Planting has always been a mildly entertaining collectible hunt portion of the Star Wars Jedi games. Fallen Order introduced planting as an understated hobby players could indulge in by bringing individual seed types from different planet biomes and growing them in a tiny terrarium aboard Star Wars Jedi’s Stinger Mantis. Planting was then reprised in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor but on a comparable if not more underwhelming scale.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is bigger than Fallen Order in nearly every way; its lightsaber stances were added to, its Metroidvania level designs were expanded a great deal for planets Koboh and Jedha, and BD-1 is no longer the only companion who accompanies protagonist Cal Kestis, for example. Rather, even though Survivor revisited the extracurricular activity, the sequel’s planting never managed to eclipse the homey and intimate take on planting that Fallen Order had, and that’s an area now that Survivor’s sequel can bolster to make meaningful again.

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Gardening is a Backstep for Seed Planting

Cal can plant miscellaneous flora on the roof of Pyloon’s Saloon in Koboh’s Rambler’s Reach but because there isn’t any other reason to be up there, and getting there means waiting between multiple loading screens below, it arguably isn’t an exciting or worthwhile endeavor. Seeds are planted in a grid space, though there isn’t necessarily any entertainment value in finding ways to wedge plants into rigid corners and the plants themselves aren’t incredibly diverse or remarkable from a visual aesthetic.

The result is more or less an arbitrary garden of random plants and there aren’t substantial rewards for players to pursue by gardening, either, besides an achievement and a holomap upgrade that marks seeds in the environment. Therefore, gardening is only significant as a self-ascribed side quest that hinges on the joys of leisurely exploration and seed hunting.

As for being able to personalize a piece of Cal’s new abode it still pales to the Stinger Mantis, which could and should have been Cal’s remote home once again and wasn’t. Instead, the Mantis is only used as a means to get to and from Cal’s destinations and, inexplicably, players can’t even customize Survivor’s Mantis like they could in Fallen Order.

Star Wars Jedi Needs to Let Cal Make His Bed and Sleep in It

The idea behind allowing Cal and the player to customize a personal space suggests that Respawn wishes for Cal to call someplace his home.

That hasn’t been easy thus far as his adventures have usually included high-stakes missions where he and others are battling the Galactic Empire, and some of Cal’s most interesting moments have been when he’s a lone Jedi brandishing a lightsaber as a plight for rebellion. To say Cal has put roots down anywhere might insinuate he’s retiring in that fight and shelving his lightsaber, but a hub for the player to return to and recuperate has been welcome.

Fallen Order’s Stinger Mantis hub was perfect because it gave Cal, Greez Dritus, Cere Junda, and Merrin a mobile home with not much but each other’s company to enjoy. Then, Survivor toyed with the idea that Cal’s relationships and world could be much wider.

If the third installment of the Star Wars Jedi series wants to illustrate that further, it needs to make a priority of customization and personalization. If Survivor’s sequel gives Cal, Merrin, and Kata a genuine home that players can build or redecorate to their liking, Cal’s arc between all three entries could be one of finding a place to call home—the actual act of gardening or decorating such a home simply needs to come with the promise of valuable gameplay rewards that can entice players to see it through.