Star Wars:
Knights of
the Old
Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003) (KOTOR) is a series of hard narrative-driven role-playing and combat games set in the Star Wars universe, 4000 years before Luke Skywalker and the Empire. You fight enemies and discover secrets by talking to the characters you meet on your way. The choices you make affect your ability to wield the light and dark sides of the force, who you meet along your journey and much more. Everything, even down to the ending, is dependent on your choices. A remake, developed by Aspyr, was announced in September 2021.

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In the first game, you start on the city planet of Taris, where you team up with Carth Onasi, who tells you that the Jedi master Bastila Shan is lost on the planet and is being hunted by the evil Darth Malak. It is up to you to rescue her and escape the planet. From her, you learn of Malak's ultimate weapon, the star forge, which kickstarts your quest to try and stop him and defeat the Sith, unless you choose to help them instead. You search the galaxy for anything that could help you, and encounter people you can add to your party, and upgrades to your gear and force abilities. Eventually, you are captured by Malak, who reveals a big secret about your past.

In the second game, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, set 5 years after the first, the Sith, now led by Nihilus and Sion, and their master Darth Traya, have all but wiped out the Jedi, and it is up to you, a Jedi in exile with a damaged force connection, to find the remaining Jedi masters and resist the growing darkness. Once assembled, you can choose to betray the masters and become the new Lord of the Sith, or help them by finding someone who could aid their resistance.

While the first game was a love letter to the Star Wars films trying to emulate its most successful traits, the second is more of a deconstruction of Star Wars; obscuring the line between good and evil and humanising both sides, showing the flaws in both.

In both games, you can choose your name and select your appearance from a variety of presets. There are also different classes to choose from, each having a different speciality; scout, soldier and scoundrel. Both games also offer plenty of side quests which tie in nicely to the main plot and may even help you. The gameplay and graphics are quite dated and the games don't give you as many hints as some modern titles. The fighting is turn-based and quite hard, meaning you'll more than likely be killed multiple times, but you don't lose anything when you do and you can attempt the fights as many times as you want, or go and improve your character's competence in combat before returning.

Regardless of gameplay, the storytelling and care put into each character is still apparent. The games are considered some of the best role-playing games out there, so if you're a fan of the genre, sci-fi or Star Wars, they are definitely worth playing.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 4 years ago. It was re-examined by Thom Robertson and updated 4 months ago.