Baldur’s Gate 3 has reinvigorated interest not just in CRPGs, but in narrative-heavy choice-based games where interactions with NPCs feel like they truly matter. Larian Studios' latest undertaking isn't the first game to take this approach, but one standout you should absolutely try if you haven't already is Star Wars: The Old Republic. Despite being over 12 years old, the MMORPG is a bonafide marvel in how it manages to consider even the most minute details about your character as you interact with unique storylines and crawl through dungeons with friends.
From its story systems and choice-driven gameplay, Baldur's Gate 3 and The Old Republic share a structure and standard few narrative-based games can match, and while they may not obviously share the same lineage, they've more in common than you might think.
A chance encounter
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I ended up jumping back into the game over the holidays while cat-sitting for a friend. I took my laptop with me so I could get some work done, but felt the hankering to start up another playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. Unfortunately, my laptop wasn’t capable of running it, so I decided to look for other games to play. Dragon Age: Origins came to mind, but I played that game into the ground on release. So I instead ended up spending about an hour recovering my Star Wars: The Old Republic account, logging into several different email accounts I’ve made over the years, to eventually find my password reset link so I could download the game and give it another try. And I was hooked from the outset.
Much like Baldur’s Gate 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic is a game focused on its narrative and the choices that accompany it. The Old Republic is very much a BioWare game, but did you know it was BioWare who worked on the last mainline Baldur's Gate outing – Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, released on September 21, 2000. The Old Republic follows the now iconic BioWare formula providing players with a unique storyline based on your character’s origin or in this case starting class.
One thing players will immediately notice is the fact that you are presented with a dialogue wheel when interacting with NPCs, even major and minor characters, with alignment-based choices that even go so far as to determine your relationship with your companions (that you can romance, of course), and in some cases your appearance. While not all choices are make or break when it comes to your class-specific storyline, the way NPCs interact with you expand beyond your given role in The Old Republic.
Now, to be clear: I’m not the biggest Star Wars fan on the planet, but I do love BioWare games. This is mostly because of how intricate the Mass Effect studio's games are, and how much of their focus targets player interactions within their worlds. After firing up The Old Republic for the first time in years, I started off with a Chiss Imperial Agent which meant I would be on the side of the Sith Empire.
Generally in MMORPGs, what race or class you pick is mostly inconsequential to how you interact with the world around you, outside of a handful of instances. Final Fantasy 14 acknowledges what Job Class you started with in a quest in Stormblood; World of Warcraft quite literally has NPCs throwing rotten food at you if you play a Death Knight due to the general stigma and association to the Lich King. The Old Republic, on the other hand, has baked in these interactions in your personal class quests and even side-quests, and the fact that NPCs actually commented on my character being a Chiss in great detail reminded me of how rolling a Half-Elf in Baldur’s Gate 3 earned me some specific dialogue options with the game’s Half-Elven companion Shadowheart.
Even being an Imperial Agent colored my interactions with NPCs, with some being more guarded, in fear of being reported to the Empire. Engaging with NPCs outside of the Empire also meant that my character would completely change their dialect, solidifying their role as an Imperial spy. And again, this extends outside of your personal quests and even extends into dungeons.
The new republic
"All three of us were in awe of the amount of character-building a simple dungeon provided"
When I first restarted The Old Republic, I wanted to be the most ambitious and ruthless Inquisitor out there – meaning a lot of NPCs would likely fall to my hand, leading down a path of questionable morality. This bled into the decisions I made in dungeons – which are called Flashpoints here – with me more of than not opting for Dark Side dialogue options whenever the chance presented itself. When I ran a Flashpoint with some friends, a Sith Warrior and a Bounty Hunter, I was able to see in greater detail just what the game would acknowledge and respond to.
I won the first roll and one of the NPCs acknowledged that I was running reconnaissance for the Empire. They provided a quick breakdown of what was going on, but once our Sith Warrior won a dice roll and became the dominant voice of the party, the NPCs cadence immediately changed. They were in reverence to the Sith, showing unquestionable loyalty even as he decided to keep a prisoner alive that otherwise should have been executed.
All three of us were in awe of the amount of character-building a simple dungeon provided. It reminded me how certain choices in Baldur’s Gate 3 would ripple down through the game’s three acts to impact what NPCs you could or couldn’t interact with, or what the game would acknowledge in terms of certain narrative choices such as keeping the Tieflings alive or saving the Nightsong. The Old Republic adheres to the same logic, and like Larian’s smash hit CRPG, will see companions leave your party depending on choices you’ve made — or worse, you may end up killing them.
I wasn’t exactly in awe of Star Wars: The Old Republic when it released back in 2011, mostly because BioWare games were coming out at a relatively steady pace, and with that came the trend of choice-based gameplay. But with BioWare still whittling away at Dragon Age: Dread Wolf, and Larian Studios picking up where they left off with the Baldur’s Gate series, I’ve come to the realization that The Old Republic was actually something special. It was an ambitious take on an otherwise booming genre at the time, and if I think too hard about how the game clocks your individual choices, small or otherwise, to weave it into how your companions or major story NPCs regard you, I get a headache. It’s just so vast, and much like Baldur’s Gate 3 is completely rooted in intricate and sophisticated player choice.
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