BioWare was on a roll in the early 2000s, but nobody quite expected what happened when they traded elven ears for lightsabers. It changed everything. Before 2003, Star Wars games were mostly about flying X-Wings or swinging a pixelated saber in first-person. Then came Knights of the Old Republic games, and suddenly, we weren't just playing a Star Wars story—we were deciding if the Jedi deserved to exist at all. It was heavy. It was messy. Honestly, it was the best thing to ever happen to that galaxy far, far away.
Most people look back at the original Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) and its sequel, The Sith Lords, with a sort of misty-eyed nostalgia. But if you actually fire them up today, you realize the brilliance isn't just in the "big twist" everyone talks about. It's in the systems. It’s in the way Carth Onasi won't stop complaining about his trust issues. It's the D20-based combat that felt like Dungeons & Dragons wearing a sci-fi skin.
The RPG Formula That Swallowed Star Wars Whole
BioWare basically took the skeleton of Neverwinter Nights and shoved it 4,000 years before the movies. This was a genius move. By moving the timeline back, they escaped the "Luke Skywalker problem." You couldn't run into Darth Vader because he wouldn't be born for millennia. The developers had a blank canvas. They created a world where the Jedi and Sith were at their absolute peak, fighting massive wars that made the Galactic Civil War look like a backyard scuffle.
The first game follows a simple but effective loop. You wake up on the Endar Spire, the ship is exploding, and you have to find a missing Jedi named Bastila Shan. From there, you're off to Taris, a planet-wide city that makes Coruscant look like a pleasant vacation spot. The game forces you to make choices immediately. Do you help the poor people in the Undercity? Or do you exploit them for a few extra credits? These weren't just "good vs. evil" sliders; they felt like character-building moments that actually shifted how your party viewed you.
HK-47 is, without a doubt, the breakout star. An assassin droid who calls everyone "meatbags" and describes killing with a poetic, disturbing glee. He provided the dark humor the franchise desperately needed. While the movies were getting bogged down in trade disputes and midi-chlorians, KOTOR was letting us hang out with a sociopathic robot and a Wookiee who had a life debt that felt like a burden.
The Complexity of KOTOR II: The Sith Lords
If the first game was a classic hero's journey, the sequel was a deconstruction. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is darker. Much darker. It’s a game about trauma. You play as the Exile, a former Jedi who lost their connection to the Force during the Mandalorian Wars.
👉 See also: Mass Effect 2 Classes: Why Your First Choice Might Be a Huge Mistake
Obsidian didn't want to give you a straightforward "save the world" plot. Instead, they gave you Kreia.
Kreia is arguably the best-written character in the history of the Knights of the Old Republic games. She isn't a Jedi, and she isn't quite a Sith. She hates the Force. She views it as a parasite that robs individuals of their free will. Every time you do something "light side" or "dark side," she’s right there to criticize you. If you give money to a beggar, she points out that you’ve made him a target for muggers. If you kill him, she calls you a mindless thug. She forced players to think about the consequences of their morality in a way no game had done before.
The development of the second game was famously rushed. LucasArts pushed for a holiday release, which meant Obsidian had to cut massive amounts of content. The original ending was a confusing mess of unanswered questions. Years later, fans created the "Restored Content Mod" (TSLRCM), which basically finished the game for the developers. It’s essential. Without it, you're missing about 20% of the narrative's soul.
Why the Combat Actually Matters
Some modern gamers complain that the combat in Knights of the Old Republic games feels clunky. It's a "real-time with pause" system. You queue up actions—attack, flurry, force push—and watch them play out. It’s tactical. It’s not Jedi Survivor. You aren't parrying in real-time.
But there is a beauty to the build variety. You can be a Jedi Guardian who leaps across the room and hits like a truck, or a Consular who clears entire rooms with Force Storm. The d20 system (based on the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Roleplaying Game) adds a layer of math that makes every equipment upgrade feel significant. Finding a Mantle of the Force crystal for your lightsaber wasn't just a cosmetic change; it changed your stats in a way that could turn a boss fight from "impossible" to "cakewalk."
✨ Don't miss: Getting the Chopper GTA 4 Cheat Right: How to Actually Spawn a Buzzard or Annihilator
The Old Republic MMO: A Different Kind of Success
Then there's Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR). This is the "third" game in the series, though it’s a massively multiplayer online RPG. Some fans were salty that we didn't get a traditional KOTOR 3, but BioWare Austin basically built eight different sequels in one. Each class—Jedi Knight, Sith Warrior, Bounty Hunter, etc.—has its own fully voiced story.
The Sith Warrior storyline is basically a power fantasy where you get to be Darth Vader’s predecessor. The Imperial Agent plot is a gritty spy thriller. While the MMO mechanics (fetch quests, grinding) can get in the way, the narrative DNA of the original Knights of the Old Republic games is definitely there. It's been running since 2011 and still gets updates, which is a testament to how much people love this era.
The Remake Rumors and the Future
We have to talk about the elephant in the room: the Remake. Announced in 2021 by Aspyr and then moved over to Saber Interactive, the KOTOR Remake has had a rocky road. Development hell is an understatement. For a while, people thought it was cancelled. Recent reports suggest it’s still "alive," but the silence is deafening.
Why is it so hard to remake? Because KOTOR is a lightning-in-a-bottle situation. How do you update the combat without losing the RPG depth? How do you re-record lines for characters as iconic as Bastila or Revan without fans revolting? It's a tightrope walk.
What Most People Get Wrong About Revan
Revan is the poster child for this era. But here's the thing: Revan works because Revan is you. The expanded universe (books and comics) tried to give Revan a "canon" look and personality, but for most players, Revan is a custom-built reflection of their own choices. When the Revan novel by Drew Karpyshyn came out, it polarized the fanbase because it took a character that was a "blank slate" and forced them into a specific box.
🔗 Read more: Why Helldivers 2 Flesh Mobs are the Creepiest Part of the Galactic War
The real magic of the Knights of the Old Republic games is that Revan isn't just a hero or a villain. Revan is a strategist who realized that the Jedi Council’s inaction was just as dangerous as the Sith’s aggression. It’s that moral grey area that keeps people talking about these games twenty years later.
How to Play Them Today
If you want to experience these games now, you have options.
- PC (Steam/GOG): Still the best way. You can mod them to support 4K resolutions and fix the widescreen issues.
- Nintendo Switch: Surprisingly good ports by Aspyr. They include some cheats and a cleaner UI, though the KOTOR II DLC "Restored Content" never actually made it to the platform officially, which was a huge bummer.
- Mobile: Both games are on iOS and Android. They play shockingly well on tablets.
Actionable Steps for New and Returning Players
If you're diving in for the first time or returning for a nostalgia trip, don't just wing it. These games have old-school sensibilities that can bite you if you aren't careful.
- Don't ignore Charisma: In both games, being able to talk your way out of (or into) trouble is just as important as your lightsaber skill. It opens up quest paths you’d otherwise miss.
- Save your level-ups on Taris: In the first game, you start as a base class (Soldier, Scout, Scoundrel) and later become a Jedi. If you stop leveling up at level 4 or 5 on Taris, you can "save" those levels for when you become a Jedi, giving you more Force powers and points later on. It makes the early game harder but the late game much more fun.
- Install the Restored Content Mod for KOTOR II: If you are on PC, this is non-negotiable. Go to the Steam Workshop and hit subscribe. It fixes game-breaking bugs and restores the intended ending.
- Talk to your companions after every planet: BioWare and Obsidian hid a lot of the best lore and side quests behind dialogue trees on the Ebon Hawk.
- Focus on one side of the Force: While being "Grey" sounds cool, the games mechanically reward you for reaching full Light or Dark Side mastery with massive stat bonuses.
The Knights of the Old Republic games aren't just museum pieces. They are the blueprint for the modern cinematic RPG. Without them, we don't get Mass Effect or Dragon Age. They proved that Star Wars could be sophisticated, philosophical, and deeply personal. Whether you're hunting for Star Maps or trying to heal a "wound in the Force," these titles remain the gold standard for interactive storytelling in the Star Wars universe.
Next Steps for Enthusiasts:
Check the community-run "Deadly Stream" forums for the latest high-resolution texture packs and compatibility patches for modern Windows builds. If you’ve already finished both games, look into the Tales of the Jedi comic series from the 90s, which served as the primary visual and lore inspiration for the Old Republic aesthetic.