It’s been years, but people still argue about it. Star Wars: The Old Republic was supposed to be the "World of Warcraft killer," a massive multiplayer beast with thousands of players running around lightsaber-dueling each other on Tython. Then 2015 happened. BioWare Austin decided to flip the table. They released Star Wars Fallen Empire—formally known as Knights of the Fallen Empire (KotFE)—and basically tried to turn an MMO into a single-player RPG. It was bold. It was kind of messy. Honestly? It was exactly what the game needed, even if it alienated the hardcore raiders who just wanted more boss fights.
If you weren't there for the launch, you missed a bizarre moment in gaming history. BioWare didn't just add a few quests. They jumped the timeline forward five years, froze your character in carbonite, and killed off almost the entire existing political structure of the galaxy. Forget the Republic versus the Empire. Suddenly, there was the Eternal Empire of Zakuul. It felt like Mass Effect wearing a Jedi robe. You weren't a nameless soldier anymore; you were the Outlander.
Why the Eternal Empire Changed Everything
The biggest shock was the storytelling style. Before Star Wars Fallen Empire, SWTOR followed a traditional MMO loop: go to a planet, talk to a guy with a triangle over his head, kill ten rats, and come back. KotFE threw that out. It introduced "Chapters." These were tightly scripted, cinematic experiences with high-quality cutscenes and actual consequences for your choices.
Valkorion, the main antagonist (who is basically the Sith Emperor Tenebrae in a fancy new suit), wasn't just a big bad guy you had to hit with a sword. He was inside your head. He was a mentor, a parasite, and a god all at once. The writing by experts like Charles Boyd and the team at BioWare Austin focused heavily on the family drama of the Royal Family of Zakuul—Arcann, Thexan, Vaylin, and Senya. It felt personal.
Some players hated it. They felt the "Mass Effect-ification" of the game ruined the social aspect. You spent hours in solo instances where other players couldn't help you. But for the story nerds? It was gold. It gave us a version of Star Wars that wasn't beholden to the Skywalker Saga or the tired "Jedi are good, Sith are bad" trope. Zakuul used a different philosophy. They saw the Force as a tool for justice and order, not just light or dark. It was a grey area that explored the Force in ways the movies usually shy away from.
The Problem With the Monthly Rollout
BioWare tried something risky with the release schedule. They gave us nine chapters at launch and then trickled the rest out once a month. In theory, it sounds great. It's like a TV show. In reality? It was a nightmare for retention.
You’d log in, play the new chapter for 45 minutes, realize there was no new endgame content—no new Operations (raids) or Flashpoints—and then log out for thirty days. The community started to fracture. The "Space Barbie" crowd loved the new outfits and the cinematic flair. The "Hardcore Raiders" started jumping ship to Final Fantasy XIV or going back to WoW.
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It’s important to remember that Star Wars Fallen Empire was a massive gamble on the idea that "Story is the Fourth Pillar" of an MMO. BioWare bet the farm on the idea that people would pay a monthly subscription just to see what happened to Valkorion’s kids. To an extent, it worked. Subscriptions spiked during the launch. But the lack of traditional MMO "meat" left a vacuum that the game struggled to fill for years afterward.
The Companion Chaos
One of the most controversial moves in Star Wars Fallen Empire was the "Companion Cull." When your character woke up from carbonite, all your old friends were gone. Your romance options? Gone. Your loyal droid? Gone.
BioWare replaced them with a massive "Alliance" system. You had to recruit people from all different class stories. It was cool to see a Sith Warrior recruiting an Alliance specialist who used to work for the Republic, but it felt impersonal. You went from having a tight-knit crew on your ship to having a spreadsheet of fifty "followers" who mostly stood around a base on Odessen.
Eventually, they started bringing back the fan favorites. Vette, Torian, Jaesa. But the way they handled it was... divisive. Some companions came back in main story chapters with huge emotional beats. Others were relegated to "Alliance Alerts," which were basically five-minute conversations in a cantina. If you were a Bounty Hunter waiting years to see Mako again, and she just showed up in a brief side mission, it felt like a letdown.
Redefining the Gameplay Loop
The gameplay in Star Wars Fallen Empire also shifted toward "streamlining." This is a polite way of saying they made it a lot easier. They introduced level scaling, which meant you could go back to any planet and still find a challenge, but it also meant you never felt truly "overpowered" in the open world.
They also overhauled the companion roles. Previously, Doc was a healer, and Blizz was a tank. After KotFE, any companion could be any role. It was a massive quality-of-life improvement. You could finally travel with the companion you actually liked instead of the one your class "needed" for survival. If you wanted to run around with a murderous assassin droid like HK-55 while he healed you, you could.
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The introduction of "Star Fortresses" was another attempt to bridge the gap between solo play and group content. They were repeatable missions where you tore down Zakuul’s orbital stations. They were fun the first three times. By the twentieth time? Not so much. It highlighted the struggle BioWare had: how do you make a cinematic story repeatable?
The Legacy of Zakuul
Why are we still talking about Star Wars Fallen Empire in 2026? Because it represents the last time a major MMO took a massive, narrative-driven swing. It proved that there is a huge market for "Solo-player Plus" games.
The expansion's biggest contribution to the lore was the idea of a "Third Way." The Eternal Throne wasn't just a chair; it was a control center for a fleet of automated ships that could glass a planet. It forced the Republic and the Sith Empire to do the unthinkable: work together. This "Alliance" period of the game’s history is still one of the most unique eras in the Star Wars Expanded Universe (now Legends-adjacent).
It wasn't perfect. The combat encounters in the chapters often felt like "corridor simulators" where you'd walk ten feet, fight three droids, walk ten more feet, and watch a cutscene. But the voice acting was top-tier. Jennifer Hale, Nolan North, and the rest of the cast delivered performances that rivaled any AAA single-player game.
What You Should Do If You're Starting Now
If you’re looking to dive into the Star Wars Fallen Empire storyline today, don't rush it. The game is much better when played as a slow-burn RPG.
- Play your Class Story first. Do not use a level boost to jump straight to KotFE. The emotional weight of the expansion depends on you knowing who your character was before the world ended.
- Pick a Force-user for your first run. While you can play as a Smuggler or a Trooper, the story is clearly written for a Jedi or a Sith. Having a non-force user go toe-to-toe with a god-like entity like Valkorion feels a bit weird narratively.
- Check the "Influence" levels. Make sure you gift your companions items to get their influence up to at least 20 or 30. It makes the combat much smoother, especially in the harder "Veteran" or "Master" modes of the chapters.
- Don't ignore the Alliance Alerts. Some of the best character moments are hidden in these side recruitment missions.
The Hard Truths
Let's be real: Star Wars Fallen Empire didn't "save" SWTOR in the way some hoped. It didn't bring in ten million players. It did, however, carve out a niche for the game that survives to this day. It turned the game into a platform for ongoing Star Wars storytelling that bridges the gap between the Old Republic and the more familiar eras.
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The writing for Vaylin, specifically, remains a highlight. She was a tragic, terrifying villain who showed what happens when someone with infinite power is raised in a cage. Her descent into madness was better handled than many villains in the actual films.
Ultimately, KotFE was about transition. It was the moment The Old Republic stopped trying to be World of Warcraft and started trying to be BioWare. It was messy, experimental, and occasionally frustrating. But it was also brave. In an industry that usually plays it safe with sequels and expansions, the "Fallen Empire" era stands out as a time when developers actually tried to change the DNA of their game.
Moving Forward
To get the most out of your time in the Zakuul era, focus on the choices. Unlike the base game, where choices often felt like "Sarcastic Guy" vs "Mean Guy," KotFE actually tracks who you kill and who you spare. Those decisions come back to haunt you in the following expansion, Knights of the Eternal Throne.
If you want to experience the best narrative Star Wars has to offer outside of the Andor series or the Knights of the Old Republic originals, this is it. Just be prepared for a lot of droids. So many droids.
To maximize your experience, ensure your gear is updated to the current item level floor before starting Chapter 1, as the difficulty spikes can be annoying if you're wearing "trash" gear from the leveling process. Spend your Tech Fragments on tactical items that complement your playstyle early. Most importantly, take your time with the dialogue. The "interrupt" system in conversations is there for a reason—use it to define who your Outlander really is.