Star Wars: The Old Republic hopes to recapture the 'classic' experience with difficulty options and a new way to start from scratch

The upcoming update for Star Wars: The Old Republic, set to be released soon, seeks to recapture the classic experience that fans miss from the game's early days. The developers, Broadsword, took over from BioWare in 2023 and have been working to keep the game alive for nearly 15 years. The update promises several major features, including an increased level cap, more spells and loot, and new zones to explore on the Twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth.

However, the most notable additions are two systems designed to address the game's difficulty settings. The first is a difficulty slider, which allows players to choose between a cinematic, story-driven journey, a more challenging combat experience, or the ultimate challenge. Importantly, players can still group up with friends regardless of their chosen difficulty setting, which will be interesting to see how it scales.

Additionally, the update introduces a new system called "Venture Characters." These characters operate on their own difficulty system, with options for classic or expert modes. Players must start a new story from the beginning with these characters, but they will receive special rewards for completing extra objectives as they progress through the game. The specifics of these rewards have not been revealed, but the goal is to evoke the classic SWTOR experience, when it was easier to tackle multiple mobs at once.

The update aims to recapture the feel of the classic SWTOR experience, without morphing into a battle pass-inspired FOMO nightmare. While SWTOR may not be drastically different from its current state, the update could help breathe new life into the game's leveling journey, which has been criticized for being too easy. If the rewards are engaging and the objectives are fun to pursue, the update could encourage players to group up again and explore those zones more thoroughly.