Knights of the Old Republic: The Peak of Star Wars Games

A long time ago, in an apartment far far away, I made a simple vow: to never talk about Star Wars related media again.

In the earliest days of my childhood, Star Wars was my favorite thing ever. I’m not unique in that regard; most boys my age would say the same. But then I grew up and the magic vanished. Accepting that this franchise wasn’t for me anymore, I bowed out and left the people who still enjoyed it .

By which I mean they tore themselves apart because they’re Star Wars fans and that’s just what they do.

But I’m not talking about any of that today! No disappointing movies, no boring TV shows, none of that! Today I’m talking about one of the greatest video games ever made: Knights of the Old Republic!

KOTOR was my the first RPG I can remember playing. Which probably explained why I was awful at it as a kid. But that didn’t deter me! I sunk hundreds of hours into this game on the original Xbox, playing it over and over again!

The question is: does Knights of the Old Republic still hold up? Can it still claim to be a masterpiece? Or is it like the rest of the Star Wars franchise: a mere shadow of its bygone glorious days?

Before we can begin the game, we first need to create our character. For this playthrough, I’ll be doing a Dark Side run, something I never did as a kid. My objective: become the most evil bastard the galaxy has ever seen. His name: Darth Jern-Jern.

Unfortunately, Gungans aren’t a playable race in this one, so I can’t be truly evil.

*Side note: I love the title screen of this game. No fancy background or bombastic music. Just Malak standing with his arms crossed and some ominous music in a dark void, the menu off to the side. The main villain stands there as though he’s asking you a question: will you become the hero to defeat him, or the villain to usurp him?

In terms of RPG mechanics, KOTOR isn’t all that complicated. It’s a simplified version of the Dungeons and Dragons system (likely 3e, given the time, but I’m not sure); just replace bows and arrows with blasters. You have a decent amount of freedom in how you build your character. Wanna be a sneaky boy with high charisma? Or how about a big bruiser with heavy armor and weapons? The choice is yours.

Except… not really.

Balance between builds in this game is awful. You can ignore everything to do with blasters; the moment your character gets Force powers (because of course they do, it’s a Star Wars game) all ranged weaponry becomes obsolete. Even before that, they’re just not that great! I’ve played this game five times over the years, and not once did I ever use a blaster for more than ten minutes. They are truly worthless. Say goodbye to your fantasies of being a Han Solo type charming rogue.

Now, with Darth Jern-Jern built and ready to burn the galaxy with nothing more than a silver tongue, we can begin.

Exactly like the movies, KOTOR begins with an opening title crawl. Thousands of years before the events of the films, we enter another galactic war between the Sith and the Republic. Darth Malak aims to conquer the galaxy, and the only thing standing in his way is the Jedi Bastila, whose Battle Meditation turns the tide of every battle she’s in towards the Republic’s favor. Even still, the war is caught in a stalemate.

One that you, the player, are about to break.

In orbit of the city world Taris, the Endire Spire is attacked by the Sith. Shaken awake, Darth Jern-Jern meets his tutorial bunk mate: Trask. The ship is going down, so the two of them need to do their job and escort Bastila to safety. So you partner up, grab your gear, and make for the escape pods.

The Endire Spire is a straight-forward tutorial. Literally. It’s a long hallway that breaks down all the basics you’ll need to know for the game going forward. Lockpicking, hacking, melee/ranged combat, healing items, explosives, every single mechanic you’ll need for the game going forward. By the time you get off the ship, you’ll be ready for the entire rest of the adventure to come.

On that note, let’s talk combat. It’s basically the same thing as Baldur’s Gate 1&2 (no surprise there, both being developed by Bioware). All the characters are set on an invisible initiative order, and you select actions to queue up your next action; you can pause the game at any time to line up your next few actions. Like the aforementioned games, success in KOTOR isn’t just about having the highest numbers (although that definitely helps). Planning and preparation are your best friends for tough combat encounters. Buffs, debuffs, and energy shields will do you better than any lightsaber will.

Being honest, the combat is a mixed bag. It feels stiff and awkward, and the AI between your allies and your enemies is pretty dated and bad. But you can still have some fun with it. Certain fights feel more like puzzles than battles, and solving them is pretty enjoyable. If nothing else, zapping a horde of enemies with Force Lightning is basically like a Dark side dopamine button.

As he made his way towards the escape pods, Darth Jern-Jern was faced with a dark Jedi. Being level two, he was no match for this foe. Luckily for us, tutorial Trask is a bold hero of the Republic, and he sacrifices himself so that his bunkmate can escape.

Thus was the galaxy doomed.

Not two seconds after Trask’s death, we’re introduced to our first real companion character: Carth. We don’t know it yet, but he’s a badass Republic soldier with trust issues and PTSD. For now, we only know him as the shmuck in the orange jacket that guides us to the escape pods. You’ve got an entire game of chatting with him before you find out all that juicy stuff. We’ll talk about it more later.

Taking off in the escape pod, the game’s tutorial ends. But Jern-Jern isn’t in the clear yet. He and Carth crash on Taris, a Sith-controlled planet. Upon impact, our villain is rendered unconscious, leaving his well-meaning future emotional abuse victim drag him to safety.

While asleep, Jern-Jern has a strange dream. A vision of the former leader of the Sith, Darth Revan, caught in a duel with Bastila. But before he can figure out why or what’s going on, he awakens. The only person who can answer his new questions is Bastila herself. But first: he needs to find her.

As he explores Taris, Jern-Jern comes across many victims friendly faces to accompany him on his mission. From the young and spunky street rat Mission and her Wookie-bestie Zarbon to the honorable but heartless Canderous and Bastila herself, he puts together quite a crew. And once he leaves Taris later in the game, he’ll meet even more allies scattered across the galaxy.

I love the companions in this game. Every single one of them has a story of their own to share with the player. Remember Carth’s aforementioned trust issues and PTSD? If you’re playing a Light side character, you can help him learn to open up again and heal from all his past traumas. Or, if you’re playing a Dark side character, you can emotionally abuse him and convince him that his suspicions and paranoia are valid.

You can do this with just about every companion. Depending on how you talk to Bastilla, you could enter a romantic relationship with her. If you manipulate Zaalbar as a Dark side character, you can force him to murder Mission for you. If you choose to betray the Republic, half of your companions will abandon or even attack you! All the characters and their reactions to the player are amazing!

Except for T3. Y’know. The robot. That’s to be expected, so I guess-

Hang on, HK was a robot and he was great! His mechanical bloodlust made him a fan-favorite! He’s even on the god damn box art! Why couldn’t T3 have had any personality?!

On that note, we should talk about the morality system. Depending on your choices, you’ll either earn Light or Dark side points. These will alter your character’s appearance, change what dialogue options you get, and buff certain stats and abilities. That, and, you know, it decides which ending you’ll get.

You might think the choice will be obvious. The Republic is good, the Sith are bad. While that is true, it’s more complex than that. KOTOR explores the ups and downs of both sides in the conflict. The Jedi are good, sure, but their beliefs can be a bit too strict, so much so that many of their apprentices willingly fall to the Dark side. The Sith are undoubtedly evil, but their eternal quest for power and conquest is largely based in an ideology of self-improvement and existential satisfaction. There’s far more going on here than just plain good and evil.

This is absolutely brilliant storytelling, especially for Star Wars. For a series all about ‘bringing balance to the Force,’ we don’t often see that balance at play. The heroes often just try to lean the unbalance away from dark and towards the light. Not KOTOR. This is a game that explores just what it truly means to find ‘balance’ in the Force. It’s great!

Even if the ending is just ‘the good ending’ or ‘the bad ending.’ But it’s Star Wars. I’ll take whatever moral ambiguity I can get.

Excluding ‘The Last Jedi.’

There’s also a surprising amount of player agency throughout the game. Once you leave Taris and finish your Jedi training on Dantooine, you’re given free reign over where you go next and what you do. You can tackle any of the four plot-central planets in any order you want. This lends itself a lot towards the game’s replayability, making it even easier to go back and try the other side.

*By the by, there are different dialogue and story options depending on whether you play a male or female character. Not insubstantial ones, either. For example: if you’re a female character, you can romance Carth. If you really want to see all this game has to offer, you need to play it four times at least. And all four playthroughs will be fun and unique! Not a small feat for any game, let alone an RPG.

All of this goes towards building up one of the greatest plot twists in video game history. If you’ve played the game, you know what I’m talking about. When I first played the game as a kid, it genuinely had my jaw on the floor! It’s one of the best plot twists in all of Star Wars!

Y’know. The series with the most iconic plot twist in cinematic history.

Knights of the Old Republic definitely shows its age in a lot of aspects. Its mechanics need tweaking, the AI is outdated, and combat is stiff. I haven’t even talked about the rough animations and ugly character models. This game is twenty years old and you can feel every single one.

As such, I was super excited for the announced remake. Unfortunately, things aren’t looking good. Last we heard from development, the game was delayed indefinitely. Though they promise they’re still working on it, whether it will ever actually come out is still up in the air. If you want to know more, I’ll leave some sources for you right here:

• KOTOR Remake Reportedly Still Alive (Wesley Yin-Poole, IGN)
• The KOTOR Remake is ‘Not Being Worked on Right Now’ (Joshua Duckworth, Game Rant)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake is Dead (Mike Straw, Insider Gaming)

Dated as the original game is, I still love Knights of the Old Republic! It tells one of the best stories in all of Star Wars, and indeed all of gaming in general! Despite all its issues, it’s still one of the most enjoyable RPGs I’ve ever played! It truly is the greatest Star Wars game of all time, even now!

Granted, I hate most other parts of this franchise, so my opinion on the matter isn’t particularly informed or important.

It’s importance and value go beyond just the Star Wars IP. KOTOR set the stage for many, many games to come. Remember Mass Effect, also by Bioware? That morality system (you remember, the one that basically took over the industry for a few years) is lifted straight out of KOTOR!

Play this game if you haven’t already. It deserves every last bit of the prestige it gets. It may not be perfect, but it’s still a true masterpiece.

Here’s hoping we all get a chance to experience it again someday.