Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
When it comes to Star Wars games, few are as memorable as the two Knights of the Old Republic single-player games. The fallen or redeemed Jedi Revan essentially defined the early 2000s era of Star Wars games, and his popularity has not been replicated since. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 – The Sith Lords almost reaches the same heights, though, as it carries the torch of the first game. It’s no surprise that after the original Knights of the Old Republic was ported to Switch, KOTOR 2 will follow. This Obsidian Entertainment title was ported by Aspyr, the company responsible for the original KOTOR Switch port, Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast port, and the in-development Knights of the Old Republic Remake. Everything fans loved about the original is in this Switch port, and when it works, it’s a great example of how a Switch port should be. Knights of the Old Republic 2 players take on the role of a Jedi Exile, as they explore the galaxy, gather new companions, restore their connection to the Force, and confront the Sith Lords who are hunting them. The story was stellar in the original release, so obviously it’s just as good here.
Players will complete side quests, communicate with their KOTOR 2 companions, and engage in turn-based combat. Indeed, the gameplay of KOTOR 2 is where this Switch port shines the most. Whether it’s cycling through abilities like Flurry and Power Attack, changing Force abilities like Push or Force Lightning, deploying shields, changing targets, and more, it’s all really smooth with Switch. The age of this 2004 title doesn’t really show, and seems like a game designed specifically for the Switch. In both handheld and docked mode, the quality of the game’s graphics does not suffer. Everything loads smoothly and clearly on every Star Wars planet and every segment of gameplay, with only some of the cinematics coming in a bit blurry. It’s a fun, beautiful, and relaxing experience while traveling or on TV, and it’s easy to get lost for hours in space far, far away. With narrative and moment-to-moment gameplay, fans will find a lot of valuable content, perhaps more than they remember. Each planet stands out as unique, each companion feels alive, and the Light and Dark Side choices are heavy on the narrative, the companions, and the gameplay. KOTOR 2, in terms of moment-to-moment gameplay, translates well to the Switch, but while it’s good at moments that annoy players, it has a huge and fatal flaw. The dip was perfect for a while, but it kept falling off. RELATED: Star Wars: The Origin of the Sith Explained Simply put, KOTOR 2 on Switch is a technical nightmare. Sometimes, a Switch port will fail because it doesn’t feel like it was really made for the Switch, no matter how good the base game is. That’s the case with Aspyr’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Switch port. It’s a case of just because it can be done doesn’t mean it makes sense to do it. This time, however, KOTOR 2 is a great port when it works, but gamers will have a hard time making it work.
There are a host of smaller bugs that players will no doubt wave at. The AI will sometimes stand up, audio will pop in and out, invisible walls will force players to brace themselves against an open door, and enemies and allies will jump across the screen. This is par for the course in most games. However, during our time with the game, it kept crashing—at least once every hour. The game seems to know this, as the most common loading screen tip seems to be “save often and in more than one slot”. A game has to work, and to work, it demands a lot of players. If that’s the worst, however, some fans will no doubt continue on their way because of how enjoyable it is when it works. But piled on top of those are a number of game-breaking bugs. During our playthrough of KOTOR 2, we encountered two major game-breaking bugs, the final of which made it impossible for us to finish the game. The first one will cause the game to crash whenever riding the Ebon Hawk. There is no other solution than to load an older save and try to complete the planet again, but it is possible to fix it. Fortunately, it seems to be tied to the completion of certain quests and an event that triggers the Ebon Hawk, with the game unable to process them all at once. The second, however, is even worse.
An inevitable moment in KOTOR 2’s story is when players move from a separate party back to the main party. When players switch from the first party to the second, there is a cinematic. For us, the game crashed at the end of this cinematic, every time. Reloading all the way back to the beginning doesn’t fix it, skipping or playing through the entire cinematic doesn’t fix it, and ultimately everything we tried failed to fix it. The game, in its current build, is unbeatable. This is something Aspyr hopes to fix in a post-launch patch, but it’s incredibly heartbreaking to get so far, have the perfect party and build, and then hit such an impenetrable wall. Knights of the Old Republic 2 is a great and beloved game, and its gameplay, mechanics, and system translate well to the Switch. It’s great when it works, but the frustrating problem is getting it to work. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 – The Sith Lords releases June 8 for Switch. MORE: The Case for Knights of the Old Republic 3