Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Apr 152019
 

It was a big weekend for Star Wars news, including the official reveal of Respawn’s upcoming game Jedi: Fallen Order.

Set shortly after Revenge of the Sith, Jedi: Fallen Order follows Cal Kestis, a Padawan trying to survive in the aftermath of Order 66.

Cal is forced to go on the run, while being pursued by the Second Sister (an Inquisitor in the Empire) and the Purge Troopers. It’s an action adventure game that will include lightsaber combat and Force abilities.

More importantly, it’s a single-player, story-driven game. I’m not sure what made EA change their minds after shutting down Visceral, but they officially stated that Jedi: Fallen Order won’t have microtransactions or loot boxes.

Respawn’s Vince Zampella also confirmed that there won’t be multiplayer. It’s completely a story-focused experience.

That all sounds great. I’ll need to see more of the game, but right now they have my attention. The reveal trailer basically just sets up the premise for the story.

One of its writers is also Chris Avellone, who previously worked on Knights of the Old Republic 2 as well as several other RPGs, so that’s also a good sign.

(Speaking of whom, he recently told VG247 about Obsidian’s hopes for the never-made KotOR 3. If story-driven Star Wars games are in again, can we finally get more KotOR?)

Jedi: Fallen Order will be out on November 15 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. There is a Deluxe Edition that includes some bonus content and cosmetic items, as well as cosmetic pre-order bonuses, but here’s hoping their “no microtransactions” promise is legitimate.

After my disappointment with Visceral’s closure and the reworking of their Star Wars game, I’ve been hoping for a story-driven Star Wars game and I want to believe Jedi: Fallen Order is it. What do you think from what has been revealed so far?

May 042018
 

Happy Star Wars Day!

May the 4th always makes me think about Knights of the Old Republic.

I reviewed it two years ago, and last year I included a new sequel or remaster on my list of Star Wars games I want to see.

So this year, let’s talk in more detail about one of my favorite E3 pipe dreams, Knights of the Old Republic 3.

Knights of the Old Republic is a fantastic RPG. I can’t praise it enough. It’s fun, captures that Star Wars feel, and has one of my favorite twists.

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is also good. Not as good as the original, although that might be because of the cuts when it was rushed. I usually mention KotOR II in the context of bad endings, but I still enjoyed it overall.

These games had great character and cool stories, so while we continue to lament the cancellation of the story-driven Star Wars game from Visceral Games, we can hope a new Knights of the Old Republic arises to fill the gap. As displeased as I was with EA’s explanation of the changes being made, KotOR could fit their hopes for a “broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency.”

Then again, with my disappointment in Mass Effect: Andromeda and mixed feelings about Dragon Age: Inquisition, maybe a new KotOR under BioWare and EA wouldn’t be what I want after all.

Nevertheless, I’d love to see a new KotOR game as good the first (or second). It’s still a pipe dream for now, but it doesn’t feel impossible. The series could be made part of the new canon, or it could be a reboot that doesn’t follow the first two.

What do you think? Would a new Knights of the Old Republic game live up to the standards of the original two? Will it ever be announced? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

May 222017
 

Over the weekend, I finished reading Thrawn by Timothy Zahn.

When I first heard about Thrawn’s return to Star Wars canon, my excitement nearly overwhelmed me. That feeling returned as I read Thrawn, the first novel featuring Thrawn outside of the old Expanded Universe.

It is a rather slow-paced novel, but it’s worth it for its fantastic look at Mitth’raw’nuruodo, better known as Thrawn.

In the old novels, Thrawn was an oddity, a nonhuman Grand Admiral in the human-centric Empire, and it gave the impression that the Empire couldn’t ignore his skill but wished they could forget about him. Here, we see that in action, as Thrawn encounters the political machinations of xenophobic Imperials determined to see him fall.

But while Thrawn might not be used to such politics (and it’s interesting to see a Thrawn who isn’t good at everything), he’s the brilliant tactician he always was. The book is filled with scenes of Thrawn in his glory as he analyzes, strategizes, and out-maneuvers everyone around him.

In fact, Thrawn lets us get into the character’s head more than ever before. Each chapter begins with a short entry from his journal, and several chapters are told from his point of view. In these point of view sections, other characters’ reactions and physical changes are written in the present tense, and while that was jarring at first, it does demonstrate the way Thrawn reads people–and how he just thinks differently.

He isn’t the only viewpoint character, and while I wasn’t terribly fond of Arihnda Pryce (especially once she got ruthless), I loved Eli Vanto, who works alongside Thrawn as his aide.

While Eli is human, he faces his own struggles (he’s from Wild Space, and people from the core of the galaxy look down on him), and his growing bond with Thrawn was just as enjoyable as getting to watch Thrawn’s brilliance at work through Eli’s eyes.

It was so enjoyable, I was a significant way through the book before I remembered that I shouldn’t be rooting for these guys! They’re with the Empire! They’re the bad guys!

I think it’s part of what makes Thrawn so fascinating. He’s not like the typical Star Wars villain. He’s fair. He does everything he can to avoid the unnecessary loss of life. He’s… a good person? He’s one of the “bad guys,” and he’s incredibly dangerous, but it’s difficult to really dislike him.

Click for Thrawn spoilers
In fact, his overall goal is pretty interesting: ally with the Empire because it’s strong, rise high in the ranks, and become influential enough to make sure a more benevolent ruler eventually succeeds Palpatine.

His immediate motivation for joining the Empire parallels that from the original Expanded Universe. Here, Thrawn believes the Empire’s strength makes it a necessary ally against a far greater evil. In the original novels, Palpatine convinced Thrawn that an Empire would be necessary to stand against a greater threat lurking in the galaxy.

The “Far Outsiders” Palpatine warned about were the Yuuzhan Vong, but what are the threats Thrawn and the Chiss expect to fight in the new canon?

Will the Yuuzhan Vong become canon again? (That would be controversial, for sure.) Is a new greater enemy waiting in the shadows?

Or, is it whatever Snoke is? After all, we still don’t even know his species.

If you’re a fan of Grand Admiral Thrawn, you’ll probably love Thrawn… and if you’re unfamiliar with the character, this is a good chance to see why he’s so popular.