Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic is still the best Star Wars game
That’s it. That’s the post.
No, but seriously. Seeing as May the 4th is just around the corner, it seems like a perfect time to discuss why a 16-year old game easily tops any modern efforts at making video games based on one of the most beloved IPs in the world and in my opinion tops any previous ones as well.
Post 2004 it’s not a hard argument that Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic is a better game than any more recent efforts. The Lego Star Wars games are fun but simplistic and kinda repetitive (which really shows in later efforts in the Lego games franchise). Most of the other efforts are middling mobile games (nothing wrong with mobile games just most of the ones based on Star Wars are at best just ok) and then Electronic Arts gets the license and well if it wasn’t for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which seems to have been a good game almost by a stroke of pure luck that still has plenty of glaring issues, it would be considered one of the most colossal mishandlings in modern gaming.
Pre 2004 it might seem like a harder argument. You’ve got the Super Nintendo trilogy of games everyone seems to love but then probably haven’t played in a couple of decades and are actually bad. And the Tie Fighter/X-Wing/Jedi Knight games are still fondly remembered but really haven’t aged all that well. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic still holds up in most aspects.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is not a perfect game. I’d argue even for the time it came out it wasn’t a particularly pretty game and that has certainly been the part that has aged the worst over the years. The combat is certainly a little clunky with a lot of repeated and canned animations, and the Dark Side certainly seems to have the more fun/cooler powers.
However, what KOTOR gets right far outweighs those flaws because it does it so well. The story has true morality to it where your decisions actually drastically affect events, characters, and the fate of the galaxy as we know it, which while Bioware pretends to do in Mass Effect and Dragon Age, the outcomes in those games still remain roughly the same regardless of your choices.
And then there’s the cast. I’d argue the video games side of Star Wars has had an incredibly hard time coming up with characters that are memorable for a good reason. I mean Kyle Katarn is pretty ok, that might be it up until Night Sister Merrin from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order who is a fantastic character with far too little screen time. In KOTOR, pretty much every character is well-rounded and developed. If you like them or hate them, it’s for a good reason. I’d argue it’s the best cast of any Star Wars game by a longshot and arguably rivals the movies.
Most of all, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic just really seems to get Star Wars. It’s not trying to be something that’s seemingly ashamed of the license it’s tied to or treat the franchise as some sort of jokey loser thing. It invests in the world and lore and how things are supposed to work deeper than any of the movies (possibly because it has around 30 hours to do that while a movie has a couple but the argument still stands). Will it ever be topped in these aspects? It’s certainly possible, but also definitely not an easy feat by any means. There are games that do certain aspects better in the IP that have been released since but the best all-around Star Wars video game experience remains Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and I really don’t see it changing any time soon. If you are looking to pick it up again or for the first time it’s available on PC, mobile platforms, and Xbox One through backward compatibility, and it’s often on sale for $5 or less. May the force be with you and see ya real soon!
