Star Wars: The Old Republic - Knights of the Fallen Empire

 PC
User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 68 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 47 out of 68
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 68
  3. Negative: 11 out of 68

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  1. AndarneMG
    Oct 28, 2015
    7
    I'm a little ambivalent toward the story, to be honest. If you've a penchant for the cliche Bioware "chosen one" fare then it'll probably be a fun play through for you, but I've not seen any writing (so far) that strikes me as anything above the level of high budget fan fiction.

    Gameplay-wise, however, KotFE strikes a fresh nadir in SW:TOR's already checkered history. As others have    I'm a little ambivalent toward the story, to be honest. If you've a penchant for the cliche Bioware "chosen one" fare then it'll probably be a fun play through for you, but I've not seen any writing (so far) that strikes me as anything above the level of high budget fan fiction.

    Gameplay-wise, however, KotFE strikes a fresh nadir in SW:TOR's already checkered history. As others have mentioned, the ease with which you mow through mobs is now at the point where sections of gameplay between cutscenes represent the required chores necessary for accessing the actual fun.

    They've done nothing to address the game's bloated and largely homogeneous ability set this expansion; they've not done much to improve or refine the MMO side of the game and, frankly, there's little here that suggests it's anything worth returning to unless they can keep churning out more of the story at a faster rate than people can play it.    … Expand
  2. Frosty1979
    Oct 28, 2015
    5
    The story is good. Was a sure thing, but is that enough for a mmorpg? I don't think so, and besides the lack of new endgame content they totally destroyed the gameplay of Swtor with this expansion.
    What they sell as streamlining and making more convenient for players is in fact a dumbing down of the game that makes it loose any challenge outside of PVP (which is totally imbalanced as    The story is good. Was a sure thing, but is that enough for a mmorpg? I don't think so, and besides the lack of new endgame content they totally destroyed the gameplay of Swtor with this expansion.
    What they sell as streamlining and making more convenient for players is in fact a dumbing down of the game that makes it loose any challenge outside of PVP (which is totally imbalanced as always btw).

    Some (imho) weird people say they like that they never die now, no matter how bad they play. That you don't need to think at all, besides moving forward and let your companion kill everything.

    To put it into perspective how easy the game is now. There are e.g. Heroic missions meant to be challenging and be done with another player, but you easily solo them by using nothing else but your basic attack, while your god like companion (the true hero of the game) never lets your HP bar drop under 90%. In fact in normal Pve, Bioware could actually remove the health-bar, since it hardly ever will visibly drop below a 100%.

    Myself and many mature players I know can only shake our heads what Bioware was thinking by simplifying the game in such a way. Probably some EA-manager told them it would be a good idea for some reason. Personally I am convinced though, that Bioware has to do a major gameplay overhaul, if they don't want to lose all players, who want something more than an interactive movie.    … Expand
  3. Samperi
    Oct 31, 2015
    5
    Short review.
    Dumbed down combat.
    "Epic" story, where any epicness is watered down by all the training wheels and crutches thrown at you. Long review: When I first started playing SWTOR I kind of enjoyed the charater story quests. The drawback was that for an MMORPG they took it to very much to a singleplayer feel. Also the combat was way too easy for the most part. There was almost    Short review.
    Dumbed down combat.
    "Epic" story, where any epicness is watered down by all the training wheels and crutches thrown at you.

    Long review:
    When I first started playing SWTOR I kind of enjoyed the charater story quests. The drawback was that for an MMORPG they took it to very much to a singleplayer feel. Also the combat was way too easy for the most part. There was almost not any part where you had to think about how to defeat your foe. Just rush in and kill.

    Now with Knights Of The Fallen Empire, they expand on that formula. The story is so grand and epic that all the people around you feel like ants. But wait just a minute here... they are also doing the very same quest. How can anyone feel chosen if everyone is chosen? And the combat has even further been dumbed down. At certain (solo flash-)points you will be handed a Combat Support Droid. This droid is so powerful that you are not needed at all. I tried to get rid of it by pulling three groups of mobs on top of it and then backing away. Not once did it drop below 50% health. If there are Droids that can be made to assist that are this powerful, why not send out a bunch of those and leave me to relax in a spa?    … Expand
  4. Ghisallo
    Nov 1, 2015
    5
    First Story...

    promise of meaningful consequence with choices... the text makes you think it is but thus far there is NO real consequence, it is an illusion of consequence. the story itself is less than engaging. The nature would make it ideal for the JK and it's mirror to have a special story. The fact that their story is largely generic and identical to all the other classes    First Story...

    promise of meaningful consequence with choices... the text makes you think it is but thus far there is NO real consequence, it is an illusion of consequence.

    the story itself is less than engaging. The nature would make it ideal for the JK and it's mirror to have a special story. The fact that their story is largely generic and identical to all the other classes seriously damages a suspension of disbelief and also makes it difficult to feel invested in the characters

    The environments are small and on a single track. Additionally the near complete lack of side quests means that we really never get to know the new worlds we are visiting here. Additionally we don't have any real build up, as we did with the SoR prelude, to build a sense of drama and suspense.

    The companions being changed to swiss army knives also creates an issue with suspension of disbelief. I get that, as an example, some people did not like Doc, BUT what is the point of having a "Doc" or a Knight companion (etc.) if they all can do the same thing? The fact that you do not "need" a Doc to be a healer, and that something that story wise should be healer can be tank, hurts what makes a good story immersive and engaging, suspension of disbelief.

    In short from a story stand point what made the SWTOR story compelling, even in SoR when they also did not have much in the way of class specific quests, has not found it's way into KotFE.

    Next game play.

    As noted above the story follows a single track and this extends to the game play itself. What little playable content we have also has an issue with the fact that it is ridiculously easy. One f the things that adds drama to any story is when you feel a threat of losing, even if that threat is an illusion. This illusion of danger is completely lacking and so there is little to know sense of drama which simply adds to the lack of immersion and investment that accompanies this expac.

    Conclusion

    The last part about the actual game play could be overlooked IF EA/BW had delivered on what they had promised... an Epic story with real consequences for the decisions made by the players. However this promise is not delivered for any but those who would NEVER be critical of their favorite developer.

    This is troubling, imo, because the main purpose of this expac seems to be attracting new players on the coat tails of the new Movie while minimizing the loss of old players. I say troubling when you look at how they have decided to roll out the new content. First the story is incomplete and they will be releasing new chapters approximately 1 a month for 7 months and only AFTER this looking to introduce new elder game content. Well for story oriented players to stick around for Chapters 10-16 the first 9 need to be knocked out of the park. This hasn't happened. That same "out of the park" dynamic is necessary to keep people who await knew elder game as well. Now 10-12 years ago when the number of MMOs out were few and far between, where many catered to specific niches of the player base, one could fall a little short and still be financially viable, even successful, but in what is now a saturated market that has also proven to us that IP alone is not enough to ensure success, I do have some serious concerns about the success, and thus longevity, of SWTOR being a game that continues to remain vital and grow vs simply finding itself placed in maintenance mode at some point in the near to medium term.    … Expand
  5. Way
    Oct 29, 2015
    3
    The story is all fine and good, but Bioware completly abandoned all "massive multiplayer" aspect of the "MMORPG".
    I see, how expansion based entirely on the story could appeal to the new players or to the very casual part of the older swtor crowd, but it's a slap in the face for those of us, who was interested in playing MMO and not castrated version of KOTOR.
    Here is why: 1)Progression    The story is all fine and good, but Bioware completly abandoned all "massive multiplayer" aspect of the "MMORPG".
    I see, how expansion based entirely on the story could appeal to the new players or to the very casual part of the older swtor crowd, but it's a slap in the face for those of us, who was interested in playing MMO and not castrated version of KOTOR.
    Here is why:
    1)Progression Raiding — butchered by the lack of content. No new raiding content in expansion, just an cheap "leveling up" of the old ones.
    02.12.2014 they released Shadow Of Revan with 10 operation bosses, and that is all the content raiding community will get al least till spring of 2016, probably longer. Again, scaling old opses ≠ new content. RIP progression raiding.

    2)Pvp — slowly dying, by the lack of content, again. PVP and PVP mechanics always was quite decent in swtor, of course here and there was a problem with class balance, but overall it was fun, and it is ruined now.
    No open world pvp, no cross-server and no new warzones for almost two years now. All that Bioware do pvp-wise is starting new seasons of ranked pvp with a rewards of a questionable value.

    3)GSF — just abandoned. GSF could be something great, but developers seems to forgot it exists. There was some updates to GSF for a few month after it was released 2 years ago, and since then nothing, it hardly even mentioned anymore. Dead.

    There is so much more problems besides that what listed, but they focusing on 10 hours worth story content.
    I love swtor, i played it from the very start and im very sad, that me and my guild forced to move to other MMO project because here is just nothing to do, due to disinterest of the developers in MMO part of thair game. 3/10 for story.    … Expand
  6. imwithstupid
    Oct 29, 2015
    0
    The story was good! a step in the write direction, But it takes 8 hours to do it all (up to 65) then there is a bit about blowing up start forts at 65 about another 5 hours worth of content.....i pay a monthly fee for this why? why would i pay and wait for another 3 months till next chapter! that could only be an hour long? no new raids no new anything, if u dont want your game to be anThe story was good! a step in the write direction, But it takes 8 hours to do it all (up to 65) then there is a bit about blowing up start forts at 65 about another 5 hours worth of content.....i pay a monthly fee for this why? why would i pay and wait for another 3 months till next chapter! that could only be an hour long? no new raids no new anything, if u dont want your game to be an mmo anymore dont expect us to pay monthly… Expand
  7. jasleerol
    Oct 30, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Its down to personal preference if this is worth paying a subscription for, each level is kinda short from what we're used to the main story is simply awful you kick the main bad guys ass then in the cut scene you are suddenly struggling throughout all of it was screaming just let me kill this guy!! they also ripped off tales from the borderlands in having the emperor's force ghost within you. The entire time all i wanted to do (as a sith) was march straight back to the empire and destroy the fake empress they give you zero reason to care about the current events. Romance is still very lacking in my opinion to this day i haven't found anyone worth flirting with at all.… Expand
  8. helloyou22
    Oct 29, 2015
    0
    I thought this was an mmo? story has no realy choices to it, no new raids,pvp no new anything. the story is crap hate level sinc your companions are in god mode...all the people are saying this is amazing come back in a month and see if u still think the same
  9. Rystir
    Oct 29, 2015
    9
    I rate this expansion highly because it gives me what I wanted from the initial launch up until now. This game has a memorable single player experience with optional multiplayer added on. I understand completely why people who wanted an MMO experience are upset, because PVP maps and operations have not seen many recent updates while the developers focus on the new story content.

    For    I rate this expansion highly because it gives me what I wanted from the initial launch up until now. This game has a memorable single player experience with optional multiplayer added on. I understand completely why people who wanted an MMO experience are upset, because PVP maps and operations have not seen many recent updates while the developers focus on the new story content.

    For me, this is expansion is a dream come true. We're not getting eight separate class stories back, but Fallen Empire brings better storytelling, presentation, and better characterization than any previous content in the game. Frankly if the original class stories had possessed the production value of this expansion, the Old Republic would be a masterpiece. If they continue what they started here, and commit to more chapters on the same level of quality, the game for me will reach its full potential.

    Honestly, my negative comments with Fallen Empire are the same criticisms I had of the game when it launched. Why didn't you just make Knights of the Old Republic 3? For a few years now I've regularly quit this game and rejoined because I mainly play to re-experience the single player stories. I play PVP, I enjoy Galactic Starfighter, I join the occasional operation. But that has never been what brings me back. Heck outside of class stories, Galactic Strongholds is the main draw for me. Why? Because what I decorate my stronghold with helps me tell my character's story as I want it to be told without other player's interference.

    My conclusion is that this game is better now if you always wanted to play most of the content alone. However, you have to accept that playing The Old Republic like that means shelling out $15 a month to have access to the same content month after month with some periodic updates. My personal solution to that is just to quit whenever I feel like it. Sadly if large numbers of players do that, then this game will suffer for it. But again, why didn't you just make the single player game that many people wanted?    … Expand
  10. Dentface
    Oct 27, 2015
    10
    This expansion was absolutely fantastic! BioWare has systematically overhauled much of the gameplay and focused their efforts on a streamlined, easy to play, and engaging storyline. The cinematic aspects of the expansion are top-notch, with film quality animation and effects. Overall, the storyline provides a deeply engaging plot and rich characters.

    While this is by far the largest    This expansion was absolutely fantastic! BioWare has systematically overhauled much of the gameplay and focused their efforts on a streamlined, easy to play, and engaging storyline. The cinematic aspects of the expansion are top-notch, with film quality animation and effects. Overall, the storyline provides a deeply engaging plot and rich characters.

    While this is by far the largest expansion to Star Wars: The Old Republic, players should note that it is far from complete. The storyline is set to unfold like a TellTale series, with new chapters being released every month. This expansion offers the first 9 of 16 chapters, and is not intended to be complete.

    It is also important to note that is expansion is NOT focused on MMO aspects, and favors single-player RPG elements in favor of group content. There is a sense of "endgame" content after the completion of the 9 chapters, but even that content can be completed by a single player. The endgame system consists of a variety of missions to recruit new companions and a series of flashpoints (or "dungeons") that are quite similar to each other.

    While it is an expansion to an MMO, Fallen Empire's sole focus is on presenting an immersive single player role-playing experience. It more than succeeds at its goal, and is definitely worth the time of any Star Wars fan.    … Expand
  11. missey100
    Oct 27, 2015
    0
    Im giving this 6/10 only for the new story! thats realy good, But that fact is this expansion only has about 15 hours worth of content.... hit 65 after about 8 hours open up star forts and blow them up in about 5/6 hours, and then thee is Nothing (old content farm) no
  12. Leap8
    Oct 28, 2015
    10
    A Bioware single player story with meaningful choices great characters and ingame cinematics? Check.

    All in all the return to more story focused gameplay (which is the reason why many people bothered with swtor in the first place) is much appreciated. You can really tell that they have put a ton of effort into this expansion and the story is simply incredible. However i feel that for    A Bioware single player story with meaningful choices great characters and ingame cinematics? Check.

    All in all the return to more story focused gameplay (which is the reason why many people bothered with swtor in the first place) is much appreciated. You can really tell that they have put a ton of effort into this expansion and the story is simply incredible. However i feel that for regular mmo players this might be a turn off since there are not many new things to do for the "end game", new raids/ pvp battlegrounds etc.

    So if you want to play through a great bioware star wars story join up and enjoy! Especially if you are new there is more than enough content in this game to last you months and months (especially the old 8 class stories) but if you are here wanting the theme park mmo raid and grind at endgame you may want to stick to other alternatives which do it better.    … Expand
  13. nidza
    Dec 30, 2015
    10
    I'm really enjoying this expansion,the story alone warrants it a 10

    After you're done with the story the game is a 6 at best.

    Also any non lightsaber class is pretty garbage excluding powertech
  14. kyriores
    Dec 3, 2015
    3
    -Reinstalled after a long time.
    -Played for 5 minutes.
    -Clicked on 5 different icons.
    -"Buy coins" message EVERYWHERE.
    -Can't even get an additional action bar for your spells without paying.
    -Uninstalled.
  15. bluntman050
    Oct 29, 2015
    10
    Awesome expansion! If you are a lover of good story, interesting characters and environments, then you will very much enjoy this. If you are a PvP'er who doesn't care for the story, then you won't get much out of this. I for one am happy to see the evolution of this saga continue and hope it continues down this path for a long time to come! It will certainly keep me coming back.

    To the    Awesome expansion! If you are a lover of good story, interesting characters and environments, then you will very much enjoy this. If you are a PvP'er who doesn't care for the story, then you won't get much out of this. I for one am happy to see the evolution of this saga continue and hope it continues down this path for a long time to come! It will certainly keep me coming back.

    To the people giving this game an unreasonably low score.... Just go back to your dank, dark dwellings of despair. Your lives must be full of misery... it's sad really. You need to start looking for the good in things, rather than the bad and you'll find yourselves much happier people!    … Expand
  16. laldmanx23
    Oct 28, 2015
    9
    Easily the best expansion to date, the story alone makes it worth playing. The game will more than likely tail off over the next couple of months. I've conceded that swtor will always have a problem with end game. Still it's a game I just keep coming back to and it never disappoints at giving me a couple months of fun each time. It's poised to be a great backup game for the next coupleEasily the best expansion to date, the story alone makes it worth playing. The game will more than likely tail off over the next couple of months. I've conceded that swtor will always have a problem with end game. Still it's a game I just keep coming back to and it never disappoints at giving me a couple months of fun each time. It's poised to be a great backup game for the next couple of years, especially with its' upcoming periodic story content. They'll be releasing a new chapter every month starting in January and any time you resub you gain access to all the previous content.… Expand
  17. FogCityRoller
    Nov 25, 2015
    10
    This is without a doubt the best expansion to The Old Republic to date. It's not some flawless contender for GOTY, but I'm rating it as an expansion. Expansions have been a dime a dozen for the last decade. Even worse, most of the time they're hauled off as DLCs with exorbitant price tags that bully devoted players into paying more money. Some of the better highlights outside of theThis is without a doubt the best expansion to The Old Republic to date. It's not some flawless contender for GOTY, but I'm rating it as an expansion. Expansions have been a dime a dozen for the last decade. Even worse, most of the time they're hauled off as DLCs with exorbitant price tags that bully devoted players into paying more money. Some of the better highlights outside of the gameplay itself:
    -If you had an active game subscription for a period of time leading up to its release, you got it for free.
    -The development team was very interactive with the community regarding concerns about some of the strategies they wanted to employ (cartel market, companion usage)
    -Additional perks for subscribes based on how many months of active subscription prior to the release of the xpac.
    -Removed the long and unforgiving cartel pack cycling process, which helped alleviate very problematic inflation issues in the economy.

    I haven't even begun to tackle multiple class missions yet, but I'll just say that I have absolutely loved what I have seen so far. As someone who was a launch player, and left the game with my tail between my legs due to utter disappointment, this is such a breath of fresh air. I came back about six months ago and was already impressed with the improvements they made but this expansion was just a nice validation that they plan to continue putting effort into what could have been the MMO of the decade. It will never attain that prestige at this point, because when you screw up a launch you basically write your title's tombstone, but this is the best possible recover you could expect from a game, even though it literally took years.    … Expand
  18. thegimble
    Oct 31, 2015
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. WHY OHHH WHY did they not launch SWTOR as polished as this. Story wise it up their with the best MMO only issue I have this game no longer needs other people to play with. Which for me makes the game.

    If you want WOW or GW style game well this is not for you but if you want a filler until Legions then this is the best MMO to wail away the days until then. This game is aimed at RPG players who wants extra content and not just the same expansion for 6 months at a time.

    Great start but question is will it hold my attention over the next chapter.    … Expand
  19. dontadow
    Nov 3, 2015
    10
    This is has, by far, made Star Wars not only the best MMORPG out, but the most unique. If it's one thing you can say about the MMO genre, it's stagnant thanks to one successful game, World of Warcraft. Since then, every game has patterned itself after World of Warcraft with very few differences. So many games have copied the format, that the genre stopped being innovative 6 years ago inThis is has, by far, made Star Wars not only the best MMORPG out, but the most unique. If it's one thing you can say about the MMO genre, it's stagnant thanks to one successful game, World of Warcraft. Since then, every game has patterned itself after World of Warcraft with very few differences. So many games have copied the format, that the genre stopped being innovative 6 years ago in favor of adopting WOW as the definition for MMORPG. For us RPG folk who was around at the infancy of MMORPGs and thought they would involve into amazing story driven games you could play with friends, this pattern has driven many of us pure RPG fans to shun any MMORPG.

    With Empire of the Fallen it gives me hope. No, there are not any new "RAIDS" or PVP arenas, I"m sure there are plenty of bathroom stalls where those people looking for them can go and compare their junk. Instead, we're innoated with actual RPG content.... In an MMORPG. THe great thing is, it wraps itself in the MMO world. AT the end you can venture with other players and gain new resources and people . Flashpoints and Operations now matter. Not to mention you know longer have to wait around for the artificial "HOLY Trinity" . It hasn't eliminated the MMO fares thats already there, there are still plenty of zones where you share with other players. The only thing that could make this game perfect is if it adopted Guild Wars 2 grouping for larger world bosses.
    One of the best things is that the game is finally thinking about the multiplayer part. Levels will never separate you from playing with your friends, neither will story. Those two things are important and , for some reason, missing in most RPGs. You end up rushing to get to an endgame just to play with friends and then become too exhausted to continue the game for long after.
    I can't recommend this game enough. The few negative comments solidify the greatness of this expansion. The kind of gamer that has diluted the MMO world with clones and no story are angry. That should tell you everything.    … Expand
  20. Endarfin
    Nov 13, 2015
    5
    First of all, the storyline is great. up to the point where it abruptly ends...
    But losing everything you worked so hard for in the last, say, 2 to 3 years in companions and character legacy ( yes they tampered with that too) is putting a very VERY big minus on the new expansion.
    Without spoiling too much, i can say that after i played my jugg through the whole new expansion i will NOT    First of all, the storyline is great. up to the point where it abruptly ends...
    But losing everything you worked so hard for in the last, say, 2 to 3 years in companions and character legacy ( yes they tampered with that too) is putting a very VERY big minus on the new expansion.

    Without spoiling too much, i can say that after i played my jugg through the whole new expansion i will NOT do that with the rest of my characters, because you lose EVERYTHING companion and legacy related. ( heroic moment)    … Expand
  21. xxHanasaku
    Oct 31, 2015
    8
    Coming from the original SWTOR game, I found the transition to KotFE to be abrupt and disconcerting, but that's a good thing. The good points are that the new story line is engaging and I see replay value in repeating the chapters with a different character and make some different choices.

    After completing the chapters, one then arrives at the standard "MMORPG grind". At least early    Coming from the original SWTOR game, I found the transition to KotFE to be abrupt and disconcerting, but that's a good thing. The good points are that the new story line is engaging and I see replay value in repeating the chapters with a different character and make some different choices.

    After completing the chapters, one then arrives at the standard "MMORPG grind". At least early on, this grind is not so much about gear and raids as it about building your Alliance, so much so that they could have named this game "SWTOR: Inquisition". However the new "grind" is a lot more light weight; much of it is soloable or involving one or two other players.

    For those who like end-game content such as raids/operations, I have not seen any new content (but I'm not a big fan of that aspect of MMOs). As far as I can tell, the game did not add any new flashpoints or PvP content either. But the "space opera" story line is fun and the new companions are good company, so I am interested in seeing where this goes.

    My biggest complaint about this game is with a style of game play that is epidemic throughout the game: move 10 feet, kill 3 critters; move 10 feet, kill three critters: move 10 feet, kill 3 critters. Early on, this style of game play may be helpful to someone who created a level 60 character (gotta learn how to use those shiny, new abilities), but this style of game does not make for particularly enjoyable story telling or game play.

    Overall, this expansion will improve the game but it will take some time to see many of those improvements. If you like RPGs, this game is worth checking out. If you like MMOs with a heavy dose of "end game content", the current raiding content has been releveled for the increased class level but there isn't anything new.    … Expand
  22. Scorlos_Tarlac
    Nov 1, 2015
    8
    After spending multiple hours on this expansion I can see that Bioware is taking a step in the right direction. Knights of the fallen empire looks and feels like a Bioware RPG. Even if it feels like i'm playing a Bioware RPG the combat still feels mildly bland. Over all I feel like Bioware put lots of time into this expansion, but the combat is still very bland.
  23. Ansatsu83
    Aug 4, 2016
    8
    I have always preferred swtor over wow for one reason. It makes you feel powerful. The story makes you feel like you have changed the galaxy to an extent. It makes you feel unique as well. Along with the character customizations and story, the game actually has balanced mechanics. There is very little imbalance, so if you are a pvper, this is your dream game. I will warn you, if you do notI have always preferred swtor over wow for one reason. It makes you feel powerful. The story makes you feel like you have changed the galaxy to an extent. It makes you feel unique as well. Along with the character customizations and story, the game actually has balanced mechanics. There is very little imbalance, so if you are a pvper, this is your dream game. I will warn you, if you do not have a subscription, your enjoyment will not be as favorable as a subscriber. They really screw over f2p players.

    The latest expansion, kotfe, improves upon everything I mentioned above. Your choices actually do matter as you can permanently lose companions if you make poor choices. They fixed what the game was missing and what was broken in the initial release in the past two xpacks... This is quite possibly the best mmo ive played so far. WoW is terrible compared to this.    … Expand
  24. Broll
    Nov 6, 2015
    5
    The Good:
    - New story is quite good, but not fantastic. A lot of rehashed old tropes and not as good as many of the original class stories, but it's worth a play or two. It's certainly not worth 8 plays with it being the same for all 8 classes (more on that later).
    - The modifications to companions was good IMO. I like the ability to set the role of a companion so you can play with    The Good:
    - New story is quite good, but not fantastic. A lot of rehashed old tropes and not as good as many of the original class stories, but it's worth a play or two. It's certainly not worth 8 plays with it being the same for all 8 classes (more on that later).
    - The modifications to companions was good IMO. I like the ability to set the role of a companion so you can play with the one you like. On top of this the ability to pick from a wide array of companions is a nice touch.

    The Bad:
    - Consequences still don't seem to matter. There are some minor inconsequential differences and 1 potential future companion you can choose to kill, but in 9 chapters the choices really didn't matter. It's possible they might in a later but, I'm not optimistic. As Heskal said "Choice is an illusion" and this game is the master of that. This wouldn't be that big of a deal if they didn't make such a big PR campaign that they would. We were lied to, again...
    - Almost the entirety of the 1-9 chapter story is instanced, I don't even think you can choose to play with friend. They basically shoe horned a single player RPG (and a mediocre one at that) on top of the MMO they had.
    - Almost no new end game content, there's a new flashpoint-like instance that even in 'Heroic 2+' mode can be easily soloed, the rest is just recycled content.
    - The combat is so dumbed down that it's boring. I literally thing a cat could finish chapter 1-9 in 7-10 hours by just randomly flopping on the keyboard. I never died or even felt close to dying. The kotfe story was basically watch 1 hr of cinema with like 3 choices in it that don't matter, faceroll the keyboard for 5-25 minutes, rinse and repeat.
    - It's short. On my first play through I got to chapter 9 in about 7 hours, that was the first play through, it gets quicker once you realize that bonus missions don't matter at all and neither do your choices so you just pick for speed.
    - Almost no replayabilty. I had this issue with every expansion this game has released. There's no reason to play it on all 8 classes because there's no difference. I found my self getting bored by my second play through. On my third I've got Netflix up and am barely looking at the actual game. The only reason I'm continuing to play is to see a few more of the options and to have multiple characters ready in case choices do start mattering later in the story (but it's not likely).

    This would have been an OK single player RPG to launch as a $50 spin off game. As an MMO with a subscription, it's not worth it. Most likely I will level through 8 characters, cancel my sub, then wait until 16 is released to sub again, if I even bother. I may just watch the videos on youtube because that's really all the content is, just watching videos. It's pretty disappointing what the game has become... They need to either chose once and for single player RPG or MMO, not both. Cut your losses on one side and reform your strategy. However if you do decide on single player RPG don't ask people to sub for it, because that's ridiculous. Make each 'expansion' it's own stand alone game and charge $50 a pop.    … Expand
  25. Markavenos
    Nov 29, 2015
    7
    This will be a long spoiler-free review, but a detailed one.

    To make one thing clear about this expansion, this is truly what BioWare said they were doing when they announced it. A return to the storytelling roots of BioWare, no doubt there. If you have ever wanted to play an MMO with true story telling, single-player-like conversations with choices and voice acting, this expansion    This will be a long spoiler-free review, but a detailed one.

    To make one thing clear about this expansion, this is truly what BioWare said they were doing when they announced it. A return to the storytelling roots of BioWare, no doubt there. If you have ever wanted to play an MMO with true story telling, single-player-like conversations with choices and voice acting, this expansion (even the vanilla game) is right for you.

    However, while the overall 9 chapters so far has been great in terms of story, they really dulled the game a lot. Coming back to the game since 2013, this expansion made the game far too easy now, companions can heal you, do dps for you or even tank for you. Heroic 2+ is not really Heroic anymore, as with a companion and maybe 2-3 levels above the initial level for the Heroic 2+, it's like taking a walk in the park. I remember when you had to actually pay attention to bosses AOE attacks, their heavy attacks, their adds, when Kolto's was your true friend during boss fights.

    Making new players to the game feel almost immortal having a companion with them, not having to pay much attention to gear, rating of the gear, their combat tactics and etc, will quickly shoot them down from their "immortal" feeling once they try them selfs in PvP. The game does not challenge you in PvE anymore except from Operations and Hard Mode Flashpoint's, where group communication and good gear is required (depending on the rest of the group). Then, BioWare released a patch bringing the healing and dps down for companions, players wanted to leave the game, so BioWare had to bring the healing and dps done by companions up again which made me shake my head.

    But away from the companions, I feel BioWare is also doing something really bad for new subscribing players to the game, those that has not played vanilla, Hutt Cartel or Shadow of Revan, miss out on alot of story content by giving all new subscribers a free level 60 token, where you can create a new character at level 60, putting you right into the new expansion. Those players will not see how the game got there, you will not know your previous choices in the game in terms of dialogue and decisions or have any connections to the original companions neither the new companions. None of the previous expansions or the vanilla class story can be revisited once you created your level 60 character except from Hutt Cartel. Encourage new players to play from level 1-60 instead, If you offer a brand new player a quick pass to almost max level, most of them will grab it, having no clue on how to play their class, what stats they need, what gear they need or what skills to use.

    Overall, SWTOR is still one of my personal best MMORPG's that puts you in your own story, where you decide how things turn out. The game is still fun, they encourage group play while it is the most possible to play alone, especially with the overpowered companions now. If you want to immerse your self in this game, experience a good piece of story telling, start at level 1, get a feel of the game, get to level 60 by doing the class story and the expansions and save your self from spoiling the previous storylines from a brand new level 60 character as a brand new player. Just my advise if you want things to make sense and piece it together. If you don't care about story however, feel free to start at level 60 as a subscriber.

    I give it:

    9/10 for the story in this expansion
    6/10 for the immortal factor put in the game now with the companions
    8/10 for the overall game it self.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. IGN
    Dec 10, 2015
    65
    Knights of the Fallen Empire represents the pinnacle of this troubled MMORPG's storytelling prowess, but unfortunately its other elements fall short. The overly easy combat is a sad shadow of what Star Wars: The Old Republic has offered in the past, and the endgame leans too much on recycled content and samey instances.
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  2. GameCrate
    Oct 28, 2015
    80
    Whether the game is worth six months of subscription fees will be a different decision for everybody, but it's clear that Knights of the Fallen Empire is a worthy chapter in the history of Star Wars.
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