“We wanted to keep the main DNA of who Garrett was; we didn’t want to change that much because it was working already,” game director Nicolas Cantin said. But, “we wanted to bring in more of the modern audience of the console market.”
In addition, Cantin told Game Informer that “we toned down all the things that felt gothic, like black nails and things like that.” Why? Because “we wanted to make him a little bit more mainstream.” Considering the new Thief is being pitched as a reboot, Eidos Montreal is free to reimagine the character however they see fit–even if that means toning down his magical abilities.
“Fans remember the original games very fondly and we want to preserve that essence which we have excellent experience of doing at Eidos Montreal, whilst also introducing Thief to a brand new, next-generation, audience,” Eidos Montreal general manager Stephane D’Astous said at the game’s official announce.
