I have probably finished Wasteland 30 times. Maybe more.
In fact, because I didn't have a 5 1/4" disk drive on my computer anymore, and so couldn't use the reset program to use the characters again, I wrote my own program to do so (this was about 5-6 years ago). Which really sucked (I needed to copy two files, but since I didn't know how to call a dos command from a C program, I had to copy the files byte by byte. Which was slow), but other people were forced to use and was apparently even included on some cd-rom compilations that contained Wasteland.
While Wasteland was great, it's no comparison. KOTOR beats it in just about every way.
Though now that I think about it, KOTOR is similar to Wasteland in a lot of ways. (No Snake Squeezin's though)
For instance, Wasteland often had multiple ways of doing things. KOTOR does too, but more fully developed. For instance, you have to break into this one embassy. There are at least 3 ways to get in. One is pretty squeamish. When you're inside an installation, if you're a scoundral or someone good at computers, you can hack into the security system, and often avoid a lot of combat.
And while WL was great, there was little characterization, because you basically played anonymous characters. You didn't talk much, and the only real personality shown was while you were in Finster's head.
While you do play an anonymous character in KOTOR, you have a personality, and can chose the light path or dark path. And your other party members all have pretty decent personalities.
And while Wasteland was fun, the plot wasn't that deep. Robots being spouted out of a mysterious factory and you must stop them. So you find it, and destroy it.
IMHO, the plot of KOTOR would have made a much better movie (or trilogy) than Episodes I-III. It has a plot twist that rivals that of the original trilogy. (Stunned me, anyway)
A lot probably depends on what sort of games you like, though.
While some people love the Elder Scrolls style games - Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, I've always found them to be a bit empty. Big places to explore, lots of freedom, but everyone is the same.
More like Elite than an RPG. And you're always alone.
KOTOR is more a console RPG in that it's very plot heavy. Though it does a good job of joining the two styles of rpgs - computer & console. In a lot of ways, it's like Planescape: Torment, but a lot better.
KOTOR also apparently has different endings, depending on your decisions. Probably not as many as say, Chronotrigger or Tactics Ogre, but your decisions really do matter.
So like I said, best RPG ever (IMHO). I've probably played most of the them on console & computer. Wizardry, Bard's Tale, Final Fantasy, Chrono series, Ogre Battle series, Shining series, Grandia, Suikoden (PSX), most of Working Design's stuff, most Bethesda games, most of Bioware's previous games.
Only a handful emotionally moved me. KOTOR is at the top of that list. (the list being: KOTOR, ChronoTrigger, Tactics Ogre, Star Ocean 2, and Deception)
[/rambling] (bear in mind, since I got KOTOR, I would play it instead of sleep. And now it's screwed up my sleep cycle. Gah. So I'm making even less sense than usual )
I haven't had this much fun playing a videogame RPG in years. FFX came really close but I stopped playing that game for a year before I finally went back to it. Maybe it's just the thrill of seeing the lightsaber combat. Or maybe it's the story.
