2021 opened with really interesting news for all Star Wars fans: finally, after years of rumors and shipwrecked projects, one of the fantastic sagas that have made the travel and space exploration one of their fundamental themes will see an open-world action incarnation (here the news), thanks to a really captivating collaboration between LucasFilm Games and Ubisoft, undisputed queen of the genre together with Rockstar.
Today, to celebrate the news, I decided to use my imagination a little and, as also done with Hogwarts Legacy (here the article), to write a small wish-list of the features that I would absolutely like in a game of this type, thanks to my interest in the Lucas saga.
Are you ready? We're off to a far-far galaxy!
1) Traveling from planet to planet
The most important dynamic of an open-world Star Wars video game can only be the interplanetary journey, obviously aboard a flaming personalized spaceship, as was also the case in Jedi: Fallen Order.
In this case, since we are talking about a pure open-world, the idea of being able to travel freely would be fascinating guiding the spaceship at least in the immediate vicinity of the planet we are heading to (or rather, in its "planetary system"), facing asteroid banks, hunting patrols of enemy factions and other dangers.
From this point of view, the map of an open-world of this type could be structured in areas, consisting of the orbits of the individual planets and the planet itself.
A nice ambition, if we consider how layered and complex game zones could be that include the area around the planet and the cities and areas of interest on its surface.
It goes without saying how such a level design really looks ambitious and out of scale, but it would seem like the only sensible choice for a game with these goals.
2) Play a Rogue
Since we are talking about an open-world action and not an action rpg, it makes sense that the construction of the "Ideal pre-generated PG" is very important.
For this reason, two little words deserve the role that I would like to play during a campaign of this kind. In the end, although the choice is very wide, I opt for those of the Rogue, or rather of the archetype that in the role-playing games of Star Wars describes the character of Han Solo.
In my opinion, the choice of a Rogue would be functional for several reasons, which we will also see below, but mainly the reason is that an “à la Han” character would allow the player to explore multiple game dimensions, tackling missions with a combination of shooting, action / adventure and a pinch of diplomacy (e a bit of healthy story / driven wouldn't be bad).
Moreover, if the Jedi must still remain in a parameter of "absolute good", a fact that leads any game dedicated to the Knights to become too unbalanced on the epic story side, the Rogue would be perfect for exploring history in a more "neutral" dimension, exploring aspects of the setting without a doubt.
3) Enter the folds of the classic trilogy
Another essential point is the temporal placement of the project within the history of Star Wars.
If there is a real virtue of the franchise beyond the vast mythology of the lore, this is the fact that it has a story now structured on a very long and rich timeline, which allows you to admire the world of SW in different periods.
To taste, given the liveliness of the period and perhaps its not having been too dealt with in recent years, I would say that the right time could be during the first Star Wars (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1981), at the height of the Rebellion, a moment of extreme tension in which the stories to be told could be the most varied.
Following in Han's footsteps, our rogue could accidentally run into the "good guys" and find himself in a story on a razor's edge which leads her to cross, albeit remotely, figures like the same Luke Skywalker (at the time a rebel fighter pilot).
In any case, the possible considerable length of the game would allow the player to cross more and more elements of the original film trilogy, scattered throughout the map and ready to make an appearance while not stealing the show from our protagonist (more or less like Saw Gerrera in Jedi: Fallen Order).
In this way, not only Ubisoft could keep much of the classic Star Wars mood as well wink to long-time fans, but above all it could deepen the setting.
4) A living setting
Precisely on the role of the setting in the game architecture it is necessary to say a few words.
As mentioned above, a Star Wars open-world that lives up to this name will have to be extremely ambitious and offer a vast freedom of exploration both on individual planets and in the sky, but in reality the ambition should also concern the way in which this setting will be made "alive" and "concrete".
Imagine the scene: you are a rogue on a "business trip", come up Tatooine (why Tatooine ?! Simple: it's cool) and you find yourself in front of it the classic dead city "à la Mandalorian / Episode IV". Do I alone see extraordinary potential for open-world exploration?
We could meet dozens of interesting characters belonging to all factions (even criminal families, such as that of the Hutts), do business with them, take over contracts and missions that will lead us to follow subplots that will lead us to explore the planet). In the meantime we will be able to trade, face various challenges (someone said run of shells?) and lean to buy and beautify one of our shelters.
The setting outlined in over forty years of Star Wars history can truly give creatives hundreds of ideas for main and secondary quests intertwined with each other, and I really can't find a more interesting format than an open-world game to do it justice.
5) A little moral ambiguity
Finally, a reflection on the narrative component (which is very dear to the author).
Star Wars is an epic saga, in which good and evil are often divided by clear boundaries that only rarely get thinner (and almost always to reflect on how important it is NOT to go beyond those boundaries).
However, playing as a character like a Rogue or a Bounty Hunter (which I ruled out, because at that point we would really be in front of a video game from The Mandalorian) would allow us to approach the world of George Lucas in an unconventional way.
It would be great if our alter-ego stumbled upon issues that are not easy to deal with from a moral point of view and maybe they would challenge us to take sides from time to time or for the Empire or for the Rebels, exploring a sort of "gray zone" between one side of the force and the other (come on, Mrs. Disney, a little mental elasticity…).
After all also Rogue One, a beautiful prequel to Episode IV in warmovie sauce, had whispered that even being part of the Alliance was not a walk and that compromises and double games were necessary.
A setting that may not satisfy those looking for the great epic, but could make an interesting contribution to a franchise otherwise a little too "classic" in the representation of good and evil.
Well, these are the 5 wishes that the author of this article, passionate about open-world and Star Wars, would like to see fulfilled in the title announced by LucasFilm Games and Ubisoft.
It is a very personal list, and I am sure that the project will be able to encompass many other strong points of the Star Wars narrative universe.
But now the word to you: what would you like from this project? And why?
We just have to give you the floor.
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