Although it’s been many years since the original show was on air,Avatar: The Last Airbenderand its family of stories is seeing a major resurgence right now. In February 2021,Avatar: The Last Airbendercreators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino announced the formation of Avatar Studios, a new Paramount affiliate that would focus on expanding theAvatarbrand through new series, spin-offs, and other content. In 2021,Avatarfans learned that Square Enix was working on a mobile game based on the series, while Magpie Games was developing an official TTRPG calledAvatar Legends.Now, fans know that two more video games are in the works: an RPG and an MMORPG.
News aboutthe newAvatar-related RPG and MMORPGis scarce. Avatar Studios hasn’t revealed which game developers it’s collaborating with to make these games, but fans do know thatAvatar: The Last Airbender’s main characters will appear in at least one of the games with a new cast of Asian and Indigenous voice actors. Aside from that, the games are a mystery. It’d not be surprising if theseAvatar: The Last Airbendergames take place during the time of the original show, but ideally, they won’t. TheAvatarworld has plenty of other compelling time periods that would ultimately make the RPG and MMORPG more unique.
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A New Take on Avatar: The Last Airbender
While it’s hard to say which game will focus onAvatar: The Last Airbender’s main characters, it seems likely that it’s the RPG, since players probably won’t get to play as theAvatarcast in the MMORPG. If that’s the case, the singleplayer RPG is probably tempted to take place duringAvatar: The Last Airbenderitself, recounting Aang’s rise as an Avatar and the final year of the Hundred Years' War with the Fire Nation.
That setting makes sense, but frankly it’s not ideal. Plenty of previousAvatar: The Last Airbendervideo games have retold the show’s plot, so the RPG wouldn’t be particularly unique if it focused on the show’s events. Instead, the RPG’s developers should consider looking toThe Last Airbender’s comic booksfor inspiration. There’s quite a few comics about Team Avatar’s adventures after the original show’s conclusion, which show how theAvatarworld started to change after the war. This complicated time inAvatarhistory is a great setting for the RPG, since it offers tons of storytelling opportunities about changing societies and Team Avatar’s adolescence and young adulthood. It’d also be a great way to bring the comics to life forAvatarfans who haven’t read them.
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Exploring the Breadth of Avatar
Ideally, the MMORPG won’t focus onAvatar: The Last Airbender’s events, either. The MMO will be more compelling if players don’t just support Team Avatar’s actions, instead fighting a wide variety of enemies as opposed to mainly Fire Nation soldiers. Luckily, theAvatarworld offers the MMO lots of valuable options. For instance,The Legend of Korra’s general time periodseems worth exploring in an MMO, thanks to its complicated politics and advanced technology. Alternatively, theAvatarMMO could focus on a time long beforeAvatar: The Last Airbender,putting the era of Avatar Kyoshi or another earlier Avatar in the spotlight for once.
It’s great to hear thatAvatar: The Last Airbenderis back in action. The show was a cultural heavyweight in the early 2000s and remains beloved to this day. It’s even better to hear that Avatar Studios is interested intelling new stories in theAvatarworld, rather than relying on retellings of the originalAvatar.Hopefully, the IP’s future is defined by creative projects that build on top of the established lore by trying out new time periods. The upcoming RPG and MMORPG are two particularly good opportunities to uncover new details of theAvatarworld.
AnAvatar: The Last AirbenderRPG and MMORPG are reportedly in development.
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