Star Wars fans will almost certainly get more out of Star Wars Outlaws if they’re deeply in tune with the Star Wars universe overall, but do you have to be so invested in the fandom to enjoy the game by itself? According to the game director, Mathias Karlson, the answer is “no,” you don’t have to be a hardcore fan deeply attached to certain characters or stories before you can get something out of Star Wars Outlaws. Conversely, Karlson says that it’s as simple as saying if you can start the game, you can engage with it and finish the story.
Much of that accessibility that Star Wars Outlaws offers can be attributed to Kay Vess, the game’s protagonist who’s new to the Star Wars franchise herself. As opposed to some of the established characters in the Star Wars universe that already have defined relationships, known stories, and other tricky lore complications to navigate in order to create a cohesive narrative, Karlson says Kay Vess offers a bit of a “blank slate” for players to engage with.
“I think it was one of our very stated objectives that this is a game that everyone should be able to engage with, enjoy,” Karlson said. “And if you if you can start it, you can complete it. A big part of that is that Kay and the type of character that she is, is very relatable. And it’s a little bit of a blank page in the beginning, but has the personality that very naturally gets into big, tricky situation and takes on new things. So getting a speeder, getting a ship and growing into this world and into what the game has to offer, I think is very approachable because you don’t have to have a previous deep attachment to someone or something within Star Wars to latch on.”
The factions present in Star Wars Outlaws are another example of how some established elements of Star Wars are mixed with new components a bit at a time so that newcomers and longtime fans can enjoy them. One of the factions, for example, is the Ashiga Clan, a group comprised of the Melitto species which was based out of the planet Kijimi. Both the species and the planet are already known fixtures in Star Wars, but the Ashiga Clan is new. Of course, you also have other well established factions at play, too, like the Hutts which included the infamous Jabba who we already know will be in the game.
Star Wars Outlaws releases on August 30th.