Star Wars: The Old Republic is a rad game. You all know how much I was looking forward to it because of the fifty other articles I’ve written about it. It absolutely delivers in every way and is even better than I’d hoped. I’m not going to bore you with more talk about the game today, though. No, I’ve been taking screenshots since I started playing on December 13th (Early Access what whaaat) and I wanted to share them with you. My character is a Mirialan Jedi Knight named Zetharis.

There won’t be any plot spoilers or anything for the Jedi Knight class story, but there will be location spoilers (spoiler alert: You go to Tatooine like in every other Star Wars game!). These are all shrunk down, so click to see them full size. Enjoy!

The Jedi Temple on Tython, where the two Jedi classes start. It’s a super dramatic approach on your way there, and of course the music crescendos appropriately.

Tython is gorgeous. So’s the whole game, really.

Jedi “armor.” Just me, being awesome.

I forget the name of this animal but I thought he was pretty rad.

I just took this shot to commemorate my first group with other players. On each planet there are “heroic” quests that require you to team up with others to beat them. Luckily, my server (Darth Bandon) has a good community on the Republic side and it’s easy to find people to group with.

Finally graduated from the dumb training blade and got my lightsaber. The reason it’s gold with a black core is because if you pre-ordered the game you got a special color crystal for your lightsaber or blaster.

I chose the Jedi Sentinel advanced class, so I get TWO lightsabers. Two is more than one, which by definition makes me a better Jedi than everyone else.

I’m ready for my close up, Mr. Lucas.

The Galactic Senate building on Coruscant, where all the movers and shakers of Galactic politics move and shake.

I made a quick stop at the Republic Fleet and had to inquire who their decorator was, because it looked like they had a lot of wisdom. And courage. And power.

Starting to look more like a Jedi.

(There’s actually a huge outcry in the community against armor for Jedi Knights… there are very few options for us without hoods. There are types of armor without inherent stats that you can modify how you like, however. I went this route, ditching the hooded robe after I quickly became tired of not seeing my character’s hair.)

2 Fast 2 Furious: Coruscant.

The ruins of the Jedi Temple, which was destroyed by the Sith Empire during the Sacking of Coruscant. A moment of silence, please.

Yeah, that’s my ship. It can barrel roll.

Taris sure looks different from the last time I saw it in Knights of the Old Republic. Of course, that took place 300 years prior to this game BEFORE the Sith destroyed it, but whatevs.

I guess Master Kiwiiks never taught Kira to turn her lightsaber OFF before putting it back on her belt.

The traffic on Nar Shaddaa is MURDER at this time of day.

Cheese it, the cops!

It looks like Vegas, but in space.

Wookiee: “C’mon man, my girlfriend’s in there!” Bouncer: “Hey, a LOT of people’s girlfriends are in there.”

It’s not a Star Wars game without Tatooine!

Sure looks like Tatooine.

Yep, definitely Tatooine.

Family Guy fans will know why I love this guy’s guild name so much.

Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.

I make the Jedi Order look GOOD.

There’s this weird graphical glitch that’s happening to pretty much everyone regardless of what video card they have. I just wanted to document it.

This one requires a little backstory. Hidden throughout the game are datacrons, which bestow a permanent stat boost on your character. Usually they’re tucked away somewhere, but on Tatooine there’s one (which of course is the one relevant to my character’s stats) which requires you to climb on top of a Jawa sandcrawler and ride a balloon for thirty minutes to a different, inaccessible sandcrawler. This guy and I waited about fifteen minutes for the balloon to even make it to us in the first place.

Someone else joined us, who also apparently missed his lightsaber safety class.

On the balloon! Nothing to do now but wait.

Binary sunset.

Then something weird happened: after being on the balloon for twenty minutes (we could see the other sandcrawler!) the balloon just DISAPPEARED and we were teleported to the ground with low health. We didn’t fall, there was no animation, it was just… gone. We were understandably pissed. Even the most disciplined Jedi Knight would have said a bad word.

So I tried again and had a nice conversation with this nice Sith Inquisitor who was also waiting. That’s the nice thing about being on a PVE server; I’m sure on PVP servers this is a popular gank spot for griefers.

HEROISM.

Pleasedon’tglitch pleasedon’tglitch pleasedon’tglitch pleasedon’tglitch

Made it! The odds of successfully acquiring this datacron are approximately 3,720 to one.

Some pervert on the Republic Fleet dressed his Kira up in the dancer’s outfit. I don’t know whether I should shake  my head or high five him.

Alderaan is GORGEOUS, and is my new favorite area in any MMO ever. Sorry, Ranfaure from Final Fantasy XI. You’ve been usurped.

I found out you can take screenshots during cutscenes as well, so here’s me all awesome and detailed.

And this is my companion Kira Carsen. We made out on my ship. (Sshh don’t tell the Jedi Council)

“Darth Vader is Luke’s father? OMG!”

It’s a nerf. I herded it. I’m a nerf herder, albeit not scruffy-looking. Stuck up and half-witted, quite possibly.

This picture would have been awesome if it weren’t for the damn mission text popping up.

Oof. Breathtaking. It’s a damn shame it gets blown up in 3000 years.

I’m riding a flying winged dolphin thing! STAR WARS.

Trying to decide what my next heroic move is.

DAMN MISSION TEXT. Kira looks good though.

So yeah! That’s it so far. How many of those Star Wars references did you get? There were a lot.

This will be a recurring feature considering how much I LOVE THIS GAME, so I hoped you liked the first installment. If not, too bad, there’s more coming!