It's been over 20 years since the release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, one of the most critically acclaimed Star Wars games ever created. Set in the Old Republic era 4,000 years before the events of A New Hope, the game was developed by BioWare and set a new precedent for Star Wars storytelling within an RPG setting. It's popularity far outshines that of its sequel, Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, which was released in 2005 and developed by Obsidian.
Knights of the Old Republic 2 had several things against it; it was the weird, genre-breaking, unconventional sequel to Knights of the Old Republic which, though it was a great game, was also very safe and followed the Star Wars rule book. Knights of the Old Republic 2 deliberately set out to break those rules in a stunning love letter to the franchise that was clunky at times but, overall, made Star Wars lore rich and exciting for the first time in decades. Its deconstruction of Star Wars tropes, while still remaining true to the heart of what made Star Wars great, is what has made Knights of the Old Republic 2 a cult classic among fans.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 is the Tale of The Jedi Exile
Through the use of RPG game mechanics such as Force powers and dialogue systems, Star Wars lore, and genre conventions, Knights of the Old Republic 2 creates a system that deconstructs players' preconceptions of the Force and how it works. The player character is the Jedi Exile: an ex-Jedi who has already had their Hero's Journey, with the game following their journey as they reconnect with the Force and attempt to reconcile with the actions they made during the Mandalorian Wars - including ordering the destruction of a planet.
Planet-destroying weapons aren't anything new to Star Wars, but no story before had considered their implications on the Force to the degree that Knights of the Old Republic 2 did. The single event created echoes in the Force and triggered a series of unpredictable events, including the rise of a shadow Sith faction that purged the Jedi and the collapse of several key Republic worlds that nearly caused the destruction of the system thousands of years before the rise of Emperor Palpatine.
Why Knights of The Old Republic 2 Still Has Dedicated Fans
As the Jedi Exile regained their connection to the Force thanks to the connections of their mentor, Kreia, and other various party members, their affinity for the Light or Dark Side becomes clearer depending on the actions of the player. Party members' own Force alignment changes depending on their relationship with the Exile, and more closely aligns with an Exile they have a positive relationship to. It's revealed late in-game that these relationships are key to the Exile's connection to the Force; without them, the Exile would be little more than a void in the Force.
Knights of the Old Republic 2 was brave enough to take known lore about the Force and deconstruct it in a way that was creative, smart, and yet still deeply respectful of the source material, and more Star Wars games need to be brave enough to do that going forward. Games are the perfect medium for exploring the Force as a concept thanks to video game design and the interactive nature of the platform, and can go so much further than using Force push or jumping far.
Using the Force to explore how it creates connections in relationships, Force bonding, affects cause and effect, the implications of planet-destroying weapons, alternate paths, and what the Hero's Journey does to the human soul are just some of the ideas Knights of the Old Republic 2 explores, and should be the starting point of what video games can do with Star Wars. There's still so much potential to be explored in future Star Wars games, and it's right there waiting for someone to do it.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, and Xbox.
