It seems safe to say that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is at the top of many fans’ wish list of remakes they would like to see, even if they disagree to what extent it should be. It has already been ported to iOS and Android by Aspyr Media, a studio that mainly ports older games to modern systems. More recently, Aspyr has ported Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 to iOS and Android, 7 years after KOTOR 1 was ported to mobile.
Earlier this month, it was reported that a remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was already in the works and reportedly Aspyr would be taking the reigns on this one. With its experience in porting both KOTOR games across different platforms, it’s no surprise they would be the ones to see a remake come to fruition. Notably, though, there are a handful of mechanics and features that make the KOTOR games the success that they are, and it would certainly feel out of place if too many things were different in the supposed remake.
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What the KOTOR Remake Should Not Change
For many, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was an RPG masterpiece during its time and even by today’s standards. It employed a unique blend of mechanics that make it stand out, such as its version of the Dungeons and Dragons ruleset applied to in-game actions. This meant that every security lock attempt or combat interaction required a dice check using a polyhedral dice roll that would either have the player succeed or fail. There aren’t too many games that utilize this old-school mechanic and changing it would drastically alter how immersive KOTOR 1 felt.
Immersion was a big part of the game as players had many choices at their disposal.Through conversations, the player would be presented with dialogue options that may require a certain skill check such as Intelligence or Awareness. This was a big deal as many NPC interactions went through conversation and the outcomes varied by a player’s response. As a result, many different outcomes differed with each playthrough depending if the player wanted to roleplay a morally good, evil, or gray Jedi. It would be hard to imagine a Star Wars RPG without some morality involved, and the conversations a player could have would be equally important to reinforce this mechanic.
Depending on a player’s actions, their companions would react to them in certain ways. Whether a player decided to react to an NPC in a positive or negative way was sometimes reflected upon by the companions they brought. This made for some interesting and dynamic dialogue exchange, as if a player made a rather dark choice and had brought along a goodie-two-shoes Jedi, they might speak out about the player’s actions. This would go even further if the player had brought two companions along that could have their own conversations with each other that the player could then change their decision. This type of companion interaction in the KOTOR series really amplified the feeling of immersion and would need to stay a feature.
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What the KOTOR Remake Should Upgrade, But Not Change
With a game series as old as KOTOR, there are some game mechanics that certainly could be improved upon. By today’s standards, KOTOR 1 feels clunky to play mainly due to some incompatibilities with modern systems. The combat itself also felt clunky and slow, and could use an improvement from its pause-play-pause form. This doesn’t mean changing it to a more action-focused style, but perhaps a rework of the old strategy to make it feel fresh. KOTOR 1 could take note from other remakes of recent years on how to change their battle system, while keeping it familiar so as to appeal to a broader audience.
In KOTOR 1, there are many times when a player comes across items that end up just gathering dust in their inventory. Many of the weapons and armor that the player finds hardly get used simply because there are better options pretty early on, and it makes looting the fifth Vibroblade all the more tedious. This part of the game could use a refresher, introducing perhaps more variety within each piece of gear allowing the player more options to play with.
The player character in KOTOR 1 has some memorable companions, though they usually fit into a combat niche already with little room to customize. The player’s droids cannot use melee, while the Jedi companions use Lightsabers, giving the player only a few characters to really swap between ranged and melee. This was remedied in KOTOR 2 when they introduced a more dynamic cast of companions, but for KOTOR 1, perhaps the usefulness of the gear can be looked over.
Due to its popularity, it is no surprise that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is primed for a remake. Its sequel KOTOR 2 was recently ported to mobile by Aspyr Studios, and the studio has worked on many Star Wars games in the past. If the remake of the highly regarded RPG were to come to light, it would obviously need some tweaks, but the core of the title must remain intact.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is available for Android, iOS, PC, and Xbox.
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