A Pick for Star Wars Fans!

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Game cover/wallpaper image. Shows the title of the game in top left corner while characters pose at the bottom. Larger partly transparent cut off figures by the top (typical Star Wars poster formation)

One of the game’s front covers

Star Wars meme. Top text reads "When the Old Republic is made canon again and the Sequels are made uncanon." At the bottom there is a man with text saying "Yes, after one thousand years, Star Wars is ours again."

Star Wars has been a popular franchise ever since the trilogy was released. For the decades that followed, fans have heavily loved and criticized the series and its additions. Game wise, almost 100 Star Wars games have been made since the movies’ release, including Star Wars: The Old Republic, also known as SWTOR.

SWTOR is a MMORPG adventure genre game that was first released in 2011. While the game takes place within the Star Wars universe, many argue if the game and its prequels are truly canon to the overall franchise universe since the game has nothing to do with the main movies. 

Whether it is canon or not, the game gives players the chance to create their own unique characters with a mostly wide selection (other than body types and gender), and go on quests that span over several worlds in a galaxy far, far away…

As of recently, the developers have expanded on the fighting styles for each class, allowing players to have new abilities and weapons. When someone first creates a character, they may choose whether they’d want to align with The Galactic Republic or The Sith Empire. 

"Choose your allegiance." on the left is "The Galactic Republic" with a bird/wings symbol and blue flames. On the right is "The Sith Empire" with a snowflake symbol and red flames.

From there, they may choose one of the four story lines (there being eight in total): For the Republic there is the Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, or Trooper, while for the Empire there is the Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter, and Imperial Agent. Each side has four fighting styles for the melee classes and eight fighting styles for the ranged classes. 

Early image of the game. On the left is a Sith with a purple dual-bladed lightsaber who is shocking enemies on the right with purple lightning

SWTOR is free to download and play, but only for the main storylines and the first few expansions. While subscribers get a lot of good bonuses, SWTOR is still fun to play for those who do not wish to pay money. Each storyline is very long, and it may take months for players to finish each one. While I haven’t completed each storyline, I can say without a doubt that each one provides its own unique and thrilling adventures.

Additionally, there are various side quests the player can choose to complete if they wish to gain more experience and lore to the game’s universe. Unfortunately, many side quests are also available to the other classes (depending on if the player chose Republic or Empire), so it gets tiring to complete the same quests without much difference. The player can choose not to follow the side quests, but they may face the fact that they don’t level up enough if they just follow their main quests. 

A Jedi knight in brown robes wielding a blue lightsaber

I’ve been playing this game for years, so I may be a tad biased when I say I really enjoy it. Don’t ask how I haven’t finished all the storylines even though I've been playing for years, I have weird priorities! 

While SWTOR is one of my favourite games, it doesn't mean that it doesn’t have flaws. There are certainly some parts I have issues with, starting with its open-world aspect. It isn’t the exploring that is the issue, The worlds are all vastly different and super cool to explore. Almost everywhere there are tons of enemies that makes completing each quest seem draining, especially when they respawn and you have to fight them over and over again because there is no other way around them. I understand that there has to be a lot of enemies in the multiplayer areas, but even in the personal story zones the enemies are everywhere.

Just because I enjoy SWTOR doesn’t mean that it’s the same for other Star Wars fans. While I enjoy the Star Wars franchise, I’m not the biggest fan who knows every single detail about every movie, show, game, etc. In fact, I haven’t even seen all of the movies or shows yet, let alone come close to playing even an eighth of the games. Regardless, someone doesn’t have to be a huge Star Wars fan to enjoy SWTOR.

Two calico cats cuddling on a bed

My two cats hazel and charlie :]

Hello! My name is Adam/Comet, and I’ve been playing games since I was a child :] I remember my parents telling me that around the age of 4, I was already setting up and playing a Care Bears puzzle-type game on my own (not well, but I tried).

I don’t play many games nowadays, but every once and a while I enjoy playing adventure RPGs, survival games, and social simulators. I mostly enjoy games where I can tap into my creativity whether to become a specific character, or create worlds! 😄 So, If you’d like to find fantasy/sci-fi roleplay games, survival games, or a relaxing simulator, I’ve got a few to recommend!