Summary
One of the most prominent pieces of news in the gaming industry revolves around the highly anticipated but increasingly skepticalStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremake. This constant news is largely due to the game’s developmental issues, which are now more common knowledge than even the game’s own features. Initially, Aspyr Media was heading up the development of the remake, but the project shifted to Saber Interactive in August 2022 after some significant changes were made to Aspyr’s development team. Things then got even more complicated last February, whenEmbracer Group announced plans to sell Saber Interactive.
Despite these massive upheavals, Saber Interactive’s CEO, Matthew Karch, stated in April 2024 that theStar Wars: KOTORremake remained “alive and well,” reaffirming the company’s commitment to the project. Nevertheless, there is still no official release date for the game, nor has there been any more noteworthy news on the state of its development. All of these problems ultimately create one considerable issue that theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremake will need to overcome: it can’t be all for nothing. In other words, theStar Wars: KOTORremake can’t just rely on nostalgia to succeed, and should instead move on to carry the torch of its namesake as one of the most influential RPGs ever made.
The KOTOR Remake’s Development Problems Need to End on a Strong Note
The KOTOR Remake Can’t Rely on Nostalgia to Succeed
It’s no secret that BioWare’sStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicis one of the most influential RPGs ever made, as manymodern RPGstoday still look to it for guidance when it comes to choice and morality systems, character development, storytelling, and world design. Given the impact thatStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republichad and still has on the gaming industry, Saber’s remake might be tempted to think nostalgia alone will be enough to carry it forward to success. Unfortunately, nostalgia has never been effective at ensuring the long-term success of anything, much less a video game.
Most notably,video game remakesthat rely too much on nostalgia often alienate new players who lack emotional attachment to the original. Without modern quality-of-life improvements, gameplay, and storytelling, these remakes end up feeling too antiquated for new audiences to get into, resulting in a cold reception. On the flip side, video game remakes that reinvent things too much alienate the original game’s veterans, as they may believe that the remake is out of touch with the original. It’s a remake’s ability to strike a balance between innovation and respect that leads to its success, as games likeFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeand its sequel,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, have proven.
The KOTOR Remake Needs to Be as Influential as the Original
If theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremakeends up going through all of these developmental problems, only to come out on the other side as an irrelevant, redundant, nostalgia-fueled product, that would undoubtedly lead to its demise. New fans that it could have captivated would therefore be disregarded, and veteran fans will ultimately be let down by the short-term appeal of the game after the nostalgia has worn off. This puts theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremake in a unique position, and one that reflects the status of its namesake.
It’s no secret that BioWare’sStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicis one of the most influential RPGs ever made, as many modern RPGs today still look to it for guidance when it comes to choice and morality systems, character development, storytelling, and world design.
In short, theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicremake has just as much of an opportunity to reinvent the RPG landscape as its predecessor did, but it will need to ensure it’s not simply relying on nostalgia to capture the success of the original. Instead, all thedevelopment problems theStar Wars: KOTORremakehas endured will need to pay off in an inventive and innovative way that still manages to honor the legacy of the original game. Then, perhaps it might be able to be the next big influential RPG of its own time, showing that every issue it faced during its development was worth it in the end.
