Parents' Guide to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2021)

While this game is widely considered as one of the best role-playing games and the best Star Wars game, the re-release leaves a lot to be desired. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has every right to claim those titles thanks to its storytelling. Whether it's your party or those you encounter briefly in short quests, each character is crafted to have an important role in the overall story. That purpose is to challenge players' perceptions of morality and political issues by placing difficult situations in front of them, from slavery to segregation, corporatism to corruption, and more. Characters whom players once thought innocent, or situations that once seemed clear cut, may not be such upon closer examination. Knights of the Old Republic constantly and pleasantly surprises with main and side quests that players will want to explore not so much for their rewards but for the ways these build up the era with a profound understanding of the essence and themes of Star Wars.

It helps that this 18-year-old game holds up rather well in spite of its old character models, environments, and animation. Each world has distinct areas that make every new planet a fresh sight of creative wonder, but navigating around these locations can be a slog. On top of the absence of helpful mechanics like fast travel, getting around through empty hallways and barren valleys is painfully slow, especially when backtracking is involved. This isn't helped by the combat's shortcomings. Encounters begin to feel boring halfway through the experience, mainly because players can essentially let the game play by itself. And if a situation gets dicey, players can step in to manually guide which moves and targets their characters will focus on. Despite these criticisms, the sheer breadth of options available to players with weapons, Force powers, and abilities makes good team compositions satisfying to create. Plus, players will only be able to access certain areas, or talk with certain people, only if they have the right moves or stats. Even if the game shows some of its age, there's an uncommon marriage of caring intentionality behind every action and decision carrying narrative weight. While the Switch port isn't without technical issues, such as several crashes and choppy frame-rate drops with larger environments, Knights of the Old Republic stands the test of time. Even if it's a bit wobbly in the knees with its navigation and combat, the core of its appeal remains as strong as ever with a cast and story that will stick with players if they give it a chance.