Main Street Mobile Arcade: Is Star Wars: Knights of the Republic II a premium mobile experience?

The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games are simply a couple of the best games based in the Star Wars universe ever made. There’s a good reason why people keep clamoring for a new entry in the series beyond the reportedly excellent (I haven’t gotten into it myself) MMO The Old Republic which has just been nicely chugging along since 2011.

While we haven’t gotten a new entry in the series (though some kind of new entry is reportedly in the works along with rumors of modern ports for the original games), the games are more accessible than ever. You’ve been able to buy them on PC always, but they are also easily available through Xbox thanks to backwards compatibility, and both entries are now available on mobile devices as well with Knights of the Old Republic II just recently releasing this past December.

However, the world of mobile games is different in many ways from that of consoles, there’s not just the question of if the game adapts well to a mobile platform, but also if the cost is justified, especially in the extremely price sensitive mobile gaming model.

You can certainly wait for some inevitable sale, but as it stands right now, Star Wars Knights of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is $15 on iOS and Android. That’s $15. For a game that came out 15 years ago. For a mobile game. Most mobile games are free. The few that charge money usually range from $1-$5. Anything higher and you really better be offering one of the best experiences out there on the platform to even think of asking that price. I won’t blame anyone for thinking the price is too high period, especially if you own the game on a different platform already.

However, if you tend to think of the mobile platform as a place where you can only experience cheap or free games that can’t offer the depth of something on a console or PC, something like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II (you can also buy the first game with it in a combo pack for just $5 more which is a pretty good deal actually) may be just the thing to change your mind. It comes fully intact, runs well, certainly looks better than its original console version, which has aged pretty poorly in that aspect (though I believe you get a pretty nice graphical upgrade on the new Xbox Series consoles). It also transfers really well to the mobile platform, with no need to use an add-on keyboard or controller to get a suitable experience (which in my opinion sort of defeats the purpose of playing on a mobile phone or tablet).

You get one of the best RPGs of the last 15 years that offers dozens of hours of play and now you can play it on the go. Is that worth $15? I certainly think so I am someone who has been willing to pay for good mobile experiences in the past but certainly would have previously balked at paying more than a few bucks for a game on my phone or tablet. I certainly wouldn’t go in on such a purchase blind, but if it’s well-reviewed I definitely would no longer pause at paying $15 for a mobile game I’m interested in. And hey you can watch The Mandalorian or Clone Wars while playing it and that’s pretty cool too!

So yes, this is the return of Main Street Mobile, which I will be doing once a month again. Disney Infinity Chronicles will be added back into the rotation soon as well, but I don’t know if it will be this month just yet, we’ll have to see how things shake out, but the goal is updating this blog more often, ideally eight times a month, possibly more if my schedule allows it, possibly with shorter posts more often. See ya real soon!