User blog comment:Crazy sam10/Making the hard choices/@comment-2224625-20130614235144

Bioware's and Lucasarts' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPG duology was all choices. Bioware/EA's MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic is a similar way. Being a big Star Wars fan, it's nice to see that in one of those games.

I remember that the first SW:KOTOR had several dialogue options where if you're weren't careful, you might screw up your allignment and/or cause a riff in the game. (SPOILER) I remember that on Dantooine when you first met Juhani and subdue her, most conversation options after would end with her attacking you again and you'd kill her, whereas if you chose the right ones, she would agree to go back to the Jedi Enclave and you'd get to have her in your party when you leave the planet.

Another example was with the assassin droid HK-47 in both SW:KOTORs. In the first one, you had to go to the droid shop on Tatooine and talk to the vendor, and purchase him. He'd join your party immediately as an effective ranged combat specialist. Unfortunately, it was easy to miss (since you didn't necessarily have to visit the shop, or you were low on credits (in-game currency) and he was expensive). In the second game, it was slightly harder to acquire him, as you had to go on a scavenger hunt across the galaxy to find parts to restore him  (the last one would be acquired on a planet you could only visit once throughout the whole game). He'd return once again as a durable party member.

I know the last one isn't necssarily a hard choice, but both cost a lot of credits to accomplish, and lack of money due the choice not to scavenge enough or bad luck could cost you a good companion. Even purchasing/repairing him with the bare minimum amount of money to do so could screw you over for the rest of the game, as you would be too poor to do anything.

In SW:TOR, there are many chances where you could for-go conversations and simply harm the other conversationalist by several means (attack, torture, kill, etc.). This usually grants you dark side points and has an effect on your affection with your companions. Larger scale choices may leave you with a great change in your story. This is the game I've seen where choices REALLY matter.

All three games are fun an memorable. The KOTORs can be bought cheap at stores or downloaded cheap on Steam, and SW:TOR is free. Too bad a lot is sacrificed when you don't play for SW:TOR, though.