Star Wars Outlaws Creative Director Julian Gerighty name-dropped Ghost of Tsushima as his biggest reference for the upcoming Star Wars game.
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
Speaking with GamesRadar, Gerighty reacted to reporter Dustin Bailey’s comments that he thought the game reminded him of Red Dead Redemption.
He stated, “It’s super interesting because my biggest reference was Ghost of Tsushima, which is more on the Kurosawa side of inspiration than the Western, the John Ford side of the inspiration for George Lucas.”
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
READ: Ubisoft Responds To Plethora Of Complaints About ‘Star Wars Outlaws’ After Gamers Roast Gameplay
Gerighty continued, “Red Dead Redemption is phenomenal, [because it treats] the world as a world – not as a checklist of activities that are repeated often. But I think that Ghost of Tsushima, what I loved about it was this purity of having a player fantasy and really leaning into it.”
“This is the story, the world, the character, everything fits together with the gameplay guiding everything. That’s the fantasy of ‘you are a samurai ninja in Japan.’ That was one of the guiding lights for this,” he elaborated.
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
As Bailey notes, Gerighty and developer Massive want to make players believe they are outlaws in Star Wars. However, early reactions to the game do not appear to be convincing players this is the case.
Following IGN releasing 10 minutes of gameplay footage for the game, gamers torched it. The video currently has 94,000 dislikes.
A screenshot of IGN’s Star Wars Outlaws: 10 Minutes of Exclusive Gameplay video
In the comments players made it clear they had no intention of purchasing and playing the game. “IGN single handedly saving us all money,” wrote Centurion_of_Terra. FormerBandit added, “‘How to save 80 euros in 10 minutes.’
Kraninthehog4984 commented, “That thermal detonation is the worst thing ive ever seen in a modern video game. Lmao.”
Startthebengine added, “Guys, the AI is completely lifelike. It was just programmed by the director of the Secret Service.”
A screenshot of comments from IGN’s Star Wars Outlaws: 10 Minutes of Exclusive Gameplay video
On top of this negative feedback, Gerighty has previously indicated that the game will make it difficult for players to be immersed in the world of Star Wars he and Massive have created given they decided to make the game’s protagonist Kay Vess a “much more modern protagonist.”
He told Game Informer, “I think she’s a much more modern protagonist than we usually see in games.”
“She’s somebody who is very much a street thief who gets thrown into things that are beyond her control, and that she kind of has to think her way out of, and that makes it a little bit more relatable than somebody who has all the confidence and sarcasm and just comes off as somebody who is not believable,” Gerighty explained.
He added, “So having her be relatable in that way was something extremely important for us.”
Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
Gerighty previously told Edge Magazine via Games Radar that his team intentionally tried to make the character more relatable by having her be a rookie.
He explained that the team wanted her to be “a little bit more relatable.” So they made her “more of a rookie, a petty thief, who ends up in a situation that’s much bigger than they ever expected.”
Key art for Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
Game Director Mathias Karlson also claimed Vess is relatable because she’s not a Jedi. Karlson said, “I think it’s very relatable as a human being on planet Earth that this character doesn’t have any magical powers or properties beyond her daring, her skills, her tools, and her buddy Nix.”
“The personality type is also perfectly suited for going on a swashbuckling adventure. I think that’s something I really resonated with thinking about this character in terms of building a game and gameplay around it,” he added.
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
What do you make of Gerighty name-dropping Ghost of Tsushima and the idea that this game is supposed to immerse players as an outlaw in Star Wars?
