Disney Should Let Star Wars Games Get Weird Again
November 28, 2019Star Wars is a franchise that has an astronomical reach. And back when that reach was still growing, there was a tremendous amount of variety in the types of video games being made under the Star Wars banner. Not all of them were stunners, but that's ok because there were plenty that were good, and they weren't all the same type of game. Nowadays, it's surprising when a Star Wars game is good at all. But now that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has released and created a solid Hero's Journey in the Star Wars universe, we had to ask: what's next? We discuss the possibilities of a more open Star Wars licence and take a dip into the Question Bucket on this week's Waypoint Radio. You can read an excerpt and listen to the full episode below.
Austin: The Austin Walker thesis about Star Wars is the more of it the better, the worse of it the better. Just plaster the world with Star Wars shit because that's how you end up getting the really weird interesting good little side stories. That's how you end up flavoring that world in a way that doesn't just boil down to a hero's journey story, because there's a lot of little pieces in that world that that great creators can do really cool stuff with.
Patrick: And the more that was out there the less that would be put on individual pieces. This is true of the mainline series, this is true of anything. The fact that this is you know part of why this game probably has to be Hero's Journey too right? It's because, oh what do people want? What they've wanted for like the better part of 10 years is [ Fallen Order] but a broader, like you're saying, diverse set of Star Wars stories wouldn't [have to be so narrowly focused.] Hey, we're building a Star Wars game. Alright, well, Fallen Order already exists, we don't have to do another Jedi story. Or we could do something different with that story, because you're already getting the fantasy wish fulfillment from that one. So let's go do something else.
Austin: That audience is served, right. I want to be clear, people are doing this stuff in the comic space. There been so many good Star Wars comics over the last decade, there are there are people that obviously had previously been doing it in what is now the Legends content, across novels both good and bad.
Patrick: That's what they just call the EU now right? The Extended Universe became Legends?
Austin: Yeah, which I don't love except one, it does mean that no one confuses me for talking about the European Union when I say "Legends," and two, a thing I recently heard and I have not checked the validity of this. I don't know what the, what was the shitty veracity score, whatever the fuck? Verrit? I don't know what the Verrit score is on this. But I had read on a tweet that the reason it's called Legends is that that stuff is canonically legends, legendary in the world of Star Wars now.
Rob: Nooooo. I can't.
Austin: Those stories are told, still, inside of the world of Star Wars.
Patrick: So it's like myths within a myth?
Austin: Yes, that is what I've heard.
Patrick: Mythology.
Cado: That makes sense, because then they can pull things that they want to.
Patrick: That's actually kinda clever.
Austin: That's what I'm saying.
Cado: Right? Like they can pull specific plot points and be like "the rest was exaggerated but we like that, we're gonna use that."
Rob: Years of Luke Skywalker telling people stories about his girlfriend, Maaaaara... Jaaade?
Austin: "Her name her name was Mara Jade and she was sick as shit."
Patrick: Let me tell you about big Luke.
[laughter]
Austin: He was like me but bigger.
Rob: Mara killed him.
Austin: Definitely. Hundred percent. Love it.
Cado: Luuke is still out there.
Patrick: Give me a video game called Big Luke!
Austin: It is very funny to me to think about old Luke on the island from the sequels just being like, "I'm just imagining a better life for myself. Things could have been different goddamnit. That fucking Emperor should have cloned himself sooner," or whatever the fuck is gonna happen in this movie.
This transcript was edited for length and readability.
Discussed: Pokemon Sword and Shield 4:47, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 21:47, Resident Evil 2 52:38, Gloomhaven 54:16, Question Bucket part 1- 1:01:55, Half Life: Alyx 1:27:45, Question Bucket part 2- 1:42:35
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