Easily one of the biggest franchises in the world,Star Warshas such a far-reaching influence across so many different types of media that it’s difficult to try and encompass them all. After Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012,Star Warshas become more prolific than ever, with new films, TV series, and games adding to the already ubiquitous presence of the franchise in modern culture.Star Wars' back catalog is impressive and undeniably immense, but it’s not showing any signs of slowing down, with even more media on the way including several games like the recently revealedStar Wars Jedi: Survivor.
WhileStar Warsvideo games have certainly run the gamut with a variety of different genres and feature a multitude of characters, planets, and storylines, they do tend to cluster around similar points in the timeline. While it makes sense for games to want to translate what players have already seen on the big and small screens into playable environments, this does limitthe scope ofStar Warsvideo gamesand could lead to repetition and even boredom. The vast majority ofStar Warsgames take place within a span of only a few short decades, and many fans feel like it’s time for the franchise to try something new.
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The Focus On A Particular Era
Star Warsas a whole has often faced criticism for its fairly limited focus on a particular time and a certain set of characters. The films have an overwhelmingly narrow focus on the Skywalker family in general, to the detriment of the later films in the opinion of some fans. While thefate of the Skywalkers is an epic and much-loved elementof the franchise and was the focus of the recentLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, it doesn’t always make sense to focus on just a handful of characters over a relatively short time period when the entireStar Warsuniverse has so many fascinating figures, intriguing locations, and compelling stories that it could focus on far outside the concerns of one family.
While theStar Warsgames do attempt to branch out from the Skywalkers, for the most part, the timeline that the vast majority of titles focus on is still incredibly narrow. Along with the films and the TV shows,Star Warsgames tend to be set around the Rise of the Empire era and the Republic era, which only encompasses about three decades, give or take. Considering the extensive and storied timeline ofStar Wars, it seems like a waste to keep such a tight focus on so small an amount of time. This may have beena tumultuous period in theStar Warstimeline, with the fall of the Republic, the growing influence and eventual takeover by the Empire, and then the rise of the Rebellion, but it is hardly as if the rest of theStar Warstimeline doesn’t have its own compelling moments.
Limitations Of Star Wars Stories
While the notion ofStar Warscanon gets a little complicated after the Disney takeover, that doesn’t mean that thenewStar Warsoutputs are ignoring the Expanded Universe. Many recent offerings have resurrected older storylines and characters, showing that Disney is still perfectly happy to plumb the depths of previous canonical narratives to inspire new ones. That being said,Star Warsgames over the years have doggedly clung to specific eras when it comes to their settings. Some games have slightly ambiguous timeline placements, but so many take place across settings already familiar to players from the films. So much so, in fact, that many are growing tired of seeing the same corners of the galaxy and having the same characters crop up.
Some fans will always relish the chance to dive into the uncertain times of the Rebel Alliance as they battle the evil Empire, or evade capture as a Jedi in hidingduring the aftermath of Order 66 and the fall of the Republic, but many still feel like Star Wars is missing an opportunity with its narrow focus. These stories are certainly intriguing, and there’s an added element of nostalgia for fans of the films that get to see these adjacent events play out in a game, but some of these plots are getting a little tired.
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Moving The Franchise In A New Direction
The range ofStar Warsgames already crosses multiple settings and genres, but there is still so much more of the universe that they could navigate. A title thatexplored the early origins of the Sith Empire, or one that took the story far into the future and away from the days of the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, would offer players something completely different. A lot of the rich history ofStar Warshas been explored in the books and comics or referenced across multiple media, but gamers haven’t really had a chance to see it for themselves yet in a game.
The one element ofStar Warsvideo games that sets itself apart is BioWare’sOld Republicgames.BothStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicand theStar Wars: The Old Republicwere set around a thousand years before the stories audiences have seen play out in the films and offered a much more original take on theStar Warsuniverse. TheKOTORseries was particularly beloved by fans. These games showed thatStar Warstitles didn’t need to take place within a certain timeframe to be successful or popular, and great stories can still be told during different eras.
Upcoming games likeQuantic Dreams’Star Wars Eclipseshow that Star Wars is pushing the boat out a little with its settings, exploring the High Republic era a few hundred years before characters like Darth Vader, Leia, and Han Solo were on the scene. However, this still isn’t that far removed from the settings of many games that players have already experienced, and by the looks of it will still feature familiar faces like Yoda. There are a fewStar Warsgames in development that are more mysterious and could take the franchise in some promising new directions, but fans are still hoping for a bit of a shake-up.
