story second, behind the Imperial Agent. It's close behind in quality, but the Sith Warrior story is just missing that final "something" which would have pushed it over the line into brilliance.

Sex and the Sith

Because Star Wars is a PG world, sexual depravity is not present, or is glossed over. The closest it comes is having omni-present "dancers" in the cantinas and as slaves.

You know that in an adult Star Wars, the Sith would be utterly depraved. Power structures specifically elevating the powerful over the weak. A code decrying peace and elevating passion. An entire aristocracy focusing on cruelty and power. It would be the worst of human aristocracies, without even the slight mitigations of chivalry and codes of manners.

But for the most part, this is not present in game. Relationships are almost entirely consensual.

Except for the female Sith Warrior romance.

Now, I haven't finished the full story line, but the initial relationship with Quinn is textbook sexual harassment. The superior--both in terms of rank and personal power--continually propositions her subordinate. The subordinate does his best to avoid or deflect her attentions, but he cannot afford--the cost might be his life--to outright reject his superior, and his dialogue reflects that.

It's very different from the Sith Inquisitor romance, where there was clear interest from both parties.

I found it really interesting that Bioware would include a "romance" like this. I cannot decide if it was the correct thing to do or not. On the one hand, a Dark Side relationship with undertones of imposed power seems appropriate to the class. On the other hand, it's much more deviant than I expected from the game.

The romance probably becomes more mutual as the companion story line progresses, though. We'll have to see.

8 comments:

  1. I also like the way Light Side worked in this story. Not so much a good person exactly, but more like a pure knight of the Empire, not spending time and effort on unnecessary and petty cruelties.

    I haven't finished all the Empire classes (and probably never will at this point), but I did like how they consistently portrayed Light Side Empire choices as not necessarily being "good", but instead being choices that put the Empire above self.

    I think that too many of the Star Wars games miss that this is what the Light Side is meant to be, not slavish devotion to rule of law or doing nice things and not killing people.

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  2. Female Inquisitors could very well "romance" Drellik in the same way, but it was not implemented.

    And, of course, the Emperor does not care, why should he? Empire, after all, is just a consumable to him.

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  3. Blah blah blah DIDN'T READ THIS!!!!!!

    (I still have to finish the Warrior --I'm presently stuck in Taris-- and I'm focusing on the Counselor right now.)

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  4. I kind of considered all the Empire Light Side choices as grey area. Like, don't be a total dink type of choice.

    Dark side in contrast was consciously evil, malicious in intent. Light side was like "eh, it doesn't matter so much", which kind of aligns me to think the Emperor is light sided!

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  5. I felt it was implied with Quinn that he likes being involved with a dominating Sith woman - he's a Sith junkie. By Taris he was pretty clear that he was totally into it.

    But you're right, that romance felt a bit edgy.

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  6. @spinksville, I didn't actually use Quinn out in the field. I used Vette at first, and then Jaesa. So my reputation with Quinn is pretty low, probably below 2000.

    So I've only done the first two to four conversations with him, and his responses to the [Flirt] options seem like he's pretty uncomfortable and trying to deflect the Warrior's attention.

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  7. Female Sith Warrior subverts gender tropes. Imagine that Quinn is a good girl who is playing hard to get. But I agree about it feeling edgy, like I said.

    I feel male Warrior with Vette has similar slightly BDSM power dynamics, esp as she starts as a slave.

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  8. @Spinks-- I guess I was just a wuss, because I've played my Warrior light side (so far) and I released Vette right from the beginning, so I didn't get a chance to see those dynamics in action.

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