“Star Wars” games are in a bit of a weird place right now. With the rare exception of the “Jedi Fallen Order” series, games in recent years set in a galaxy far far away have been either pay-to-win gacha games or absolutely drenched in controversy. However, this was not always the case. One of the most prolific games in the “Star Wars” brand is undoubtedly Bioware’s “Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic,” a landmark title that is regarded not only as a standout “Star Wars” title on its own, but as one of the greatest Role Playing Games of all time.
But why is that? What elevates this game to the status that it has earned? Why have fans been chomping at the bit waiting for news about the much-delayed remake?
When diving into a good Role Playing Game (RPG), one thing that draws a player’s continued interest is a heavy investment in the world they will be playing in. After all, if you’re going to be sinking a lengthy amount of time into an escapist fantasy, naturally it’d be more appealing to plunge into a world with depth rather than one shallower than a kiddie pool. Thankfully for “Star Wars” fans, “Knights of The Old Republic” offers a plethora of different locations for players to explore. From the familiar sprawling deserts of Tatooine, to new locations in an ocean world being torn apart by their leader’s attempts to stay neutral in the conflict between light and dark, this game will take you all over an immersive galaxy. There’s no shortage of locations to explore for players once they get their hands on their ship.
Compounding this sense of freedom is the wide range of customization available to the player. While they may not be able to trick out their ship with fancy collectibles like in later Bioware titles, there is a plethora of different outfit and class options available to players. If someone fancies charging through the game with blasters blazing like Han Solo intended, then by all means, they can do so even after they are trained as a Jedi. If they want to go around and save the galaxy swinging a purple lightsaber in one hand and a red one in the other while decked out in a full suit of armor, that’s feasible for them as well.
What a lot of RPG fanatics absolutely adore, surprisingly enough given the medium, is the level of character interactions that they can have with their in-game companions. Bioware RPGs have become renowned in recent years for their expert characterization and in-depth relationship systems that players can have with their crew. Players will sink hours into listening to dialogue with characters just to know them better, and “Knights of The Old Republic” is no exception to this, featuring characters such as Bastila Shan and the iconic Darth Revan whose story is the fulcrum of the game’s most iconic twist.
When you’re flying around the galaxy with the crankiest geezer to have ever swung around a laser sword or the most out-of-pocket C-3P0 analog in the mythos, players are bound to get heavily invested in learning more about their party by the time the game reaches its second act.
The story of “Knights of The Old Republic” is one that fans can immediately turn to as an example of a captivating narrative. Without giving too many spoilers for those who wish to experience the game’s stories fresh for themselves, it is set more than three-thousand years before the events of the Star Wars films and your character is an amnesiac soldier embarking on a quest to stop an ever-advancing Sith threat and train in the ways of The Jedi. Whether this leads the player into the role of supreme master of The Sith or to that of galactic savior is entirely up to them, as there are a plethora of different side missions available in the game for both light and dark side players to get a kick out of This offers a great deal of variety in how the game can be completed.
In “Knights of The Old Republic” there is the opportunity to explore one’s very own Star Wars hero’s journey in their own galaxy. It is a landmark title that, although aging quite a bit in regards to gameplay, is still considered a standout RPG in its own right, making it well deserving of the hype that it still gets to this day.
