By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star Wars fans recently celebrated a milestone: the 20-year anniversary of Knights of the Old Republic II. When the game first came out, it received some criticism from fans and reviewers alike for being an incomplete story that couldn’t quite live up to the majesty of the first game. While it still lives in the shadow of its predecessor, KOTOR II is now celebrated by fans who lovingly restored much of its cut content, and the game’s storytelling has influenced the Disney era of Star Wars in many ways, including the storytelling of The Acolyte.
The Story Of Knights Of The Old Republic II
What is Knights of the Old Republic II about, though? In this game, you play as a Jedi exile who has been cut off from the Force after committing a brutally decisive act in the war against the Mandalorians. Along the way, you meet a shady mentor and a colorful crew of supporting characters, and you’ll need all their help in the fight against two powerful new Sith Lords who dream of taking over everyone’s favorite galaxy far, far away.
Back in the day, the Knights of the Old Republic II protagonist threw some fans off because they assumed players would pick up where the first game left off. In that first title – beware spoilers if you’ve never played these games before! – you play as an amnesiac character who is later revealed to be Darth Revan, a fearsome Sith Lord who was mind-wiped by the Jedi and weaponized against his former apprentice, Darth Malak. The reveal is arguably the best Star Wars plot twist since the revelation that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father, and it still hits harder than most franchise reveals before or since.
The change in protagonist was off-putting for some fans, and others were upset that Knights of the Old Republic II had some of its most ambitious content cut to make its retail release just in time for the holidays. Why, then, is the game so much more popular now than it was before? For one thing, fans worked hard to mod the game and restore much of its lost content, and this has helped fans better understand the game’s epic plot and its wide diversity of morally grey characters even as it helps them enjoy the game in an entirely new way.Â
Shades Of Grey In Star Wars
Speaking of which, the moral ambiguity of characters like Kreia means that Knights of the Old Republic II adds some much-needed depth to the Star Wars universe. This fictional galaxy has long been populated by characters who are cartoonishly good or evil, and while that added to the archetypal charm of the Original Trilogy, such one-dimensional heroes and villains were already wearing thin by the Prequel Trilogy and seemed completely played out by the time the Sequel Trilogy came along. The audience demand for more complex characters is a big part of why Andor is so popular, and it’s worth celebrating that KOTOR II gave us this complexity nearly two decades before Andor blew our collective minds.
Speaking of the Disney era of Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic II had a surprisingly direct influence on the controversial series The Acolyte. Showrunner Leslye Headland previously confirmed that she was inspired by the character of Kreia, and while she didn’t elaborate further, it’s fair to assume that Kreia influenced the design of Qimir, a villain who shares her disdain of the Jedi and skepticism of how these space wizards define both the Light Side and the Dark Side. Such open, onscreen criticism of the Jedi felt overdue in large part thanks to the fact that we haven’t had much of it since KOTOR II first came out.Â
Everything Fans Want From Modern Star Wars
Far too many didn’t realize it at the time, but in 2004, Knights of the Old Republic II gave us almost everything that the modern era of Star Wars is lacking. We had original heroes who had nothing to do with the Skywalker clan, complex villains even more compelling than Darth Vader, and a story with more shades of grey than the Death Star’s interior. Throw in the fact that the gameplay is equally incredible and you have a title that remains one of the most refreshing bits of Star Wars content ever created.
Knights of the Old Republic II isn’t a perfect game, but it does something that modern Star Wars hardly ever does: take major risks and make big swings from beginning to end. In an era where the franchise can do almost nothing but trot out familiar characters in an attempt to appeal to our nostalgia, this game dared to do something bold and new and largely succeeded. It’s been 20 years now, but this title from a decade long, long ago is still worth playing for any fans who want to remember why they fell in love with the biggest sci-fi franchise in cinematic history.
