Revisiting a Classic:

"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"

- Part 4 of 11 -

Kashyyyk

Hey fellow Hivers! Here we are again with the fifth installment of my "Revisiting a Classic" series on 2003's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, also known as KOTOR.

For anyone reading this "Revisiting a Classic" series for the first time, here are links to my previous KOTOR Hive Gaming posts:

Part 1 of 11 - Endar Spine

Part 1.5 of 11 - Steam's KOTOR Mods

Part 2 of 11 - Taris

Part 3 of 11 - Dantooine

On the last post my Scout-Consular character Varen Thard became a Jedi again (Jedi From the Start mod) on the planet Dantooine after reciting Jedi mantra, making a few spare lightsabers, saving a cat Jedi-woman from the Dark Side, exterminating local Mandalorian Raiders, semi-settling a feud between the two rich Sandral and Matale families, and discovering a piece of the Star Forge Map in some old ruins that Sith-Lord Darth Revan and his friend apprentice Darth Malak visited in the past. Once that was done, the Jedi Council asked me to look for other pieces of the Star Forge Map on the worlds Revan and Malak were rumored to have visited: Kashyyyk, Tattooine, Manaan, and Korriban -- so off we went!

And it wouldn't really feel like Star Wars game without a light-speed hyperdrive scene from the cockpit of a spaceship.

I liked that bounty-hunter Calo Nord survived the Sith's bombardment of the planet Taris. Calo's character felt like a running gag that would've ended too early if we didn't see him again.

Once a cut-scene revealing bounty-hunter Calo Nord's survival finishes, I picked the planet Kashyyyk as my next destination because there's a Jedi character there that I really wanted to add to my team but also because he triggers an interesting quest on a future destination, the planet Manaan, later. Plus, it's the Wookie planet and in the past I've played Dark Side and helped teh Czerka Corporation ruin their lives but this time--I'm the good guy and I'm going to do good guy stuff!

One of the interesting things about the adventure in Kashyyyk is that it appears to always be nighttime due to our quests taking place beneath their planet's dense canopy of colossal trees.

Even when it comes time for the Ebon Hawk spaceship to land at the Czerka Company landing-bay, the vessel must descend through what looks like a tangled nest of branches.

Without spoiling too much, I have to say that Kashyyyk is my favorite planet so far and that I enjoyed the side quests and the main quests here a lot more than the previous adventures.

After landing on Kashyyyk, I found out we had a stowaway onboard the Ebon Hawk from Dantooine: a little girl who spoke another language. It was really strange to see her since, unlike Taris, there had been no children on Dantooine but I did remember a Twi'lek man asking about his master's missing child so I made a mental note to fly back to Dantooine and drop her off once I was finished with Kashyyyk.

But that's for another time -- let's dive in to my Scout-Consular Varen's adventures in Wookie Land!

Wookies from Star Wars Legos.

Side Quests on Kashykk

Honest Debt - Eli & Matton

Here we have standing at the bridge to the Czerka Office on Kashyyyk: Matton, Eli, and my Scout-Consular Varen.

At the docking bay Kashyyyk, I used Force Persuade to avoid paying the docking fee which didn't penalize me with Dark Side Points this time, which was odd. Asking for a free droid on Taris is bad, but asking for free spaceship-parking is okay? Anyway, I talked to some nearby Czerka workers about Taris being scorched by the Sith, and then after ran into a pair of dudes up the ramp from the Czerka Office. It appears Matton owes Eli money because supposedly Matton's friends skipped out on paying Eli and abandoned him on Kashyyyk, which sound very not cool. But Eli was a bit of a shifty character so we got a quest to keep our eyes peeled for anything related to his and Matton's situation.

Voice records on a damaged droid revealing Eli lied about Matton's crew mates stranding on Kashyyyk with their unpaid debt.

It wasn't a surprise to find out that Eli had double-crossed Matton and his crew by killing them and lying about it to Matton, so he could basically get a free human slave. After bringing back his crew's droid-head so Matton could learn the truth, I was very tempted to pick the dialogue option that encouraged Eli to avenge his friends right then and there and kill him but I did the good guy thing and basically told Matton that two wrongs don't make a right. Perhaps I chose this option because the wording for slaying Eli didn't feel subtle enough and I was surprised Matton wasn't smart enough to figure out this information by himself. Silver lining: I still had access to their store but by that time there was nothing there that I needed.

I wanted to tell Matton to avenge his friends by taking out Eli but it just didn't feel right in the moment and I couldn't see my character Varen encouraging that type of behavior from a stranger.

Lena - Mission's brother Griff's Girlfriend

My character Varen and Lena -- Mission's brother Griff's ex-girlfriend.

While running around on the wooden walkways of Kashyyyk, I had Zaalbar and and Mission in my party because we were on a Wookie planet and Zaalbar's a Wookie but also I included Mission because they're buddies. Anyway, we ran into a yellow Twi'lek woman who happened to be Mission's brother's ex-girlfriend. Apparently, Mission thinks Lena persuaded her brother Griff to abandon her on Taris but Lena -- the ex girlfriend -- claims she asked Griff to bring Mission but he thought his sister would hold him back and left her. While Mission is a part of my crew, I also felt like Griff wasn't here to defend himself so I tried to stay neutral. Lena tells us that last time she saw Griff, he blamed her for his gambling debts, broke up with her, and ran off to try scam money out of the Czerka Company on Tattooine. So I got a new side quest to help Mission find her brother on Tattooine later. You know what they say about family: if they ditch you on Taris, you end up looking for them on Tattooine lol.

The Lost Wookie - Find Rorworr for Woorwill

Varen learning of Rorworr's disappearance from Woorwill

This wasn't the most engaging quest and I feel like it could've been expanded a bit. Basically, it's about a popular Wookie named Rorworr who was secretly selling other Wookies to the Czerka Company. I'm not sure if he was doing this before or after Zaalbar's brother Chundar was doing it, or whether or not he was also getting machines and weapons in exchange. It felt like a missed opportunity to show how Chundar's example had corrupted certain members of the tribe, into selling out their own out of fear, or for exotic goods. Anyway, when I found Rorrworr's dead body and evidence of his crimes, another Wookie tried to take the blame because he said it would be bad if a Wookie so many others looked up to was ,b>revealed as a traitor but I stood firm and had him reveal the truth: that even the most respected of the Wookies was capable of secret treachery.

My character Varen stopping Jarak from sacrificing himself to protect the truth about the respected Rrowrr's crimes being revealed: he was selling his own kind to the Czerka Company, just like Chundar.

Mandalorians in the Shadows - Grrrwahrr's Plea for Justice

Wookie Grrwahhr defeating a Mandalorian

This is probably my favorite side quest so far in the game, even more so than the side quests on Taris and Dantooine. This starts with you finding some Mandalorians surrounding a Wookie that's dueling one of the Mandos. The Wookie, named Grrwahr, wins but the other Mandalorians try to avenge their friend by ganging up on the Wookie. Without hesitation, my Scout-Consular character Varen and his crew went to the Wookie's aid: force-choking, sniping, light-sabering, and tossing grenades at those cowardly Mandalorians.

Mobbing the last Mandalorian from the first group with my crew's three lightsaber-wielding Jedi.

After rescuing the Wookie Grwahhr, he asks us to heal him which I do and then asks that we avenge his fallen comrades who were ambushed by the Mandalorians who only attacked when the Wookies had disarmed themselves and stopped to make camp. In order, to hunt down these Mandalorians, you have to find the dead bodies of each of Grwahhr's friends and then remove every party-member's weapons. This activates a cut scene in which the Mandalorians ambush you by switching off their invisibility-devices to reveal themselves for attack.

One of the reasons I was a big fan of Kashyyyk was that I liked how the Mandalorians I was fighting were an upgrade to those on Dantooine: having the invisibility gear and a much more cinematic entrance.

I also liked how after defeating each group you get a data pad that shows some of the Mandalorians in this hunting party disagreed with their own tactics, finding them dishonorable and unfair, but the leader bullies them all into obeying -- which was a little funny. I guess even Mandalorians aren't immune to peer pressure.

Since these Mandalorians couldn't rise above peer-pressure, Jolee and Varen aided these bounty-hunters with the power of the Force.

But since these Mandalorians had decided to keep ambushing these helpless Wookies, the Force itself had called my character Varen and his party to Kashyyyk to punish the armored evil-doers ... because this is the way.

The Mandalorian hunting-party leader shows up.

Just when we thought it'd be an easy fight ... he calls back up.

Jolee & Juhani mad I stole their kill haha

Main Quests on Kashykk

Wookie Chief - Chundar

Before we see Chundar we go to the Czerka Office on Kashyyyk. If you look to the right of the Ithorian (green flat-headed alien) you'll see a Wookie in a ground cage.

Upon arriving on Kashyyyk, Mission's Wookie friend Zaalbar explains that he's been exiled from his home for twenty years for attacking his brother who was selling their species to the Czerka company. Labeled a "mad-claw," because he committed the taboo of using his claws as weapons, Zaalbar was forsaken by his own father and hasn't been home since. Returning to Kashyyyk is painful for him because of the shame he feels, but also the pain of seeing the continued enslavement of his brothers and sisters.

Ever the optimist, my character Varen Thard tells Zaalbar that it's been a long time and maybe the Wookie people will welcome him home with open arms. So we set out to go find Zaalbar's Wookie village but run into a Dark Jedi and some Sith Assassins who claim Darth Malak was very upset to learn that we'd survived Taris's bombardment -- and that there was a great reward for our capture or death.

In this play-through, this is the first time my character Varen's been thrown back on his butt by an enemy Force-push, which was a bit of a surprise. My current wisdom stat level should prevent this ... but I guess it's still not high enough yet haha.

After defeating the Dark Jedi and Sith Assassins, my Scout-Consular Varen Thard met the guard to Zaalbar's Wookie Village. Zaalbar was apprehended as a Wookie criminal and my crew is taken to meet their leader, Zaalbar's brother Chundar.

Chundar explains that, while he can't yet attack my crew, he can do whatever he wants to his brother Zaalbar since he is both a Wookie and a criminal. Hoping to prove his innocence, we try to appeal to their father Freyyr but learn that he has been labeled insane and left to wander the dangerous Shadowlands below: the forest floor of Kashykk. Varen and his crew ask for Zaalbar's freedom but Chundar says he will only discuss things further if we perform a task for him -- finding and killing their father Freyyr. With nothing else to do, we tell Zaalbar not to worry and pretend to leave to do as Chundar has asked.

Before I use Juhani for the first time in this play-through, I get to go through her stats and level her up, give her new abilities. I like how you can tailor your characters for certain roles in this game.

I love this Guardian skill that Juhani has: Force Jump. It allows her to close the distance between her and enemies in an instant when it's a sneak attack.

After adding Juhani to my party, eventually we fought through some pray-mantis monsters -- like the ones on Dantooine -- and made our way to the Shadowlands Elevator.

For some reason, I expected to be stuck in a series of near-endless claustrophobic fights while riding this elevator down to the forest floor but instead we got this short little cinematic.

Feels like all I do on Kashyyyk is destroy these silly bounty-hunters.

At the bottom of the elevator, warming by a campfire in the dark near two armed Wookies was Calo Nord -- Davik's bounty hunter from Taris. The Dark Side dialogue option is the best here, "You traveled a long way just to die!" but since I'm the good guy I went with one of the tamer options, asking him to give up violence. But Calo Nord is a bounty hunter, he gets paid for violence. Violence is his life, so we have no choice but to fight.

The fun part about this fight is that I actually issued a bad set of commands at the beginning, which Calo and the Wookies shrugged off to no effect so I got utilize Mission a lot more through grenades and stunning sniper shots.

Despite my wasting Force Points in the beginning of the battle, giving Juhani a lot of Strength and Stamina stimulants, and tossing a third of my grenade arsenal at Calo -- resulted in victory!

Removing Czerka Camp - Jolee's Request

First time we see Jolee, he's lightsabering lizard monsters!

With Calo Nord once again defeated, my Scout-Consular Varen, Mission, and Juhani travel further into the Shadow Lands to find a lightsaber-wielding old man fighting off some lizard monsters. We help him out and learn his name is Jolee, that he used to be a Jedi but that he doesn't really care for what they're up to anymore and has been stranded on Kashyyyk since The Old Sith Wars a.k.a. The Exar Kun War , which if you have the time to skim through is a pretty great era of Star Wars Legends.

Jolee near his Kashyyyk hut, reminded me of Yoda's mudhut on Dagobah.

We learn that Jolee is more of a Grey Jedi, believing in balance between Light and Dark, and that while he knows how to turn off a force-field blocking further entry into the Shadow Lands, he will only do so if we get rid of a nearby Czerka Camp--preferably through nonviolent means.

My character Varen talking to the Czerka camp workers.

I considered bribing the Czerka Camp workers when I got there but ended up using their codes to switch-off the sonic devices instead. This led to a small Rancor-like monster, or Terentatek chasing them away.

After switching off the sonic devices, a giant beast/Terentatek shows up and chases the Czerka Camp Workers away. Not sure why but the game accepts this as a "non-violent" solution, so I guess they survive that monster chase.

Upon returning to Jolee to report that the <b.Czerka Camp is gone, Jolee Bindo joins your party and you set off to switch-off the Czerka force-field and travel further into the Shadow Lands.

Jolee Bindo on his way to switch-off the force field as promised.

Kashykk Star Map

After traveling deeper into the Shadow Lands, my character Varen and his crew looked around and finally found the machine with the Star Map piece we'd been looking for. Strangely, we could not access it without talking to a holographic AI of some kind of frog-alien that required I answer selfishly to questions about survival scenarios.

Not wanting to break my Light Side play-through, I called out the AI for trying to make me decide on cruel decisions and refused to play its game. It responded by sending two energy-shielded droids to kill me and my party.

These energy-shields on these ancient droids was a bit annoying but thankfully both Jolee and Juhani had Force Whirlwind so I just spammed that, while my character Varen acted as the group's healer.

Kashyyyk Star Map

Bacca's Blade - Freyyr's Request

Once my character Varen has acquired the Kashyyk piece of the Star Map leading to the Star Forge (the thing the Jedi Council asked me to find), I locate Zaalbar and Chundar's father Freyyr--who attacks me out of fear but I defeat him and spare his life, giving him the chance to learn that his exiled older son Zaalbar has returned.

After years of wandering the Shadow Lands and fighting monsters, Freyyr is paranoid and attacks me so I help alleviate his concerns.

Revealing that Chundar staged a coup and labeled him crazy, Freyyr says the only way to challenge his youngest son is to acquire the Bacca's blade, a Wookie relic lost to the Ritual Beast that used to decide the succession of chieftain's in the past. Hearing this information, my character Varen and his crew head off to fight the Ritual Beast.

After defeating the Ritual Beast, I bring the Bacca's Blade back to Zaalbar's father Freyyr who thanks me before asking we leave to confront Chundar right away.

Returning to face Chundar with his father Freyyr.

Now that KOTOR's finally a little harder due to story progression, most fights start with my party spending half of every fight's first round simply buffing themselves with as much Jedi magic as possible haha

Couldn't help but laugh when this happened: my character nearly Force-chokes Chundar to death but Juhani runs over and steals the boss-kill.

Once Chundar has been defeated and Zaalbar has asked his father Freyyr for the Bacca Blade as a promise he will return to lead his people after his father, my character Varen and his crew head back toward the Ebon Hawk.

My choices lead to the overthrow of the Czerka Company by the Wookies who swear to forbid travel to their planet by outsiders for years to come -- but they thank me for my part in freeing them.

Story

Three Czerka Company Corpos standing over a lone dead Wookie? Perfect time to prove to my Wookie teammate Zaalbar whose side I'm on.

Kashyyyk's story of bringing the exiled Zaalbar to reclaim his honor and free his people from his evil brother Chundar was probably the most fun story so far in KOTOR for me. In my previously play-through, I was greedy for Dark Side Points and just kept picking every usually-ridiculous Dark Side option that popped up -- but this time making sure to be as good as possible, like a typical "hero" allowed my character Varen Thard to free the Wookies from oppression by the Czerka company. While Taris had its charm and was more lively than Dantooine, Kashyyyk had Wookies fighting for freedom, a corporation involved in slavery, more fun boss-fights, and connections to future adventures.

Characters

In the past, I think I often went to Tattooine first after Dantooine but now when I play KOTOR I try to pick up Jolee as soon as possible because I want another Jedi character. My most complete team usually involves Bastila as Sentinel, Juhani as Guardian, and my character Varen as Consular but it's always nice to have a little more Jedi Magic on your team when not using those formidable Jedi ladies.

One of the great things about getting Jolee is getting another perspective on the Jedi and what happened in the past, also little tidbits about the insane Old Sith Wars. There was a time when Jolee was a young Jedi just like Bastila and Juhani and I enjoyed getting a cranky Jedi hermit's opinions about the crew's adventure through the galaxy.

Enemies & Boss Fights

The Pray Mantis-creatures were fun fodder to just annihilate in waves on Kashyyyk, along with the occasional flying critters as well. What really set Kashyyyk apart from Taris and Dantooine are that my character Varen and his crew got to fight Dark Jedi, two Sith Assassins (thanks to a Nexus mod), a bunch of higher-level Mandalorians, our first Terrentatek or "Ritual Beast", and taking out Calo and Chundar made for great battles as well. I liked being able to fight Calo Nord twice, once on Taris and a second time on Kashyyyk. It showed that the game was willing to show the same enemies but at multiple stronger levels, plus I was very caught off-guard by the adhesive grenades that the Czerk guards threw in Chundar's throne room -- that was a nice addition.

Final Grade: 8/10

What can I say? I really liked this planet.

As I've said before, Kashyyyk has been my favorite world so far in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. There were great main quests, fun side quests, and a few tie-ins to future worlds that show the interconnectivity of missions. While I try to hundred-percent a planet as much as I can with a Light Side play-through, I like that I could return to the Ebon Hawk whenever I wanted to shop on Dantooine if I wanted, or after I finished the Wookie planet I could drop off the stowaway back on Dantooine and carry on the main KOTOR quest for the Star Map pieces.

The difficulty also thankfully increased on this planet of Kashyyyk. If I got lazy and tried to choose commands in real-time, the computer would pick illogical command-sequences and it was possible -- and did happen -- that sometimes Mandalorians or monsters killed my entire crew. This forced me to pause the battle multiple times and issue commands between party-members simultaneously so that there was more cohesion in the battlefield but also helped me respond to sudden changes or a surprise string of critical hits from the enemy that could take out a character quickly. I still have six or more locations/ worlds left to travel so I'm wondering how the difficulty will change as I journey on. Thankfully, there is still the "impossible" difficulty mode waiting for me which I am eager to try if I'm left wanting more of a challenge.

Feel free to leave comments and questions below!

See you all on my next KOTOR post!

May the Force Be With You!

Image Sources:
KOTOR Poster
Leaving Dantooine GIF
Lightspeed GIF
Jolee Bindo pic

Revisiting a Classic: "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" - Part 4 of 11 - Kashykk