From then on, the Dark Forces series slowly changed its name to Jedi Knight and won countless praise from fans for allowing them to tap into the power of the Force and wield their lightsaber with a level of fluidly never experienced before in a Star Wars-themed title. While the first Star Wars: Dark Forces game had Kyle only using blasters in a first-person shooter format, later installments revealed that he was actually Force Sensitive, and it wasn’t long before he and players took up the Jedi’s most prized weapon. Beginning with 1996's Star Wars: Dark Forces, the Jedi Knight series put players in the role of Kyle Katarn, a former Stormtrooper turned Rebel hero who would go on to become a popular staple of the old Star Wars Expanded Universe before its reboot in 2014. Raven Software’s Star Wars: Jedi Knight series was highly influential among video games set in the fabled Galaxy Far, Far Away, and some of the series' developers have recently opened up on how they crafted the lightsaber combat that would serve as a benchmark even decades later.
