14 years ago...

In a galaxy that was not so far away, namely our own, Bioware released a gem of a game, one that would help to shape the future of their company, though not necessarily of the Star Wars universe. That game if you hadn’t guessed was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

When this game was released I was approximately 3 years old, but my exposure to it happened when I was 4. Yeah, young. As a 4 year old in the time of the prequels releasing, I loved Star Wars (and still do) and at that time a family friend won an Xbox in a Mountain Dew contest.

With that I was gifted an Xbox and after a trip to a Gamestop, I returned home with 2 games. Obi Wan (A game that I can talk about in the future) and KOTOR. In retrospect I’m not even sure how I played this game at that time. The few vague memories I do have of ‘playing’ at that time are mainly of me watching my Mom play and telling her what to have our character say, or having her read the dialogue choices to me. Even if I never ‘truly’ played at this time, I still grew an attachment to this game that stuck with me.

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Cut to 2010.

I was just about to enter Middle School, and discounting handhelds, my two gaming consoles were the Wii, and this Mountain Dew Xbox. Im not sure what prompted me to jump back into this game, but after starting a fresh new save I was engrossed. 24 hours sunk into the game later, I was at the final boss fight...and stuck.

Now we go to one last cut.

2 summers ago and 20 hours of time spent on the Steam release I had finally beaten the game. Since then I’ve made an effort to play this game once a year, as it is truly the most engaging Star Wars game ever created.

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If you’ve played Dragon Age Origins you know the combat affair, though saying it’s a slightly more primitive Mass Effect would also be an apt description. You go through a semi-turn based combat system, split up with sections of exploration and dialogue/character interactions.

Again this a pretty classic CRPG dialogue system, but probably most similar in tone to Dragon Age Origins or Fallout 3/New Vegas. Though there isn’t an incredible amount of subtlety to the dialogue, it serves a rather fun, somewhat cheesy purpose. Your character can be a goody two shoes Jedi Saint, or the cruelest most evil Sith you can be. It’s a delight no matter which way you choose to go, mainly due to some excellent scripting on behalf of your party members/side characters.

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The story is a wonderful Star Wars affair set 3000 years before The Phantom Menace, and filled with a number of shocking and engaging twists and turns. It never feels too slow once you’re past the opening mission, yet it never rushes you along either. Drew Karpyshyn was at his finest here, and though I still enjoy much of what he’s done since, it’s a shame to see what he’s done with this franchise since (*cough* Revan novel*cough*).

Perhaps the strangest thing about KOTOR is the limbo it exists in now. It was a massively huge seller at the time, yet it seems it’s slipped through the cracks over the years in recollection. It doesn’t have the status of Bioware’s later works, and maybe that’s partially due to the rather average MMO with the Old Republic name attached, but it seems that something about it has faded from public consciousness. While it isn’t a beautiful looking game now, and not nearly as polished as some of it’s modern contemporaries, it’s one of the greatest pieces of Star Wars in any medium, and a damn fine RPG.

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You can pick it up on Steam or GOG for just $9.99 (hell it’s even on the Ipad!), and it’s very frequently discounted on sales. If you’ve never experienced this un-forgotten yet mis-remembered joy, or simply are looking for a bit of fantastic Star Wars to replay while we patiently wait for The Last Jedi, Knights of the Old Republic is the perfect beauty to play.

I leave you with the PC edition trailer from 2004 - enjoy.

Kotor PC Trailer

