History YMMV / KnightsOfTheOldRepublic

** In general, retreating allows you to tear things to bits. Need to heal? Just retreat from the battle and either use Drain Life from a safe distance or medpacks. Need to regenerate Force? Retreat until enemies lose aggro, then sit around for a bit. Being ganged up on and need to split up enemies? Just run and you can either pick them off one by one as their numbers reduce, or lose aggro and be able to pick them off with Throw Lightsaber instead.

** Force buffs have weird interactions with loading, whether from zone transitions or simply loading a save. It's not unusual to pass from one area to another only to discover your Burst of Speed buff has lasted several times longer than it should have.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** One year before the start of the game, the Jedi Council send a commando of Jedi to stop Darth Revan, which include Bastila.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That they refrain from sending the Republic's only hope against [[EvilOverlord an all-powerful Sith Lord]], even with a backup of veterans Jedis. Bastila is a simple Padawan and she can't use her Battle Meditation during combat. Her death or capture could immediately doom the Republic.\\
'''Instead:''' They send her in combat with other Jedis against Revan despite the great risks. She's lucky to make it out alive, only because [[TheStarscream Malak chose that very moment to betray his master]].
** So the Dantooine Jedi Council wishes to [[spoiler:retrain the amnesiac Darth Revan in the ways of the Force]]\\
'''You'd Expect:''' That they talk to the High Jedi Council about making a decision this large.\\
'''Instead:''' They promptly [[spoiler:train the former Sith. They're lucky Revan didn't fall to the Dark Side again... well, ''immediately'' fell (depending on the player's choices).]]
** Malak is on the Star Forge, with Revan heading his way and Bastila managing his fleets. Victory seems assured.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Bastila would be somewhere far away from the conflict so that the power of the Sith Fleets is focused on the Republic. Even if Revan falls, there will never be another opportunity for the Republic to attack here, so they're the real threat. That Battle Meditation of hers is so vital that he literally burned a world to ashes, sent his personal apprentice after her, and hired bounty hunters.\\
'''Instead:''' Like the Jedi before him, he sends the single most important person to his plans in direct confrontation with the one person she should absolutely not be in contact with. As a result, either a) she's dead, b) she switches sides to the Jedi, or c) she switches sides to Darth Revan, helping take down Malak. In the first two scenarios, she's no longer using her meditation to help his fleet, so they quickly crumble and eventually, they blow up the Forge.
** Xor, a common and down on his luck mercenary with a hatred of the Cathar species, but a [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty "thing"]] for Cathar women, sees your PlayerCharacter and Juhani at a spaceport. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' Him to notice that Juhani is packing a saber and wearing robes, and that the PlayerCharacter is likely similarly armed. \\
'''You'd Expect:''' Him to realize that lightsabers and robes in this era NEVER means good news. He may be dealing with Jedi, who are very capable of kicking your ass if you provoke them, or Sith, who don't need an excuse to kick someone's ass. Or, failing that, someone who ''killed'' a Sith or Jedi and are now wearing their outfits as a trophy, in which case they'd ''still'' be capable of kicking his ass.\\
'''You'd Also Expect''': Him to recall that Cathar have ''amazingly'' short tempers by human standards. \\
'''Instead:''' He strolls right on up to them and asks the human PlayerCharacter how much it would take to buy Juhani, following it up with some [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain mind-boggling racist and sexist comments.]] \\
'''You'd Expect:''' Once confirming they ''are'' Jedi, to know they have a low opinion of slavers and make an excuse to run away while he's got his limbs, head, and [[GroinAttack assorted other parts]] still attached. Failing that, he'd notice that this Cathar is now travelling with, discounting the Jedi, several people with ludicrous amounts of guns, which include a Mandalorian and a Wookie, both of whom are not known for suffering fools gladly. \\
'''You'd Also Expect:''' Once he does get away, thank the Force for his lucky break and stay ''very'' far away from the ''Ebon Hawk.''\\
'''Instead:''' The idiot finds a couple of other low-rent mercs and tried to ''ambush'' a pair of Jedi in front of their ship. Needless to say, TooDumbToLive applies here.

* BrokenBase: In a case rather similar to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'', whether the game has stood the test of time as a fun, worthwhile gaming experience, or is a bland, bog-standard RPG so thoroughly surpassed by its successors that it's boring.

* VindicatedByHistory: Carth was seen as a "Dork" in the TurnOfTheMillennium because he talked about his feelings, which at the time was seen as a sign of weakness and [[UnfortunateImplications it wasn't uncommon to hear him described as "Girly" for this reason]]. Despite that he still remains somewhat of a BaseBreakingCharacter, fans often look upon him more fondly. As was described by a forumgoer, "We disliked Carth because we were children in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]]." His voice actor returning for ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' also helped.

* BrokenAesop:
** The light side choice on Tatooine is to make peace with the Tusken Raiders, otherwise known as the Sand People, while siding wth Czerka is the dark side. Clearly, you should side with the natives rather than the colonialist force. Unfortunately, it's not until you fully commit that you actually get to ''see'' a more morally grey side ''to'' the Sand People - and even then their characterisation is largely consistent with the rest of ''Star Wars'': Intentionally violent, merciless, and xenophobic. Whenever you encounter them? They are... enslaving and killing people for no apparent reason. (Worse yet, these people are ''also'' Jawas... who are also native to Tatooine.) This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that doing so gives the Tusken Raiders a way to move further in and not step on Czerka or prsumably the Jawas toes, but it still does require you to basically excuse the crimes they did and still do commit.
** Similarly, the light side option on Kashyyk is to have the Wookies rebel and throw Czerka out. A good goal indeed. Except the wookies are presumably also attacking (and possibly even killing) non-combatants and people who were at worst [[PunchClockVillain punch clock villains]]. Attacking unarmed people would pretty much earn you dark side points.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: The game and its sequel both dwell at length upon the major themes of ''Franchise/StarWars'' to a level that fans did not expect, with seemingly insignificant lines having major impact not only on the storyline, but upon the extended universe as a whole. This, despite TheProblemWithLicensedGames being already legendary -- the creators could have phoned it in and still made a profit, but instead created legendary games.

* VindicatedByHistory:
** Carth was seen as a "Dork" in the TurnOfTheMillennium because he talked about his feelings, which at the time was seen as a sign of weakness and [[UnfortunateImplications it wasn't uncommon to hear him described as "Girly" for this reason]]. Despite that he still remains somewhat of a BaseBreakingCharacter, fans often look upon him more fondly. As was described by a forumgoer, "We disliked Carth because we were children in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]]." His voice actor returning for ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' also helped.

** The light side choice on Tatooine is to make peace with the Tusken Raiders, otherwise known as the Sand People, while siding wth Czerka is the dark side. Clearly, you should side with the natives rather than the colonialist force. Unfortunately, it's not until you fully commit that you actually get to ''see'' a more morally grey side ''to'' the Sand People - and even then their characterisation is largely consistent with the rest of ''Star Wars'': Intentionally violent, merciless, and xenophobic. Whenever you encounter them? They are... enslaving and killing people for no apparent reason. (Worse yet, these people are ''also'' Jawas... who are also native to Tatooine.) This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that giving the Tusken Raiders a way to move further in and not step on Czerka or prsumably the Jawas toes, but it still does require you to basically excuse the crimes they did and still do commit.
** Similarly, the light side option on Kashyyk is to have the Wookies rebel and throw Czerka out - which means they're also killing people who are either not a threat, or are trying to leave and sparing only you, your friends, and a few others because you helped them out in some way.

* MisaimedFandom: Canderous Ordo is often well liked for being such a ProudWarriorRaceGuy. Indeed, some of his stories about his war actions are a sight to behold. He's also [[TrueCompanions canonically very loyal to Revan]] - [[spoiler: supported in gameplay by the fact he is one of the few party members who will ''never'' leave your side and will always find a reason to side with you]]. But what is so misaimed about him is the fact that, Mandalorians of ''this'' time period are... ''not'' someone you ''want'' to be friends with. Canderous's war tales include things such as wrecking ''entire worlds'' (meaning loads of collateral damage) so [[ButForMeItWasTuesday casually]]. In fact, taking a hypothetical war option that protects civilians has him call you out on it because [[ValuesDissonance sometimes you have to risk people like that in war]]. In-game, he is dark sided for ''many'' reasons.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Czerka on Tattooine - Yes, Czerka is a colonial force, except thanks to the BrokenAesop around the Sand People, it's actually kind of hard ''not'' to fault them in this case. Not helping is that one of your contacts for the Dark Side route is a Jawa - who are a WoobieSpecies that are ''also'' common targets of being enslaved and killed by the Sand People.

* BrokenAesop: The light side choice on Tatooine is to make peace with the Tusken Raiders, otehrwise known as the Sand People, while siding wth Czerka is the dark side. Clearly, you should side with the natives rather than the colonialist force. Unfortunately, it's not until you fully commit that you actually get to ''see'' a more morally grey side ''to'' the Sand People - and even then their characterisation is largely consistent with the rest of ''Star Wars'': Intentionally violent, merciless, and xenophobic. Whenever you encounter them? They are... enslaving and killing people for no apparent reason. (Worse yet, these people are ''also'' Jawas... who are also native to Tatooine.)

* ShockingSwerve: The hints had been dropped so steadily and for so long that [[spoiler:Demagol having switched places with Rohlan]] probably qualifies as TheUnreveal. But the fact that he's also [[spoiler:Jarael's childhood mentor and Chantique's father]]? ''Nobody'' saw ''that'' coming. And yet, in retrospect it [[FridgeBrilliance makes perfect sense]].

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: Once you can have a full party of Jedi, you're probably only going to use Jedi party members for the rest of the game due to how much better they are than non-Jedi in combat.

** Jolee has this reputation thanks to him taking advantage of the fact that he's an old man and acts senile, wise, grumpy, and irrelevant all at the same tome without even making it clear if this is an act or not.

** Bioware has become very well-known for having a GayOption, to the point where it's very noticeable when it's ''not'' there. They only managed to get Juhani in the game by flying very low under the Lucasarts radar, and even there, there was a lot of controversy and protest as she was the first established LGBTQ character ''ever'' in the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends''.

** Taris is loathed by many due to being a MarathonLevel for a SlowPacedBeginning. The level involves spending a huge amount of time running around many areas (including the Uppercity, Lowercity, Undercity and its sewers, as well as the Black Vulkar base) to track down Bastila. Later, you need to break into a Sith base and infiltrate Davik's estate to steal the Ebon Hawk so you could get off Taris. Eventually it is followed by a mandatory gun turret mini-game. Due to the low level cap (20), many players prefer saving the levels of their character at this point so they could gain more level as a Jedi later on, which makes completing Taris even more difficult.

** [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon The Star Forge]] is relentlessly hard and without the right squad (read: Juhani and Jolee) it will tear your apart. It sends infinitely-respawning waves of Dark Jedi, Sith Troopers, and battle droids. If you let Dark Jedi swarm you, you're as good as dead. You can't run past them, because your companions won't ignore enemy and will attack on sight. Should you backtrack because of it, there's a chance another division will appear. Adding to the frustration is the maximum level 20 cap you probably hit before even reaching the Star Forge, meaning that all those kills won't make you gain a level.

* Malak uses it as an EstablishingCharacterMoment by ordering the wholesale orbital bombardment of Taris just because he's ''impatient'', killing billions of people just because it's taking too long to search for Bastila. Not only are we talking CompleteMonster, but someone who is a textbook case of [[EvilIsPetty wasteful villainy]]. It says a lot that the fellow above voices an ''objection'' to the order.
* If Chuundar didn't cross it selling his political opponents into slavery to shore up his position as Chieftain, then he's crossing it by imprisoning his brother, Zaalbar. And if that isn't enough of a line cross [[spoiler: ordering the party to go and kill their father]] completes a trifecta of "this guy is a dirtbag."

** For those favoring the Dark Side, there's some disappointment that the three available love interests are all heavily light sided [[spoiler: though Bastila is corrupted by endgame if you want to go the UnholyMatrimony route]], so there have been requests for the remake to include Canderous as an option, especially gender neutral. Given the HoYay between [[spoiler: the "canon" Revan and Canderous in the [[Literature/{{Revan}} tie in novel]]]], it's not a stretch]]

** Clever builds can turn Juhani into one as well. Her Guardian Force Jump can put her right in the thick of things and draw aggro. Add Force Speed, Master Flurry, dual wielding saber feats and Force Heal, and you have the closest the Star Wars universe gets to ComicBook/Wolverine

* Malak uses it as an EstablishingCharacterMoment by ordering the wholesale orbital bombardment of Taris just because he's ''impatient'', killing billions of people just because it's taking too long to search for Bastila. Not only are we talking CompleteMonster, but someone who is a textbook case of wasteful villainy. It says a lot that the fellow above voices an ''objection'' to the order.

** For those favoring the Dark Side, there's some disappointment that the three available love interests are all heavily light sided [[spoiler: though Bastila is corrupted by endgame if you want to go the UnholyMatrimony route]], so there have been requests for the remake to include Canderous as an option, especially gender neutral. Given the HoYay between [spoiler: the "canon" Revan and Canderous in the [[Literature/{{Revan}} tie in novel]]]], it's not a stretch]]

* FanPreferredCouple: There's a pretty sizeable fanbase of folks who think that Juhani and Yuthura Ban would make a great team. The ladies have similar backstories, motivation, and temperament, but Juhani stuck with the Jedi and Yuthura went Sith (but comes back if you can talk her into it).

** Prior to being [[spoiler:mindwiped into a blank slate]], Darth Revan brought the Republic to its knees. Once a bold, dynamic young Jedi commander who singlehandedly won the Mandalorian Wars for the Republic, Revan slipped to the Dark Side and sacrificed many of the troops whose loyalties they were unsure of. Becoming aware of the True Sith Empire, led by the monstrous Emperor Vitiate, Revan embraced Sith teachings and launched a campaign that crippled the Republic, leaving its infrastructure intact so they may one day harness it as a weapon against Vitiate and his empire. Revan executes a multitude of brilliant, perfect strategies, converting other Jedi to their cause, seeking to both conquer and save the galaxy all at once.

* MemeticMutation: "Who's Revan?" In 2021 someone published a post on Twitter looking down on people who became Star Wars fans with Sequel Trilogy and the Mandalorian and don't even know who Revan is. It was meet with tremendous backlash from the fandom, leading many to brag about their decades long love for Star Wars and ending on some variation of "Who's Revan?" or "I don't know any Revan fellow."

* LGBTFanbase: The PC ''not'' being a heterosexual cisgender male is a very popular interpretation of the character among LGBT fans, especially given the PC is meant to be a power fantasy for players. It's a heavy point of contention, as then-canon [[CuttingOffTheBranches made it so that]] the PC is canonically a cis man who pursues Bastila. LGBT fans hope that the remake will keep the PC's canon gender ambiguous or at least not a straight cis man.

** Combat can be a huge pain if you want your party to stick together in a large space (like the Star Forge), since you cannot manually control their movements without ignoring the rest of your team. If your party members are too far away from you when they pick a target, it is impossible for them to come back to you.

*** The aptly-named "Destroy Droid" spell deals high damage to hostile droids and knocks them out if they fail the save. As pointed out by WebSite/SFDebris in his review, he just spent the last few hours going through the final mission with nothing but this.

** Light-Side Revan. Is that who he is because [[spoiler:the council brainwashed him]], or is it a remnant of his original personality [[spoiler:from before he was brainwashed by Vitiate]]?

'''Instead:''' They promptly [[spoiler:train the former Sith. They're lucky he didn't fall to the Dark Side again... well, ''immediately'' fell (depending on his choices).]]