Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lords ranks among the most beloved RPGs in the genre, while simultaneously standing as one of the finest entries in the Star Wars video game catalog. Obsidian Entertainment's sequel to 2003's Knights of the Old Republic was considered a major improvement, owing to its enhanced gameplay, thought-provoking story, and endearing cast of characters. The freedom to make meaningful choices that impact the plot and players' companions gives the game lots of replay value.
Despite its classic status, Knights of the Old Republic 2 is also an infamous case of games being rushed to meet corporate expectations. As a consequence, Knights of the Old Republic 2 is riddled with cut content, much of which has been preserved in the game's files. Over the years, the game's dedicated modding community has made an effort to restore much of the missing content. Fully voiced dialogue, cutscenes, side quests, new areas, improvements to party interaction, and even the game's ending have all been worked on, and the mod is finally coming to Aspyr's Switch port of the game as free DLC. Spoilers for Knights of the Old Republic 2 ahead.
Knights of the Old Republic 2's Party Members Gain New Interactions
The Sith Lords' Restored Content Mod reintroduces countless small moments that help flesh out various characters, particularly Knights of the Old Republic 2's party members. Many voiced lines of dialogue from cut conversations have been added seamlessly, and every party member has been improved with new interactions, alternate dialogue, and more fully developed stories.
Lots of the cut content involves interactions among party members aboard the Ebon Hawk. Minor interactions such as the player asking Atton about The Ebon Hawk's repairs before Onderon, and a funny quip from the Handmaiden remarking about Atton not bathing, help breathe some extra life into the crew's relationships. A restored conversation where Mandalore asks the player how they got ahold of The Ebon Hawk, along with T3-M4 revealing to the player the story of Revan and Mandalore, adds further depth to his character.
Other examples of restored interactions aboard the Ebon Hawk include the player sparring with Visas under the supervision of Kreia, and Bao-Dur can now also provide upgrades for HK-47 similar to the upgrades available to G0-T0, the Remote, and T3-M4. There are hundreds of additions throughout Knights of the Old Republic 2's planets, with each small restoration subtly improving the characters and story in a way that adds up to be greater than the sum of its parts.
New Quests and Playable Content in Knights of the Old Republic 2
The Sith Lords' Restored Content Mod goes further than simply adding new lines of dialogue for Knights of the Old Republic 2's party members, it also restores many side quests and unfinished plot points either partially included in the base game or left hidden in the game's files. Over the course of the game, certain characters may be mentioned and never revisited, plots open up leading to nowhere, and certain rooms might seemingly serve no purpose. Much of these instances are examples of the cut content that the mod brings back as faithfully as possible.
One of the biggest additions to the game involves Knights of the Old Republic 2's droid companion HK-47. Randomly throughout the game, HK-50 assassin droids will attack the party. If HK-47 is present during one of these encounters, he will kidnap and torture a droid to reveal the HK Droid Factory, an entire level of cut content where the player takes on the role of HK-47 and infiltrate the factory on Telos. Even in its barebones form, the sequence is full of some great HK-47 moments as he banters with the other droids.
Another cut quest restored with the mod involves a thief on Dantooine. Originally, the salvager Jorran had stolen a vaporator modulator from Suulru, and after rescuing Jorran from the ruins of the enclave, the player can convince him to return it to Suulru. The restored version involves a much longer chain of events where Suulru's farm equipment is being stolen presumably by the salvagers. This leads to the player discovering that the thief is actually a lost padawan who has taken control of the laigreks in the ruins. The player can either make her embrace the dark side, kill her, or encourage her to seek out the Jedi.
The Restored Ending of Knights of the Old Republic 2 Is More Detailed
The final stretch of Knights of the Old Republic 2 is perhaps the most clearly rushed segment of the game, and thus it's where a major amount of restored content comes into play. When the player reaches Malachor, many new things occur in the mod. The player takes control of Atton for a showdown against Sion, and if the player loses the fight, Atton will die in their arms. The player's party also attempts to take on Kreia and fails. Kreia gives the player a choice to either save the party or fight their way straight to Kreia in an expanded version of the Trayus Academy sequence, and dark side players can even decide to murder their entire party in their holding cells.
Relating back to the restored HK Droid Factory section, the rebuilt assassin droid HK-47 will show up on Malachor during the confrontation between G0-T0 and the Remote. Depending on HK-47's prior choices, either a group of HK droids join him, or G0-T0 takes control of HK-47 and uses him to destroy the Remote. Although the mod can't quite make up for the original rushed development, a lot of questions finally get answers, and the final sequence is improved thanks to the added context from new dialogue and cutscenes.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 is available now on Mobile, PC, Switch, and Xbox.
