Title Idea: Star Wars Jedi Academy Remastered / Definitive Edition.
Star Wars Jedi Academy released in 2003 is highly acclaimed as one of the best Star Wars games. To this day the game has a large community especially in modding and multiplayer. The game was praised for its lightsaber combat that many argue to this day is the most realistic out of all Star Wars games. Not only due to the fluid and intuitive moves but also because 2-3 well placed hits were enough to kill your opponent even in multiplayer. While for the most hardcore of fans enabling a few settings namely: seta g_sabermorerealistic 3 to enable instant kills on contact, seta g_dismemberment 3 for the highest level of dismemberment, seta g_dismemberprobabilities 100 to ensure dismemberment occurs; would make the lightsabers behave exactly as in the movie where one hit equals death, truly capturing the feel of a deadly lightsaber.
Star Wars Jedi Academy is actually the final release of the 5 parts Jedi Knight series:
- Dark Forces
- Dark Forces II
- Mysteries of the Sith
- Jedi Outcast
- Jedi Academy
Dark Forces opens before A New Hope. Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial officer turned mercenary after the death of his father by the hands of the Imperials, steals the Death Star plans for the Rebels, the very plans that allow Luke Skywalker to destroy it. Later, he uncovers a secret Imperial project called the Dark Trooper program, developing advanced battle droids and powered armor for stormtroopers. Kyle undertakes missions to sabotage the Empire’s operations and eventually destroys the Dark Trooper project by defeating General Rom Mohc. This establishes Kyle as a key but unseen hero behind early Rebel victories. (in this campaign you always play as a non force-user with weapons)
Dark Forces II is set 6 years after Return of the Jedi, Kyle learns the name of his father's murderer, an evil Dark Jedi named Jerec, who seeks the Valley of the Jedi, a place of immense Force power. Kyle discovers he has Force abilities inherited from his father and begins training to become a Jedi. As you progress, you can choose the Light or Dark Side path through moral choices and Force powers. The story ends with Kyle either defeating Jerec as a true Jedi or taking his power as a Dark Jedi, though canonically, Kyle chooses the Light Side. (for half of this campaign you play as a non-force user the other half as a jedi)
Mysteries of the Sith takes place 5 years after Dark Forces II. This time the protagonist changes to Mara Jade, a padawan trained by now Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn. They carry out missions for the New Republic, but Kyle begins to sense a growing darkness within himself. After a while travels to Dromund Kaas, an ancient Sith world, seeking knowledge, and becomes corrupted by the Dark Side. Mara investigates his disapearnce and confronts him, during the battle Mara deactivates her lightsaber, letting herself be killed by Kyle, Kyle however is unable to do it and is brought back to the Light. Shaken by these events, Kyle decides to step away from being a Jedi for a time. (in this campaign you always play as a force user with lightsaber)
Jedi Outcast takes place 4 years after Mysteries of the Sith, Kyle has abandoned the Force, returning to his mercenary roots. But during one of the missions he is confronted and humiliated in battle by a Dark Jedi named Desann, who orders his partner and love interest Jan Ors to be killed, enraged by this, Kyle reclaims his old lightsaber and retrains in the ways of the force under Luke Skywalker at the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. While fighting Desann's apprentice Tavion, Kyle makes use of the dark side of the force Force Grip, torturing her for information. Having this realization, her drops Tavion and lets her go, she also reveals that Jan Ors is not dead. Desann attempts to convince Kyle to join the Dark Side as his natural abilities in the dark are evidence for this, Kyle refuses and defeats Desann but does not kill him, restoring peace and reaffirming his path as a Jedi Knight. (for the first missions of this campaign you play as a non-force user and for most of it as a jedi)
Jedi Academy takes place 2 years after Jedi Outcast. This time there is another protagonist switch to Jaden Korr, a gifted force user who managed build their own lightsaber on the way to the Jedi Academy. When the ship transporting the future Padawans crashes following an attack by forces unknown, Jaden makes his way through the jungle to the Jedi Academy with the help of another future student Rosh Penin. Following his training at the Jedi Academy, Jaden Korr and Rosh Penin are sent to various planets on jedi assignments under the wing of now Jedi Master Kyle Katarn. Through these missions, Jaden repeatedly clashes with Rosh Penin, who becomes jealous of his success and is eventually seduced by the Dark Side. Following an inconclusive duel with Rosh Penin, Jaden and Kyle discover that Desann's old apprentice Tavion was behind these attacks, she seeks to resurrect the ancient Sith Lord Marka Ragnos. Jaden undertakes missions across various planets, battling cultists and learning the Force and eventually confronts Rosh again, this time Jaden wins and can either spare him or kill him that can lead to a Light or Dark Side ending, echoing his master's own journey, Kyle warns Jaden not to let anger or revenge cloud his judgment as he has made the same mistake in the past. Regardless of choice, Jaden eventually finds Tavion on Korriban and fights here either in the name of the Light Side or to take her power. Canonically, Jaden remains on the Light Side, and Kyle continues as a respected Jedi Master. (in this campaign you always play as a force user with lightsaber)
Kyle Katarn and Mara Jade have appearances and although the player can choose how he wants Jaden Korr to look there is a cannon appearance:
Campaign & Coop: The Remastered Version could have all 5 campaigns playable as "Episodes" with the last one "Jedi Academy" possibly a co-op where the 2nd player is either Rosh Penin or Kyle Katarn depending on the mission. Mysteries of the Sith could also have co-op content for the first half when Mara Jade and Kyle Katarn are together if more content is needed. All original 5 games have co-op mods as it was a beloved feature.
Survival Mode: Essentially non-campaign co-op where up to 4 players held off waves of enemy troopers and jedi. The mod proved so popular that it even became a VR version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2CMmHQyCs
Multiplayer: The Jedi Knight series introduced various interesting competitive game modes where players can take the role of force users and non-force users alike.
Before a match begins, the server host can specifiy whether players can be:
- Force users exclusively (having lightsaber and force powers only).
- Non-force users exclusively (having weapons instead)
- Freely pick either
- Have a ratio of force users compared to non-force users. (for example, only 20% force users per team)
- For the non-force users, the weapons allowed can be set: Light (DL-44 Blaster Pistol, E-11 Blaster Rifle, Wookie Bowcaster only), Medium (Tenloss DXR-6 Sniper Rifle, Imperial Heavy Repeater, Destructive Electro-Magnetic Pulse 2 Gun, Thermal Detonator Grenade, Laser Trip Mine, Detonation Det Pack, too), Heavy (Golan Arms FC 1 Flechette Weapon, Merr-Sonn PLX-2M Portable Missile System, Stouker Concussion Rifle too)
- For the force users, the Force ranking can be set, this controls how many points the players have to invest in different Force powers: None, Padawan (level 1 jump, speed, sense and 5 free points for Light Side or Dark Side), Knight (level 2 jump, speed, sense and 10 free points), Master (level 3 jump, speed, sense and 15 free points). Each force power has 3 levels and there are 4 different force powers each for Light Side and Dark Side, thus 24 points to invest in total. And here can also be set whether one team uses exclusively Light Powers while the other team exclusively Dark Powers.
Aside for settings, there are the classic game modes:
- Deathmatch
- Team Deathmatch
- Capture the Flag
- Duel (1v1, the loser becomes spectator and the first spectator in queue will duel the winner. Restriction: Players are Force users exclusively. Although level of Force ranking can still be set)
But also unique special game modes that can only exist in a Star Wars game:
- Power Duel (A Jedi Academy exclusive where 2v1, with the alone player having 150% HP, uphill battle for experienced players, spectators can choose whether to queue for the single duelist or double duelists. Restriction: Players are Force users exclusively. Although level of Force ranking can still be set/)
- Jedi Hunt (A Jedi Outcast exclusive where one player spawns as a super-powered Jedi Master with all force powers, everyone else hunts them. Whoever kills the Jedi Master becomes the next one. When the Jedi Masters makes a kill he scores a point. Whoever has the most points when the map timer is up wins. Based on the previous Kill The Fool With The Ysalamiri mode from Mysteries of the Sith with only slight modifications. Restriction: Hunted Player is Force user exclusively and Hunter Players are Non-force users exclusively. Although weapons allowed and level of Force ranking can still be set)
- Siege (A Jedi Academy exclusive where Objective-based team gameplay in an attack & defense style. The attacking team has to complete objectives and the defending team stop them from completing objectives. Players choose classes Soldier, Heavy Weapons, Scout, etc. with predefined weapons and abilities and a few of them [1 in 5 if I remember correctly] can be Jedi/Dark Jedi. Restriction: players pick classes instead of picking freely whether non-force user/force user and weapons level/force powers level)
Future DLC Potential:
Mysteries of the Sith had a popular hidden level which allows the player to take the role of Luke Skywalker during his visit to Bespin in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Additionally, a lot of mods were made where players can play iconic moments of the Star Wars movies either singleplayer or multiplayer. Such as Movie Duels, Movie Battles or Knights of the Force, these missions include:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXOsrFLxU8U
https://www.moddb.com/mods/knights-of-the-force
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_the_Force
https://www.jkhub.org/wiki/Movie_Duels_II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5jk23qTZYY
Episode 1:
1. Escape from the Trade Federation Ship -> Fight your way to escape the Separatist ship as Obi-Wan Kenobi or Qui-Gon Jinn.
2. Gungan City -> Invade the home of the Gungans as Darth Maul serving the Trade Federation.
3. Attack on Tatooine -> Qui-Gon vs. Maul, you pick your character.
4. Gungan Hunt in the Hills of Naboo
5. Duel of the Fates (Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon vs. Maul)
6. Fear is my Ally (Darth Maul vs. Obi-Wan)
Episode 2:
1. Bar Streets of Coruscant (Hunt for Zam Wesell)
2. Jango's Escape (Obi-Wan vs. Jango Fett)
3. Anakin's Revenge (Tusken Camp)
4. Geonosis Arena
5. Battle of Geonosis
6. The Escape of Count Dooku (Obi, Anakin vs. Dooku)
7. Grievous: The Jedi Hunter
Episode 3:
1. The Invisible Hand (Obi-Wan, Anakin vs. Count Dooku)
2. Battle of Utapau
3. The Escape of General Grievous (Obi-Wan vs. Grievous)
4. Battle of Mygeeto
5. Attack on the Jedi Temple
6. Battle of the Heroes (Anakin vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi)
7. You are under arrest, my Lord (Mace vs. Palpatine)
8. The Emperor (Darth Sidious vs. Master Yoda)
Episode 4:
1. Assault on Tantive IV
2. Mos Eisley Spaceport
3. Escape from the Death Star
Episode 5:
1. Battle of Hoth
2. Vader's Chamber
3. Duel on Bespin (Darth Vader vs. Luke)
Episode 6:
1. Escape from Jabba's Palace
2. Jabba's Vessel
3. Endor Platform
4. Ewok Village
5. Duel in the Throne Room (Vader, Luke, Palpatine)
The same old gameplay and lightsaber fights with modern AAA+ graphics.