In an exclusive interview by GameInformer, Navid Khavari, Narrative Director for Star Wars Outlaws, expresses his passion for the Star Wars universe and discusses what we can expect from Ubisoft’s upcoming title. Khavari reflects on story inspiration, collaborative efforts, time period, features, the main protagonist, and so much more!
When discussing the story the team wanted to tell, Khavari shared that they wanted to tell the story of a grounded character barely getting by to being launched back into a life full of danger and adventure.
Where the story really started to crystallize was this idea of having a character and story that really isn’t a part of the galactic civil war with the Empire, Rebellion, Jedi and Sith battling each other. Having someone on the ground, a thief, who with her companion Nix is trying to scrape by a living, who finds herself with a bounty on her back and launched into a dangerous underworld. A character who is relatable and a scoundrel who really hasn’t figured out her life yet. That was really exciting for us, and after that, the goal was really to tell a story through the eyes of Kay Vess and making sure we were true to where her journey took us.
When asked about collaborative efforts with other Star Wars creators, Khavari shares the team has a very close relationship with LucasFilm Games. Discussing every topic related to the universe, the game aims to maintain the authenticity of the Star Wars universe.
We have a relationship of very close collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, and we regularly connect with them on every topic related specifically to our game and story. We really lean on Lucasfilm to ensure we deliver an authentic Star Wars experience because authenticity is absolutely key. There is an absolute adoration for this galaxy, so we have to get it right, especially doing justice to the original trilogy.
Khavari passionately expresses his excitement about the game taking place between Star Wars Episode V and Episode VI. He feels it is the perfect place for both character and galactic perspectives. During this time frame, there is so much power that allows deep exploration of the underworld for players to experience.
“I’m not gonna lie, it’s a writer’s dream to have that playground between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. For me, it’s such a perfect era where the stakes are so unbelievably high from both a character and a galactic perspective. But placing our game during this time, I mean, that speaks to the power of that era, but also to the fact that there’s so much to explore in the underworld from a scoundrel perspective in that time period.
And when we looked at the time between Empire and Jedi, we asked ourselves, ‘What kind of story are we going to tell here? What can we add that hasn’t been said?’ And for us, it was that combination of Kay’s rookie scoundrel perspective with her inherent wonder of the wider galaxy and underworld. That this is someone who has no kind of experience with the galactic civil war, at a time when it feels like so much of the galaxy’s future is being shaped by that war, felt really refreshing. This is a character who is just trying to get by stealing, outwitting, conning folks, and then you follow her as she enters into the underworld and begins taking on contracts with syndicates. Taking that character and placing them in that period felt like a really strong anchor for the rest of the narrative.”
Star Wars Outlaws is an open-world video game coming to PS5 in 2024. Despite the game’s large and handcrafted environments, your experience won’t set you back over 200 hours to complete everything.
Star Wars Outlaws’ Wanted and Reputation levels will make every player’s experience unique in their own way, with one such example is that it’s possible to work for or betray Jabba the Hutt. Despite some similarities, Star Wars Outlaws takes no inspiration from the canceled Star Wars 1313.
Check out the game’s official walkthrough below by Ubisoft:
[Source: GameInformer]