Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’s remake is still in a precarious position, and it will likely be years until more is shared about it - if ever. This is unfortunate given the original is such a beloved BioWare RPG, remaining one of the most seminal Star Wars games of all time. In proper BioWare fashion, KotOR provides thorough questlines with compelling companion characters and sprawling planets to explore. KotOR is not without its issues, but for a 20-year-old game it holds up exceptionally well.
However, KotOR is strangely paced if players are mainlining the narrative campaign because Taris is the largest planet with the most content, followed by a series of planets that are only as expansive as players want them to be. The only primary goal that players have after becoming a Jedi on Dantooine and discovering the Star Forge is to seek out Star Maps on other planets, but there are still a bunch of quests to pursue. Taris can feel bloated and intensely difficult while players are still under-leveled, and that early difficulty spike could be the KotOR remake’s biggest quality-of-life improvement.
Knights of the Old Republic’s Taris is an Elaborate, Brutal Tutorial Planet
Knights of the Old Republic’s Taris is incredibly intricate for a tutorial planet, especially one that players do not get to travel back to once they flee. Taris does a phenomenal job of depicting upper and lower-class struggles, players making their way down from the glistening prosperity of the Upper City to the Lower City, where the slums are home to rival swoop gangs and a group of pious people stranded near the sewers.
This entire planet is home to many side quests and introduces players to the features they will have access to once they depart for Dantooine and KotOR’s other planets, but its difficulty is unmatched due to players being relatively unequipped for each combat encounter. The player and their small group of companions are insufficiently leveled by the time they reach the Lower City, Undercity, and its sewers, where Black Vulkars, rakghouls, and Gamorreans appear in large numbers.
Players need to rely on medpacs at this point in the game since they have not yet become a Jedi and learned the Force Cure ability, and once medpacs have been depleted it's all too easy to get overwhelmed if players and their KotOR companions are poorly equipped. Encounters like the one with the rancor are far too few; in this instance, players can use their wits and take the Synthesized Odor that players loot from the severed arm and insert it into a pile of corpses. The rancor will eat from the pile, ingesting the grenade that is already among the lootable equipment, and die instantly. Combat encounters continue to be tremendously difficult in KotOR afterward, and end in a duel against Calo Nord and Davik Kang before players can board the Ebon Hawk.
None of these combat encounters are impossible by any means, but they create difficulty spikes that the Knights of the Old Republic remake could balance, even if that means players get access to better gear earlier on. Receiving a lightsaber and Force abilities truly turns the tide of any fight from Dantooine onward, but KotOR should still allow players to enjoy combat on Taris with mere blasters or vibroblades in the meantime.
The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is reportedly back in development.