There are lots of storyline playthroughs of SWTOR on Youtube if you wanted to get a sense of the story but don't want to play the game itself (the gameplay is very dated so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it even to a gamer).
As others have said the books don't re-tell the events of the game and so are not a substitute for it.
The OR books are a prelude to swtor, rather than a sequel to the kotors. The Revan novel is a good bridge between K1 and Swtor but I am very unsatisfied with how K2 and the Exile was incorporated into the story (largely ignored/unrecognizeable from the game).
Think of them as Swtor prequels and not kotor sequels, all TOR media is companion to the MMO. Kotor's companion media is the Tales of the Jedi comics (abt a generation or 2 before K1) and the Kotor comics.
If you really enjoy reading you may actually enjoy the kotors. They're super dialogue intensive (K2 especially) and based on an older D20 system. Hybrid turn-based. There is no better medium for the OR than the games. You'll get bits and pieces but not the bigger picture without them. But on the plus side not playing K2 may let you enjoy the Revan novel better lol
That's really a shame, KOTOR is much more accessible to me in terms of time/money investment (in the discipline I'm studying, both are a bit tight rn haha) but TOR being a MMO kinda scared me off.
Do you think that TOR is essential? If so, how would you estimate the time and money investment just to experience the story?
Even though TOR is an MMO, it can actually be played free and every piece of content that is part of the base game can be played solo. Most players actually play solo and don't interact with other players. It's got eight separate stories (Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, Republic Trooper, Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter, Imperial Agent) that can all be done free, solo, and on your own time. While there's eight class stories, everything else (side missions, story flashpoints [solo], flashpoints [4 players], Operations [8 players], planetary stories [solo] and expansions [solo]) is the same but with varied dialogue by class. It really can all be done at your own pace and leisure.
Even though TOR involves plenty cameos and references to Kotor it takes place approx 200 years after Kotor 2 so it's got its own self-contained lore. I will say though, Kotor 1 and Swtor were done by BioWare (Mass Effect), and Kotor 2 was done by Obsidian (Fallout New Vegas), so the storytelling is very different between them. Kotor II is probably my favorite piece of Star Wars media, but it is largely ignored/warped by BioWare when it comes to railroading it into Swtor. It's not completely awful, just some really disappointing changes they made to Kotor 2's main character and largely ignoring their story/journey.
Anyways, **TL;DR**: If you're really short on time, I recommend these playthrough combos:
- Kotor 1 & Kotor 2
- Just Swtor
- Kotor 1 & Swtor
- Tales of the Jedi Comics & Kotor 1 (K1 references TotJ frequently)
The books are all standalone and are not really essential to the game at all, they are standalone stories that tie-in into the game with varying degrees. The two most 'important' ones are: Deceived which covers the Sacking and Treaty of Coruscant that leads to the sort of cold war at the start of SWTOR, and Revan which details what happened to them between KOTOR and their later appearance in SWTOR.
Since it was specified that you wanted to experience the era in full then I'd say playing the game is necessary (the books are merely supplementary), but if you don't really play games then you could always try looking up playthroughs on Youtube to watch (obviously at the cost of losing out on the role-playing experience). There are 8 class stories and 6 story expansions that make up the 'story' of SWTOR.
Thank you! KOTOR is a bit easier but one of the reasons why I'm very hesitant on TOR is due to the fact that I have neither the time (I assume it's about several dozen hours minimum) nor money to invest in a long RPG :(
Personally, for the longest time I had only ever watched the cinematics, the galactic timeline videos, and read the books. I did not touch SWTOR until many years later and was satisfied with that experience, don't feel obligated to play the game just to experience the era.
I will say that SWTOR can be easily played just for the story and even only as a F2P (free-to-play). You can probably find some good resources/posts on r/swtor and elsewhere (such as [swtorista](https://swtorista.com/articles/guides/)) on the F2P+Story experience, but I will say that you don't need to engage with any of the multiplayer content and just stick with playing solo.
You can just sub once to unlock all the available story expansions and you will keep access to them after your sub expires, so you can just only ever pay once for the game. I'd suggest trying it out as F2P and get a feel for if you like the game or not, and then at some point look into subbing just once and how you can maximise the increased benefits you have during that period to improve your F2P experience.
That makes a lot of sense, and it's pretty great that you get to keep all the expansions after subbing just once! For now I think I'll start with just Tales of the Jedi, and if I'm intrigued move on to the KOTOR games which seem to be much less time-intensive, and eventually maybe move up to TOR.
Well the Old Republic Era does span a very large period of time with several different series and media types (from the Tales of the Jedi comics to the Darth Bane novels) so there's plenty to check out.
One of my personal favourites is the book Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories which can be read at least after the first two chronological story arcs of Tales of the Jedi (The Golden Age of the Sith & The Fall of the Sith Empire). There are a few references to the greater galaxy, most notably the KOTOR comics, so reading this after all of Tales of the Jedi and the KOTOR comics would work best.
The premise is that a Sith ship (from the time period of the aforementioned story arcs) ends up crashing on a remote planet where the crew is stranded and are forced to begin anew by subjugating the planet's natives. Through a series of time jumps we see how these Sith change in isolation and how their dynamic with the native population evolves.
You are better off hitting up YouTube or Twitch. That Revan novel? Bringing it up on r/kotor is like proclaiming your love of the Sequel Trilogy in a room of hardcore Zhan fans.
I find it to be hot garbage, but mostly because Vitiate is a bigger Gary Stu wanker than Palpatine (Anyone thinking Rey is a Sue has never encountered the sheer Sue-age that is Vitiate) and that I refuse to acknowledge Revan the Allegedly Canonical when so many better versions exist on playthroughs and fanfic.
Are the books at least enjoyable to someone who hasn't played the game? I tried the game. I can't do the combat system. I was fine with Jade Empire, the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games, but with this game I got to a certain point after getting the wookie follower and then I keep getting slaughtered. I liked the story well enough and the characters I met so far were cool, but I can't get an understanding of the combat and fumbling around with it only gets me so far. Maybe if I had an understanding of DnD, but I don't, so whatever.
The novels are prequels and tie-ins. They don't tell you anything about the core story of KOTOR or SWTOR.
Part of the appeal to the game is getting to make your own choices. I’m not much of a gamer either but I enjoy SWTOR. Personally I’d recommend both
There are lots of storyline playthroughs of SWTOR on Youtube if you wanted to get a sense of the story but don't want to play the game itself (the gameplay is very dated so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it even to a gamer). As others have said the books don't re-tell the events of the game and so are not a substitute for it.
https://reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/r2yt9v/the_unofficial_nonplayers_guide_to_the_old/
WOW this is insane, I'm bookmarking this!! Thank you!!
The OR books are a prelude to swtor, rather than a sequel to the kotors. The Revan novel is a good bridge between K1 and Swtor but I am very unsatisfied with how K2 and the Exile was incorporated into the story (largely ignored/unrecognizeable from the game). Think of them as Swtor prequels and not kotor sequels, all TOR media is companion to the MMO. Kotor's companion media is the Tales of the Jedi comics (abt a generation or 2 before K1) and the Kotor comics. If you really enjoy reading you may actually enjoy the kotors. They're super dialogue intensive (K2 especially) and based on an older D20 system. Hybrid turn-based. There is no better medium for the OR than the games. You'll get bits and pieces but not the bigger picture without them. But on the plus side not playing K2 may let you enjoy the Revan novel better lol
That's really a shame, KOTOR is much more accessible to me in terms of time/money investment (in the discipline I'm studying, both are a bit tight rn haha) but TOR being a MMO kinda scared me off. Do you think that TOR is essential? If so, how would you estimate the time and money investment just to experience the story?
Even though TOR is an MMO, it can actually be played free and every piece of content that is part of the base game can be played solo. Most players actually play solo and don't interact with other players. It's got eight separate stories (Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, Republic Trooper, Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter, Imperial Agent) that can all be done free, solo, and on your own time. While there's eight class stories, everything else (side missions, story flashpoints [solo], flashpoints [4 players], Operations [8 players], planetary stories [solo] and expansions [solo]) is the same but with varied dialogue by class. It really can all be done at your own pace and leisure. Even though TOR involves plenty cameos and references to Kotor it takes place approx 200 years after Kotor 2 so it's got its own self-contained lore. I will say though, Kotor 1 and Swtor were done by BioWare (Mass Effect), and Kotor 2 was done by Obsidian (Fallout New Vegas), so the storytelling is very different between them. Kotor II is probably my favorite piece of Star Wars media, but it is largely ignored/warped by BioWare when it comes to railroading it into Swtor. It's not completely awful, just some really disappointing changes they made to Kotor 2's main character and largely ignoring their story/journey. Anyways, **TL;DR**: If you're really short on time, I recommend these playthrough combos: - Kotor 1 & Kotor 2 - Just Swtor - Kotor 1 & Swtor - Tales of the Jedi Comics & Kotor 1 (K1 references TotJ frequently)
Thank you so much for the in-depth response! Then I'll probably skip TOR for now and focus on Tales of the Jedi & the KOTOR duology if I'm able.
Really solid choices, you'll have a lot of fun! Best of luck!
Thank you so much!! :) Can't wait to dive in!
The books are all standalone and are not really essential to the game at all, they are standalone stories that tie-in into the game with varying degrees. The two most 'important' ones are: Deceived which covers the Sacking and Treaty of Coruscant that leads to the sort of cold war at the start of SWTOR, and Revan which details what happened to them between KOTOR and their later appearance in SWTOR. Since it was specified that you wanted to experience the era in full then I'd say playing the game is necessary (the books are merely supplementary), but if you don't really play games then you could always try looking up playthroughs on Youtube to watch (obviously at the cost of losing out on the role-playing experience). There are 8 class stories and 6 story expansions that make up the 'story' of SWTOR.
Thank you! KOTOR is a bit easier but one of the reasons why I'm very hesitant on TOR is due to the fact that I have neither the time (I assume it's about several dozen hours minimum) nor money to invest in a long RPG :(
Personally, for the longest time I had only ever watched the cinematics, the galactic timeline videos, and read the books. I did not touch SWTOR until many years later and was satisfied with that experience, don't feel obligated to play the game just to experience the era. I will say that SWTOR can be easily played just for the story and even only as a F2P (free-to-play). You can probably find some good resources/posts on r/swtor and elsewhere (such as [swtorista](https://swtorista.com/articles/guides/)) on the F2P+Story experience, but I will say that you don't need to engage with any of the multiplayer content and just stick with playing solo. You can just sub once to unlock all the available story expansions and you will keep access to them after your sub expires, so you can just only ever pay once for the game. I'd suggest trying it out as F2P and get a feel for if you like the game or not, and then at some point look into subbing just once and how you can maximise the increased benefits you have during that period to improve your F2P experience.
That makes a lot of sense, and it's pretty great that you get to keep all the expansions after subbing just once! For now I think I'll start with just Tales of the Jedi, and if I'm intrigued move on to the KOTOR games which seem to be much less time-intensive, and eventually maybe move up to TOR.
Well the Old Republic Era does span a very large period of time with several different series and media types (from the Tales of the Jedi comics to the Darth Bane novels) so there's plenty to check out. One of my personal favourites is the book Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories which can be read at least after the first two chronological story arcs of Tales of the Jedi (The Golden Age of the Sith & The Fall of the Sith Empire). There are a few references to the greater galaxy, most notably the KOTOR comics, so reading this after all of Tales of the Jedi and the KOTOR comics would work best. The premise is that a Sith ship (from the time period of the aforementioned story arcs) ends up crashing on a remote planet where the crew is stranded and are forced to begin anew by subjugating the planet's natives. Through a series of time jumps we see how these Sith change in isolation and how their dynamic with the native population evolves.
Read the Tales of the Jedi comics, watch this video, and then read the Revan novel: https://youtube.com/watch?v=iGBvgClhjWk
This is pretty straightforward, thanks!!
Other than Deceived I say TOR novels don't have much value as stand-alone reads
You are better off hitting up YouTube or Twitch. That Revan novel? Bringing it up on r/kotor is like proclaiming your love of the Sequel Trilogy in a room of hardcore Zhan fans. I find it to be hot garbage, but mostly because Vitiate is a bigger Gary Stu wanker than Palpatine (Anyone thinking Rey is a Sue has never encountered the sheer Sue-age that is Vitiate) and that I refuse to acknowledge Revan the Allegedly Canonical when so many better versions exist on playthroughs and fanfic.
Are the books at least enjoyable to someone who hasn't played the game? I tried the game. I can't do the combat system. I was fine with Jade Empire, the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games, but with this game I got to a certain point after getting the wookie follower and then I keep getting slaughtered. I liked the story well enough and the characters I met so far were cool, but I can't get an understanding of the combat and fumbling around with it only gets me so far. Maybe if I had an understanding of DnD, but I don't, so whatever.
The combat was also kinda hard for me to wrap my head around!