The Star Wars universe has always been far richer and more interesting than just the small slice shown off in the massively popular films, although most of this expanded lore has since been ‘decanonized’ shortly after Disney acquired the IP. One of the most notable parts of this legacy content was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (or KOTOR if you're syllable sensitive), which originally saw release on Xbox & PC back in 2003 and will soon be receiving a full scale modern remake on the newest consoles. Taking place in a mostly unexplored distant past in the Star Wars timeline, this Bioware RPG was quite an impressive achievement back in the day and still remains a compelling experience now. Though there are some elements of KOTOR that absolutely show their age, this is a solid, nostalgia-laden title that we're happy to have available on-the-go.
KOTOR takes place approximately 4,000 years before the prequel films, so there are no Skywalkers or confusingly resurrected emperors to be seen here. The game opens shortly after the Galactic Republic has barely finished a war against the Mandalorians and now finds itself being invaded by an armada led by the two Jedi-turned Sith who spearheaded the initial war effort. Though one of the Sith, Darth Revan, has been killed, their apprentice Darth Malak is still hellbent on completing their mission of eliminating the Republic. In the midst of all this, you play a simple ‘nobody’ character who gets caught up in the struggle and ultimately changes the outcome of the conflict.
Although the specter of this wartime backdrop looms large over everything you do, KOTOR is mostly defined by the smaller, ground-level stories you get drawn into as you slowly pull together your party and chart your course through the stars. For example, the world you first start on—Taris—is defined by the struggle to both track down the whereabouts of an important Jedi whose escape pod crash-landed there and to find a reliable transport to get offworld.
Even these smaller objectives frequently get put on the backburner, however, as there are many steps involved in getting them done. If you want to gain passage to a critical part of the city, for example, you first must help a party member break her Wookie friend out of captivity. Little rabbit trails like this, however, don’t feel like they detract too much from the overall experience, as all of them improve your understanding of the world or its social systems in some way.
The story may sound a bit meandering (and… yeah, it can be), but KOTOR does a spectacular job of creating a world that feels adequately ‘lived in’. This is a phrase tossed around a lot in great RPGs, but it feels doubly true here, and a big part of this can be credited to the in-depth dialogue system, which ensures that even conversations with one-and-done NPCs have more to them than just one or two lines. Not only does this add a lot more flavor to the communities that you find yourself moving through, but all this additional dialogue is critical to figuring out what you have to do next. KOTOR has a quest log to track your objectives, but it certainly doesn’t point where to go or what to do. Talking with NPCs usually gives you plenty of hints, however, and enough information can be pieced together from what they say to figure out generally where to go next.
Beyond this, there’s a rather simplistic morality system at the heart of your interactions. How you respond to events will influence whether you lean more towards the Light or the Dark sides of the Force, and this influences both your journey and which ending you get to eventually see. How you talk to someone in a bar might affect whether you get involved in a fight later on. Having that leeway to choose between either being a boy scout or a bully thus helps to make the narrative feel that much more personal while also increasing replayability, as there are plenty of instances where you can’t help but wonder how things would’ve gone down if you said something else. It’s far from the most detailed (or realistic) take on a morality system in a game, yet there are still some nice instances where the ‘right’ thing to do feels fittingly gray.
There’s a fair amount of exploration to be had in the world itself, but this is perhaps where KOTOR feels most like a nearly 20-year-old game. Environments are all laid out in a somewhat maze-like fashion littered with treasure, enemies, and NPCs, but whether you’re traipsing across the sandy dunes of Tatooine or the woodsy locales of Kashyyyk, KOTOR ultimately feels like a series of very flat rooms connected to each other. There’s not much variety to be seen here on a foundational level; having more interesting environmental hazards or gimmicks to differentiate the planets would’ve gone a long way towards breaking up this feeling of homogeneity. Now, one can only expect so much from a game of this era, but just be prepared for level and world designs that are decidedly less interesting than you’d expect to find in a similar release today.
Whenever you find yourself pulled into combat, things appear to play out in a fast-paced live action style, but this is only an illusion. In reality, all numbers are being calculated using an old-school d20 stat system, and actions are actually playing out in a simple turn-based fashion. For simpler enemy encounters, you thus don’t have to do much more than walking within range and simply letting the numbers sort themselves out. For more challenging encounters, however, you must make more usage of additional combat skills and (later) Force powers to tip the odds in your favor. So in practice, combat in KOTOR doesn’t turn out to be much different than what you’d expect to see in an old school Final Fantasy game, even though it feels radically different because of how information is conveyed to you.
Once you’ve gotten enough experience from questing or killing enemies, you’re then allowed to level up your characters in a fashion that’s a little more hands on than usual. You can always choose to just go with the auto level up and let the game just handle it for you, but you’re encouraged to manually distribute the stat points yourself. Putting more points into “Computer” for example, will make it easier to hack, while putting more points into Demolitions will make it easier to dismantle or recover live mines. You’re only given a few points to distribute each time, but the flipside is that just one stat point can make a world of difference.
Additionally, you also have a tree of “Feats” which govern things like proficiency with different weapon types or fancy new abilities to use in combat. Much like your stats, you have to be quite discerning with your limited points here and things are made all the more stressful by the fact that there’s no option to respec your character. So, it’s entirely possible that you can ‘ruin’ your build and be faced with either having to start the whole game over or making the rest of your journey considerably more difficult to play through. In this regard, KOTOR again shows its age. Not only is this chance of ruining your build always present, but the overall process of going through this leveling feels needlessly opaque and confusing. It can be difficult to understand precisely what a given stat will actually do for you, and the in-game information can be frustratingly thin sometimes.
Aside from all the expected RPG trappings, KOTOR also features a variety of minigames that offer up a nice break from the usual action. These include a simple drag-racing challenge, first-person shooting from a turret on your ship, and a blackjack-like card game. None of these are more than little distractions along your long journey, but they do add just the right amount of gameplay variety to keep the otherwise rigid gameplay loop from becoming too stale.
One minor annoyance that we feel still needs to be mentioned is that it’s abundantly clear KOTOR was not designed to be played with a controller. While it may be that the original released on the Xbox alongside its PC release, the world itself feels like it’s ideally navigated by mouse. There are lots of interactable elements in any given part of the world, and where you would simply point and click on menus or NPCs in the past, here you rather awkwardly cycle through targets by using the shoulder buttons. It’s far from deal-breaking, and we’d argue the novelty of having KOTOR on the go outweighs this drawback, but just be prepared for controls that’ll always feel a little hokey.
From a presentation perspective, we’d say KOTOR does about as well as it can given the limited nature of this port. Although lighting has gotten a nice bump, the frame rate runs high, and the textures are nicely detailed, there’s simply no mistaking this for a modern game. Simplistic environments, chunky character models, and stiff animations are par for the course here, and while this probably was quite the looker back in the day, it just doesn’t hold up anymore. Meanwhile, the soundtrack fares much better, with an identity that closely matches the epic tone of the scores composed by John Williams for the films.
Conclusion
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic may have lost some of its luster as the years have gone on, but the foundations of a well-written and enjoyable RPG haven’t aged a day. If you can get past things like awkward controls, middling presentation, and a complete lack of handholding, the 30-ish hour campaign offers up an engaging romp through the beloved Star Wars universe. We’d give KOTOR on Switch a strong recommendation to any fans of Star Wars or RPGs in general, just with the caveat that you’ll get more out of it if you can stomach archaic game design elements.
Comments 69
Give me physical release and I am ready to be lost in this game!
Great game, will definitely double dip if a physical version is upcoming.
Looking forward to playing this again. It may feel dated but the story is top notch.... ( I haven't played sense the original release )
I agree with the cons. Even if both KOTOR games retain a lot of charm (and great storytelling), they have aged a lot - even for western RPG standards.
Also... what's with the $20 price tag? It costs 10 bucks elsewhere.
Never played KOTOR before, but always hear praise (especially from my brother in law, he loved the original Xbox release) so I've bought it for £7 after using some gold points. Super reasonable price!
Downloading now and looking forward to trying it out after work.
I just could never get past the combat in this game. Loved wandering around the world but the combat never gelled with me at all and I quite like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment.
Brilliant writing and story telling. Some mechanics may feel dated but if you can get past that, this game is absolutely top notch!
Played this back in the 2000s and I found the exact same issues. In that sense, it hasn't aged a day, apparently.
Really happy to play this game once again (one of my favourites) but I also hope for KOTOR2 on the Switch, which is superior in almost any way. IMHO, of course.
KOTOR 2 has the exact same moment-to-moment gameplay issues, but the story and writing's really compelling, so I'd actually rate it among my favorite games. I'm not so allergic to "datedness," though, largely because I find modern games no less dated.
I was tempted to get this but I already have it on xbox and it looks great with all the visual enhancements the series s does for backwards compatibility games.
It's definitely worth picking up if you don't have it though. And a decent price for switch.
I'm interested in all these Star Wars re-releases on Switch, but after powering through Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast- while it's a good game and narrative... it's clear these games are and feel quite dated in their controls, mechanics and design playing in today's time.
In the case of KOTOR, I want to play it, but for the reasons above... I'll likely just wait for the upcoming remake version (coming to other platforms) to delve into this heralded classic.
Id give it an eight but for different reasons, it is indeed dated but I don't wish to focus on that. I am a fan of biowares past outing Balder's gate and that game constantly engage you in you universe and worlds and new areas, the issue that Kotor has in my opinion is that the individual worlds after Taris are slightly off, good old anchor head is fun and all but it doesn't offer much unless you're interested in sand people lore. Wookie world is just a dungeon. But manaan is my favourite as their is little fighting and the sith homeworld is just a really funny segment I think. Either way, it's a good game but falls short in some aspects, however every issue I have with it is solved in its sequel Kotor 2 the sith lords. I'm hoping it gets ported over, it's my number one most wanted game on switch by miles and miles and miles and miles
@wuntyme8 I personally think Kotor is easier to control compared to the insane Jedi games (though I love them too) at the price too, it may be worth the price depending on how much you care about narrative, if you care alot, you may want to risk waiting for the remake, if not, I'd recommend the port, it's a classic in the same way that super Mario Bros is I'd say
I was worried about the controls that's why I am holding back from getting this masterpiece.
Glad to see I didn't waste my money pre ordering this but then I might not get round to it until after Pokemon so it was kinda silly to pre order.
The main gripe I have seen in some other reviews are the massive text boxes that appear during combat. I can't see any mention of that here though. Still scoring 7's and 8's across the board and is something that can easily be tweaked with a patch.
Wow. A 7? Even with the dumb combat box bug, this is a great port with a nice upscaling. 'Dated graphics' rofl. Of course they're dated! The game is near 20 years old! A 7. I've never disagreed with a review on Nin-life more strongly. Another reason to hate review scores.
I haven't played this in years. I'm tempted to give it a go, but it will have to wait until I finish SMT5.
@Krysus
Well, it's Mitch. This is how most of his retro reviews go.
Frankly, though, in general, it's hard to read good takes on retro games anywhere. Either they're drunk on nostalgia; or they're allergic to "dated graphics and game design," as if 2030 gamers won't be making fun of today's upgrade trees, rogue-like repetition, loot-grinding, feature-excess, and cluttered UIs, among other immediately "dated" aspects of 2021 gaming.
KOTOR getting a 7 from Mitch when he gave FF7 in all its outdated design and godawful blocky graphics glory an 8, doesn't make much sense to me.
But hey, review scores are kind of pointless, anyway.
@Gwynbleidd it's because it's not a nintendo game.
@Beaucine Yeah I would have graded the port itself instead of the gameplay design. Yes, it's nostalgic and some of the mechanics are old-school, but the grade should be focused solely on the porting. Most of the interested purchasers have played it before. Picking apart a classic is gonna get some anger.
Also, Aspyr, fix that silly tutorial combat chat box. It's ridiculous.
Do touch screen controls work?
@rushiosan the price tag is probably because the switch version is a brand new remaster while the pc and xbox versions are the original releases. If this remaster comes to ps4/5, xbone/SX and pc it’ll probably be €20 too.
I played it on PC when it was new. It was okay, but I never got the hype. The world in particular seems so unbelievable to me, in 4000 years it seems that technical and stylish and generally little or mostly nothing has changed in the Star Wars universe. In any case, I never had the feeling that I was in an era that played 4000 years before "a long time ago…"
Today was a good day. First time KOTOR and the GTA trilogy have ever been available on Nintendo systems. Well, yesterday officially.
Controls, controls, controls. I've tried, but really struggle to get behind games that did the controls... well, wrong. They're just wrong. It's like they were thinking "Nobody likes that dual joystick stuff, so let's go with the driving-an-RC-car feel instead." It feels like you're on rails, and it's just wrong.
Every. Single. One. of these remakes/remasters/re-releases needs to fix the controls. That goes for the rumored Metroid Prime remaster, also!!
Completed this on Xbox many Death Stars ago (that’s no moon) - 30hours and a bit and I regret not exploring more or indulging in side games and quests as much as I could. I tried replaying on Xbox BC and struggled but I think I’m handheld mode I’ll over come the struggles I had and get back into this world. I’ll pay £11 digital and hope this and KOTOR 2 end up in a physical double pack like the upcoming ones.
It really is a great game.
@Deerock69 amen to that - at least two of the 4 are in my top ten all time and the other two wouldn’t be far behind.
those bads are just so bad this game even now deserves a 9/10
I think I've only ever finished this game once. I've started a new game so many times and got a long way into it but I've never finished it since that first time!
It's probably a bad time of year to release a long RPG when there are so many other games coming out! 😅
I'll wait for the ps5 remake, but glad this game is available on switch
"this probably was quite the looker back in the day..."
I'm from back in the day, and I can assure you it was!
I frankly don't see anything wrong with the controls. Sure, they're dated and a bit unconventional by today's standards. But they're not bad; not by a long, long shot
Such an enjoyable game, I have fond memories of this. Though PC is the preferred platform for me, give me a mouse anytime!
I missed out on this when it was new. I've actually had a free version available on, of all things, my Amazon Fire tablet for years, and I have a copy on Steam, but I never booted it up. I think it might be too dated for me despite being great overall...I'll just wait for the remake at this point.
@fdurocher The original Metroid Prime controls were just fine, it never needed the free aim the Trilogy tried to force. It controls much better than several FPS from that era.
"One minor annoyance that we feel still needs to be mentioned is that it’s abundantly clear KOTOR was not designed to be played with a controller."
Actually, it was since it was originally released for the Xbox, and ironically enough, one of the chief complaints about the PC version was that it was obviously designed to be played with a controller!
@rushiosan Granted. But if I can't turn and strafe in different directions at the same time, the controls are just straight up wrong.
It was a masterpiece, I completed it 2 times on Xbox (first model) in 2003... but it became too dated, in graphic and gameplay... like most of the 3d era games... I'll pass this time
@BlackenedHalo disagree, is to dated now, it is no more spectacular as in 2003... 7 out of 10 is right for me... even a little high
@rushiosan ["what's with the $20 price when it's 10 elsewhere?"]
Porting tax, basically.
Price was only $14.99 on the eShop when I bought it this morning.
Did the controls change on switch much? I'm currently playing KOTOR through backward compatibility on my Series X. The game is glitchy for sure, and the emulation isn't perfect, but I think the controls are great. It's one of the only non mario-rpgs I've been able to get through. I really like the combat system.
Seven? For one of the greatest RPGs of all time? Seriously.
"Con: Dated graphics"
So, about that Mario 3D All-Stars review.....
KOTOR changed my life. It was the first open world RPG i played, and it really accelerated my love of gaming. I normally game an hour a day but I must have played KOTOR for 16 hours a day for 2-3 days until i beat it
i eventually got a job at EA games because of my love of kotor, and my decade-long career in software testing was only made possible because of that first EA job.
Earthbound was also a huge factor
The game plays perfectly fine with a controller. I don't know what the reviewer is complaining about
Too many other great games on Switch now and next week to do KOTOR again. Maybe over the holiday vacation or something.
I hate when ports of old games come out and all the reviewers want to talk about is dated design or how ugly the game is by today's standards. It's supposed to be like that it's an old game! Duh! Chances are if you liked it originally when it was new you'll still like it. If you are too young to remember it or never liked it you still won't. Not that complicated people.
@Zeldafan79 - Not necessarily. Some games hold up better than others (for example, the original Paper Mario still looks good even today), so it's important to include how much a particular game has held up, especially when dealing with games like this or GTA III that are much beloved, but haven't aged that well.
@Mountain_Man - "Actually, it was since it was originally released for the Xbox, and ironically enough, one of the chief complaints about the PC version was that it was obviously designed to be played with a controller!"
That's weird if true; I started on PC and found going from there to console a somewhat awkward transition for the same reasons mentioned in the review (one of the reasons why I was never really as enthusiastic about this Switch port); can't imagine people having the same reaction going the other way around, but I guess it's what you're used to?
@Zeldafan79 Not always. Like, I remember getting 100% in Kingdom Hearts as a kid and that game was my favorite for years, but I can barely make it ten hours in now without bouncing off due to how stiff and antiquated it feels. On the other hand, another favorite of mine as a kid was Yoshi's Island, and that game still holds up incredibly well both with gameplay and graphics.
I have a question. I do love a good RPG with a rich world and characters but I’ve never been a fan of Star Wars. I only ever hear good things about this game, though.
Is it worth picking up to enjoy just as a stand-alone gaming experience or will I lose a lot by not being already invested in the universe?
@Skeletor1979
Well, to be fair, in real life it is the same (technically said).
Humanity was more advanced in the Year 50 (Schools, Medicin with even Brain Surgery, Democracy, Sewerage, fresh Water suply over canals, Judicative and Executive divided...) than in the Year 1050 (nothing of that)
The Fall of a big Nation and waring upcoming ones to gain a Part of the territory and power Cake can destroy much of Civilization and throw everything back.
Thats why it is said: I don't know which Weapons we'll use in the third World War, but i know we'll use Rocks and Sticks in the Fourth.
So it is partly believable for me, that the Universe in Star Wars stayed mostly in one technological State.
Even there they went back from using Androids and Clones for War to normal Humanoid Beings.
@MajorasLapdog It's very hard to say if someone not already vested in STAR WARS lore would find the game enjoyable since a lot of the story and presentation seems to depend on a familiarity with that universe. It's a great STAR WARS game, but is it a great game in and of itself? I honestly don't know.
@FullMetalWesker I played this on PC when it was originally released, and I remember that a frequent complaint among gamers was that the interface was clearly designed for a controller, particularly things like the inventory which presents items in a long list with only a few visible at a time instead of a more mouse-friendly grid.
@Mountain_Man yes, I’m not bothered about Star Wars but this game is fantastic.
So the review says the game's as good as ever, but the controls are described as "hokey" and the graphics and design are dated since it's 2003 debut. I say...
"Hokey controls and ancient graphics are no match for the best Star Wars RPG at your side, kid!" LOL
@RetrovisRabbit People say "dated" as if it's a criticism when it's really just a description. Laurel and Hardy films are "dated" but they're still fantastic entertainment. In the case of Knights of the Old Republic, the graphics are dated in the sense that you won't mistake it for a game made in the last few years, but they're still quite good, and there are considerably worse looking 3D games that were released that same year.
@saanaito Isn't the availability on a new platoform enough to cover the porting costs?
@fdurocher There is a lock-on feature that enables strafing at any situation.
@FullMetalWesker it's absolutely true. KOTOR was one of the reasons I got an original Xbox, alongside the Ninja Gaiden reboot. It launched exclusively on the Xbox, but was ported to PC before the holidays.
I definitely disagree with the notion that this wasn't meant for controllers. Heck, I've been playing the Android port. You'd think that would be even more convenient than a mouse, and yet I keep finding myself drawn to popping my device into my GameSir controller to play. Now, if you want a game with combat somewhat similar to KOTOR, but feels limited on a controller compared to the PC version - that's a later Bioware game. Dragon Age: Origins.
I honestly don't get all the "dated" criticisms either. I feel some of the narrative and mission structure can be called dated, but mechanically the game is fine. Retro-style "real time with pause" RPGs are in these days. The attempt to move away from this style lead Bioware to Mass Effect. Compare ME 1 (which has a lot of KOTOR in its DNA) to ME 2 and 3. While I love those games to death, the fact is they just transitioned them into action shooters with rpg elements. Essentially changing the genre.
Good work Aspyr. Now, how about bringing back to life Jade Empire ?
Admittedly I only skimmed through this article but I don't believe I saw any real mention of the many actual issues with this port. More of a review of the base game and less of the port quality.
Feel free to reference: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/11/that-large-combat-text-box-in-star-wars-kotor-on-switch-is-intended#comment6663737
@MajorasLapdog I think it's a good enough story that it's enjoyable standalone, but there is a lot you'd be missing out on without broader knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Remember, this one is set thousands of years before most of the rest of the canon Star Wars content, so it's distinct in that way, but being set in the same world means there's still a lot of carryover.
@SwitchVogel @Mountain_Man thank you very much for your replies. I think I’ll be skipping this one then.
A bit of a shame, I always had envy over these games back in the day when people spoke about how great they were but I had no way to play them. As I’ve grown older, things like continuity, lore, characters, all those things have come to matter a whole lot more to me, to the extent I watched South Park from season 1 to 16 to play SoT and then through to 21 for FBW.
Anyway, I digress. Not being a fan of Star Wars, it looks like I’ll be feeling the sense I’m missing out on a greater understanding/appreciation from what you guys have said. So thank you again for your advice!
@MajorasLapdog It's not too late to start. Just watch Episodes 1 through 6 (don't bother with 7 through 9; they're terrible), and you will know everything you need in order to fully appreciate Knights of the Old Republic.
I know it's not a Nintendo published product but that really doesn't give any excuse to put no effort into your review.
@Rpg-lover They are fine, like most people in the comments I have no idea what this reviewer is talking about.
Tap here to load 69 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...