Last night, I was looking for something to play, and so I started a file on Knights of the Old Republic. I've played some of the game before, but never finished it, and Taris is a joy every time through, so I decided to give it another shot. 
 
When I played previously, I was a scoundrel, but this time I went with a soldier named Thresh Karr (epic random name generator FTW). Taris is very difficult for a scoundrel character, but later in the game, it pays off pretty well. Oh well, doesn't really matter. I made a backstory for my character just so I would have some grounding for the roleplaying decisions (he joined the war effort to defend the Republic, and so his alignment mostly follows what he thinks is best to protect it) and set on my way. 
 
KOTOR is definitely not a Star Wars game; it's a BioWare game wearing a Star Wars hoodie. That's not a bad thing, of course; BioWare games tend towards excellence (excluding the middling Mass Effect and the awful Jade Empire) and Star Wars has a lucky system for morality. Helping people=Light Side, hurting others to help yourself=Dark Side is usually not enough to determine morality, but because of the way the Force works, it's a decent system. 
 
Of course, the game really starts once you get off Taris and become a Jedi, so maybe it'll feel more Star Wars-y when I leave this planet. Everything certainly looks like Star Wars and sounds like Star Wars, but it doesn't evoke the same feelings in the player. Any fans of the original movies will know what I'm talking about, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I don't think a game will really EVER be able to capture what Star Wars was really about. Hell, Lucas couldn't even capture it himself fifteen years after Return of the Jedi. 
 
So far, I've fought a good deal in the dueling ring (I'm on Marl now,) and my character is not exactly a fan of Davik. Also, I'm wondering why I never played Pazaak when I played before; that game is freaking addictive, and is an excellent diversion when you feel like a short break from the main game or need some more credits. I'm obviously specced out for melee combat, and I'm going with being a duelist rather than dual-wielding. Right now, I'm set to either go find the Hidden Beks, try to get into the Undercity or go finish exploring the Lower City, in whatever order makes the most sense. I can't remember this section that well, so it'll be fun to see what's in store for me. That said, I'm dreading the Undercity; Rakghouls are NOT something I find entertaining to fight. 
 
Also, whenever I get Mission, she's going into my party just because I need a scoundrel. Maybe when I get T3-M4, he'll replace her, but for now, three soldiers just isn't cutting it. However, so far, I haven't seen anything I wasn't able to get because I needed skills, so hopefully that shifts a little bit before I get Mission because otherwise, the Scoundrel is just a mistake of a class.