KOTOR Remake Sounds Good to Xbox Boss

[Cognimancer]

KOTOR Remake Sounds Good to Xbox Boss

Knights of the Old Republic was great, and Phil Spencer agrees - though bringing it back won't be easy.

There are few RPGs that measure up to the first Knights of the Old Republic, which is now more than a decade old. It's still fun today (as evidenced by last year's iPad port [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124465-Knights-of-the-Old-Republic-Goes-Mobile-On-iPad-UPDATED]), but some may find it a bit outdated. In all likelihood that won't change anytime soon, but the seed of hope is there - for what it's worth, Microsoft Studios Executive VP Phil Spencer thinks an updated Anniversary Edition is a good idea.

A curious fan on Twitter asked Spencer about his favorite RPGs, and the Microsoft exec mentioned Knights of the Old Republic as one of his top six (the others being Ultima Online, Bard's Tale, Morrowind, Fallout, and Balder's Gate - he's a man of good taste). When the fan asked about the possibility of a remake, Spencer replied that he'd "put a vote in."

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/438567799191924736]

As he points out, the rights to the game are easily the biggest obstacle to any kind of Anniversary Edition. Fable and Halo have both seen HD Anniversary re-releases, but those IPs are still held by Microsoft. While KOTOR certainly shaped the early days of the first Xbox as much as those games did, the IP is all over the place these days. BioWare made the game, which means EA would probably get involved, and even then it might need to go through Disney now that they're in charge of Star Wars.

In other words, don't hold your breath - but it's good to know that KOTOR fans have allies in high places.

Source: IGN [https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/438567799191924736]

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[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Query: holy shit. I Would sacrifice every meatbag on this planet to acquire this game in HD glory.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I think EA is currently doing another Star Wars game and they released TOR so this probably isn't out of the question... though I wouldn't want to see it as an Xbone only... because ya know... probably not going to get one... even for a rerelease of KOTOR.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

took out the gif because 3 in a row was very odd looking.

statement: Apparently this meatbags resolution is not strong enough. Termination is required.


(but really, this is the HD remake I've been waiting for. hopefully they polish some things up too with it!)

 

[WouldYouKindly]

How about a properly finished sequel? That would be pretty cool too.

Also, I wonder if they'd still shackle it to a modified D&D system.

 

[Sanunes]

took out the gif because 3 in a row was very odd looking.

statement: Apparently this meatbags resolution is not strong enough. Termination is required.


(but really, this is the HD remake I've been waiting for. hopefully they polish some things up too with it!)

Correction: Whilst I would in fact harm a meatbag or two for this game's release, you did not specify your terms. (Like what types are speaking of?) But seriously, I feel the same. I hear there was a patch to it, and that the game itself was missing some content due to deadlines. Here's hoping that if a HD Remake is made, they add that as well.

That was Knights of the Old Republic 2 that was made by Obsidian that had a patch to unlock unfinished content.

 

[frizzlebyte]

How about a properly finished sequel? That would be pretty cool too.

Also, I wonder if they'd still shackle it to a modified D&D system.

KOTOR 3 would be my choice, too.

Although I disagree that "shackle" is the right word for the role-playing system KOTOR used. I rather liked it.

 

[Smiley Face]

took out the gif because 3 in a row was very odd looking.

statement: Apparently this meatbags resolution is not strong enough. Termination is required.


(but really, this is the HD remake I've been waiting for. hopefully they polish some things up too with it!)

Correction: Whilst I would in fact harm a meatbag or two for this game's release, you did not specify your terms. (Like what types are speaking of?) But seriously, I feel the same. I hear there was a patch to it, and that the game itself was missing some content due to deadlines. Here's hoping that if a HD Remake is made, they add that as well.

You're probably thinking of KotOR II, made by Obsidian Entertainment with all of their trademark unpolished genius. It had a lot of cut content, and it wasn't pieced together all that coherently, so fans have been doing some unofficial modding and patching for a while.

I... don't know how to feel about this. KotOR is one of my favourite games of all time, and while I was excited for the upcoming Fable re-release, I personally feel no pressing need for an HD KotOR, I still jump into it every now and again and the graphics aren't a problem at all - but then, I haven't seen what an HD version would look like, and I suspect that if I did, I'd be drooling for a week. But even if it's not something I'd end up being keen on, it's something that I'd love to see happen, I could get it for my younger cousins.

 

[Ldude893]

I tried playing the first few hours of KOTOR last year. It felt so strangely generic, but that's likely due to the fact that every single other RPG is following the conventions of KOTOR now, sort of like how Seinfeld is considered derivative of itself due to its imitations of over the years. I guess it also explained why I didn't get into Mass Effect after playing KOTOR first.
From what I've played, it was good. An HD version just might grab me.

 

[wulfy42]

Seriously, we need a real Kotor 3....we don't need a remake, the first 2 games are still great and WHO FREAKING CARES ABOUT GRAPHICS IN RPG GAMES!!!!.

The graphics are fine. The games are great...just make a new one please (And not a crappy horrible worthless waste of time MMO).

MAKE KOTOR 3!!!

I'm using my jedi mind powers on you. Go make it NOW!!

I'll force choke you if you don't.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

How about a properly finished sequel? That would be pretty cool too.

Also, I wonder if they'd still shackle it to a modified D&D system.

KOTOR 3 would be my choice, too.

Although I disagree that "shackle" is the right word for the role-playing system KOTOR used. I rather liked it.

Hey, shackles can be fun.

*Ahem* Sorry about that but I couldn't resist. There's nothing inherently wrong with such a system, but you're generally only going there for the sake of familiarity for your audience anyway. For all of my RPG experience, I still don't do tabletop gaming. My only experience with those systems is through games like KOTOR and Neverwinter Nights.

 

[SecondPrize]

Well. This is a tweet not saying no to the question. I take it for granted that no one has vowed never to release and HD remake of anything. That's probably only because there's no reason to do so.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

If you must remake can you please retool the combat system to be a little more engaging?

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

I'd rather have a KOTOR 3 handled by the original team and not rushed out the door. I started replaying KOTOR last week and it still completely holds up.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

As much as I'd like this, I would like an official complete version of KOTOR 2, or even KOTOR 3 before a remake of the first one. Of course, if the first one is remade, I will still totally jump on it.

 

[Seracen]

How about a properly finished sequel? That would be pretty cool too.

Also, I wonder if they'd still shackle it to a modified D&D system.

I'd rather have a KOTOR 3 handled by the original team and not rushed out the door. I started replaying KOTOR last week and it still completely holds up.

This...so much this. An HD remake of the original would be nice, but mods on the PC versions are more than adequate to feed that particular demand.

Alas, I doubt we will ever see a proper sequel. The very idea would completely undermine SWTOR, and threaten to scuttle interest in playing that game at all.

Indeed, the only reason I still have my accounts (which I allowed to go Free to Play long ago), is simply to eventually play the last few stories and "complete" my KOTOR experience. However, a lot has been lost by making the game such a large and unwieldy MMO.

TBH, I loathe most MMO's, making an exception only for SWTOR (out of reverence to KOTOR and the best story of any MMO) and Secret World (b/c I love the original developer of that IP).

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

We already have KOTOR3, EA released the MMO a couple of years back.

For all it's bad points, TOR was a beautiful game. I would very much like to see KOTOR 1 and 2 remade using it's assets.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

How about a properly finished sequel? That would be pretty cool too.

Also, I wonder if they'd still shackle it to a modified D&D system.

Super unlikely considering Wizards/DnD doesn't currently produce the Star Wars RPG (Fantasy Flight makes the current version), I'd imagine they'd do something more like Dragon Age if they wanted to retain the "feel" of the original but go with an original system or go with a more Action Based system if they wanted to completely shake things up.