Major Spoilers AheadStar Wars Jedi: Survivor recently released, and its narrative is quite a winding thread. There are a couple of moments in particular that seem as if they could be where the game concludes, such as the third Dagan Gera fight, but when a new piece of information emerges and a character’s ulterior motives are revealed, it throws the player deeper down the rabbit hole. The end of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor may not be as startling as Fallen Order’s is in terms of choices made by the main characters, but it marks an obvious path a sequel may intend to tread. However, this particular premise should be avoided.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor presents an interesting development for Cal Kestis in having him contemplate whether he should continue in his fight against the Galactic Empire. Characters such as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Greez argue that he has no obligation to do so and that their plight is hopeless, but Cal seemingly decides to remain stalwart in his resolve by the end of the game. One more character becomes shuffled into the Stinger Mantis crew’s life at the end, and it would be a shame to see Survivor’s sequel follow the same narrative trend that so many other AAA games seem to be adopting lately.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Ends in Much Less of a Cliffhanger Than Fallen Order
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s ending led players to believe that Cal and the Mantis crew would use the holocron to find Force-sensitive children. There is a subtle tease that this goal would be conflicting while Merrin reflects on their choices, and Cal’s Force-related premonition shows how terrible that goal would have been for everyone involved.
Cal then makes the choice to ignite his lightsaber and destroy the holocron, meaning that it would be more difficult for the Empire and its Inquisitors to find them, and the Mantis embarks on a new and undisclosed path. This left Fallen Order’s sequel open to almost any premise, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor picks it up half a decade later to reveal that the crew had previously disbanded.
Now, at the end of Star Wars Jedi:Survivor, Cal and the crew are reunited in their ambitions and have taken in Bode Akuna’s daughter, Kata. Because Bode was a Jedi who turned over to the dark side of the Force and essentially used any means at his disposal to survive, it seems clear that the path ahead will involve Cal struggling to help Kata maintain a balance as she too becomes a powerful Force-sensitive.
The Star Wars Jedi Franchise Shouldn’t Follow The Last of Us, God of War’s Narrative
In this case, if Cal and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s fan-favorite character Merrin are to raise Kata and supervise her as she grapples with the dark side, the sequel could easily feel too similar to other big-budget games that have taken on that narrative. Particularly, the premise of a guardian, let alone a father figure, caring for their child or someone who fills that role for them.
The two most notable examples of this in recent gaming history are The Last of Us and God of War, two of the biggest gaming franchises and PlayStation exclusives around right now. If Star Wars Jedi: Survivor intends to follow that same formula and have Kata be Cal’s adopted daughter, it would play too much into what makes those games special and fail to be unique on its own. But because Cere Junda’s Force Ghost tells Cal to “guide her through the darkness,” it seems obvious that Kata will play an important role in Cal’s future.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
