The rumours are back

 Kept us waiting, huh...

I mentioned it all in passing for a previous blog, but familiar names and assumptions are beginning to blow over the rumour ramparts and I don't know if I'm fully ready to accept them as gospel just yet. I've been mislead and burned before, by the promises of the excitable, declaring the imminent arrival of the one thing I've yearned for more than air itself, more than continued existence on this miserable planet. I've seen high quality renders proving the exsistence of such a project, only for the downright impossible to happen and for that to be a total misdirect to something else entirely, dark and grim spat out from the soulless gaping maw of that abyss called 'Konami'. And I've seen the absolute heart of hopelessness, where it's been clear that the current caretakers of this franchise, storied though it once was, are totally and completely incompetent at their simple jobs- costing us all for their folly. But now, I am once again going to bite the bullet and believe- in the Metal Gear Solid 3 remake.

Metal Gear Solid 3, for me, is hands down the best Metal Gear Solid game, and perhaps my favourite stealth game and action adventure narrative of all time. It provides an incredible Russian forest adventure dotted with evocative characters, distinct boss encounters, unforgettable environmental switch ups and exciting narrative climaxes that match and trump your best action adventure films at every turn. Hideo Kojima clearly went out of his way to adapt a James Bond style story for the players, and ended up creating a better narrative, deeper characters and more satisfying pay-off than any James Bond era has managed to date- and what's more he even leapfrogged himself! To this day MGS 3 provides one of the most satisfying completely bookended narratives that leans on no other game within it's franchise in order to strike with full passion- and yet somehow it still provides a solid ground for stories to branch off of it- hence 'Peace Walker' and MGS V.

Which is why some part of me, even before this age of high quality remakes, yearned to return to that time when I first discovered a product that quite literally changed the way I looked at storytelling forever. I'm not sure what I really wanted, except for the game to return to me as beautiful as how I saw it in my heart- which I argue the title already is, but if a studio wants to spruce it up to the brim I'm not going to complain, now am I? Although when that studio is, unfortunately, going to be Konami- then I have to hiss through gritted teeth a little. Konami have an... interesting relationship with the Metal Gear franchise... in that I'm mostly sure they've been trying to kill it by actively making terrible products. Metal Gear Survive is pretty much Redfall levels of misguided and ill-conceived from the moment go- in ways that even a totally clueless rube who doesn't know Kojima or his work couldn't get wrong unless it was intentional.

Because there really lies the rub of the matter, doesn't it? As much as I want to see this game brought back to life, I know that original spark of being was carefully nursed into existence by the hands of the auteur who birthed it. Hideo Kojima himself, the mastermind, has his eye of quality when it comes to everything from narrative to camera angles to gameplay systems, and his team are like a perfectly functioning body- bringing his vision to startling reality. They're also entirely cut off from the Konami body, separating the parent from the child that he and his team raised. Even during the lead-up to MGS V's release, a single trailer that wasn't directed by Kojima but rather a marketing team stuck out like a sore thumb for lacking purpose and intelligent visual design. How bad will that look when used to bring an entire Kojima originated narrative? Will it ruin what I once loved about Metal Gear to start with?

In my mind there's several areas where a Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake could totally fail to hit the mark, and the first is in the direction of the cutscenes. Kojima has an increadibly well trained cinematic eye when it comes to how he frames cutscenes, what information to present and how to present it, it's what makes his legendary 30 minute cutscenes worth every second. Anyone else given that task will have to match his mastery of intent and shot importance, as well as his creative approach to keeping action moments feeling exciting even when the controller isn't in our hands. Most game development teams don't have a traditional cinematographer on board, so right away this is an issue that the team are going to run up against. And given how important those cutscenes are to any self respecting Metal Gear game- that's a mistake they can't afford to make.

Then there's the gameplay itself; I'm tempted to say that what's functional doesn't need to be fixed, but I just know that's never going to fly for a remake. I just worry that any modern game designer, with his mind set on being 'intuitive' and 'streamlined', is going to look at the cumbersome camouflage system and just scratch their head. Afterall, we're talking about a system wherein the player needs to pause and go through several menus to change their gear in order to blend in with an indistinct piece of floor that dynamically shifts so often that they'll be back in that menu after a couple of steps. It's bloaty and bizarre, but there really is no solution for what was something of a revolutionary concept of it's time, notable for what it could do not so much for how it achieved that. I fear the solution is exclusion, and that would cut at my very heart if it became true. 

Finally there's the narrative. The story of Metal Gear Solid 3 takes place in the throes of a cold war where the covert operation of one fledging CIA agency has the potential to thwart the eve of thermonuclear warfare. It's a deeply politically sensitive narrative that casts aspersions at Russia and the US with equal vitriol, and even makes China the butt of the joke along the way somehow. If the entire purpose of a Remake is to signal boost a property so that it's brilliance can be seen by a wider and newer audience, then MGS 3 is just asking for trouble. People can't separate art and fiction in the modern day, this game will merely have to start it's intro for people to become irate and offended by the hypothetical villians that Kojima makes out of every side in his interwoven and masterful narrative. It's going to ruffle feathers like no other, I know it already.

Of course, the even darker side of me should be worried about the potential of microtransactions and a live service multiplayer mode stuck on the side with DRM and 'always online' functionality; but I'm choosing to ignore that possibility. (Even if this is Konami we're talking about.) In all honesty we have no idea what an MGS 3 remake would potentially bring us, just that it would have the potential to revive a franchise killed stone dead by Konami themselves, which makes this feel a little macabre under a certain lens. But damn me and damn it all if I'm not rubbing my hands waiting for the best anyway. Praying, beyond prayer, that there's some lone visionary still present at Konami, a sort of 'foetal Kojima', with just a budding cusp of that talent capable of bringing back that special something to this incredible entry in a legendary franchise. Damn, I am going to be so disappointment come next PlayStation direct, aren't I?

GTA Metaverse!

Crimes on the blockchain 

Grand Theft Auto is the biggest franchise in gaming. Probably. I'm willing to bet it's at least up there, although depending on how you choose to independently measure scale and size I'll willing to bet you could land on just about any game being the biggest. GTA has the biggest recognition value by market trends, in that whatever strives it makes will quickly become industry standard. COD probably makes the most sales due to how often it comes out. Earth 2 has the most loyal numbskulls who desperately sink their life savings in the hopes that Earth 2 is going to be a game that anyone even knows about when it drops. So I'm happy suggesting that Rockstar have quite some pull in whatever it is they want to do with the direction of their game and the grounds they want to cross. Heck, you could say that GTA: Online has single handed changed the trajectory of the Ubisoft games as all of them have attempted to copy what that game did since 'Black Flag'. (To hardly comparable success)

As such it makes sense that if you're a scrappy up and comer with the 'new way of doing things' that you want to become the standard across the industry, it makes total sense that you'd be ecstatic that Rockstar's seminal crime franchise was supporting it too. Ecstatic enough to distend and distort the news in front of you into reading whatever fashion best supports the ideals that you support. I mean we've all been there haven't we? When the words in front of us say one thing to us and something else to the person next to us? It's common human nature to try and bring everything into line with our world view, which is the reason why I don't necessarily blame the crypto bros for reading the recent GTA 6 supposed leaks (Which I do not take for gospel, mind; I still find their timing suspect) regarding the rewards of some missions and thinking they've finally found their golden boy in GTA.

But first, what is it that Cryptobros have to do with gaming? Well for some reason, presumably because of the size of gaming as an entertainment model, dozens of crypto products get their start nowadays by promising to revolutionise gaming by introducing blockchain integration into their new game which is going to revolutionise the world. Whether that's through some sort of vapid NFT marketplace, or Play-to-Earn economy or just another stupid bloody 'landsale'. It's the corruption of the art of gaming into some sort of vaguely disguised investment model where the little people stumble over themselves believing there's some sort of path to financial success and the early adopters and creators make the big bucks off their sweat and tears. It's cynical and largely antithetical to a lot of the current drives of gaming, not least in the way it ties real-world economics into the fake world of games. But where does GTA 6 fit into all of this?

Well one of the leaks that followed the recent 'blowout', aside from the female protagonist and the Bonny and Clyde style antics, was a bit about the economy of the game. Somehow, without being able to detail the narrative or any actual missions, our leaker was able to provide details on the reward of some missions, (one of the reasons I'm calling all of these leaks suspect) namely that some would reward the character with Cryptocurrency. Of course, that set off a spark in the eyes of the Moonbros reading such an article, and I can only assume they immediately clicked off the covering article they were reading the second they finished reading those words, as that's the only way they could miss the qualifying statement that most articles have directly following that: how it's referring to an 'in-game' cryptocurrency, not a real world one.

Which makes sense, doesn't it? Grand Theft Auto has always based itself in a facsimile of the real world that emulates the fads and trends of the day to turn them into jokes because that's always been the beating heart of the GTA franchise; one of a big joke. The amount of articles I've seen recently of people who clearly have no idea what they're talking about claiming 'GTA needs to grow up' boggles the mind. I figure they must have just played Red Dead, fallen for the epic tale of a family of robbers falling apart and gone "Huh, you know if GTA didn't have all those jokes then it would be just as emotional as this" No it wouldn't. Because that isn't GTA's mission statement. It's a funhouse mirror placed up to whatever generation they're aiming at in order to make fun of hyper inflated versions of today's issues; and I wouldn't be surprised if this whole 'GTA needs to grow up' diatribe doesn't end up in the spotlights.

Crypto currency and their many financial woes is big news for the much struggling investors desperate for it to take off so that their financial investments can mean something. That's a joke that's already writing itself, of course Rockstar are going to jump on that bandwagon to get their own shots in! GTA V had the heavily underutilised Stock Market feature which allowed you to day trade, I can imagine Crypto will function within the game much the same as that, only probably with at least one mission where your exchange gets hacked and you lose a big chunk of the crypto you had saved up, were I to speculate. Those believing that GTA 6 was going to become a metaverse haven for them and theirs were straight dreaming, there's no money for Rockstar in alienating most of their fans with a scheme that most of them don't understand and those that do are actively hostile towards. Which is the problem with WEB3 in a nutshell; they're always trying to land the plane before the airport has started construction, and end up crashing into a fiery mess because of it.

However that doesn't mean that this representation isn't going to good for the Crypto space, because it absolutely will be. (providing the leaks are true, which I don't believe that they are but this concept seems plausible enough to probably end up in the next GTA anyway.) Even if Rockstar throws in Cryptocurrencies literally just to make fun of them and what they represent, their very inclusion in a video game of that magnitude will invariably do wonders to legitimise crypto and introduce it to some people who don't care enough to research on their own. Reputation might take a hit, but those are foundations to build upon. Do I find that encouraging? Not particularly; I can't see a single benefit from Crypto in the modern age and when the platform becomes bigger I can only see it being defanged into nothing more than a pumped up version of normal finance; similar to how Streaming services are steadily becoming traditional TV.

So no, sorry to disappoint all the Cryptoheads out there, GTA 6 won't be the amazing posterboy of Metaverse madness that all of you want it so desperately to be. You'll just have to clash your brains together to make your own terrible crypto game with pay-to-win garbage leaking out of the rafters and a nonsensical gameplay loop that sounds mindnumbingly boring to anyone who isn't profiteering directly off of it. In fact, I'd argue that Moonbros should probably just hit up Peter Molyneux and ask him to make their DeFi game; he tends to be pretty experienced in putting together scams for his audience. (Ever since he got that 'lifetime acheivements' reward and suffered a midlife crisis, it's just been downhill ever since.) Oh wait, he's already on his own NFT grift. Better luck next time.

XCOM Avengers? Yes please!

 When... I need it...

Let me clear something up real quick about myself. Though I may have criticked Square Enix's Avengers heavily, will continue to do so, and even shared my misgivings about the project before it was even launched, do not for a second believe that I am not a fan of Marvel or Earth's Mightiest Heroes. I mean I grew up reading and watching this stuff years before the MCU, so I've got Marvel deeply ingrained in my bones and even closer to me than DC, even if a lot of the times I prefer Detective Comic's approach to character driven storytelling. And I have, for a stupidly long time now, been wanting that perfect team-Marvel game to come out for so very long, which is why when it looked like that game would be Square's Avengers, I was super critical in ensuring it would be exactly what we needed. X-men got a stellar game in 'Legends' (and also 'Children of the Atom', but that's neither here nor there. Love that game though.) I just wanted the rest of universe to get the game they deserved. Marvel Ultimate Alliance is great, and I'm so happy that franchise came back, but I want something that can focus in on a single team and give us their strengths and weaknesses as closely to the source material as possible, without having to worry about 'larger balancing' or any of that administrative stuff.

These are the sorts of ideas I used to spend a lot of time dreaming about before the MCU started and it became clear that Marvel no longer considered pursing games of viable interest anymore. (With the few that were put out being unbelievable trash.) And yet in all the realms of my adolescent imagineering (which spawned a few ideas which, in hindsight, were just as fanciful and impossible to achieve as Dreamworld) never once did I stick together the concept of a game made both of the Marvel characters and the XCOM game type. (Probably because I hadn't played XCOM back then and didn't know what it was.) So what is my raw reaction to the concept? Why did I never consider this? This is a brilliant idea. Good lord. When does this come out? I need it in my soul, I NEED IT!

But where does this concept come from and why am I salivating over it like it's a turkey-leg in the middle of the apocalypse? Because of the age old world of video game leaks, where Dev teams go in order to beta test the reaction to their projects. (Allegedly.) Apparently some rando on Reddit rocked up with news that Firaxis, the superstar team behind the brilliant XCOM revival, were currently working on a 'Codename CODA', which unfortunately isn't a project to adapt the entirety of Battle Tendency into a rhythm action game to the tune of 'Bloody Stream' and other classics from that artist. (Maybe next time, eh?) This is said to be a turn based action game based on the world of Avengers and voiced by "famous actors", implying that the actual cast of Avengers will be involved this time around! (Unless they're using that to refer to famous voice actors again. Fool me once...)

 Now this would be just a rumor that I would pay barely any credence to, but then Jason Schreier turned around and confirmed it and that's a man who does his homework. In an industry full of folk who've never done anything more than toothless clickbait articles for their entire 'video game journalism' career, Schreier actually has a stellar record of meaningful reporting on issues of import, leaks and the occasional click-bait sprinkled in there too. What I'm trying to say is; he's a man with a reputation and the resources to justify that reputation, which instantly shot this concept up from idle backyard speculation to practically triple-confirmed fact. I'm just upset why the man himself wasn't the one initially talking about this. (I get reserving some info for the benefit of the project's anonymity, but he turned around and confirmed it in a second anyway. Maybe he had to do some digging, I dunno.)

The leaker also mentioned some other gaming tidbits in his Reddit leaking career, like some NBA news (As though those weirdos are actually capable of reading) and something about a new Spin-off Borderlands game featuring everyone's favourite joke-character grown-old Tiny Tina. So lukewarm teases basically, all around this little golden nugget of coolness that is XCOM Avengers. Is this the line-up perhaps heading for this upcoming E3, an event which will not only be online once again but is apparently going to be condensed into one concentrated show with an Award event at the end? (Yes, E3 is going to start hosting awards. For their game trailers. If I was Geoff Keighley I'd be pissed right now.) Some seem to think it's unlikely, with these games maybe just being teases for the far future, but in my heart of hearts I need a stellar Avengers game at least teased so that the Marvel gaming audience doesn't lose hope as Square Enix's game slowly chokes to death on it's own mediocrity.

So that means right now all we've got is solid word that this is happening with potentially no details until next year. That sucks. But even in such a lamentable state, we can still come together to laud what might be in rampant speculation based on what we know about both franchises. Firstly, we're probably looking at an XCOM Chimera Squad style game where each character has these distinct abilties that can be improved over the course of the game. This would allow for special team builds, of course, and throwing in a little bit of randomly generated special items would allow for the replayability to seep into the game. I'd imagine the game will be scenario based, with some sort of overarching home base like Avengers HQ or the Shield Helicarrier, from which an overview of the Earth will be monitored and several operations will launch. I hope we'll be dealing with several overarching threats at once, similar to Chimera Squad, so that tough decisions can pop up about who to deal with first and how that might effect the overall campaign. (Maybe lean a little into Crackdown 1's main story for inspiration there.) In fact, if we look at this with a discerning eye, Chimera Squad might very well have been a test run for an Avengers style game in this genre, so that'll definitely be the place to look for the curious.

I think that where Chimera Squad sort of stumbled up on was the similarity of encounters, which always followed the 'breach and clear' method that become pretty methodical once you figured out the ways to exploit it. An Avengers XCOM game might want to lean more into how XCOM 2 handled encounters, with an initial position of advantage from which the player can choose how the mission plays out. Team synergistic abilities will certainly have to be played up upon, MUA style, mistakes should be punishing with easy team knockouts, (I expect Marvel won't let us straight just kill the Avengers) and I personally would love it if a game like this could lean into a lot of the more dynamic mission elements like we saw from XCOM 2: War of the Chosen. Bosses in that would just turn up mid mission and completely evolve the circumstance until they were dealt with, it made the campaign feel alive and actively competitive.

I'm simply overdosing on all the possibilities of a game like this, and could sit here spouting 'maybes' and 'what-ifs' until the world freezes over. At the end of the day Firaxis have oodles of talent behind them and a world of burgeoning potential in Marvel, that's a combo that could dream up easily the best Avengers game ever made upon release. Of course, part of this does make me mourn when I hoped that 'XCOM 3: Time for the fishies' (working title) would be their next project, but in my eyes, the more they perfect their craft inbetween major XCOM entries the better it'll be for the series in the long run. What a brilliant combination I never would have seen coming, what mad genius concocted this collaboration from their laboratory and why aren't they in charge of all Marvel digital content at this point? Dang, I haven't been this excited for an upcoming game since... oh- I'm sad now...

The Elder Scrolls: Redfall?

Hey you, you're finally awake.

Yeah, there's a recent game announcement that was just made but we still need to wait a while for the trailer (because apparently Ubisoft don't operate in the 'announcement by trailer' model that literally everyone else does) but instead I want to take a time to latch onto a particularly delicious rumour I heard regarding the future Elder Scrolls Six. Now of course, literally nothing concrete is known about this upcoming title beside the fact it's likely set in Hammerfell and that Jeremy Soule probably won't be offering his talents to the soundtrack. (Nuts. I live for the Skyrim soundtrack.) But that just means there's ripe room for rampant speculation and assumptions; my favourite two words!

Now whispers regarding the next Elder Scrolls is hardly new, they really started blowing up a couple years back after that teaser trailer, but today I heard an interesting development in that regard as claims of an interesting leak have hit the Internet. Now, I know that I've said how I'm no fan of 'leak culture' but let me be frank; this doesn't really come across as a leak. No, these details are too vague and 'hype-inducing' that this just sounds like one of those unofficial press releases in efforts of driving up interest in a certain story or start up that hype train. It's conceited, and yet I'm completely buying into that whole cycle with no regrets because, damn it, I want to talk about TES for a hot minute. (God knows Bethesda isn't going to...)

This particular leak was posted on Elder Scroll Fandom (the most reliable of sources) and was offered by a presumed contractor who apparently flashed his NDA as proof to a moderator. (So that's smart; flaunting the legal document that you are currently breaking. "Look ma, I'm about to get me ass sued off!") The details themselves claim that this will be the first dual province game taking place both in High Rock and Hammerfell and is currently slated for Q4 2024. Factually this seems to tally as we all currently know that there needs to be the announcement and release of Bethesda's Starfield before hand. However, if this date is accurate then this does mean something interesting; that Starfield will likely be set for dropping this year. (Quite the surprise considering we haven't seen anything more than an incredibly light teaser trailer for this title.) But that's just the appetiser, the real meat is in the gameplay details...

Apparently this will one of the first times in a Bethesda game where we actually take an active role in nation-wide politics with the Orcs going to war against the Bretons in one instance. Ultimately they claim that the game will support large scale conflicts that mimic the sorts of battles you'd see from Lord of the Rings; and this is where I start furrowing my brow a bit. We already know that Bethesda insist upon recycling their outdated engine once again for Starfield and TES IV and I have to say I don't think such an engine is capable of this feat. Of course, they intend to upgrade and improve upon these resources but come on: Fallout 4's iteration of the engine couldn't even reliably load static objects in close proximity to one another; how the heck is it supposed to run thousands of AI packages simultaneously? Because of the way the Elder Scrolls games work, with each actor being granted some degree of autonomy even if they are just a background scene filler, it's unfeasible for too many to exist in the same spot. (Windhelm's docks used to straight CTD folk; and that only had about 20 people.) Unless the next generation is going to push processing power to ungodly heights, I have to call bull on this entire leak based on that fact alone; it just does not reconcile with reality yet.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the part where I contradict everything I just said about how real this 'leak' might be; because it ain't. (At least I think it's not.) Don't get me wrong, everything that was just said seems like it exists within the realm of reality but there's just these little nuggets of untruth that ring me wrong. Take the whole 'Daggerfall' aspect of the game, which the leak says is set to be 'the biggest city that Bethesda have ever made', with those folk taking a que off of CDPR in creating a dense feeling cityscape. Wait, what? Bethesda taking ques from CDPR? Why, because of The Witcher 3's Novigrad? Novigrad was the first time that CDPR tried to create a large cityscape to be an explorable area and whilst it may have remained pretty to look at; the experiment was an overall failure compared to the wilder environments from the rest of the game. The city felt needlessly big and it's inhabitants were little more than window dressing, which is something that CDPR have acknowledged and want to improve on for Cyberpunk 2077. Or are we meant to believe that Bethesda are latching onto CDPR because of their work with Cyberpunk, a game that isn't released yet. Firstly, they have no idea what that game will shape up looking, no more than the rest of us at least; and secondly, that's a freakin' Sci-fi city whereas TES is a fantasy franchise. That's just too stupid of a jump in logic for us to overlook.

Then there's the assertion of there being ship travel in this game in order to justify the many claims that "the technology to make this game doesn't exist yet" from our old pal Todd. According to mr leaker this is meant to be an evolution upon the spaceship travel which is said to feature prominently in Starfield therefore establishing a feasible chain of development to make this more believable. But here's the rub; why? High Rock and Hammerfell may be two separate provinces but they are literally right next to each other and boast very few large water masses within their boundaries. Now if this game took place in a location wherein there were significant stretches of sea that could be filled with content; like Auridon (Or 'Summerset Isles' as it's been known in previous games) this would make a lot more sense. This would also make a more sensible staging area for the conflict against the Aldmeri Dominion which all of Skyrim, and the majority of this leak, has been spent building up. (You know, seeing as how Auridon would sit the seat of the Dominion's power?)

Then there is the little taster quest that was offered as a way of showcasing how the quests in the game will be more unique and varied. The scenario we were described involved a Khajiiti mother who was going to the market to buy milk and thus asked the Dragonbor- I mean the Hero of Kva- I mean The Hero Nereva- Whatever this dude is, to watch over her litter of kittens. What would proceed would be the classic 'babysitter hell' scenario wherein a bunch of cute little cat children would cause havoc and be rude all night long until the mother comes home and gets all irate. At this point our Hero(?) can either speech check to calm the crazy cat lady down or goad her into combat, after which the kittens can be found in the city's orphanage. Now, I'll admit that this is a pretty creative sounding quest, but I'm kind of curious why this is the example that's been offered to showcase the ability of this new game. I mean, this could have been coded into Skyrim, probably even Oblivion, maybe even Morrowind with a stretch. Conceptually it's unique but we've never been worried about Bethesda's ability to come up with ideas, it's their lack of the tech to execute these ideas which has been up for debate. Why not regale us with a story about that 'sailing' mechanic you introduced or maybe even the 'spell crafting' mechanic that was dropped in there somewhere? Why, oh why? (Also, the quest features Khajiit and not a single reference to Skooma. There's no way this isn't bull.)

Now a lot of news sites have already picked up on reporting this as a verifiably true leak but I've yet to see any actual evidence of these assertions so I'm willing to claim 'confirmation bias' on this one. And the nail in the coffin for that particular theory lies in one simple question; how the hell has a contractor got ahold of all these variously unrelated details for a game which, in his own words, is still in the conceptual stages right now? It just does not make sense. Now that isn't to say that I don't wish this were true, a lot of the things here do sound pretty cool, but the whole 'Redfall' rumour was killed at the end of Skyrim's life cycle and I refuse to jump onto this song and dance once again, come back when you've pictured some concept art, then we'll talk. Although this does provide ripe ground to think about the things we want from TES 6 when it does release; you know, when we're all freakin' pensioners. So maybe that's something...

All aboard the rumor train: toot-toot!

The say the force can do terrible things to a mind...

We live in a society high on the drug of instant satisfaction, wherein we collectively cannot stomach the proposition of waiting for answers and confirmation, so we eagerly scoop up rumors instead. Not to criticize the sage wisdom of the great writer Mark Twain, but perhaps we'd adhere to truth and fact more often if it were only a tad quicker on the wake-up. Much of the momentum of the entertainment news cycle is impossible to sustain without the grease of the alleged every now and then, and sometimes it's even a bit more fun to speculate about what could be rather than being told what is. Oftentimes you'll hear it said that folk think they know what they want, but they don't; whilst I vehemently disagree with such statements in most instances, I must admit there may be a little bit of truth to that in this one.

But what has me waxing philosophical about rumor culture, you ask? Well, that would be the popular whisper making the rounds that EA are taking a shot at remaking 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'. (Which is my second favourite game of all time, if you didn't know.) Now, I haven't looked into the specifics of this rumor, because I don't particularly care about how reliable it all is and if we can 'trust the source', there is a much bigger discussion at hand. (Besides, a lot of the time these studios 'leak' these projects on purpose to gauge audience interest.) I'm torn at my very core as to whether or not this is something that I've always wanted or my absolute worst-case-scenario. And that isn't even taking into account the fact that EA would be the ones heading such a project if it does really exist. (Although it would be through Bioware. Who are currently working on Dragon Age 4, a remodelling of Anthem and the beginnings of a Mass Effect sequel. Talk about 'stretched thin'.)

As a huge fan of Star Wars, I was one of the many people who shook their head at the Sequel trilogy of films reasoning that the franchise should officially move backwards to it's greatest hey-day: the days of the Old Republic. This age, set thousands of years before even the events of 'The Phantom Menace', told of a time where the Jedi weren't an eminent force in the galaxy and were instead locked in a mortal struggle against their natural rivals, The Sith. This concept would reach it's greatest heights at the moments when we saw huge sweeping battles between thousands of lightsaber-wielding Sith and Jedi.Through a fantastic comic series, two grand games and a half-decent MMO, we got to explore this world and nothing that the Star Wars brand has put out since has ever topped it. (Although a few of the 'Star Wars Episode 3.5' stories have come close.) I even remember longing for a sequel to 'Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic' for so long, so why am I so conflicted about the prospect of a remake?

To be honest, I wasn't always this ambivalent. I think this really hit me when I saw one of the numerous fan projects that attempted to remake the original Kotor. (And was promptly shut-down once EA got wind of things.) I don't recall which one, but I remember peeking in on a showcase video from an excited Star Wars Fan. I remember the demo in question showing off a bit of the lower cities of Taris and some of Tatooine, and hearing the voice geek out over how shiny everything looked and the glare of the neon lights. It was then that it really hit me what was so wrong about this project; everything looked too clean. What I mean to say is, the textures were good and all but it didn't feel like Star Wars. That's when it hit me how Kotor is one of the only Star Wars games that nails the feel of Star Wars without recycling content from the films. It dares to be different, and somehow improves instead of alienates. (How amazing of a feat is that!)

That is the memory which I am bought back to whenever anyone talks about the possibility of a Kotor remake. Now, I'm sure that EA, with their official contract to poke through official Star Wars assets, will make an absolute breeze out of nailing the look of Star Wars, but that doesn't mean they'll replicate the atmosphere of Kotor. Because, you see, it was a lot more than just the look which made Knights so special. Kotor managed to completely rejuvenate a galaxy that we knew so well and make us look at it from different eyes, it brought doubt and shades of grey into the universe without becoming too bleak and gritty, and it introduced fans to a cast of unforgettable characters that were as good as family. (The way I see it, one of Kotor 2's biggest mistakes was supplanting those companions for their weak-sauce variants.)

Then there is the big elephant in the room; the immortal twist that proved so memorable that it did to gamers what "I am your Father" did to a room full of 1980's movie goers. It completely turned our world on our heads and made us look back on everything that had happened up until now, it's part of the reason why Kotor's protagonist is one of the most liked character in the Star Wars Legends library. That twist is completely out-of-the-bag now, practically everyone knows about it. (Although I won't saw what it is on the offchance that you don't. Seriously, play Kotor.) I'm not saying that a remake would therefore be totally pointless, but a lot of the appeal will have sagged.

Of course, at the end of the day the reason why I don't want EA touching Kotor again is because I don't think anyone in that organization could do the game justice. Yes, I know that the development duties would most likely go to Bioware, but Bioware is no longer the famed studio who put together Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect, Jade Empire and Dragon Age. (Heck, that much is obvious from the fact that 'Wizards of the Coast' passed their studio up for 'Baldur's Gate 3', giving it to Larian instead.) We've seen this studio bleed key talent over the past few years and struggle to put out a finished product or even finish one they started on. (They cancelled DLC plans for Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect Andromeda at the behest of EA.) I don't trust them to revive this classic.

Yes, I know that 'Star Wars: Knights of the old republic' is an ageing game with lamentable graphics and some poor voice performances at times, but it brings it own charm and that is something I doubt Bioware know how to instill today. EA may be riding the high off of their 'surprise' single player game hit in 'Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order', but I would implore them not trample upon the strong legacy of their best games. I realize that some of my zeal against this rumor comes from that strange possessive greed that us gamers sometimes have, but I'm trying to channel that into a desire to preserve, rather than one to hoard and keep for myself. At the end of the day, I have no say in this and the cautionary, but ultimately positive, reception that this 'news' is getting likely means that if EA hadn't already optioned this remake, they will do now. I just hope that any incurred damages upon the legacy of the original are paid for with the deliverance of a completed Kotor 3. Don't let us down, EA. (Like you always do anyway...)