Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic review for Nintendo Switch

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic represents a double pop culture blind spot for me. Not only, as as I?ve written before, have a not seen a Star Wars movie in literally decades (and quite possibly ever), I?ve also never played this game that?s widely hailed as one of the best-ever. While I was fairly certain that a knowledge of the films wouldn?t have too much bearing on my enjoyment of the game, I was a little leery about the game?s all-time classic status — I mean, just because a game was great twenty years ago, that doesn?t mean it?ll necessarily age all that well.

Any misgivings I may have felt fell away pretty quickly — even if the game certainly looks like it came out almost two decades ago, it certainly doesn?t play like it.

In fact, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic doesn?t play like many other games, which may be why it doesn?t feel very dated. While the good-bad (sorry, Jedi-Dark Side) karma system has certainly been picked up on and improved since this game first came out, it?s still interesting to see such a big, expansive game give players so much control over how the story plays out.

On top of that, the combat system is unlike anything I?ve ever seen. According to Wikipedia, it?s similar to Dungeons & Dragons and other twenty-sided dice-based games — but as someone who never played D&D, I have to admit, it?s all new to me. Rather than launching your character and their squad into battle, you bring them to the battle, press a button to start the conflict, and then they start fighting on their own. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it works pretty well here.

Just about the only place where Knights of the Old Republic feels dated is in its looks, as mentioned above. It looks…well, like you?d expect a game that came out in 2003 to look. This is no hi-def remaster, so if you go in expecting something that looks modern, you aren?t going to find it here.

But that?s really the only area where the game doesn?t shine. Otherwise, it?s very easy to see why Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has such a sterling reputation so many years after it first came out. Unlike a lot of re-releases where you have to say ?It was good…for its time”, in this game?s case, you can say ?It was good…and it?s still good.” That?s one heck of an accomplishment, and if you haven?t played this game before — or even if you have — it?s definitely worth seeking out.

Aspyr provided us with a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Switch code for review purposes.