Ferdinand was just an excuse, the Germans had been planning and getting ready to invade France for at least a decade, meanwhile the French were also making their own plans and chomping at the bit to recover territory lost in 1870. The Assassination was essentially just an excuse to kick things off.
This is obviously subjective, but I highly disagree. They are both very different with very different themes, but the story of the first one is a classic that brought us Revan, who probably has the coolest story of any Star Wars character. The second is very different from any other Star Wars media and great in own right, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first.
Maybe it’s also about expectations: Kotor 1 feels a lot like a Star Wars but with (IMO) superior story and lore to the movies; whereas Kotor 2 barely felt like Star Wars at times, which can dampen enjoyment if you are expecting something that feels like Star Wars.