BioWare's 2003 release of Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic is one of the most beloved video games in the iconic franchise's long history. Despite KOTOR's clunky combat and inventory management, which can bog the game down compared to more modern releases, the original and its 2004 sequel, KOTOR 2, have been ported to mobile devices and likely continue to enchant players. Now, rumors of a KOTOR remake have reawakened fans' love for the RPG, but what's the allure of an 18-year-old, non-canonical Star Wars game?
It's no Jedi mind trick; KOTOR's success came from how it looked far past the Star Wars movies, omitting any reference to the Skywalker family. BioWare chose to show gamers how vast and ancient the Star Wars universe is, as well as how video games could serve as an entry point for fans to live out adventures inside of that realm. While players were still confined to KOTOR's narrative, BioWare gave Star Wars fans the ability to choose how it would play out.
Anyone who's already entranced by the world, technology, and characters of Star Wars likely won't be able to keep from getting lost in the game. While KOTOR's story takes place thousands of years before the films' Skywalker saga, there's a sense of familiarity about the planets and space stations BioWare designed. KOTOR's protagonist steals a ship called the Ebon Hawk, which is strikingly similar to the Millennium Falcon, and antagonist Darth Malak rides on a Leviathan space cruiser capable of reducing cities to rubble, akin to the Death Star. But even with these parallels, KOTOR is fresh and exciting.
KOTOR's Impact On Star Wars Video Games
KOTOR sends players into a living, breathing universe, home to alien species, factions, and creatures that were never explored in any of the franchise's films. The RPG includes levels on planets only mentioned in the movies and TV shows, like Korriban, the ancient home of the Sith. It also depicts a rendition of Tatooine millennia before Anakin Skywalker would call it home. It not only expanded the scope of the movies but also let players live out their own stories.
Its customizable protagonist might be locked into BioWare's plot, but players can still choose what kind of figure they want their Jedi to become. They can choose the honorable Light Side or betray their masters and become a fearsome Sith Lord. This all takes place in a roughly 30-hour campaign that has players build up a ragtag crew made up of a Mandalorian, a high-ranking Jedi, and a Wookiee who's best friends with a teenage girl.
Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic has remained popular almost two decades after its launch because it was the first Star Wars game to show fans how massive George Lucas' fictional universe can be if developers looked past the movies. It let players roam free in this mythical realm and made each of their choices hold weight within a Star Wars-universe narrative. The RPG was the first game to give fans access to the awe-inspiring cosmos that serves as a backdrop for the movies, and few single-player narrative games have been able to match it since. Until then, KOTOR will hold its place in many fans' minds as the best Star Wars game ever released, and a remake could take it to new heights.