Star Wars: The Old Republic

Star Wars: The Old Republic does stumble in a few key areas, most notably in its side content and core combat loop. Side quests fall firmly into classic MMO territory — fetch-and-carry tasks, kill objectives, and filler content that offers little in the way of meaningful rewards or narrative depth. Even when levelling, I rarely found a reason to engage with them, as simply progressing through an Origin Story provides more than enough experience. If you do need a boost, running a Flashpoint via the group finder is far more efficient and engaging.

Flashpoints themselves — the game’s dungeons and raids — are a mixed experience. They often feature genuinely interesting stories and set-pieces and are great fun when played with friends. However, when grouped with random players, the narrative is usually skipped entirely, with groups sprinting through content as fast as possible. This leaves story-focused players with an awkward choice: solo the Flashpoint in story mode with a powerful droid companion that removes most of the challenge, or rely on friends to experience the content as intended. It’s an unfortunate compromise for a game that places such emphasis on storytelling.

Combat is another weak point. SWTOR uses a traditional tab-target MMO system that will feel very familiar to anyone who has played similar games — cycling through abilities in a set rotation until the fight is over. It becomes repetitive quickly, and I found myself gravitating toward stealth-based classes simply to bypass as much combat as possible. When players actively try to avoid a core system, it’s a sign that it lacks depth or engagement.

The game has improved its presentation with the addition of the Outfitter system, allowing players to customise their appearance independently of their equipped gear — a very welcome quality-of-life feature. Unfortunately, the most visually striking outfits are largely locked behind the Cartel Market. Many updates focus heavily on new cosmetic items rather than playable content, and at times it feels as though shop updates are the headline feature of a patch. That said, SWTOR is free to play, and ongoing monetisation is clearly how the developers keep the game running.