minor Spoiler alert for this 20 year old game and for the Review. I would also like to say, I came to learn of KOTOR through Star Wars Galaxy of heroes, a mobile gacha i hold dearly to my heart
KOTOR is an incredible experience and, even if deemed non-canon by disney, a delightful addition to the star wars universe and as a game, it succees in nearly everything it tries to accomplish - sadly though, with a lot of hiccups. Too much for some.
to start with what I like, most companions are really, really well done and interesting, and almost all side quests were worth doing. The story is well made and interconnected and tidbits of foreshadowing that you could never hope to anticipate until further down the line, not to even mention the ability of becoming a sith... it's all in all a great story to be told, by you.
The combat has aged, sure, but it is really fun and a good way to flex your brain once in a while. The graphics are obviously archaic but I think they do just fit in with the world - the graphics cease being bad and start being a characterised artstyle.
So, the basics are down - the world is good, as is the gameplay, characters and graphics. Now the bad parts.
1. Incredibly buggy. Way too much for most people I believe. I had to fidget for an hour to get it to run on my modern PC. One bug I managed to solve is Dialogue not popping up in the borders - extremely terrible since Bioware made the incredibly brave and brilliant decision to give aliens binglespeak. It helps with immersion sure but only until you hear the same voice line 50 billion times. Ooooo bada bingo damgajunge. Another bug i was never able to fix was the first 2-4 seconds of a cutscene not loading in and being a black screen. There's more, 2 of which are game breaking - when you first confront Malak and escape, unless you and Carth strip naked, the game crashes. And on Korriban, in the first tomb to the right, both companions can Bug out permanently and will not move, act or attack without your input. Not only that, some side quests can bug out - the ones that did in my playthrough was Mission's and i never managed to help her brother, nor even trigger Juhani's quest. Game breaking.
2. Attempts of cool minigames. The only different thing done well imo are swoop races. They're actually genuinely fun. The Manaan trials are ok too as you learn a thing or two about court stuff - you don't really want to lie to the judges, just say the most beneficial truths. Those are it though. Pazaak is extremely unfair and unfun, the turret minigame is annoying and badly controlled and the underwater sections on Manaan are incredibly tedious.
3. End Game/Spikes in Difficulty. The star forge is so incredibly difficult if you try to play it normally and not cheese it - and that's on light side. On dark side it's near impossible because you will not have Jedi to assist you. There's infinite sith troopers and acolytes spawning in whenever they please. By the time you killed 2, 3 show up. I went in with Jolee and Canderous because i loved both and i barely got through. Not to even mention the boss fight... to not spoil it, i'll only say this - the Boss fight betrays the entire game's philosophy of "Don't worry if you're not good at something, you have 2 others with you". If you're missing 4 of the several abilities you can take as a Force Wielder, then you're effectively soft locked and cannot progress. Which happened to ME. I had to grudge through Malak for 2 hours and wittle him down. I had run out of Stims by the half way point. I never picked up Destroy droid because why would i? I would always have either Jolee or Bastilla with me, and then either Canderous or Hk. But nooooo f u. No fun. Get anally assaulted by big baldy.
4. Juhani is a lesbian with a history of domestic and workplace abuse with anger issues and the first thing she does is attempt to murder her potential love interest. What did bioware mean by this?
jk to be serious for a moment, no force wielding dark side Companions other than in the last act (in which they're barely involved). Sure Jolee can use dark side powers but he will not be usable in the star forge if you want to be Dark Side. So... hell then. Why not do something like an Exiled sith Apprentice that just wants revenge on his former master and doesn't really care about Malak but is also honored to serve you, Like Canderous? IF anything, that would make Jolee bindo's Argument stronger, that even servants of the dark can have individuality and act upon things themselves. Force powers having side restrictions are a bit dumb too... why is Stun only a light side ability and shock a dark side one? Stun seems fairly universal and jedi have Force Judgement, essentially lightning...
Regardless of my complaints, the game is incredibly good. Well worth a play or 3, one blind, one light side and one dark side. In my 45 hours, that was only a single playthrough and i did enjoy it thoroughly, despite the many, many hiccups the game has had. It's a great story, with great gameplay and an amazing set of characters.
Off to the second one! No score this time, this game is too nuanced and old for me to be fair. If i did have to give it one, i'd say 6/10 just because of the bugs, the ambience on Kashyyk and the last boss fight, but don't let that deter you.
The game is a masterpiece.
Play it.
