Obsidian is lobbying to develop a new Star Wars RPG...

[Guest The Architect]

Set between Episode III and IV.

 

http://au.ign.com/videos/2013/02/08/news-obsidian-pitching-new-star-wars-rpg-game

Obsidian + Star Wars = GOLD.

 

Looks like KotOR III will never happen though, thanks to LucasArts having to cancel the project in 2006 and the massively multi-failure online role playing game that SW: The Old Republic was.

[Raynn]

I'd love to see ghetto-like Alien Protection Zone, Internal Security Bureau and persecutions, New Order propaganda, conspiracy in higher levels of imperial goverment. Not too much pathos and epicness, no space opera, no black and white choices. It must be realistic and depressing as life.

 

Sorry for my English, it's not too good.

[Guest The Architect]

That would be cool. Maybe they could go a different route from the multiple planets formula from the previous games and have most of the game take place on a new, heavily populated mid-rim world. A planet rife with xenophobia (would be very interesting if you could choose to play as an alien), corruption, propaganda and violence. It could be the RPG version of Star Wars 1313, but on another planet, with a lightsaber, Force powers, role playing and excellent writing. 

 

Maybe the Empire uses something similar to the Ysalamari to make it harder for enemy Jedi to use the Force, but not impossible. The PC would have to learn how to overcome their barriers from a specially trained Master all the while concealing the fact they're a Jedi, while finding a way to escape from the planet and defeat a powerful dark Jedi Master trained by the Empire. Or the PC could finish up joining the Empire, resulting in a cameo from Vader meeting the PC at the very end (voiced by James Earl Jones)!

[BrioCyrain]

My current thoughts with this project is not quite the scenario since it's been stated in that article that they already have a plot in place.

 

My issue is that Obsidian has always had to play "Underdog" to BioWare, seeing how they had to create the sequels of NWN and KOTOR because BioWare wanted to go original with Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Also seeing how both series pretty much failed with ME3 and DA2 (Also the almost total failed launch of TOR), it's no wonder that Obsidian is trying to use this to their advantage by pitching the "unofficial revival" of the Star Wars RPGs. That and they don't want to pick up the pieces that BioWare made with Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2, and SWTOR. They want to make something they came up with themselves, and get 'er done.

 

That being said, Obsidian has A LOT of catching up to do if they want to "dent" the leftover fumes of the BioWare war-machine. Alpha Protocol, and Fallout New Vegas while being cult hits didn't even impact the surface of their former sister studio. Obsidian needs to design games that are of the "current generation", I'm not saying Project Eternity is a failed revival of Baldur's Gate-style games seeing how the actual Baldur's Gate title was actually revamped recently is now for sale for 20 bucks on most digital outlets, but the fact that Mass Effect and Dragon Age (at least the first few titles) ushered in a new age of RPGs...Obsidian needs to realise that obviously making some in the style of KOTOR will just be seen as clunky, old-dated, and "been there, done that".  I mean for goodness sake the first Mass Effect was just KOTOR on steroids, thus why for the second and third mass effects BioWare totally revamped the combat system, only to the problem of just making the two sequels basically just "Glorified Shooters".

 

Not only that but "The Force Unleashed" games also failed at being registered to many fans as being "canon", seeing how Darth Vader having an apprentice and all that was just mere ridiculousness, regardless if the actual combat was fun or not. That and making Star Wars 1313 pretty much a "Mature" Uncharted game in the Star Wars universe, with the fact that all the footage shown up to this point was merely a demonstration with placeholder assets; we have no clue where that game is headed either.

 

The best way for this RPG to shine above all the unsuccessful titles that came post-KOTOR is for Obisidian to make the story plausible, something that actually convincing enough to be "registered as canon", and have a more fluid travel and combat system that made the KOTOR games "meh" sometimes. I have played KOTOR(1) a few times but I have SO MANY problems with these "chokepoints" in the game where you felt complete lost or completely underpowered during a scene, combat or not. BioWare mostly fixed those problems, but in games that were not Star Wars related. Obisidian would have analyse how these games have progressed and make this new Star Wars RPG fluid and deep enough that hopefully it will be right up there with Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

 

With all this work is being done at Obsidian, another issue is the game engine itself. Alpha Protocol and Fallout New Vegas to say the least are nowhere near as "stunning" and "masterful" in the graphics department as Mass Effect or similarly AAA Action/RPG. Obsidian will have to ditch the crude engines they used for those two titles and make something that is actually presentable. The two KOTOR games were some of the best looking games for their generation, seeing how just like Republic Commando (love that game) the only console that could run it was seemingly the original Xbox. That and it only took 'til the demonstration footage of Star Wars 1313 that a Star Wars game was finally able to "micmic" the atmosphere of Coruscant from the movies. The Old Republic totally botched up by using a style that is reminiscent of Late 90s 3D cartoons. Yes, I can excuse "Lesser Graphics" for the sake of compatibility with PCs with ranging hardware, but it just looks...bad. I mean the original KOTORs in many ways look better than their MMO successor.

 

 

I guess I should end this almost-endless rant of mine, but I just HAD to get it off my chest. Here's hoping Obsidian gets approved and gets this project devved!

[JFSOCC]

I would play it, no question about it.

[GhostofAnakin]

I'm a little "meh" on the timeline between Ep. III and Ep. IV.  There's already way too much stuff going on during that time, plus the fact it severely limits the lore Obsidian can come up with since so much of the actual movie lore will have to be observed.

 

That was one of the things I liked most about the KOTOR series.  It was set during a period where, at that time, only old comics had ventured.  So other than offending the comic book fans, BioWare/Obsidian had a lot more leeway about what the story could be about during that time period.

[fortuntek]

I'm a little "meh" on the timeline between Ep. III and Ep. IV.  There's already way too much stuff going on during that time, plus the fact it severely limits the lore Obsidian can come up with since so much of the actual movie lore will have to be observed.

 

That was one of the things I liked most about the KOTOR series.  It was set during a period where, at that time, only old comics had ventured.  So other than offending the comic book fans, BioWare/Obsidian had a lot more leeway about what the story could be about during that time period.

 

 

Totally hearing you there. If I had to guess though, the newly Disney-owned and operated LucasArts studios could end up giving Obsidian the go ahead, but only conditionally on that they ought to tie their story into the broader arc forthcoming with the new movie trilogy. And seriously, they'd be stupid not to-- that is, from a marketing standpoint. Movie hype <-- feeds --> game hype, and so on.

 

Back to what you were saying though: that's sort of the problem, between episodes III-IV has been done to death, as well as any movie gap times. That's also one of the reasons why I liked the Old Republic setting so much (in truth, it captivated me more than the movie setting ever did once I got my claws on every little nugget of EU material out there)

 

It's like they need a.. "new" era, or time frame. But that's problematic seeing as post-original trilogy stories have been written and erasing them wholesale, while good for the new movies, would be a gigantic Mickey Mouse themed slap upside the face to longtime Star Wars fans who've spent years becoming invested in those EU stories and characters. (Though if it were up to me, I'd most like to see a clean slate--SHWOOSH, all kiddie Skywalkers bye bye, Chewie back, and the Yuuzhan Vong naught but the fevered dream of a madman...)

 

 

Edited February 21, 2013 by fortuntek

[Levimowrer]

KOTOR 3 anybody? I would spend 1000 dollars on it if I had to.