Highlights

  • The Star Wars Jedi franchise's Soulslike combat approach creates a perfect balance of power and avoids making the character feel overpowered.
  • NPCs should be used to enhance the world-building aspect of the games and make the IP more engaging and memorable.
  • The next Star Wars Jedi game should feature NPCs from different planets, offering deeper knowledge, sub-stories, and optional objectives to flesh out the lore of specific locations.

The Star Wars Jedi franchise has become so popular due to its Soulslike approach to combat, creating the perfect feel of Cal Kestis' raw power without making the character feel too one-dimensional and overpowered. The combat and exploration of the games work fantastically well with a Soulslike focus, and this is something that could easily extend to other aspects of the franchise with any future installments.

One of the most defining elements of Soulslike games is the level of interactivity that they offer with their NPCs, and this is something that new Star Wars Jedi games should take further inspiration from. The franchise already does not shy away from ambitious world-building and deep lore for eagle-eyed players, and using NPCs to further this element of the games would be a fantastic way to make the IP even more engaging and memorable.

While not officially confirmed, the next Star Wars Jedi title is expected to be in development.

p (1)-6
Related
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Sequel Has an Easy Choice for a Force Ability Upgrade

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor employed a fun Force ability but a sequel could explore it much more thoroughly to make it narratively significant.

A Soulslike World-building Approach Could Take Star Wars Jedi Lore to the Next Level

star wars jedi survivor could do a roguelike mode

Soulslike games have complex lore and world-building across the entire gaming industry, but the way that this is conveyed to the player is deeply implicit. At face value, the worlds and characters of these titles seem to be without rhyme or reason, with the player having to actively search for answers in some unsuspecting places. Things like item descriptions and NPC interactions give the brunt of world-building information, necessitating deep and thorough exploration on the player's behalf.

While it is true that past Star Wars Jedi games used collectibles for world-building, NPC interaction is a pretty non-existent element of the IP as things stand. The Jedi games often see the player explore planets that have deep and twisted histories, with there being near-endless amounts of potential lore that these locations could portray.

Most of these planets have native populations, and the next entry to the Jedi series should make a concerted effort to feature members of these populations as NPCs that can optionally be interacted with by players with a thirst for deeper knowledge. This will make the locations of the next game feel lived-in while providing players with fascinating sub-stories and perhaps optional objectives that further flesh out the lore of specific locations in the Star Wars universe.

Cal Kestis Already Has the Perfect Abilities For Compelling NPC Interaction

It would also be smart for future Jedi games to directly tie this form of world-building into the pre-existing abilities of Cal Kestis, with the Jedi having the rare Force ability psychometry. This allows Cal to see into the past by touching objects, with certain planets potentially having NPC interactions with long-dead figures as a result. Cal could essentially reach into the past to interact with these people, creating a huge timeline of world-building that future games would be able to pull from.

While the recent Star Wars Jedi: Survivor excelled with its stunning combat variety and main narrative, the NPCs of the title were one of its most underwhelming aspects. With the franchise already pulling so heavily from Soulslike experiences and having a pre-existing penchant for world-building, using future NPCs as a direct conduit for lore would be the best way forward for the IP to create a more complex overall narrative.