Almost a decade after its release, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is still widely considered to be the best Star Wars game ever made. Despite the unparalleled visuals in modern games like Star Wars: Squadrons and Battlefront 2, these contemporary titles don't offer the same world-building, character development, or immersive story present in Knights of the Old Republic. All these years later, fans still return to the game every now and then to relive the groundbreaking experience.
For years, fans have asked for a Knights of the Old Republic remake that would bring modern visuals and gameplay mechanics to the already-excellent game, and in September 2021, fans would receive the announcement they'd been hoping for. In a PlayStation State of Play, a Knights of the Old Republic remake was announced, and although details are pretty scarce still, it's been heavily rumored that Aspyr's remake is going to be changing up some of aspects of the original - with its RNG combat apparently being the first big change. Although Knights of the Old Republic is undoubtedly an excellent game, there's a few aspects that could use a bit of a rework, with the game's planets being one such area.
Knights of the Old Republic's Planets Were Ahead of Their Time
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic's original set of explorable planets was pretty groundbreaking for the time, especially in a Star Wars game. Releasing in 2003, most Star Wars games that came before it focused on a handful of locales, usually presented in the form of linear levels. Even Star Wars titles with larger levels such as Jedi Outcast or the Phantom Menace tie-in game forced the player down a linear path, with minimal exploration being allowed.
Knights of the Old Republic features an impressive total of seven planets to explore, with even its most restrictive levels, like Taris and Dantooine, giving the player a surprising amount of freedom. While the main quest of each planet does have a fairly linear critical path, the level of freedom given around that critical path is still impressive today.
Once the player has finished the main quest on Dantooine and has received the first Star Map, they're free to explore the rest of the planets in the game in whatever order they choose. Once they've landed on the planet, the player can explore its environments freely to find new gear, quests, and talk with NPCs.
One of the most impressive aspects of KOTOR's planets was their visual design. Each planet in the game looks distinct and unique, with lighting being used to great effect to capture the atmosphere of the environment. Bright natural light is used to make Tatooine look distinctive, and dark lighting is used to emphasize Korriban's foreboding atmosphere. Some iconic Star Wars structures are also used plentifully throughout the various planets, cementing them as authentic Star Wars locations. While it's true that some planets are a little more barebones than others, for its time, the ability to free-roam around these iconic Star Wars locations was impressive enough.
Breathing New Life Into Knights of the Old Republic's Planets
Aspyr's Knights of the Old Republic remake has the perfect opportunity to take what was so impressive about the original's planets, and make them even greater. On a surface level, the KOTOR remake should be able to make these planets look much better than they once were.
Modern graphics technology should allow planets like Taris and Manaan to look as vibrant as the original developer team intended, with ray-tracing being used to keep each environment looking naturalistic and authentic to the Star Wars universe. With the game being a console exclusive for PlayStation 5, the developers are likely able to push the hardware to its limits and produce a Star Wars gaming experience that looks just as beautiful as its cinematic counterparts. The new SSD technology inside the PS5 could also be used to eliminate the loading screens of the original, making each planet feel like one giant cohesive place.
To enhance the original's atmospheric planets even more, the remake could add in some more NPCs to some of the original game's less-populated areas. Due to the limitations of the time, some of Knights of the Old Republic's areas can seem a little underwhelming nowadays, with the bustling streets of Taris only really containing a dozen or so characters at once. By adding in more NPCs to areas like Taris' upper-level streets, or Korriban's Sith temple, the remake could help these environments feel more realistic and lived-in.
On a similar note, if more NPCs were added to the Knights of the Old Republic remake, then more opportunities for side quests could be added alongside them. While the original game did have a handful of planet-hopping side quests, there weren't too many of them, and they rarely rewarded the player with any tangible gameplay benefits, with most side quests being used to develop the companions further. Some new side quests that gave the player new gear would be a welcome addition to the Knights of the Old Republic experience, especially if these were tied to side-character development or world-building.
To make the remake's planets really stand out from the original's, Aspyr should add in some new hidden areas that really reward the player for taking the time to explore each environment fully. While the original had some pretty large environments, some of them could seem a little empty, with little to interact with. By taking a leaf out of Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring's book, by having some carefully hidden caves or shrines littered around the map, the KOTOR remake could improve on its predecessor by encouraging exploration with new gear and story elements.
