After I finished Mass Effect, I was desperate to find a new game. I wanted an experience that would draw me in and take me on a fantastic journey. I knew it would be difficult to find a current game that I would love as much as Mass Effect, so I turned to the past. On the recommendation of a friend, I decided to set aside my frustrations with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) on the 360 and get a fresh start trying it on my PC.

There was a remarkable improvement in performance and graphic quality on my PC. I was much happier playing the game when it didn't freeze up during battles, stutter during cutscenes, or muddle the textures. Suddenly the "dated" game didn't look so old. The game started to become more fun when I wasn't distracted by performance and graphics bugs.

Perhaps more important than the changes in processing and resolution were the changes in my perspective. After completing one BioWare game (Mass Effect), I had a better understanding of the types of puzzles I would encounter. I breezed through Taris in four hours instead of my previous ten hours. I finally understood that puzzles required a little thought; you had to pay attention to hints dropped casually in conversation. Clues were also left on datapads I collected unceremoniously from corpses nearby. Simple attention to the world helped me see how the answers were falling into my hands in an organic way.

I have easily surpassed the point where I stopped on the 360, and it was time well-spent. I finally feel as if I'm moving in a productive direction. Even if the battles and stat-management are more difficult than Mass Effect, I have a better understanding of BioWare-style games. I'm less likely to get stuck and I'm now free to enjoy the game. I'm looking forward to the rest of my adventure.