In the six years that have passed since EA got the exclusive publishing rights for Star Wars video games, very little has been done with the license outside of mobile games, the multiplayer-only Star Wars Battlefront reboot, and a sequel plagued by controversy. However, 2019 proved to be a huge year for the franchise following the release of Respawn Entertainment's single-player, story-driven Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and a multitude of updates that have turned Star Wars: Battlefront 2 into one of the better Star Wars games available right now.
Many hardcore Star Wars fans long for the “glory days” of Star Wars video games in the early 2000s including Jedi Knight, Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer, and most notably, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. While The Rise of Skywalker hasn’t been the critical hit people had hoped for, there’s a lot to be excited about for the future of the film series as Disney has confirmed a new era of films called Project Luminous that's set during the Old Republic. To understand why the prospect of the Old Republic is so exciting, we need to look back at the events that took place in the beloved game series. A story that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
The Story of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic takes place roughly 4000 years before the events of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga film series and the formation of the Galactic Empire at the end of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Multiple millennia before Emperor Palpatine carried out Order 66, the Galactic Republic from the prequel trilogy had run peacefully for more than twenty-five thousand years with the Jedi Order working as its defenders and peacekeepers. The story of Knight of the Old Republic starts when a powerful Sith Lord called Darth Malak, the last surviving apprentice of the Sith Lord Revan, calls a Sith armada on the Republic, killing a ton of Jedi, scattering the Order throughout the galaxy, and converting others to his cause.
The player takes on the role of an unnamed character with full visual customization, an alignment system for the Light Side and Dark Side, and RPG classes to choose from including Scout, Soldier, or Scoundrel. After awakening aboard a Republic ship known as the Endar Spire, the player is informed that Darth Malak’s forces have launched an attack over Taris, a city world located in the Outer Rim. Assisted by a Republic soldier called Trask Ulgo, the pair are confronted by the Sith Lord Darth Bandon as they fight their way to the Endar Spire's escape pods. Unable to defeat the Sith Lord, Trask heads to face Darth Bandon on his own and locks the door behind him, allowing the player to reach the escape pods and head to Taris with Carth Onasi, a Republic war hero.
The player and Carth Onasi set out on a mission to track down Bastila Shan, a Jedi Knight that fled to Taris to escape from Darth Malak's force. Bastila is a master of meditation, a unique Force power that strengthens the confidence and spirit of her allies and weakens her enemies, and a key asset to the success of the Republic in the fight against Malak. In their search for Bastila Shan, Carth and the Player meet a couple of new companions including the Twi'lek street urchin Mission Vao, the Wookiee Zaalbar, a Mandalorian mercenary called Canderous Ordo, and utility droid T3-M4. Together, the group rescue Bastila Shan, steal the star freighter Ebon Hawk and escape from Taris moments before it's destruction at the hands of Darth Malak.
After taking refuge on the planet of Dantooine, Bastila takes the player to a Jedi Enclave where the Jedi council agrees to train the player as Jedi due to being strong with the Force and creating a Force bond with the Jedi Knight. Throughout the game's opening missions and Jedi training, the player is subjected to mysterious visions that explore the betrayal and fall of Darth Revan at the hands of Darth Malak. The player completes the basic Jedi training and is promoted to Padawan after rescuing a young Jedi that had been tainted by the Dark Side of the Force, before being sent on a mission to locate the Star Forge, an automated shipyard that was designed by an ancient empire to create the most powerful army of all time.
The player and companions can then explore multiple Star Wars planets including Dantooine, Manaan, Korriban, the famous desert planet of Tatooine, and the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk. Throughout the journey to learn more about the mysterious Star Forge, they pick up more companions including the assassin droid HK-47, the 'Grey' Jedi hermit Jolee Bindo, and the Jedi Juhani. Soon after leaving the third planet, the crew of the Ebon Hawk is captured and interrogated aboard the Leviathan, the flagship of Admiral Saul Karath, the former mentor of Carth, who plans to sell the crew out to Darth Malak.
The Ending of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
In a confrontation with Malak, it is revealed that the player is actually Darth Revan, the former master of Darth Malak and Dark Lord of the Sith. During an attack on the Republic, Malak attacked and injured Revan in an attempt to usurp him and Bastila Shan used her healing abilities to save the Sith Lord and bring him to the Jedi council where his (canonically male) memory was modified.
The ending of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic varies drastically from here on out depending on the final decisions of the player following the revelation of Darth Revan. While Revan ultimately reached the Star Forge as part of the game's story, players that choose the Light Side defeat Darth Malak, destroy the Star Forge and its armies and are awarded the Cross of Glory, which is the galaxy's highest citation of bravery. On the other side, players that choose the Dark Side kill Darth Malak to become the new Dark Lord of the Sith, defeat the republic including killing the majority of companions, and take on Bastila Shan as an apprentice due to the Force bond created at the start of the game.
Right now, we know very little about the next saga of Star Wars films outside of the newly confirmed Old Republic setting and the possibility that it may start with a new Star Wars game in 2021. Disney has confirmed that it takes place around 400 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga and that Star Wars will no longer be tied to trilogies. In short, this means that there could be any number of individual films and sequels that are linked in a similar way to films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
If the focus is set on the Old Republic and going to stay that way for the foreseeable future, it potentially means great things for the future of Star Wars video games. Whether it’s EA or Disney, it’s likely there could be a push for next-generation remakes of both Knights of the Old Republic games on PS5 and Xbox Series X, a sequel to the existing games, or a soft reboot that takes place closer to the setting of Project Luminous.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox, Android, and iOS devices.