You guys alongside Reti, Antoine, and GrayJedi91are the true Star Wars experts. I have nothing against guys like Dash Star, Star Wars Explained, and *ugh* Urban Acolytes but you guys are the true OG's in that you didn't ride in with the hype of the new trilogy and you have always given your opinions relating to the mythos in a varied and substantive way.
wjb61274123 Along with the Council Forcecast, I also think that Thor Skywalker, BOOFire191, SithReign, and Eckhart's Ladder are the only Star Wars lore-channels that I really like, unlike some that basically looks up Wookieepedia and copy-and-paste the majority of a video's subject in two minutes tops.
@@mrmackellar3337 SW theory basically gave up on new canon and stated he's going back to fanfiction and his vader episode 2, which is going to be hype. He did like a few things from new canon but like us, just gave up or resented it entirely
+Fanalysis Look forward to watching it later. I recommendation I'd make would be a Podcast dedicated to talking about how the Force works/should work in future Star Wars content. It was touched upon in the 2D Clone Wars one but I feel it deserves its own video especially with the new movies coming out.
I love the aesthetic descision to use costumes, allowing you to play through this story as whoever you want. Shaak Ti wrecked Vader and The Emperor so many times on my playstaion 2 that its a miracle it didnt phase through to actual canon.
23:33 In a very literal way. According to Wookieepedia, both Starkiller and Juno are the same age as the Skywalker twins which makes them both 16/17 during the first game between 3 and 2 BBY. I already knew that for Starkiller but I expected Juno to be in her very early 20s given what she's accomplished in the Empire.
What sorcery is this? The Forcecast has been extremely productive and I'm really impressed by it. Would love Reti4 here (because he hates Galen Marek). Also, obligatory where is the 3 vs 3 finale???
Reti4 - Consistent content is the goal. I hope you enjoy(ed) Evan and Jen's analysis. The 3 Vs 3 is a while off yet I'm afraid. It's progressing, but it's a behemoth of a video to edit.
+Fanalysis Currently in the progress but enjoying it greatly so far and I'm really excited about consistent content. As for the 3 vs 3 being a behemoth to edit, I can defiantly understand that.
I always love the idea of this game, considering the sheer size of the empire and the scope an TIME FRAME it made PERFECT sense that Vader would TRY for apprentices before Luke showed up. always fun!
I prefer the WII version as I feel it fits best with the fluid use of the force. It does have the least impressive graphics of them all but I like the mission on Bespin. Like when he tries to use the mind trick on Loton and it 100% fails. That gungan bounty hunter also is pretty cool. I also really like Garm Bell Iblis and it makes a lot of sense for Kota to know him, I actually think it's likely a lot of his militia were from Iblis. Iblis wanted to create a new army for the republic made up of draft soldiers from the different planets and was actually one of the few voices against the creation of the clone army. I would think a military man like Kota would really find a lot of common ground with him.
This is quite a coincidence since I played this game on the Wii over Christmas after a break for 5 or more years. The controls weren't as smooth as I remembered and there were many times where I had to switch controls due to the age of them. It's interesting how different the Wii version of the game is compared to the others not only in terms of level set-up and cosmetic but also in upgrades and pick-ups. There aren't Sith or Jedi Holocrons that do different things, there's Force Holocrons (increase Force meter), Health Holocrons (increase health meter), Jedi Holocrons (bts concept art), Lightsaber crystals that can change both color and power level, and Lightsaber hilts that can change the hilt of the weapon. There are multiple Force abilities and multiple lightsaber combos. Once levels are finished then the player is awarded the different cosmetics for Starkiller's character as well as new characters for the multiplayer Duel Mode. I don't think I really died until the later half of the game when the player is fighting various combinations of enemies alongside AT-ST walkers and the Shadow Guard (I completely forgot how powerful those guys were even though it was usually just one of them at a time, and the Shadow Stormtroopers were a hindrance). I never had any problems with the bosses until Vader or the Shadow Guard or Chopa'a Notimo because I usually search for the health packs as soon as I notice them before jumping back into the fray. As I played the game, I found myself supporting how this version of the Rebel Alliance was formed. It was built on secrecy and partially by accident by the dark rulers of the Empire. Not only that, the writers of the game made an effort to incorporate the story into the established universe and not just slam it in with no qualms on whether or not it was consistent. They looked at certain characters like Shaak Ti, who wasn't confirmed to be dead at the end of ROTS, Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Garm Bel Iblis (who were part of the original starters of the Rebellion taken from Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy) and made them work in the story. To the Empire, Rahm Kota was the example of a Jedi that Palpatine had declared was a threat to the Republic. He didn't work with the clone soldiers that made up the GAR; he made his own private militia. As the Republic turned into the Empire, this private militia turned on the government and started attacking Imperial targets. If Rahm Kota turned to the Dark Side, he probably would become a terrorist attacking both military and civilian targets alike and have the whole Imperial Navy bearing down on him. In terms of combat styles, I particularly enjoyed the progression system and variability. As you the player progress through the levels and learn different Force abilities and lightsaber combos, you are able to mix and match whatever you fancy. It definitely allows the player to select their own preferences. For me, I'm one to both incorporate spectacle with practicality so I upgraded anything to do with Force Lightning and Force Push. Force Detonate was my go-to Force combo whenever I encountered large batches of enemies as well as its opposite, Force Storm (I think that's what it's called). I could never get the hang of Force Repulse even though it's one of Starkiller's iconic abilities.
I actually think the attachment thing is also true for Yoda and Windu. I think Yoda loves the jedi order and sees them as his children. That's why he was so cynical when training Luke, he had everything he loved smashed and was deeply embittered by it. He would never let that bitterness consume him but that doesn't mean it doesn't affect him. I think Kazdan is very similar to Yoda in that regard. He just didn't have Yoda's mental fortitude. I also think though that it might have been easier for Yoda to accept because he tried. Kazdan was wrecked by the 'what-if's' because he didn't fight when he was there. Yoda tried to defeat the emperor and he failed. For Obi-Wan I think the fact that he wasn't alone and had Luke to protect kept him sane. Not to mention I always felt Obi-Wan never really had that strong an attachment to the jedi order as a whole and more to individual jedi and people. He tried to see himself as the model jedi but the influence of his master is evident nonetheless.
I remember the first time I ran through the Rahm Kota level and one of the rebel gunners said, "Activate the Laser gate!" My response was one of glee, yet another toy to play around with using telekinesis.
Ok so in Jensarrai1's Maw vs Kazdan Paratus video I had a comment chain about Maw fully overcoming his handicap and (in theory) becoming Yoda on crack. Lenny and 16 mg of Salt was thinking I meant Kazdan on crack and had this to say "Where would Kazan get Crack.....Does he just buy it off the Rodian Mercs and than decree it's the will of the council to do lines of Cocane." idk why but this made me remember that.
54:31 Junos backstory was also explained in the wii version of the game as well in the beginning of the felucia mission when galen was like "u can't hide your secrets from me no matter deep u bury them" and then she tells her involvement in Callos personally
I don’t like TFU all that much, but I can’t say I’d be happy if it never existed, otherwise we would’ve never gotten Sam Witwer for more Star Wars material
One thing I really appreciated is that the jedi are actually presented as your equals. If you think about it a boss that is your equal should be incredibly difficult because he can match everything you can do so you can't easily just beat him. They don't need to appear 100 times stronger than you.
As much as I like the cast of this game, I must say that my favorite character to come from it is Rahm Kota. Guy fights for eight years as a child soldier, recruited by the Jedi despite all of the psychological and emotional trauma that probably brought with it, and becomes a great warrior in his own right. After watching Lord Scourge Vs Rahm Kota and hearing your take on his battle against Starkiller, Kota seems like he would've been at odds with the Jedi Council throughout his entire career. I'm kind of surprised that, as proactive as he is, that he didn't agree with Dooku and join the Confederacy. The Jedi Order, at least leading up to the Clone Wars, was very passive. They were always waiting for the Republic to ask them to solve a problem instead of activating seeking out injustice. It took Greivous going full genocide on the Huk for them to get involved in the Huk Wars, the Death Watch had been active for at least 15 years before Galadran. It's not like planetary scale genocidal conflicts pop up out of nowhere.
Question for the Council. If the five of you had to work on one giant versus match up together with a guarantee that everyone would agree on the verdict, and making it the greatest match up of all time, what would you do?
Yes, games in general are good at demonstrating how fights can go either way, if you died once then that character would have died there. On the other hand player characters in canon are usually absurdly powerful, because by design they have to win against a bunch of different, strong opponents, which shows them to have consistent skill, even when in another medium they probably would not have won all these encounters.
I have been waiting for this for too long you guys are awesome loving it! Question it may be a loaded in. In your guys opinion what is the best Star Wars games in terms of pure lightsaber mechanics/nuances/fighting?
Something that I recently noticed is that on the Xbox 360 version of the game is that if you just stand around and don’t block, Galen occasionally uses tutaminus like Vader and obsorbs it or sends it back. i went back through the novel and found instances that could be read as him doing the same .( though in this case I fully admit I may have misunderstood what I read. For your own research I found these on p32, 61,141, and 268.) I don’t have a ps2/psp/ wii version to see if that is included there, but I thought I’d point it out if the fanalysis council uses him in a future video and wanted to look further in to it. I understand if you don’t but Galen Marek is my all time favorite Star Wars character and the idea that his abilities in defense are stronger than I though makes future vs matches intriguing.
I do like the application of the force in this game. I would say my fav is the old republic trailers. Cause like i like imagining the universe they present. Whereas the movies agreed are too subtle and no one uses the force enough. Whereas with force unleashed, i like the idea of some people being like this. Cause A master jedi or sith should be able to just tear through armies on some scale. To quote jenssarrai, "carving bloody murder canyons in the battlefield" like i love that. But idk if that should be the standard in the galaxy. Cause if it is non force sensitive armies are kind not needed lol.
Reti4 - I lean towards the Old Republic trailer portrayal of the Force as well. It doesn't make the non-force combatants redundant though, if for no other reason than the limited number of Jedi and Sith. There are many things they bring to the table on top of that though.
Oh definitely in the clone wars and later timeline for sure! I was just thinking back in the old republic days that if every sith and jedi could do what starkiller is shown to do it would be wild! Kind of awesome but wild lol
Well that's the thing. Galen/Starkiller's potential is stated to be on the level of someone like Luke's which is why most Force user's wouldn't be capable of replicating his feats.
Maybe the first star wars game to use the havok engine, but that thing has been around in some form since before the original hitman which came out in 2000.
I'm definitely hoping Conner and Evan will do a podcast style review of TFU II someday cause I'm very interested to hear their thoughts on that games story, especially cause I myself reeeeally don't like it. I feel that maybe viewing it through their eyes and their massive knowledge of the classic EU may shed some light and bring different perspectives on things I don't understand about the story because it is quite ludicrous the things that Vader is doing. I don't feel it makes sense for him specifically to be doing the things that he did in that story and go ham on cloning a bunch of Starkillers like that. The gameplay is really fun though which is why I still play it to this day.
The prequel to the The Force Unleashed Lightsabers Unleashed - starring Skwelli, the multiple limbed Jedi Master mentioned in The Jedi Path. Just imagine slashing your way through enemy soldiers and Sith Warriors like a living buzzsaw in game Apologies if I misspelled his name, I don’t have the book at hand to spell check
Reti4 - Indeed! Until this video I was the only one that had been in every single group video. I was present, whispering stage directions in their ears and managing the recording, but as I'm not a fan of TFU I figured it was best to sit out of the discussion for this one and let the genuine fans enthuse.
Random question for the Council. If you had to do a video collaboration with a smaller Versus Creator (E.g Fork lifter Matt, Wolf Myth, etc), who would you work with and why?
I don't consider the clone army a plot hole at all. It makes sense for the jedi to be unhappy with it but I don't see what else they could do. It's made pretty obvious that they themselves aren't strong enough to defend the republic against the confederacy so they need to use the army. There were enough soldiers for a single division for Kota but that is not enough.
This is just a nitpick but I would loved comments on the trials of skill and insight on the wii/ps2 versions bc I thought Desolous and Phobos were interesting Sith bc of their backstories. It would have been cool to get something of these seriously which sith have u seen carrying a lightsaber and a shield with red lightning how is that not awesome and force drugged by Phobos
Blocking in this game is a pain. Not being able to move. Parrying is weak and difficult. Starkiller uses Shien for crying out loud. Dash is cool, but feels ironically slow when used to dodge attacks. Targeting opponents is meh. I'd prefer to target by holding the trigger than the bumper on controller. It helps dodging with the Dash ability. All together, the defense abilities are kinda clunky. Vastly improved in Alice: Madness Returns of all things.
in regard to purge droids onece you level up enough to the point where your force bar and health bar don't go down you can just spam lightening and they go down in 30 seconds
Matthew White we are attempting to keep a steady upload schedule. Our personal schedules are tough to organize. That plus differing tastes and interests means we won't all 5 be participating in every discussion depending on the topic.
Reti4 - What GJ said. I was available for this one but, not being a fan of The Force Unleashed, I decided to sit out of the discussion and let the real fans enthuse. I just whispered stage directions in their ear as they went. (And grumbled about the reverse grip...)
My critique of the story is this. Part 1. The Jedi Hunter arc. I like this part of the game. I like this part of the story. Part 2. The Birth of the Rebellion arc. This is where I have issues.
Half hour senate scenes! I’ve no idea what films you’ve been watching but in the Star Wars Prequel trilogy there is combined only 10 minutes max senate scenes, I’ve never got what that complain was about
My thoughts on TFU is a bit mixed overall it is a very fun time and the story is good. BUT THE STUPID STUPID STUPID WAY THE REBELLION WAS FORMED MAKES ME WANT TO HUG THE NEW CANON GUYS FOR RECONING IT. Ok I'm done with my small rage burst
I kinda had many mixed feelings on this game. It's more or less essentially a kind of blend of a lot of expanded universe materials as well as prequel and film materials, throw in a few new things. Many positives to it, I will admit. Getting in, I wasn't invested into it when it was first coming out, instead only really getting exposure through Soulcalibur 4's Star Wars cameos, which may have shut me off from loving Galen as a character permanently with how utterly broken he was in that game compared to just about every other character. Galen/Starkiller was the first time I called a Star Wars character a Mary Sue because of how blatantly OP he was Despite that, I still gave the game a try and found there's plenty to like, the gameplay is good, the designs of levels is playable and puts some earlier Star Wars game level designs to shame (not going to say any names, I believe anybody who knows what I'm talking about will add an example or two of their own, should anybody read through this comment) and I still like it to this day. One thing that you guys mentioned being a little odd, I will defend. The explosions of force energy was an early EU concept that wasn't implemented very much at all I admit, but it was a thing and honestly it gives a kind of Highlander effect with each boss battle. In the EU, C'Baoth died and gave off the same kind of explosion of dark side energy that Palpatine gave off, but it is noticeably absent from sooooooooo many deaths in Star Wars stuff that, yeah, it does stand out as odd. This game also did a few retcons on pre-existing EU stuff, I should add as well...
I just never felt Marek as being OP because of the boss fights. The jedi are always presented as equals or even slight superiors to you and they certainly are. Also the thing with Mary Sues is that they often don't have a reason for why they are so powerful and Marek does have a reason. He spend over 14 years training brutally under Vader so it makes sense he's a war machine. I actually really like that part about the game. That the bosses are actually not shown as impossible foes but as equals to you. Equals should also be incredibly hard to beat because they can do everything you can so you need to be good to get on top.
I actually have played the wii version of this game and it was fun but had a lot of problem for starters the graphics are horrible and the combat is a little wonky you just swing the wii remote back and forth and up and down and for me at least didn’t always work
I would argue that no licensed IP video is a more "accurate" depiction of a universe, because enjoyable gameplay is always going to be its first priority, not accurate depictions of the "physics" of that universe. In the case of Force Unleashed (and other Force user video games) this means that using the Force requires less concentration and is less fatiguing than it should be in order to facilitate spamming cool looking powers. My two creds.
You are completely right. With the video games the gameplay footage was never canon. The only thing that was canon about any of the star wars games was the games story. Not to mention, the novels of the force unleashed technically were the REAL depictions of the story. In the novels Starkiller wasn't as powerful as he was depicted in the gameplay.
Personally, the free flowing, apparent nature of the force appeals to me, but you guys saying, “The movies’ depiction of the force is wrong,” is not a fact. Different people have different taste, and some don’t enjoy the over-the-top nature of the force portrayed in the Expanded Universe. This sentiment never appealed to me personally, just as it did not to both of you, due to its contradictory nature of how it’s portrayed in ever other medium.
I enjoy the story, but dislike a lot of the characters in the game/novel. Rahm Kota-I actually enjoy the way Kota operates in a combative scenario; the way he redirects Galen’s powers and the way he changes his attack sequences mid-fight are enjoyable concepts. However, I do not like his character in the 1st game (though I do like him in the 2nd game), and his snappy nature comes across as annoying, rather than badass. Kazdan Paratus-I find his fighting style unique and his character unusual. In the game, I liked his character, but goddamn this guy is a pain to beat; trying to beat this guy with your saber is nigh-impossible. In the novel, his insanity is uninteresting and very childlike, and his combative skill is undercut a lot, relative to his game counterpart. Shaak Ti-the less said about this bore, the better. I utterly despise her character, her voice, and her relationship with others. Now, this isn’t a slight against The Force Unleashed, as I just hate her in everything she’s in. Maris Brood-I actually don’t mind Maris. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t particularly like her, but she’s got a more relatable character, and her position relative to Shaak, as Jen and Even mentioned, mirrors Galen’s own. I do quite like her stealthy approach to combat, even if her weapons are just...impractical (heck, the novel even notes that she has burns on her forearms). Galen-I liked him in the novel, but I’m not too keen on his voice in the game. I like Sam Witwer IRL, but two of the most prominent characters he voices (Galen and Maul) both share the same problem: they scream, shout, and grunt a lot. Not only that, the noises themselves are so shrill and headache-inducing, that I struggle to take his dialogue, in-game, seriously. I do like his ‘bits-and-pieces’ combat style, though. Vader and Palpatine-my two favourite characters in the game. Despite my disapproval of Witwer’s voicing of Galen and Maul, I have nothing but praise for his voicing of Palpatine.
Ki Adi Sandwich They underpowered Vader and Palpatine in this game. The fact that Galen can beat them both on his own is retarded. This game should only be treated as an alternative Star Wars story, because It doesn't connect to The Original Trilogy at all. The 2nd game is trash too.
Technically the novel of the game was was the true depiction of The Force Unleashed and if you read it Galen Marek is SEVERLY downplayed in terms of his skill. In the novel he never really directly fought Palpatine. During that scene in the novel Rahm Kota attacked Palpatine, and when Palpatine was distracted by Kota, Galen thre a piece of debris while his back was turned to him. Galen then knocked Palatine down and he pretended to be defeated. In the novel when Galen stayed behind he was completely overwhelmed by Palpatine's lightning, being only able to block it for a few seconds before being overwhelmed. Starkiller simply isn't as powerful as people believe him to be.
It's so awkward to watch the dude on the bottom right looking down while the dude on the left is talking as if he's ignoring him. And then when dude on left stops talking the dude on the right just looks back at the camera and replies with "yeah" and then rambles on as if the other dude didn't say anything. It's really rude.
Reti4 - To explain why, Jen is skimming through the sequences they're talking about in the book and/or comic as they're going. It was pre-agreed by the two that one of them would do this so they could manage their pacing without me having to whisper in their ear too much.
You guys alongside Reti, Antoine, and GrayJedi91are the true Star Wars experts. I have nothing against guys like Dash Star, Star Wars Explained, and *ugh* Urban Acolytes but you guys are the true OG's in that you didn't ride in with the hype of the new trilogy and you have always given your opinions relating to the mythos in a varied and substantive way.
wjb61274123 Along with the Council Forcecast, I also think that Thor Skywalker, BOOFire191, SithReign, and Eckhart's Ladder are the only Star Wars lore-channels that I really like, unlike some that basically looks up Wookieepedia and copy-and-paste the majority of a video's subject in two minutes tops.
Tbf, Dash star basically gave up on the new canon at one point
@@mrmackellar3337 SW theory basically gave up on new canon and stated he's going back to fanfiction and his vader episode 2, which is going to be hype. He did like a few things from new canon but like us, just gave up or resented it entirely
@@lapplandkun9273 Star Wars Theory kinda fell off tbh
Jen is definitely one of the original Star Wars UA-camrs. I use to watch him back in highschool. Ha Evan is good too. Great stuff guys.
NET Alliance - Star Wars Fun I love listening to their vs series while choppimg wood and stuff
GreyJedi91 is older, which many tend to forget. And there was someone before him ... but his channel is gone :-(
Antoine Bandele I like your stuff too. Been watching you for years too.
I’d been making Star Wars related videos sooner, but not discussion material until later.
Wasn't it Sci-Fi Soup who was the fabled elder star wars youtuber
EvanNova and Jen? What madding, gift is this, Universe!
"A surprise for sure. Unexpected, but not unwelcome."
Reti4 - I hope you enjoy(ed) Evan and Jen's analysis!
+Fanalysis Look forward to watching it later.
I recommendation I'd make would be a Podcast dedicated to talking about how the Force works/should work in future Star Wars content. It was touched upon in the 2D Clone Wars one but I feel it deserves its own video especially with the new movies coming out.
I completely agree with that. I would be very interested to hear ya'lls thoughts on that
TheNuisanceBird The force is so inconsistent in these new movies
I'm glad this group has taken this turn again. Talking about SW subjects that don't just involve Disney or reviews of the new films.
Darth Imperius outside of maybe swtor channels it's very hard to find such channels
I’m loving this stream of content you guys have been delivering so far.
Reti4 - I'm glad we can finally keep the consistent content coming! I hope you enjoy(ed) Evan and Jen's analysis.
Yeah. I'll admit it. When I see Sam. I instantly just call him Starkiller. Haha
His first role in Star Wars, but not his last.
Me: "YOU'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME!"
Disney: "Your beloved videogames aren't part of the real canon."
Me: "THEY ARE REAL TO ME!"
I love the aesthetic descision to use costumes, allowing you to play through this story as whoever you want. Shaak Ti wrecked Vader and The Emperor so many times on my playstaion 2 that its a miracle it didnt phase through to actual canon.
23:33 In a very literal way. According to Wookieepedia, both Starkiller and Juno are the same age as the Skywalker twins which makes them both 16/17 during the first game between 3 and 2 BBY. I already knew that for Starkiller but I expected Juno to be in her very early 20s given what she's accomplished in the Empire.
What sorcery is this? The Forcecast has been extremely productive and I'm really impressed by it. Would love Reti4 here (because he hates Galen Marek). Also, obligatory where is the 3 vs 3 finale???
Reti4 - Consistent content is the goal. I hope you enjoy(ed) Evan and Jen's analysis. The 3 Vs 3 is a while off yet I'm afraid. It's progressing, but it's a behemoth of a video to edit.
+Fanalysis Currently in the progress but enjoying it greatly so far and I'm really excited about consistent content. As for the 3 vs 3 being a behemoth to edit, I can defiantly understand that.
I always love the idea of this game, considering the sheer size of the empire and the scope an TIME FRAME it made PERFECT sense that Vader would TRY for apprentices before Luke showed up. always fun!
I agree with you. Also one thing to note, many of the Rule of Two Sith also had secret apprentices.
I prefer the WII version as I feel it fits best with the fluid use of the force. It does have the least impressive graphics of them all but I like the mission on Bespin. Like when he tries to use the mind trick on Loton and it 100% fails. That gungan bounty hunter also is pretty cool. I also really like Garm Bell Iblis and it makes a lot of sense for Kota to know him, I actually think it's likely a lot of his militia were from Iblis. Iblis wanted to create a new army for the republic made up of draft soldiers from the different planets and was actually one of the few voices against the creation of the clone army.
I would think a military man like Kota would really find a lot of common ground with him.
marinus18 yeah, I liked that mission and was confused that the Xbox 360 version completely forgot it
I also grew up on the Wii version.
This is quite a coincidence since I played this game on the Wii over Christmas after a break for 5 or more years. The controls weren't as smooth as I remembered and there were many times where I had to switch controls due to the age of them. It's interesting how different the Wii version of the game is compared to the others not only in terms of level set-up and cosmetic but also in upgrades and pick-ups. There aren't Sith or Jedi Holocrons that do different things, there's Force Holocrons (increase Force meter), Health Holocrons (increase health meter), Jedi Holocrons (bts concept art), Lightsaber crystals that can change both color and power level, and Lightsaber hilts that can change the hilt of the weapon. There are multiple Force abilities and multiple lightsaber combos. Once levels are finished then the player is awarded the different cosmetics for Starkiller's character as well as new characters for the multiplayer Duel Mode. I don't think I really died until the later half of the game when the player is fighting various combinations of enemies alongside AT-ST walkers and the Shadow Guard (I completely forgot how powerful those guys were even though it was usually just one of them at a time, and the Shadow Stormtroopers were a hindrance). I never had any problems with the bosses until Vader or the Shadow Guard or Chopa'a Notimo because I usually search for the health packs as soon as I notice them before jumping back into the fray.
As I played the game, I found myself supporting how this version of the Rebel Alliance was formed. It was built on secrecy and partially by accident by the dark rulers of the Empire. Not only that, the writers of the game made an effort to incorporate the story into the established universe and not just slam it in with no qualms on whether or not it was consistent. They looked at certain characters like Shaak Ti, who wasn't confirmed to be dead at the end of ROTS, Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Garm Bel Iblis (who were part of the original starters of the Rebellion taken from Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy) and made them work in the story.
To the Empire, Rahm Kota was the example of a Jedi that Palpatine had declared was a threat to the Republic. He didn't work with the clone soldiers that made up the GAR; he made his own private militia. As the Republic turned into the Empire, this private militia turned on the government and started attacking Imperial targets. If Rahm Kota turned to the Dark Side, he probably would become a terrorist attacking both military and civilian targets alike and have the whole Imperial Navy bearing down on him.
In terms of combat styles, I particularly enjoyed the progression system and variability. As you the player progress through the levels and learn different Force abilities and lightsaber combos, you are able to mix and match whatever you fancy. It definitely allows the player to select their own preferences. For me, I'm one to both incorporate spectacle with practicality so I upgraded anything to do with Force Lightning and Force Push. Force Detonate was my go-to Force combo whenever I encountered large batches of enemies as well as its opposite, Force Storm (I think that's what it's called). I could never get the hang of Force Repulse even though it's one of Starkiller's iconic abilities.
Couldn't agree more.
Grand Admiral Thrawn yeah, on the Wii, the game is much easier, until you get to Palpatine, the versus mode is very fun
I actually think the attachment thing is also true for Yoda and Windu. I think Yoda loves the jedi order and sees them as his children. That's why he was so cynical when training Luke, he had everything he loved smashed and was deeply embittered by it. He would never let that bitterness consume him but that doesn't mean it doesn't affect him.
I think Kazdan is very similar to Yoda in that regard. He just didn't have Yoda's mental fortitude. I also think though that it might have been easier for Yoda to accept because he tried. Kazdan was wrecked by the 'what-if's' because he didn't fight when he was there. Yoda tried to defeat the emperor and he failed.
For Obi-Wan I think the fact that he wasn't alone and had Luke to protect kept him sane. Not to mention I always felt Obi-Wan never really had that strong an attachment to the jedi order as a whole and more to individual jedi and people. He tried to see himself as the model jedi but the influence of his master is evident nonetheless.
I remember the first time I ran through the Rahm Kota level and one of the rebel gunners said, "Activate the Laser gate!"
My response was one of glee, yet another toy to play around with using telekinesis.
HK-47, Proxy and the new member K2-SO are the star wars killing machine
I absolutely adore the way you guys got straight to the point within 40 seconds of the video.
Ok so in Jensarrai1's Maw vs Kazdan Paratus video I had a comment chain about Maw fully overcoming his handicap and (in theory) becoming Yoda on crack. Lenny and 16 mg of Salt was thinking I meant Kazdan on crack and had this to say "Where would Kazan get Crack.....Does he just buy it off the Rodian Mercs and than decree it's the will of the council to do lines of Cocane." idk why but this made me remember that.
Lol.
54:31 Junos backstory was also explained in the wii version of the game as well in the beginning of the felucia mission when galen was like "u can't hide your secrets from me no matter deep u bury them" and then she tells her involvement in Callos personally
Speaking of anime logic, the prequels are a lot funnier if you picture Anakin as a bitchy anime character.
Samuel Wicker >Obi-Wan is a baka for holding me back.
Someone better make a manga out of this
Reti4 - *Anakin looks at Obi-wan* - Stupid baka.
*Obi-wan* - Nani?!
Fanalysis Tsundere Anakin
+SolarDragon007 I'm with you 100%. Especially with Anakin's interactions with Ahsoka (so non-romantic tsundere). Anakin is yandere with Padme though.
Another Proof that Lucas was an Elderly Weaboo.
Another interesting and well thought out analysis. Im really enjoying the content you guys are churning out. Keep up the good work.
I don’t like TFU all that much, but I can’t say I’d be happy if it never existed, otherwise we would’ve never gotten Sam Witwer for more Star Wars material
Reti4 - I'm not a fan either, but it has a lot of good things going for it. Sam Witwer is definitely chief among them.
Alex Greaney He's a ridiculously underrated actor/voice actor
One thing I really appreciated is that the jedi are actually presented as your equals. If you think about it a boss that is your equal should be incredibly difficult because he can match everything you can do so you can't easily just beat him. They don't need to appear 100 times stronger than you.
As much as I like the cast of this game, I must say that my favorite character to come from it is Rahm Kota. Guy fights for eight years as a child soldier, recruited by the Jedi despite all of the psychological and emotional trauma that probably brought with it, and becomes a great warrior in his own right.
After watching Lord Scourge Vs Rahm Kota and hearing your take on his battle against Starkiller, Kota seems like he would've been at odds with the Jedi Council throughout his entire career. I'm kind of surprised that, as proactive as he is, that he didn't agree with Dooku and join the Confederacy. The Jedi Order, at least leading up to the Clone Wars, was very passive. They were always waiting for the Republic to ask them to solve a problem instead of activating seeking out injustice. It took Greivous going full genocide on the Huk for them to get involved in the Huk Wars, the Death Watch had been active for at least 15 years before Galadran. It's not like planetary scale genocidal conflicts pop up out of nowhere.
Rahm Kota was definitely Anakin and Qui Gon in a sense they were maverick jedi, though not literal
So many videos are being made and they are all great. I'm loving the steady stream of new content!!!
16:21 I love the knighting scene it's the sith version of the microseries anakin knighting
I love how we are getting so much content now keep up the great work y'all
Reti4 - I'm glad we can finally keep the consistent content coming! I hope you enjoy(ed) Evan and Jen's analysis.
Man, listening to this makes me want to finally go pick up this game and play it.
It's pretty fun.
I recommend it. Its fun and I like the voice acting, story, and presentation.
Jacob Sailer it's a good game, even after finishing it the first time the gameplay allows you to still enjoy it.
Why am I not surprised Reti4 is not in this video haha. #RespectShaakTi
Question for the Council. If the five of you had to work on one giant versus match up together with a guarantee that everyone would agree on the verdict, and making it the greatest match up of all time, what would you do?
The NPC engine is actually Euphoria the same engine that powers GTA, they used it in combination with havok tho.
well said guys, great review and analysis ~ I love this game too ~ wasn't expecting this little treat when I came home today, this is a great watch xD
I've been looking forward to this...
William Henning of course you have.
:)
My powers have doubled since we last met William.
So still a fraction of mine own. xd
Who wins? Kylo Ren (TLJ) vs Ezra Bridger (S3/S4)
Either way. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
There is something in Conor's long speeches that make me want to listen to them even if I disagree with every single word he says
Yes, games in general are good at demonstrating how fights can go either way, if you died once then that character would have died there. On the other hand player characters in canon are usually absurdly powerful, because by design they have to win against a bunch of different, strong opponents, which shows them to have consistent skill, even when in another medium they probably would not have won all these encounters.
I wish we could get another game like this .
I have been waiting for this for too long you guys are awesome loving it! Question it may be a loaded in. In your guys opinion what is the best Star Wars games in terms of pure lightsaber mechanics/nuances/fighting?
It's funny that both of Anakin/Vader's apprentices use the reverse hand grip and both first appeared in 2008.
Something that I recently noticed is that on the Xbox 360 version of the game is that if you just stand around and don’t block, Galen occasionally uses tutaminus like Vader and obsorbs it or sends it back. i went back through the novel and found instances that could be read as him doing the same .( though in this case I fully admit I may have misunderstood what I read. For your own research I found these on p32, 61,141, and 268.) I don’t have a ps2/psp/ wii version to see if that is included there, but I thought I’d point it out if the fanalysis council uses him in a future video and wanted to look further in to it. I understand if you don’t but Galen Marek is my all time favorite Star Wars character and the idea that his abilities in defense are stronger than I though makes future vs matches intriguing.
It took me 3 seconds to catch that Futurama reference. I tip my nonexistent hat to you Evan.
Paratus is like weird taller yoda
I do like the application of the force in this game. I would say my fav is the old republic trailers. Cause like i like imagining the universe they present. Whereas the movies agreed are too subtle and no one uses the force enough. Whereas with force unleashed, i like the idea of some people being like this. Cause A master jedi or sith should be able to just tear through armies on some scale. To quote jenssarrai, "carving bloody murder canyons in the battlefield" like i love that. But idk if that should be the standard in the galaxy. Cause if it is non force sensitive armies are kind not needed lol.
Reti4 - I lean towards the Old Republic trailer portrayal of the Force as well. It doesn't make the non-force combatants redundant though, if for no other reason than the limited number of Jedi and Sith. There are many things they bring to the table on top of that though.
Oh definitely in the clone wars and later timeline for sure! I was just thinking back in the old republic days that if every sith and jedi could do what starkiller is shown to do it would be wild! Kind of awesome but wild lol
+Noel Rose Galen/Starkiller's showings over overblown. I haven't watched the video yet although I'm pretty sure they'll mentioned this.
Well that's the thing. Galen/Starkiller's potential is stated to be on the level of someone like Luke's which is why most Force user's wouldn't be capable of replicating his feats.
Hey evan how is your season 6 finale coming along? Really hyped for it!
It's apparently been delayed.
Maybe the first star wars game to use the havok engine, but that thing has been around in some form since before the original hitman which came out in 2000.
Great video. Never seen a purple Master of Puppets t-shirt before, looks cool.
Jensaraai with the long hair is dope
I'm definitely hoping Conner and Evan will do a podcast style review of TFU II someday cause I'm very interested to hear their thoughts on that games story, especially cause I myself reeeeally don't like it.
I feel that maybe viewing it through their eyes and their massive knowledge of the classic EU may shed some light and bring different perspectives on things I don't understand about the story because it is quite ludicrous the things that Vader is doing. I don't feel it makes sense for him specifically to be doing the things that he did in that story and go ham on cloning a bunch of Starkillers like that.
The gameplay is really fun though which is why I still play it to this day.
The prequel to the The Force Unleashed
Lightsabers Unleashed - starring Skwelli, the multiple limbed Jedi Master mentioned in The Jedi Path. Just imagine slashing your way through enemy soldiers and Sith Warriors like a living buzzsaw in game
Apologies if I misspelled his name, I don’t have the book at hand to spell check
Yes Purge droids are hard and a pain
Purge Troopers/Droids can fuck off.
Metallica and star wars. Evan is on point today.
Repulse tears right through Shaak Ti
Evan rocking the Metallica t-shirt. Respect!
mark this podcast as the first that did not have reti 4!!
Reti4 - Indeed! Until this video I was the only one that had been in every single group video. I was present, whispering stage directions in their ears and managing the recording, but as I'm not a fan of TFU I figured it was best to sit out of the discussion for this one and let the genuine fans enthuse.
Fanalysis I like TFU overall but starkiller is DBZ levels of OP which annoyies me, a lot.
Random question for the Council. If you had to do a video collaboration with a smaller Versus Creator (E.g Fork lifter Matt, Wolf Myth, etc), who would you work with and why?
Will you guys review battlefront 2
I don't consider the clone army a plot hole at all. It makes sense for the jedi to be unhappy with it but I don't see what else they could do. It's made pretty obvious that they themselves aren't strong enough to defend the republic against the confederacy so they need to use the army. There were enough soldiers for a single division for Kota but that is not enough.
In the prologue you can kill clones as darth Vader
Hey Reti, can you tell Evan that his Metallica shirt is awesome? Thanks.
Reti4 - You've told him yourself, he reads all our comments.
Ohoooooooooo, I'm looking forward to this!
Only mace could have pulled a Kota
This is just a nitpick but I would loved comments on the trials of skill and insight on the wii/ps2 versions bc I thought Desolous and Phobos were interesting Sith bc of their backstories. It would have been cool to get something of these seriously which sith have u seen carrying a lightsaber and a shield with red lightning how is that not awesome and force drugged by Phobos
Hey Boss yeah, we should probably ask them to do that
Nice video guys
Reti4 - Thanks! We're glad you enjoyed Evan and Jen's analysis.
You also have to battle the native people while battling shaak ti
Blocking in this game is a pain. Not being able to move. Parrying is weak and difficult. Starkiller uses Shien for crying out loud. Dash is cool, but feels ironically slow when used to dodge attacks. Targeting opponents is meh. I'd prefer to target by holding the trigger than the bumper on controller. It helps dodging with the Dash ability. All together, the defense abilities are kinda clunky.
Vastly improved in Alice: Madness Returns of all things.
14:20 Jensaarai's face looks like " come on even I want to talk!"
in regard to purge droids onece you level up enough to the point where your force bar and health bar don't go down you can just spam lightening and they go down in 30 seconds
also jensarrai is that Hogwarts scarf in the background
Would like a Star Wars game where you build your own player and saber on Xbox 360
Wait so...No antoine reti or gj91? Just curious
Great video guys!
Matthew White we are attempting to keep a steady upload schedule. Our personal schedules are tough to organize. That plus differing tastes and interests means we won't all 5 be participating in every discussion depending on the topic.
Reti4 - What GJ said. I was available for this one but, not being a fan of The Force Unleashed, I decided to sit out of the discussion and let the real fans enthuse. I just whispered stage directions in their ear as they went. (And grumbled about the reverse grip...)
Ah i see, thanks guys :D
Reti, what about TFU do you not like (other than cuz of the reverse grip), just out of curiosity?
My critique of the story is this. Part 1. The Jedi Hunter arc. I like this part of the game. I like this part of the story. Part 2. The Birth of the Rebellion arc. This is where I have issues.
Half hour senate scenes!
I’ve no idea what films you’ve been watching but in the Star Wars Prequel trilogy there is combined only 10 minutes max senate scenes, I’ve never got what that complain was about
It's an exaggeration of the way those scenes were done in the film.
First time I played this game was on the ds
My thoughts on TFU is a bit mixed overall it is a very fun time and the story is good. BUT THE STUPID STUPID STUPID WAY THE REBELLION WAS FORMED MAKES ME WANT TO HUG THE NEW CANON GUYS FOR RECONING IT. Ok I'm done with my small rage burst
This story is more part of Gorge Luces visein then TCW, Rebels or RO.
Are you guys also going to talk about the Sith ending levels?
Reti4 - Indeed. The DLC is covered at the end of the second part, which will be uploaded this weekend.
Fanalysis Nice. Looking forward to it 👍🏻
Galen is ok with proxy trying to kill him
You have to destroy the tie fighters clones and Kotas men in the first level
I kinda had many mixed feelings on this game. It's more or less essentially a kind of blend of a lot of expanded universe materials as well as prequel and film materials, throw in a few new things. Many positives to it, I will admit.
Getting in, I wasn't invested into it when it was first coming out, instead only really getting exposure through Soulcalibur 4's Star Wars cameos, which may have shut me off from loving Galen as a character permanently with how utterly broken he was in that game compared to just about every other character. Galen/Starkiller was the first time I called a Star Wars character a Mary Sue because of how blatantly OP he was
Despite that, I still gave the game a try and found there's plenty to like, the gameplay is good, the designs of levels is playable and puts some earlier Star Wars game level designs to shame (not going to say any names, I believe anybody who knows what I'm talking about will add an example or two of their own, should anybody read through this comment) and I still like it to this day.
One thing that you guys mentioned being a little odd, I will defend. The explosions of force energy was an early EU concept that wasn't implemented very much at all I admit, but it was a thing and honestly it gives a kind of Highlander effect with each boss battle. In the EU, C'Baoth died and gave off the same kind of explosion of dark side energy that Palpatine gave off, but it is noticeably absent from sooooooooo many deaths in Star Wars stuff that, yeah, it does stand out as odd. This game also did a few retcons on pre-existing EU stuff, I should add as well...
What were the retcons this game caused on pre existing Eu material?
I just never felt Marek as being OP because of the boss fights. The jedi are always presented as equals or even slight superiors to you and they certainly are. Also the thing with Mary Sues is that they often don't have a reason for why they are so powerful and Marek does have a reason. He spend over 14 years training brutally under Vader so it makes sense he's a war machine.
I actually really like that part about the game. That the bosses are actually not shown as impossible foes but as equals to you. Equals should also be incredibly hard to beat because they can do everything you can so you need to be good to get on top.
You can turn you enemy into ash
Wii version is the best
I actually have played the wii version of this game and it was fun but had a lot of problem for starters the graphics are horrible and the combat is a little wonky you just swing the wii remote back and forth and up and down and for me at least didn’t always work
Wii>Xbox 360 version. Darth Phobius is sick and so is the Utupau Sith (forgot his name).
ThePersoner11 Darth Desolous, I believe.
+Logan Smith I'm pretty sure that's him name.
It's actually Darth Phobos, and Desolus is the Pau'An sith
I would argue that no licensed IP video is a more "accurate" depiction of a universe, because enjoyable gameplay is always going to be its first priority, not accurate depictions of the "physics" of that universe. In the case of Force Unleashed (and other Force user video games) this means that using the Force requires less concentration and is less fatiguing than it should be in order to facilitate spamming cool looking powers. My two creds.
It's partially explained by Galen having vast reserves of Force energy in universe.
You are completely right. With the video games the gameplay footage was never canon. The only thing that was canon about any of the star wars games was the games story. Not to mention, the novels of the force unleashed technically were the REAL depictions of the story. In the novels Starkiller wasn't as powerful as he was depicted in the gameplay.
Ironinquisitor Tbf some of his best feats come from the novel and the comic rather then the game.
I definitely agree with you.
10:36 BHAHAHAHAHAHA HA!!!
Reti4 - In actuality I was right in his ear, grumbling about the stupidity of the reverse grip.
LOL now im trying to see if i can actually hear you
P
Personally, the free flowing, apparent nature of the force appeals to me, but you guys saying, “The movies’ depiction of the force is wrong,” is not a fact. Different people have different taste, and some don’t enjoy the over-the-top nature of the force portrayed in the Expanded Universe. This sentiment never appealed to me personally, just as it did not to both of you, due to its contradictory nature of how it’s portrayed in ever other medium.
In retrospect I'm not really a huge fan of this game's story. It's still way better than TFU2 horseshit though.
Honestly i find this game's gameplay to be boring
I enjoy the story, but dislike a lot of the characters in the game/novel.
Rahm Kota-I actually enjoy the way Kota operates in a combative scenario; the way he redirects Galen’s powers and the way he changes his attack sequences mid-fight are enjoyable concepts. However, I do not like his character in the 1st game (though I do like him in the 2nd game), and his snappy nature comes across as annoying, rather than badass.
Kazdan Paratus-I find his fighting style unique and his character unusual. In the game, I liked his character, but goddamn this guy is a pain to beat; trying to beat this guy with your saber is nigh-impossible. In the novel, his insanity is uninteresting and very childlike, and his combative skill is undercut a lot, relative to his game counterpart.
Shaak Ti-the less said about this bore, the better. I utterly despise her character, her voice, and her relationship with others. Now, this isn’t a slight against The Force Unleashed, as I just hate her in everything she’s in.
Maris Brood-I actually don’t mind Maris. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t particularly like her, but she’s got a more relatable character, and her position relative to Shaak, as Jen and Even mentioned, mirrors Galen’s own. I do quite like her stealthy approach to combat, even if her weapons are just...impractical (heck, the novel even notes that she has burns on her forearms).
Galen-I liked him in the novel, but I’m not too keen on his voice in the game. I like Sam Witwer IRL, but two of the most prominent characters he voices (Galen and Maul) both share the same problem: they scream, shout, and grunt a lot. Not only that, the noises themselves are so shrill and headache-inducing, that I struggle to take his dialogue, in-game, seriously.
I do like his ‘bits-and-pieces’ combat style, though.
Vader and Palpatine-my two favourite characters in the game. Despite my disapproval of Witwer’s voicing of Galen and Maul, I have nothing but praise for his voicing of Palpatine.
Ki Adi Sandwich They underpowered Vader and Palpatine in this game. The fact that Galen can beat them both on his own is retarded. This game should only be treated as an alternative Star Wars story, because It doesn't connect to The Original Trilogy at all. The 2nd game is trash too.
Technically the novel of the game was was the true depiction of The Force Unleashed and if you read it Galen Marek is SEVERLY downplayed in terms of his skill. In the novel he never really directly fought Palpatine. During that scene in the novel Rahm Kota attacked Palpatine, and when Palpatine was distracted by Kota, Galen thre a piece of debris while his back was turned to him. Galen then knocked Palatine down and he pretended to be defeated. In the novel when Galen stayed behind he was completely overwhelmed by Palpatine's lightning, being only able to block it for a few seconds before being overwhelmed. Starkiller simply isn't as powerful as people believe him to be.
In the novel Vader beats him as well.
The tactical Shark no he doesn’t.
No in the novel Vader DOES lose to Galen, but it was a tough fight.
It's so awkward to watch the dude on the bottom right looking down while the dude on the left is talking as if he's ignoring him. And then when dude on left stops talking the dude on the right just looks back at the camera and replies with "yeah" and then rambles on as if the other dude didn't say anything.
It's really rude.
Rorke47 Calm down.
Reti4 - To explain why, Jen is skimming through the sequences they're talking about in the book and/or comic as they're going. It was pre-agreed by the two that one of them would do this so they could manage their pacing without me having to whisper in their ear too much.