SW KOTOR Pt. 1

Cover for Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic:
A Retrospective — Part 1

20 years after its release, KOTOR still stands up as an amazing game. I just finished my bajillionth playthrough and the emotional impact of the story still hits hard. 

If you haven’t played the game yet, I am going to spoil this story for you in this article. You’ve had 20 years to check it out, so stop reading and go play it if you want to feel the full impact of Bioware’s storytelling abilities from back in 2003.

Back in 2003

The first time I played this game at the fresh young age of 13, I was blown away by EVERYTHING! I hadn’t had a gaming experience like this before where I could choose what kind of Jedi, or Sith, I wanted to become, romance the beautiful Jedi Bastila, and make friends or enemies with different members of my party (I think Carth has always hated me). 

When it was first revealed to me that I was Revan, I was just blown away. I remember sitting at my computer desk, tower humming away at my feet, with my jaw hitting the keyboard in astonishment. Maybe I should have seen it coming, there were plenty of hints. But I was so immersed in the game and becoming a badass Jedi, I hadn’t even considered the NPCs' offhanded comments to mean that I was the Dark Lord with memory loss. 

It was a game changing moment for me. And I don’t mean figuratively but literally. It made me start to think of games as more than just a timewaster but a way to tell truly impactful stories. Long story short, that’s why I’m a narrative designer. I’ve got the folks who made KOTOR to thank for that.

After finding out my true nature, I played as a Sith. What else was I going to do! I didn’t do all the most terrible things to minor characters that were available, but I loved becoming the next Dark Lord of the Galaxy at the end of the game. It was my Darth Vader fantasy come true. 

Now in 2023

Now, after 20 more years of gaming, I thought I would step back into Revan’s shoes to see how it felt. And man, did it still HIT! 

This playthrough, I put away my Sith-iness and played as a Paragon Jedi. At times this makes the game a bit harder as you are giving away credits to persecuted aliens and going out of your way to help out NPCs and not kill every jerkface who crosses your path. But it makes for rewarding gameplay as well. Your allies stick with you through thick and thin, even those inclined to the Dark Side like Canderous and HK-47 (the funniest character in the game, meatbags). 

At the end of the game, when you get the chance to save Bastila from the clutches of Darth Malak’s evil power, it was extremely gratifying to ask her to help the Republic Fleet destroy the Star Forge while I battled the Dark Lord on my own. A tough battle, but very fulfilling.

I had an absolute blast getting back into the character and exploring the worlds of the Star Wars galaxy again. Sure, some of the storylines could have been more engaging and there could have been more dialogue options to truly get to know all of your followers. But for the time when it came out, it changed the way many fans thought about games and Star Wars. 

Also, there are plenty of great things about the constraints that kept the game just long enough (a playthrough usually lasts between 22 and 32 hours), but not overwhelming like many of today’s RPGs that can have well over 100 hours of gameplay. Don’t get me wrong, I love that too! But it’s nice to be able to complete a game quicker if the story is told well, and KOTOR’s definitely is.

Though I would love for KOTOR to go on forever and have 3,720 planets to explore rather than the 7 that are in the game. Those 7 are a lot of fun and it makes for a concise narrative that doesn’t meander for days of gameplay to the point where you forget what you were supposed to be doing. You’re out to save the galaxy, and if you can help some oppressed Wookies and misunderstood Sandpeople along the way, all the better, as these storyline don’t take you out of the role.

Continuing the Quest

If you’re looking for a Star Wars game with 3,720 planets (ok, maybe not quite that many), that has a lot of the same elements of KOTOR, then Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011) is the game for you. Though it is an MMO, you can play through the main storylines alone with just some NPC allies. It has a bit more of the grind that an MMO always has, but this can be avoided if you stick to the main quests and use your speederbike to zip past hordes of grunts. You’ve just got to take your completionist vest off. The continued storylines in Old Republic are well done and continue the story of KOTOR in a way that is very satisfying with plenty of throwback characters and items from the titular game. 

I know there has been plenty of talk for the past few years of one studio or another taking up the mantle and rebooting KOTOR with fancy new graphics and playability on new computers (I had to play it on my iPad this time because my computer was too good, lol, to run the original game). This would be great… but I am not completely confident a reboot wouldn’t just be a money grab. And if they do change the story dramatically, I’m not sure that the magic of the game would endure.

In my next couple of posts, I am going to delve a bit deeper into the Narrative Design of KOTOR, as well as discuss its sequel KOTOR II and some of the other Star Wars games that have shaped the galaxy for us all.

Stay tuned, and may the Force be with you!