The Star Wars franchise has dominated much of the sci-fi landscape for decades, serving as one of the defining pieces of pop culture since A New Hope released to theaters back in 1977. Now a global phenomenon, it's hard to imagine where the world would be without Star Wars, simply because of the impact it's had. Included in that umbrella is an impressive suite of video games, though the perfect Star Wars game hasn't been made quite yet.
That's not to say nothing has come close. While subjective, there are Star Wars games out there that seem to be universally loved, Knights of the Old Republic being the shining example of what can be done when passionate developers are given the resources needed to make something amazing.
For all of the praise heaped onto Knights of the Old Republic, though, it isn't without its faults. The combat system, specifically, is lackluster, and in the context of 2021, it feels especially dated. It's a hands-off system that affords little control and fails to show how deadly a lightsaber should be. The problem is alleviated by excellent roleplaying opportunities and one of the most iconic video game twists to date, but it's still a difficult problem to ignore.
Look elsewhere and similar problems start to pop up. The Battlefront games, both pre and post-EA, have successfully managed to capture what galactic warfare should feel like in the Star Wars universe, but players are repeating the same battles over and over, left without the ability to stretch their legs on a leisurely stroll through Coruscant or shamble their way across Tatooine while dehydrated. Similarly, Jedi Outcast and Jedi Fallen Order offer excellent saber combat, but fail to shirk the sense of linearity, with some exceptions.
The Perfect Star Wars Game
The DNA for a perfect Star Wars game has always seemed obvious: Players want to be able to explore the universe however they see fit, so just let them. That's not entirely a possibility, though. The elevator pitch for the perfect Star Wars game would almost have to be the same as the pitch for Star Citizen – it would be equally unrealistic by extension, too. Instead, what Star Wars truly needs is to capture the mosaics of the universe presented by the other games out there and couple them into a cohesive product.
Star Wars fans have been presented with a very specific vision of the galaxy far, far away over the course of the past few decades, and capturing that iconography well is something that many games have struggled to do. The franchise has changed a lot over the course of its lifespan, which does make it harder to pin down what fits well with the universe and what doesn't. Factor in Disney's perception as a family-friendly company, and things get all the more complicated.
Star Wars has become a balancing act of paying homage to the original movies, pushing the franchise forward, and ensuring that it's as broadly marketable as possible. All of those coupled together can put a strain on any project, but the complexity of making a video game means that they'll be disproportionately affected by the red tape. If that's the trouble for all the Star Wars games out there, why not just focus on one?
One Star Wars Game to Rule Them All
For the past few years, the rollout of Star Wars games has been relatively slow. While there have been a few solid new games to grace screens, EA's exclusive license to create Star Wars games has been a bit of a dud. Two Battlefront games and a Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order are the most notable projects to come from the ordeal, and not all of those have been well received. There's more on the horizon now Ubisoft is making Star Wars games, but it's been a surprisingly lackluster few years.
This smattering of Star Wars games begs the question of how the franchise should, ideally, be handled. But there's a simple, though risky, solution to the situation that could pay off if it were to be handled well. A single, comprehensive Star Wars game that essentially functions as a life simulator, letting players explore a fully realized galaxy in the context of Star Wars.
Obviously, that isn't entirely feasible, at least not in the ways that most Star Wars fans will jump to. Picture instead something along the lines of Star Wars Galaxies or Star Wars: The Old Republic, but with a heavier emphasis on clean combat mechanics and to-scale action segments. An entirely open galaxy simply isn't feasible, but being able to explore a handful of iconic planets and cities before dropping into a Battlefront-size conflict would check just about every box, especially if such a game were to implement lightsaber combat styled after Fallen Order or Jedi Outcast.
Realistically, the odds of something like that ever happening are slim to none – it would simply be too ambitious to be realistic. But for Star Wars, a game that nails all of the mechanics that players are after would be groundbreaking, rather than a stream of games that are quality, but have a major flaw. On the bright side, Disney has the resources to make just about anything happen, and with a push for the High Republic setting going on right now, maybe fans will see some games set during that period, which could be closer to the perfect Star Wars game than ever before.