A High Republic Star Wars game is on the way! As a massive fan of the
era so far in the books and comics, this is excellent news. The Game Awards just
released a trailer and StarWars.com has two articles about the new game,
titled Star Wars: Eclipse. So let’s break down everything we know so far!
For those of you who don’t keep up with the books and comics, it’s all good, I’ll fill you
in real quick. The High Republic is set about two hundred years before the events of the films. The
Republic and the Jedi are both in their golden age. Everything is great. The Sith have been
gone for about eight hundred years and except for the occasional conflict, the galaxy is at
peace. Big areas of the Outer Rim are still being explored and taken into the Republic. StarWars.com
says Star Wars Eclipse will feature an original story and unique new characters, so I don’t think
you’ll be expected to be familiar with the stories set in the books or comics so far.
Each of the characters will have their own paths, abilities, and roles to play in the tapestry of
events that could alter the carefully balanced peace in an uncharted section of the Outer Rim.
Star Wars Eclipse will be an intricately branching action-adventure game that can be experienced in
multiple ways, putting the destinies of an array of playable characters in your hands.
Your choices will be at the heart of the experience, as every decision can have a dramatic
impact on the course of the story. Through these decisions, players will forge their own legend
in the golden age of the Jedi. Star Wars Eclipse is currently in the early stages of development.
I’m pretty psyched Star Wars gaming is headed back in that direction. I love Fallen Order to death,
but the ability to make unique choices and have different endings is such a fun
aspect of storytelling in video games. I have a feeling there will be a, quote, canon or
true version of the events. Maybe we’ll get a novelization or something to tell that story,
but for the game itself, let’s have some fun! Let’s make some bad choices and get into trouble!
But let’s dive into the trailer itself. I love how it starts with the drums. Until the
Lucasfilm Games logo pops up I would have never guessed this was a Star Wars game.
Fantasy? Sure. But not Star Wars. And I mean that as a good thing. I feel like it sets things up so
differently. I’m always a proponent of Star Wars being weird. Taking big
swings. Everything about these aliens with the drums feels like a big swing to me!
I’m really digging the first planet we see. It feels a bit like Batuu with a dash of Naboo. A
really cool mix that feels familiar and unique at the same time. Absolutely the kind of place
I’d like to explore. I assume this is in the Outer Rim somewhere, and maybe it is a lot like Batuu.
Like a trading hub or place for explorers and hyperspace prospectors to resupply before heading
off in search of new hyperlanes or something. The marketplace feels similar to Jedha or Batuu or the
Ring of Kafrene. But there are some guards walking around and a pirate Duros, who looks great.
The next shot I want to pause on is the Jedi Council chamber. I like seeing Yoda in his
High Republic robes. Hopefully this means we visit Coruscant at some point. And I’m just glad to know
the Jedi will be involved in this, because they’re the focus of the books and they’re
so cool and different. If you get to be a Jedi in this game it would be cool to make the choice
of what kind of Jedi you want to be, kind of like you could in Knights of the Old Republic,
but with more options and more consequences. You could be an Investigator or a Wayseeker or Healer.
We see a couple Jedi dueling and training on another great looking planet, and I actually
think I know where this is. The VR game Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge recently took us to the planet
Valron, where Jedi Knight Ady Sun’zee trained her Padawan and it looks very similar. Even if
it’s not Valron, the Jedi have outposts all over the galaxy during the High Republic.
It’s tough to see, but it does look like the Jedi are wearing era-accurate robes and garb.
Not that they’re that different from the Jedi in the films, but it looks like what I would expect.
Later on there is a shot of a few more Jedi igniting their lightsabers
against some charging enemies on a snowy world. And that reminds me that, again,
if you get to play as a Jedi character, and if there is some level of lightsaber customization,
there will probably a lot of options,
because the High Republic Jedi tended to be a lot more varied in their designs and colors.
We see a ship coming into port on what I assume is the planet from the start. I wonder if the Jedi
temple and the market are all the same world. The domed building in the distance reminds me of the
Jedi architecture from the temple. The landing ship reminds me a lot of the Ebon Hawk from
Knights of the Old Republic. And you can also see a crashed N1 starfighter in the water, which is
a little odd. Just because I think of it in the prequel era and not the High Republic. But Naboo
is a mostly peaceful planet, they probably don’t update their warships all that much. Also, if
you’ve got such a good looking design, why change it? Maybe this is the N0 fighter or something.
We see these ships zoom by a couple of times. They remind me a bit of the Sith fighters, also from
Knights of the Old Republic. In this shot they’re flying towards an imposing looking building
with a kind of Y symbol on it. Later on we see a bunch of soldiers marching towards the camera with
that same logo on their chest. I’m gonna throw out the idea that whatever this Y organization is,
it might be a corporation or something like that. And they have an army. Basically like the
High Republic version of the Trade Federation. We see them marching along with these massive
machines of war, or maybe they’re some sort of harvesters to take a planet’s resources.
But I might just have the Trade Federation on my mind because Neimoidians get a lot
of screen time in this trailer. And again, we see some prequel era ships,
which is kind of throwing me. I like seeing newer designs as we step backwards in time.
But that’s a minor gripe right now. And I bet if I took the time to compare this High
Republic Lucrehulk to the prequels there would be some differences.
Anyway, my whining aside, it looks like those ships from the Y company…I’ll
call them Y-Fighters for now. It looks like they’re attacking the Trade Federation.
So maybe we’re gonna get into like some Star Wars corporate espionage and warfare.
Maybe as the Republic expands into the Outer Rim there is a bit of a gold rush and factions like
the Trade Federation rush out to strike gold, so to speak. But that’s the Y company’s territory.
During the battle you can see even more Trade Federation ships and landers. I have a feeling
the Neimoidians are up to no good again. You can also see some new dreadnought style ships,
and I’m all about that. Sure, we’re seeing some familiar stuff, but there’s something new to
see too. I’d love a chance to see some Jedi Vector starfighters and their Longbeam cruisers, as well.
The drums come to an end, and we finally see the aliens’ faces. Which are very
Voldemort. They finish some kind of ritual and a being arises from
some black goo like he’s Baron Harkonnen, and we get the logo.
To take a complete stab in the dark here, I think the early conflict might be about
the Trade Federation and the Y company and the Jedi or Republic will probably have to step in.
But while all that is going on, these other aliens with their drums and rituals and scary black goo
man will show up to be the real threat. I will also guess that this all takes place before the
events of the books and comics. The High Republic was first created as a publishing effort, and I
get the feeling those stories are telling us the end of the era. Basically what caused the golden
age of Jedi and the Republic to fade. So I think the High Republic as an era probably lasted longer
than that. Long enough to continue hopping back to tell more stories like this. Or the events of this
game are just removed from what’s happening in the books with the Nihil and the Drengir and all that.
Whatever the case, I am down for this. I’ve never played a Quantic Dream game. I know
they’re largely story driven and decision-based, which is fine by me. A good story is always my top
priority in a game like this. And I’m so excited to explore the High Republic in a video game. I’ve
already had friends texting me asking me about the era, so I hope the game will be a good entry
point for people to see this whole other side of the Star Wars universe. But at the very least
I’m happy to see the era get more recognition and what will undoubtedly be a wider audience.
I’ll probably do a video about the High Republic for people who are interested in what’s going on
at that point in the galaxy. But if you’re really jazzed by the game announcement and
want to dive in now, just pick up Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule. It’s fantastic.
But that’s it for now! Let me know what you’re most excited about in the comments!
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As always, thanks for watching and may the Force be with you!