This is a very decent game. If it had come out before KotOR it would probably have been much better received. As it is, it feels a bit more-of-the-same-ish in many respects.
The similarities to KotOR are extensive: it has a similar look – environments are much lusher, but characters look very KotOR-ish; dialogue works very much like KotOR; and it's linear in similar ways to KotOR is (though a bit less versatile: you can't do quests in any order to the same extent as in KotOR). It's even similar in having a Big Plot Twist, though it works somewhat differently.
The differences from KotOR lie mainly in combat. It's an action game – no rolling d20s here – and feels decidedly Prince-of-Persia-Sands-of-Time-ish: you leap over your opponents, side-roll to dodge attacks or area-effect-attacks, time your attacks to interrupt theirs, and so on. It's not too difficult once you get used to it, and the different “styles” – hand-to-hand, weapon styles, magic, and changing into demon forms – makes combat lively.
It's definitely a very good-looking game, better looking than KotOR, even if not quite up to 2007 standards. However, it doesn't sustain interest as well as it might: there's no exploration for the sake of exploration; by the time you get to the Imperial City, you can really feel the railroads hemming you in on either side.
Finally, in the Australia/NZ edition the bonus fighting style in the Special Edition doesn't work: installation is impossible because of a Securom error. See http://jade.bioware.com/…ewtopic.html?… for details.