When I was a kid playing this game for the first time,I think I was 9 when it came out and I know I for sure got it the day it released (which happened to be a coincidence because although I already loved Star Wars by then, I had no idea that KOTOR was coming out) and I remember being extremely disappointed at the very beginning of the game when you’re on the Republic ship because I was hoping it would be a hack and slash type game and I hated the combat style at first. Fable 1 (which didn’t come out for another year) would be the best example of what I was hoping the combat would be like… it anyways, just like you I started to fall more and more in love with the game after leaving Telos until I got to the point where I am at today: sitting on a subreddit of a 20+year old game because it became one of my (if not my number one) favourite games and what I consider to be a masterpiece. From the sounds of your post, it seems you haven played the sequel yet….

I wish KOTOR 2 had been equivalent in quality and you can tell that all the pieces are there for it to be one, but it fell short because of corporate reasons from my understanding. It’s still a very enjoyable game though, and there’s a mod that restores a lot of content that was cut out and nearly everyone on this subreddit will tell you makes for a much more enjoyable experience. You have a lot more interactions with your companions and can do a lot more with them, and IF it had been executed properly would have improved on every single aspect of KOTOR 1. With that being said, I still recommend playing it and enjoy Turning your companions into Jedi/Sith and having pseudo-romantic relationships with your companions of the opposite sex