My Top 15 Games of All Time: #12

Star Wars is in a weird spot at the moment: the idea that we are going to get Episodes VII, VIII and IX is causing quite a split. Many people are excited for a new story in the universe, and some of us remember how Episodes I, II, and III went and are (putting it mildly) skeptical. I guess I can say I am a bit of both.

One thing we all can agree on, however, is that the franchise has given us plenty of video games. Some of them are quite good and some give you the same feeling you had when you first saw Jar Jar Binks (ugh).

Nevertheless, one of the best games to carry the Star Wars name happens to find its way onto my favorites of all time.

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#12 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - First released July 15th, 2003 (Xbox, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone)

KOTOR (as it is affectionately known) was developed by BioWare, who would go on to make the Mass Effect series as well as the MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. While they did make great RPGs before in Baldur's Gate and the Neverwinter Nights series, KOTOR was a huge undertaking given the massive fan base surrounding it. Sure, you had the Dungeons & Dragons fans who liked the previous BioWare games (since it used the D&D ruleset), but now on top of that you enter the realm of the Übernerd with Star Wars. On top of that, they wanted a deep RPG game where you can also choose whether you lean towards the light or dark side while making both fun to play, create a gripping and epic story AND appease said Übernerds or be labeled as the company that "fucked up Star Wars". Also worth noting, while Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights ran on the Infinity engine and Aurora engine respectively, KOTOR was the first to use BioWare's Odyssey engine, meaning that this would be the first of its kind.

Luckily the planets aligned (pun? maybe?) and KOTOR not only hit all the beats that RPG gamers wanted, but it made Star Wars fans happy, and I can tell you, being one, that's no easy thing to pull off.

The combat reminded me of Chrono Trigger in that it wasn't quite turn-based, nor was it real-time. You chose the next action you and your party members made, and the timer would tick down until you performed the action. You could also pause the game whenever to get a better tactical look at the situation, a feature that was predominantly used in later BioWare games like Dragon Age. Before KOTOR, all we wanted to do was walk up to a guy, swing our lightsabers and be done with it. Here, we actually had to decide what type of swing we wanted, who to hit with it, and which lightsaber we wanted to use.

Oh yeah, different lightsabers had different stats on them, this was a loot game, and while you will see many swords starting out your adventure, that moment you get your first lightsaber is kinda like Indiana Jones finding the Ark of the Covenant, sheer awe and probably the notion that someone's face is going to melt off.

The big thing here that ended up becoming BioWare's calling card was the dialogue tree. If you have played Mass Effect, Dragon Age, or The Old Republic, you know what I am talking about. The answers you gave actually had meaning, which was incredible to me. Your answers dictated what side of the force you were leaning towards, which changed how you looked, the powers available to you, and how other people reacted to you, paving the way for a game such as Fable.

That was a big thing too, making both sides of the force fun to play. Sure, we all wanted to be the badass dark side and choke people and basically be Darth Vader, but the light side had its fair share of cool powers too. To me it's the nice balance that a game like World of Warcraft has, where both sides has its highlight and either way you play, you can feel like a badass.

KOTOR took you through the galaxy and on many planets, including Dantooine, Tatooine, and Kashyyyk. Also, the idea of controlling your companions, trying to keep them on your good side, and making sure they don't die in battle, added an extra layer on top of an already deep RPG. You level up, you select your skills, you improve your attributes, and you felt like a more and more powerful Jedi, which is really what any Star Wars fan wants.

Video time! Here is some KOTOR gameplay:

Knights of the Old Republic was an ambitious and successful attempt at an epic space RPG. Of course now we know this would pay off for BioWare with the Mass Effect series. People were excited for The Old Republic MMO because they wanted an even bigger version of this game, and for good reason. Say what you will about the MMO, the original KOTOR is a classic that I can always go back to.