Star Wars games need to get far, far away from the movies

In order for future Star Wars games to really make an impact and be memorable, they should drop the baggage of the movies by distancing themselves as far as possible.

It’s been a rocky few years with Electronic Arts, but we have probably the best game based on the Star Wars license since LEGO Star Wars in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Despite a few technical hiccups, many consider this a must-play. It finally gives us hope for a potential future of good games based on one of the most popular franchises in history.

I have the game and have spent a good chunk of time with it and am enjoying it quite a bit. There’s just one huge nagging issue though. I know how Cal Kestis’ story ends more or less, even without beating the game. You do too. It’s not a spoiler unless this is somehow your first experience with Star Wars.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order takes place in that time period between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope (the very first Star Wars movie). And sure, interesting stories can totally come from that nebulous period we don’t really know much about. The problem is there are certain things that are set and cannot be changed in a video game — or anything for that matter — that takes place in that period, at least not in that particular sector of the galaxy.

Even if you haven’t watched A New Hope recently, you know the basic premise. The Empire rules the galaxy with an iron fist. The Jedi Order doesn’t exist. Jedi barely exist and are mostly considered myth.

Cal Kestis’ one job in Fallen Order was to restore the Jedi Order or at least get it to a point where the Jedi aren’t in shambles for sure. So without beating the game, you know that either he utterly failed at his task or whatever he accomplished didn’t matter. That’s the problem with an “interquel” and even prequels for that matter. They have to adhere to things that take place after their stories, so they can’t have anything that happens matter.

This is not the first time this has been an issue with games that establish “new canon” either. Remember the Force Unleashed games? Darth Vader’s secret apprentice? Nothing he did mattered either. Outside of those games, for all intents and purposes, he doesn’t exist.

So how do you make a Star Wars game that establishes new canon that actually matters? It’s actually not that hard. It’s been proven already that you don’t need familiar characters and settings to make a game in the franchise people love and remember.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic takes place one thousand years before any of the movies and while it shares some familiar elements, it has all new characters and places. Even if the names are familiar, they are completely different because it was so long ago.

Does anything that happens in the Knights of the Old Republic games affect the movies or TV shows? Probably not; but, since they take place so far away from those well-established events, you also don’t know ultimately what is going to happen in those games. It helps a lot in making the story really compelling.

You don’t have to go a millennium into the past to create compelling stories that matter though. Despite having the fate of the galaxy in their hands, the Star Wars movies really only focus on a small part of a huge galaxy.

What other stories are going on at this time, possibly far away from the Empire and the rebels? Or even make a game that takes place long enough after the latest movie.

The point is that the Star Wars universe has a lot of potentially interesting avenues to explore in terms of stories and characters. The less the video games are dependent on being these events that ultimately don’t matter in-between the movies, the better off they’ll be. Hopefully, future games will start embracing this idea.