Spanning five decades, the Star Wars franchise has had a lot of spin-offs over the years. From comic books, to novels, to TV shows, Star Wars has branched out into just about every form of media possible, but there's one medium in which Star Wars has always done particularly well, and that's video games. Though not all are worthwhile experiences, the vast majority of Star Wars games have, at the very least, a handful of qualities that make them worth sinking a few hours into. Occasionally, a Star Wars game will appear that not only stands out from the rest of the Star Wars library, but stands out in the video game industry as a whole. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of those games.
Released in 2003, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of the most influential Star Wars video games of all time, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest Western RPGs ever created. At the time, Knights of the Old Republic was groundbreaking, as was its sequel, released a year later. While these two games certainly hold up today, nearly two whole decades later, revisiting them may not result in the same experience or feelings as it did all those years ago. It may sound blasphemous, but some aspects of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series haven't aged all that well.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a Masterpiece
Put simply, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and its sequel, are masterpieces. Despite newer releases like Star Wars: Battlefront having state-of-the-art graphics, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order having some of the tightest combat mechanics in a third-person action game, both Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords still take top spots in Star Wars game tier lists.
The aspects that made Knights of the Old Republic stand out from the crowd back in the day are exactly the same reasons why it still holds up today. In 2003, the scope of KOTOR was groundbreaking, with each of its seven planets feeling like living, breathing environments, inhabited by actual people. Stepping out onto Taris' Upper City streets for the first time was an experience like no other in 2003, with aliens and humans going about their business, architecture ripped straight out of Ralph McQuarrie's original Star Wars concept art, and a skybox lavishly detailed with speeders and a beautiful setting sun.
From the get-go, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic feels like an authentic Star Wars experience, and that's only enhanced throughout the course of the game. Once players are given the opportunity to visit iconic planets like Tatooine, this sense of authenticity becomes the game's main selling point, with every NPC, party member, and creature looking as though they could dropped right into one of the mainline movies at any second, and no one would bat an eye. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic still goes one step further. Rather than just show the player all the Star Wars glitz and glamour they'd expect, KOTOR pushes the envelope, and provides some of the best world-building in the franchise.
Set almost 4,000 years before Star Wars: A New Hope, Knights of the Old Republic has the unique opportunity to expand on the lore of the franchise, with its setting allowing for ultimate creative freedom. BioWare didn't disappoint. Nearly every line of dialogue and every item description opens up the Star Wars universe just a little more. From ancient Echani weapons, to traditional Jedi forms and techniques, to alien social conventions, Knights of the Old Republic is responsible for fleshing out a good percentage of the Star Wars universe, and though it isn't officially canon anymore, a few lore details have dripped into the new movies and shows, proving the high-quality of the storytelling within the game.
Some Parts of KOTOR Haven't Aged Too Well
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is undeniably one of the best pieces of Star Wars media out there, but nearly two whole decades after its release, its cracks have started to show. On a surface level, Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 are not the prettiest of games. Though fairly cutting-edge for the time, especially when it came to licensed titles, KOTOR's visuals are more than acceptable nowadays, but they definitely weren't intended to be scrutinized under the light of modern day high-definition monitors.
Though Knights of the Old Republic's environments are detailed and authentically Star Wars, some textures are noticeably flat and muddy, particularly the skyboxes on some planets. Draw distance is also a big weakness of KOTOR's visuals, as are the game's stilted character animations when in dialog sequences. The game's cutscenes also suffer from some awkward early 2000s CG, with some fuzzy textures making it seem as though the lens was smeared with Vaseline.
It can also be a bit of a pain to get Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic running on modern PCs. Operating system errors, crash issues resulting from shadow settings, and a whole litany of other technical problems are all standard when trying to run KOTOR on anything above Windows XP, which is naturally quite a big problem in 2022. While KOTOR and its sequel can still be played via Xbox backwards compatibility, on mobile, or via Nintendo Switch, PC players can be put off before they even reach the main menu.
One of the more controversial aspects of Knights of the Old Republic is its combat. While KOTOR's DnD-inspired turn-based combat does have its fair share of fans, quite a percentage of fans do agree that it's a little outdated now, and isn't the ideal gameplay form for a modern Star Wars game. Knights of the Old Republic's gameplay system is highly complex, but on a basic level, many just don't find it all that fun. Players are often left confused on why their attacks didn't hit, and it can sometimes feel like a combat encounter is based more on luck than it is on skill and clever tactics.
On top of the combat, Knights of the Old Republic's exploration gameplay also feels a little dated. Though it's far from being the most noticeable aspect, KOTOR's movement speed feels just a tad too slow, which can make back-tracking through environments feel a little grating after a while, certainly once that initial "wow" factor has worn off. With some planets having almost maze-like environments, with Dantooine being a big example, it can sometimes be difficult to explore an area fully, and the game's slower movement speed can make these planets feel like a drag to play nowadays. All in all, while KOTOR is still a crucial Star Wars titles, time hasn't been entirely kind to the series.
Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic is currently available on Mobile, PC, Switch, and Xbox One.
