Classic RPG Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords has arrived on the Nintendo Switch with a serious game-breaking bug that prevents some players from progressing beyond a specific cutscene. Nintendo’s hybrid game console has recently become a platform of choice for ports of many classic Star Wars games, including beloved first-person shooter Republic Commando, podracing game Star Wars Episode I: Racer, and a Switch port of Knights of the Old Republic. Widely regarded as some of the best RPGs ever made, the Knights of the Old Republic games are often remembered fondly by older fans, who cite their stories and characters as an example for future Star Wars games to follow.
Originally developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Knights of the Old Republic II is set roughly 4,000 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga as depicted in the original, prequel and sequel Star Wars trilogies. Players take on the role of a customizable character known as the Jedi Exile, who embarks on a journey to restore their connection to the Force and confront the Sith, who are on the verge of destroying the Jedi Order. KOTOR II arrived on Nintendo Switch on June 8th courtesy of Aspyr, the video game studio now at the helm of a full remake of KOTOR for PlayStation 5.
As beloved as KOTOR II is now, the game was criticized for launching in an unfinished state in 2004, with fan-made mods developed to fix the game’s many bugs and restore cut content. Some returning players might feel that history is repeating itself, with the Switch port hobbled by a game-breaking bug related to a cutscene in which the Jedi Exile visits the planet of Onderon roughly halfway through the story.
How to Bypass KOTOR II’s Basilisk Crash Cutscene Bug
Some players have reported that visiting Onderon causes a cutscene rather ironically named “Basilisk Crash” to play, ultimately causing KOTOR II to crash. Aspyr are working on a patch for KOTOR II to correct the issue but until then they've suggested a workaround for players to bypass the cutscene and continue with their playthroughs. This involves warping past the point where the game crashes using cheats:
- Step One: Triple-click the left analog stick to open the cheats menu.
- Step Two: Select the warp
- Step Three: Warp to OND504 and continue playing, but players should avoid the merchant’s quarter as this will cause the game to crash.
It’s a simple enough workaround while Aspyr works on a permanent fix for this issue and hopefully with this workaround in place, players who were unable to progress past the crash can now finish KOTOR II. The KOTOR series is apparently so popular with fans that insider reports indicate an unknown developer is working on KOTOR sequels, and it’s unfortunate that some new players’ first impressions have been affected by this bug. Aspyr hasn’t yet announced a release date for the next patch, but players can follow their workaround article for updates on any future fixes.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords is available now on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, iOS, and Android.
Source: Aspyr