Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3. It Needs to be Made.

I am not a prolific gamer.  I cannot comment with great knowledge about the obscure masterpieces that were released on the Playstation One or the Japanese RPGs that garner critical acclaim in their native land but are never heard in the states.  But I am content now as a gamer because I have had the privilege and honor of playing one of the greatest Western Role Playing Video games of my time, and that game is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Readers, if you retain the same glorious memories of defeating Rancors in sewers and finding light-saber crystals in caves infested with giant arachnids, or exploring the deadly jungle below the treetop villages of Kashyyk, and unraveling the mysteries of interesting characters with deep stories while finding a way to save the galaxy from the perpetual fleets of the Sith - if you still retain these memories of playing Knights of the Old Republic, then you know what I mean when I ask, since that game, has another ever been made that matched it's glory, it's epic scale, it's mastery of pace and story-telling?  The sad answer is no.

I say no, with tears, with fury, with unquenchable anger.  When I think of the amazing adventure I experienced with Knights of the Old Republic, of the countless times I played the game (11 to be exact), I say to myself, what happened?  Why was it that as soon as a developer finally realized how to make such a glorious game, and craft such an expansive story with interesting sidequests, a plethora of customizable features and weapons, all set within a grand universe that was and still is loved by millions, if not billions of fans - why did this is amazing, winning formula suddenly get swept under the rug?  Why was this idea casually passed off to another developer? Potentially ruined as a franchise, we now approach approximately 6 years since the release of the first Kotor, undoubtedly the greater of the two games that fall under such a title, the second being a monstrous abomination - incomplete, incoherent, and developed by an inferior studio.

To me, Kotor was a dream of a game.  To this day, when I think back upon the scope of the missions, upon the many areas that I explored, I am left feeling empty.  Why?  Because I am now left to stew in these disgusting games by comparison.  The games that I play now are feeble compared to kotor.  When I think of Kotor, I sigh everytime I see a poor, ignorant fool who says that Final Fantasy VII is the greatest RPG ever made. 

But the real question I ask now is why?  Why did Bioware abandon the winning formula?  What compelled them to pass off the Kotor franchise to Obsidian, the weaker developer?  I am disappointed by my lack of obtaining a good reason.  Surely there has to be a good reason.  Mass Effect?  Do not insult me.  Mass Effect is child's play compared to Kotor.  Mass Effect is a technically bungled mess of a game compared to Kotor.  And don't even get me started on Mass Effect's story.  Yes, it's good, maybe even great, but it pales in comparison next to the majesty of Kotor.

Even as a game, compared to those in all other genres, Kotor is still the best in my opinion.  Forget about Halo, or Gears, or Uncharted.  Forget about Gran Turismo of Grand Theft Auto or Fallout 3.  Forget them all.  When I bought Kotor, I paid 20 dollars for it.  That game gave me 330 hours (11 playthroughs) of pure enjoyment.  Can anyone say the same about Grand Theft Auto?  Hmmm?  No.  Because games like Halo and Uncharted are bare and cheap compared to RPGs like Kotor.  They have rotted children's minds with gunplay and graphics. 

Today, Bioware is working on Mass Effect 2.  Ironically, they decided not to let Obsidian have a crack at it.  But also, in a twist of fate, Bioware is developing a game called Star Wars:  The Old Republic, which I am positively sure is being done for the sole purpose of mocking me.  A "spiritual successor to Kotor," they call it.  Don't make me laugh.  An MMO?  Are you kidding me?  Do they think I want to share my adventure with a bunch of loot-whores?  Why are they doing this?  When can we see a full-fledged, worthy sequel to the game that got me excited about gaming?  I want Knights of the Old Republic 3.  I want it this generation.  I want it available to all the platforms so that everyone can understand the glory.  So that graphics whores will stop being graphics whores and finally understand the true point of games, so that they will stop referring to graphics as tools of immersion because nobody should give a crap how good the water looks  in Crysis. 

When Bioware decides to make a Kotor 3, then there will be peace in my mind.  Until then they can take their boobie-filled Dragon Age and shove it.

[Mwaan]

Until you started slamming KOTOR 2, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age. I will admit that KOTOR is probably the best of the bunch, but I actually preferred KOTOR 2 because of the ability to bend my party members to my will. I think bioware moved on to Mass Effect so they could have complete creative control over their property. Sure KOTOR had a much better battle system than Mass Effect, but I think I enjoy the Mass Effect Universe more. I can't wait for Dragon Age. Bioware doesn't know how to make a bad game.

[kaveti6616]

Kotor 2 was developed by Obsidian Entertainment and was released 2 years after Kotor 1. In that time, do you know what Kotor did with the graphics? Nothing, they didn't upgrade the graphics. Do you know what they did with the gameplay? They made it worse. They made it glitchier. Do you know what they did with the story? They wrote a plot on a piece of paper and shot a bunch of holes through it. Do you know what they did with the beloved characters from Kotor 1? They got rid of many of them. They kept the droid, though (whoop dee doo, Meatbags!).

Obsidian didn't make a horrible game, but what they did to the story is, to me, unforgivable. Their rendition of the game seemed like nothing more than a lazy attempt designed to capitalize off the greatness of Bioware's original vision.

Obviously, Kotor 2 is not a "terrible" game, but it doesn't do justice to Kotor 1, and I believe that Bioware would have done a better job with the game had they done it.

Bioware's reasons for not doing Kotor 2 seem contradictory to me. If they wanted to concentrate on new IPs, no one was going to stop them from doing that. They didn't have to pass the game off to Obsidian. They could have made Mass Effect and Kotor 2. Now, they are working on another Star Wars game. It doesn't make sense. They should make a Kotor 3.

[n to the b]

in KOTOR II, I did kind of enjoy the extra feats/force powers; and to a lesser extent the ability to push the supporting characters to the light or dark side. but seriously KOTOR graphics didn't look impressive for very long and shame on obsidian for absolutely ZERO graphical upgrades.

even worse tho, obsidian made the 'fan service' mistakes that episodes I-III did. in KOTOR II, did we really need to revisit so many of the same planets again? in the new movies, did we really need to work in threepio and fett?? REALLY???

(unless the reused planets in KOTOR II were merely just to save programming new graphics... I'd rather that than corny coincidences just for 'fan service'.)

[John Kratos]

I have to agree with you. I bought KOTOR for about 20 and it is still to this day the best game I've ever bought. Bioware hasn't been able to recreate that magic that they did with KOTOR.

[jadenkorri]

SWKOTOR 1 and 2 were awesome, trying to go online with a star wars has already failed, although star wars galaxy was great, even with the first expansion jump to light speed was great too, however that last expansion ruined the game completely, unlocking/allowing to start off as a Jedi. Lets hope SWKOTOR online will work.

[Tony P]

I THOUGHT Bioware ditched KOTOR because of the constraints in working on licensed material. That made sense when they followed up with Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and now Dragon Age... But then they turn around and make a SW MMO which is like a big FU to KOTOR fans. Yeah, I didn't care for that either.

But I'm joining the bash party just for that. I've been a fan since the original Baldur's Gate and Bioware has probably screwed me the least. Quality devs still. I probably won't be plating TOR, but I look forward to ME2 and DA:O.

[TheDude2dot0]

KotOR II wasn't that bad. Yeah it was no Knights of the Old Republic, but it sure was a hell of a game. If they weren't rushed to finish it, it could have been a lot better. Also, Bioware isn't really into sequels. They like to develop new IPs and have some creative freedom. I could live without a KotOR III as long as they explain what happened to Revan and his pals in KotOR I and II.

Also, you made this so dramatic. Don't kill yourself over the lack of a videogame. Srs.

[kaveti6616]

Yeah, well, I love this game. I love it more than any other game I have ever played. It makes me sad to see that such a great idea has been forgotten and ignored for so long. I mean, look at how crazy people are going over Final Fantasy. They love it. And I feel that
Kotor is a better RPG than Final Fantasy, so how do you think I feel when I see all these people clamoring over FF but so few ever mention Kotor. Like I said to another guy above, Kotor 2 is not a bad game, but it ruined the potential of Kotor, at least that's I believe. Bioware was able to do so much with the story. They were creative were they not? They created a lot of characters, stories, sidequests, etc. They helped expand the universe. People are saying that Bioware wanted to work with their own IP, but what they don't understand is that working with the Star Wars IP granted them the same amount of creative freedom as with their one ideas.

And Bioware actually does make sequels. They made two Baldur's Gate games. They made several expansions to Neverwinter Nights, and they're making Mass Effect into a trilogy. In my opinion they make as many sequels as another developer would make. My main problem with them right now is that they chose to do a Star Wars MMO instead of concluding the story they began with Kotor.

[TheDude2dot0]

You are giving KotOR's story way too much credit. It was a cliche plot with lots of overused themes in it. Even the endings aren't that different in terms of dark and light, minus one cutscene. I felt that the game shined in terms of gameplay and the depth of all of the side quests. The story was probably the only bad aspect of the game.

You misunderstood what I meant about sequels. Of course they make sequels to games, every developer does. However, they have to make different IP's while still going back to work on old ones. What if Bioware made 5 Baldur's Gates instead of Mass Effect and KotOR? And by the way, Bioware is making a sequel to KotOR. It's called Star Wars: The Old Republic. Believe it or not, it is considered a sequel because it uses the previous games' stories as history and it uses very similar gameplay. Think of it as KotOR but with other players.

[kaveti6616]

Well, I consider the entire story of the main characters, side characters, and NPC enemies, as well as the history of the planets and the whole mythology of each race in the game to be the whole story. I suppose you're thinking of the single plot involving Revan, Malak, the Star Forge and what not? Yeah, not only is that cliche', but it is directly lifted off of the original star wars films. Still, I didn't think that aspect of the story was weak, and since the game was made in 2003 I didn't mind so much at the time that the game only had two endings. Don't downplay the greatness of the game. Of course there will be cliche' parts. There are two droids. One that looks like R2-D2, and another that looks like CP30. Then theres Mission Vaio and Zalbaar, who represent Han Solo and Chewbacca. But this doesn't make the game bad. In fact, as a fan of the Star Wars films I was thrilled by Bioware's decision to do this.

And The Old Republic might be a great game, but it's not a full-fledged sequel to Kotor. The main characters are not there and the game isn't even an RPG. Saying that The Old Republic is a sequel to Kotor is the same as saying that Halo Wars is a sequel to Halo 3. It's not even the same type of game. I want a genuine Kotor 3.

[TheDude2dot0]

Story does not include characters and enemies. Look, I'm not saying that the game is bad in any way. In fact it is my favorite PC game. I'm just saying that you are over exaggerating the flaws of KotOR II and ignoring the flaws of KotOR. Give TOR a chance and don't shoot it down yet. The only thing released so far was a trailer.

[kaveti6616]

How does a story not include characters? Story is characters plus setting. I'm not hyping Kotor. To me, the game was glorious, and to many reviewers it was seen as the best Star Wars video game ever made. And yeah, I am bashing Kotor 2 a bit, mainly because I feel that it is the reason why there is no Kotor 3.

[cayal]

Kotor 2 isn't the reason for there being no Kotor 3 (yet). It still sold well and rated well, despite the short comings.

[n to the b]

KOTOR/KOTOR II deserve a good rant, bubbles+ kaveti. only thing I disagree about is reusing familiar characters and Mass Effect.

Mass Effect is not child's play as you say. I'll take the admittedly somehow-less-compelling gameplay for 1 of the 1st truly sophisticated, grownup games I've ever played with virtually no corny dialogue & military practices based on real science. just 1 ex: the game talks about ammo being a 'non-issue' because it's tiny shards shaved from a block of material. this is based on an actual cutting-edge military weapon in development now that shaves from a block of glass. (the (game mag?) article said this was to increase rate-of-fire more than worrying about limitless ammo, tho.)

[TheColbertinator]

I would like a real KOTOR 3 as well but I think the other bioware games rock and anything from bioware is good to me.Jade Empire,Sonic Chronicles,and Mass Effect are all awesome.Also Dragon Age will be great so I don't see why you could hate it so much

[XploreInsanity]

Totally agree, an MMO, on the PC, I cried when I found this out. I want it on a console darn it, Drgaon Age will have to hold me till Kotor 3 :(

[cayal]

lol stopped reading when you call people ignorant fools for having a different opinion then your own. Get off your throne.