Star Wars Games Are Best When They Let the Weird Jobs Matter [Guest Article]

Star Wars games have always had one very obvious problem.

The Jedi are standing right there.

They have laser swords. They have magic space instincts. They get dramatic robes, ancient temples, moral crises, and the sort of destiny speeches that make everyone else in the galaxy quietly check their schedule and wonder whether they still have to pay rent.

So naturally, a lot of Star Wars games end up orbiting the Jedi fantasy. And fair enough. When it works, it works. Jedi Knight, Jedi Outcast, Jedi: Fallen Order, and Jedi: Survivor all understand that swinging a lightsaber around while the galaxy collapses is, scientifically speaking, quite fun.

But the strange truth is this: Star Wars games are often at their best when they let someone else have the controls.

Not the chosen one. Not the last hope. Not the robed person in the middle of the poster.

The bounty hunter. The clone commando. The pilot. The smuggler. The soldier. The mercenary. The doomed fool in a cockpit wondering why the Empire brought that many TIE fighters.

That is where Star Wars games get interesting.

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Chains of Freedom – Liquid Loyalty

When I tried the demo back in February this year, I was pleasantly surprised. I expected nothing, yet got an interesting experience for my time downloading. Now, the transition from demo to full game does not always go smoothly, but I’m glad to say that the gameplay is exactly the same in the 1.0 release. The story also progresses as expected, and this could be considered good for almost every game, which is it in this case too. However, Chains of Freedom remains the same to its detriment, seeing as what you get in the demo, is what’s on the menu for the whole campaign.

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Star Wars embracing Xcom?

I just noticed on Steam that there is a turn-based Xcom-like game set in the Star Wars universe called Star Wars: Zero Company. According to the information available, it’s planned for a 2026 release. So, some time until then. At first, I didn’t think much about it, since I was sure it would be set in the new Disney era – the era of cringe. But it is not so. Instead, it’s set during the twilight of the Clone Wars, which should be a damn cool setting for a clandestine Xcom-style squad. A group of specialists put together to tackle the toughest of missions the republic can think up. However, what has me curious is that one of the team members is a Jedi. It has me concerned that this will eventually play out with the typical “Are we the baddies?” scenario with an allegiance switch. Considering Order 66 (the betrayal of the Jedi), and with the game being set late in the war. I really hope this isn’t the case, but it’s too early to worry about that now. Check out video announcement below:

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My Top 10 RPGs with Custom Parties on PC

Hello and welcome to my personal list of favorite party-based RPGs. This list consists of games I have played and enjoyed. If games that fit the criteria are missing, it’s because I haven’t played them yet, or I disliked them. It’s that simple!

Here are the rules: The game must have custom party creation, meaning the player has to create every member of the dungeon crawling team. Furthermore, the player must retain full control over the members, in both progression and tactics during combat. That’s essentially it, so let’s get this list rolling!

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