Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a media franchise of role-playing video games created and developed by BioWare. Games have been released on the original Xbox, Windows, OS X, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, IOS, Android and Nintendo Switch. The franchise takes place in the fictional universe of Star Wars by George Lucas.
The first game, and subsequent massively multiplayer online role-playing game series, was developed by BioWare while the second was done by Obsidian Entertainment per LucasArts' request. All were published by LucasArts. The video game series is based on an earlier comic book series; the franchise includes a subsequent new comic book series. Both comic series were published by Dark Horse Comics and act as prequels to the video games.
Gameplay
The game's system is based on Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Roleplaying Game, which is based on the d20 role-playing game system derived from the Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. Combat is round-based; time is divided into discrete rounds, and combatants attack and react simultaneously. However, the number of actions a combatant may perform each round is limited. While each round's duration is a fixed short interval of real time, the player can configure the combat system to pause at specific events or at the end of each round.Alignment system
The alignment system tracks actions and speech – from simple word choice to major plot decisions – to determine whether the player's character aligns with the light or dark side of the Force. In the first game, the player's speech and actions have no effect on their teammates. However, the player has influence over their companions in The Sith Lords, the player's actions determining not only what side the player is on, but their teammates as well. The influence the player has on another character can be minor, from converting a character from the dark side to the light, to something as major as teaching them the ways of the Jedi themselves. Influence can be lost, however, if the player makes an action inconsistent with past decisions, causing the player to pay very close attention before reacting in any way. The series includes "Gray Jedi" who tend to follow their own path as far as the Force is concerned rather than obeying the light or dark side.Lightsabers
The games in the series offer extensive lightsaber customization including crystal colors and blade styles. The developers of the series "fought" to expand the number of lightsaber colors. The game includes the ubiquitous colors blue and green but also colors such as orange and yellow. Danny Paez, for Inverse, commented that "KOTORs spectrum of lightsaber crystals led to gamers obsessing over collecting them all to design the lightsaber of their dreams. This led to fans going out of their way to explore every nook and cranny of the games".Synopsis
Plot
Four thousand years prior to the Star Wars films, Darth Malak – Darth Revan's apprentice – has unleashed a Sith armada against the Republic. Many Jedi, scattered and left vulnerable by Malak's aggression, die in battle while others swear loyalty and allegiance to Malak. The game opens with the player's character awakening aboard a doomed Republic capital ship with no recollection of their past. After escaping the ship and crash-landing on Taris, the player gradually gathers companions and pieces together their past while attempting to stop Malak's forces. To accomplish this, the main character and their companions search for Star Maps that together reveal the location of the Star Forge, an ancient space station that creates massive amounts of material for Malak.The main character's actions and speech influence whether they align with the light or dark side of the Force. Depending on the character's alignment, they eventually reach the Star Forge either to defeat the Sith or to usurp control of the Sith from Malak. A light-aligned character and their companions are hailed as saviors and heroes; a dark side character stands before the remaining Sith forces as the new Sith Lord.
The Sith Lords takes place five years after the events of Knights of the Old Republic, in a time when the Jedi have been nearly exterminated by the Sith. The player's character is a former Jedi Knight exiled from the Jedi Order, referred to as "the Exile" or "Jedi Exile". During the Mandalorian Wars, the Exile served under Revan who ordered the activation of a devastating gravitational superweapon – the Mass Shadow Generator – that caused so many deaths to the point where they stripped themself of all connections to the Force unconsciously to save themself, and was removed from the Jedi Order. Throughout the game, the player's character restores a connection to the Force while, with the help of their new companions, try to stop the Sith. Unlike the previous game where the player's actions affect the fate of the galaxy, here, the chosen actions affect only the planets the player can visit. The player can choose to either help or hinder the Republic's attempt to rebuild these planets. In the end, if the character is light-aligned, the Mass Shadow Generator is activated and destroys Malachor V and the Exile goes into unknown space to find Revan. A dark-aligned character, however, takes over the Sith academy on Malachor V and the Mass Shadow Generator is destroyed.
The Old Republic takes place 300 years after the previous two games, shortly after the establishment of a tenuous peace between the re-emergent Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. The Jedi are held responsible for the success of the Sith and chose to relocate from Coruscant to Tython, where the Jedi Order had been initially founded, to seek guidance from the Force. The Sith control Korriban, where they re-established a Sith Academy. The game begins as new conflicts arise.
Characters
Locations
Several new planets make appearances in the series as major locations. These include, for example, Dantooine and Korriban, the locations for the Jedi Academy and the Sith Academy, respectively; aboard the Star Forge space station where the final battle between master and apprentice takes place in KotOR; and war-ravaged Telos and its orbiting Citadel Station. Travel between locations happens aboard the freighter Ebon Hawk, which is also a playable location, though no combat takes place on board, except for three instances in KotOR 2 where you have to fight off Sith attackers, the character Visas Marr, and members of the Red Eclipse slavers. A space station near Yavin is also playable location in the PC version of KotOR and is available to Xbox players via download from Xbox Live. In The Old Republic, players have access to even more planets, like Ord Mantell, Nal Hutta, Balmorra, Alderaan, Tatooine, Dromund Kaas, Taris, Belsavis, Voss, Hoth, Corellia, Ilum and Quesh, and the moon Nar Shaddaa.Video games
Original series
''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic''
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is the first installment in the Knights of the Old Republic series. KotOR is the first role-playing video game set in the Star Wars universe. The game was released on the Xbox on July 15, 2003, in North America and on September 12, 2003, in Europe. The PC version was released on November 19, 2003, in North America and on December 5, 2003, in Europe. The iOS version was released on May 30, 2013, and an Android release followed on December 28, 2014. The Nintendo Switch version was released on November 11, 2021.''Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords''
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is the second installment in the video game franchise. The game was released on the Xbox in North America on December 6, 2004, in Europe on February 11, 2005, and in Australia on February 15, 2005. The PC version was released in North America on February 8, 2005, and in Europe on February 11, 2005. Per request as to have time to deal with other matters, BioWare, the original developer, handed over the job to Obsidian Entertainment.In addition to technical changes – such as more combat animation and interface scaling – The Sith Lords includes several drastic changes from the original game's features. As mentioned earlier in the gameplay section, the player's actions now affect not only the player themselves but their teammates as well. The player can also teach some teammates the ways of the Jedi. The player also has more diversity when upgrading items, and can even create certain items, such as computer spikes and explosives, themselves.
In a similar way the player's actions and alignment with the light or dark side affects their teammates, gender is also a factor when it comes to companionships and gameplay in general. In addition the appearance also affects your teammates. For example, choosing a female character teams the player with Mical the Disciple, while being male teams the player with Brianna the Handmaiden.