Today the KOTOR series is commonly considered among the best PC games of all time, but for much of desktop PC's gaming history game titles that included the word "star wars" in them were almost guaranteed to be garbage. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic was released in 2003, and followed two years later by Kotor 2: Sith Lords. What set this game apart from other PC RPG games of the time was its open ended story that had numerous branches and choices the player could make to effect how the story unfolded. This morality system had been done in previous games to some extent or another, but Kotor improved upon the basics and really put a spotlight on the potential of this type of RPG game. I recently compiled what I consider to be the best PC games of this open ended morality genre; where the player can be good or evil and impact the outcome of the game. You can see other games that made the list by following the link above.

One of the most important features found in the best Role Playing games is a compelling story, and the story of both Kotor, and the later Sith Lords game are as good as they come. Characters from the first game (and earlier star wars games) are referred to throughout Kotor 2, and the stories of both Kotor games are strongly connected. While I would recommend playing both games to any RPG fan, it is not at all required and Kotor 2 is just as enjoyable if it is the first game in the series you play.

In addition to the superb story, the characters you meet along the way are all and unique and the overall voice acting is great. Learning about and interacting with all the characters, both those you are hunting and the members who join your party throughout the story, is very interesting and doesn't seemed like forced dialog. The character back stories and personalities are all well written and leave you wanting to know more about them.

In both Knights game you are free to make choices throughout the game and take either a good (light side) or evil (dark side) approach to the game.  Doing so will give you unique quests, new dialog, and open up alternate endings; all of which adds considerably to the replay value of these games.  The combat uses the D&D style classic Role Playing formulas.  If you have played the Neverwinter or Fallout series then you know this system already.  Spells are replaced with Force powers, and everything is controlled by a well balanced system which uses your characters physical/mental attributes to determine most outcomes.

There is also plenty of bonus content and unlockables within both Kotor, and the Sith Lords sequel.  One such bonus is gotten by improving relations with your party members.  Being full dark or light side will naturally make you more or less liked by certain party members; and in most cases make it impossible to get certain party members to like you.  This means to see everything you will need to play through the game multiple times, which in the case of Kotor is certainly a welcome thing.  Also, without giving too much away, it is worth knowing that there are very distinct and interesting paths and options for both light and dark side players.  Not only in the ending, but in numerous scenes leading up to the climax.

To truly appreciate the games appeal you really have to play it; and if you are an RPG fan who hasn't played either of these titles yet, you will not regret doing so. The dedicated KOTOR community are still releasing user modifications and "unofficial patches" and such a level of interest in a game years after its release should speak volumes as to why this is widely considered near the top of all best PC games lists.

If you do decide to start with the original Knights game, I strongly suggest reading into the recently finished "Brotherhood of Shadow: Solomon's Revenge" user modification. This is not really a mod in the traditional sense, but more like a user made expansion pack which allows you to play through the entire game without missing any of the original story; and adding additional levels and characters created by the mod team. This is one of the highest quality mods you will find for any game, it includes full voice acting and is comparable to the quality of content found in the original game; which was superb. Kotor was released in 2003, and the final Brotherhood of Shadow version just came out a couple months ago (2009), that development period should give you an idea of the quality contained within it.

You can read about this mod in more detail on the lucas forums, or on the official Silveredge9 site where the download files are hosted.