Sword of SeirosThe lonely exploration in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (PS5)
I was wishing for an exploration game. After playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, I immediately started the next, more recent, installment, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The planet Coruscant was where the action started and I marveled at the beautiful space city revealing itself from all angles, between my frenetic parkour and the showering lasers from the Empire. I instantly enjoyed the game and started the exploration right there and then even though I don’t like to be yelled at to hurry. Why hurry when you have a chest to open or a little detour to take?
The path in Coruscant was very linear with few indications on the map that pointed to some hidden rewards in unreachable places. In the same metroidvania fashion as in the previous game I would have to get to those later once I got hold of more traversal abilities. Our next destination was Koboh and little did I know, the planet was huge, and by huge I mean open-world kind of huge. The blocked areas were the only deterrent to full-on exploration and I’m glad it was so, because after meeting Greez, now a few years(?) later, instead of proceeding to the next main story event, I explored everything I could.
Constantly opening more and more areas on the map, I was genuinely asking myself if it had an end. In the holomap we can get a glimpse at what an unexplored area looks like even if we can’t access it yet. The volumes are marked by a different shade and it’s very helpful to check if it’s a small room or an entirely new area. Koboh was the very definition of overwhelming, like a Zeffo on steroids. It still doesn’t feel like an open-world game, but in Koboh the vastness was certainly akin to one. It’s the only location with enough variety to feel like an open planet.
Hours had passed since I started checking every corner which was readily available. I had to learn how to open paths by solving environmental puzzles. It wasn’t very hard to figure out at first, but later I encountered some messy level design or puzzles that I couldn’t figure out right away.
Cal wished to reunite with Greez and find both a safe place from the Empire’s persecution and someone to fix the Mantis. Any Jedi would be swiftly eliminated, and in an ultimate effort to restore the Order and learn more about it – and by extension himself – Cal would have to work with others. Even though the hermit fighter spirit was still dwelling within him, he longed for his friends and was aware of their warmth. Who wouldn’t?
Greez established himself in Koboh and opened what they called a cantina – Pyloon’s Saloon. It was a pub frequented by suspicious types, wanderers, prospectors, and little else. The pub was running on its last legs, and it fell on us to shake things up a bit and bring life to the unkempt place. By exploring and recruiting people, it would progressively turn into a lively gathering of creatures from all species and backgrounds, a safe haven away from the Empire, although often attacked by Bedlam raiders. With strength in numbers and Cal in the mix, this looming danger was a small price to pay for a little oasis at the center of Koboh.
Cal soon found a place, a promised land of sorts, sheltered from the Empire called Tanalorr – planet where Jedi refugees and Force sensitive people could live in peace and exercise their callings without fear of persecution. Cal came to this knowledge after finding a relic from the High Republic-era, a witty droid called Zee. Not long after, an adversarial force once faithful to Santari Khri – the Jedi who believed in the future of Tanalorr – turned against the Jedi Order and subsequently fell to the dark side when the Jedi Order issued the destruction of special compasses to navigate the Koboh Abyss in the aftermath of a Nihil attack. Ignoring this imminent threat, Dagan Gera turned against everyone and was set on getting hold of a compass by any means necessary.
This is basically the main story. After spending hours exploring Koboh, our next destination was the planet Jedha, where Cal finally reunited with his special someone – Nightsister Merrin – Cere, and another special character. Living on Jedha was also a group with a funny name – the Narkis Anchorites – masked monastic hermits who praised the Force and its connective tissue of knowledge and understanding uniting all elements of the universe. It’s fascinating, really, because instead of being enclosed in a small place like historical anchorites, they used masks all around their heads, which represented their own enclosure to the world. It’s the second video game I’ve played where anchorites were mentioned. It doesn’t surprise me because they are absolutely fascinating. In the game, the Anchorites helped with the study of vast collections of records preserved in the archives where Cere also worked. It’s a structure built inside a mountain with a ship hangar and protection from the outside, like a true archive vault, bar the ship hangar, of course. I didn’t fall in love with planet Jedha and didn’t have any wish to go back.
The game doesn’t have side-quests in the sense we are used to in RPGs, but the idea is the same. Speak with everyone, and sometimes we get a tip – called a Rumor – to explore. The rewards are located in the rumor area itself because there’s no quest giver. We can receive special quests in the form of bounty hunts given by a vendor named Caij, investigate ruins mapped by Toa, buy or find music tracks at Ashe’s request, play a tactical game created by Bhima and Tulli, plant newfound seeds in a garden located at the top of Pyloon’s managed by Pili, and interact with Skoova Stev to collect fish for the fish tank at the center of the Saloon.
Little did I know when Rumors and bounties started appearing in Jedha, I would struggle at navigating the place because the checkpoints were few and far between. Not fun, with very weird level design into the mix. Desert levels are about the same as underwater levels: if they’re boring, convoluted, and take a lot of time to traverse, they can quickly become a chore. Anyway, I still explored some ruins because I was enjoying the game and didn’t want it to end at that point. I didn’t finish the exploration of one ruin before last, though. There’s a limit to my reaction capacity and the timing was very tight for the jumps, Force pushes, and pulls that I had to perform. My build was essentially the lightsaber stance Dual Wield to attack groups of enemies and Crossguard for slower enemies and bosses. The latter transforms the lightsaber into a long sword. The attack was slow but it looked very cool.
By this time, Cal had known betrayal from a very close friend. Betrayal from someone with whom you shared your deepest thoughts and dreams, especially with dire consequences, was too much to bear for Cal and his team. We know that by the time Lord Vader appears, the game is close to an end. Vader still gives me the creeps all these years later. The relentless way he fights, the decisiveness of his actions in combat and outside of it, the manipulative words he uses as weapons against his adversaries, and his controlled and slow breaths, like a detached monk of everlasting darkness. I still hold my breath when he appears on screen.
Playing as Cere we had to defeat him. It went more or less well, except not. With a devastated team, we pressed on to that promised land with a fighting spirit driven by grief, hope, and moderate signs of revenge. After all, a Jedi can’t be motivated by such baseless and evil purposes, but the compass had been stolen by the traitor friend, so detachment wasn’t a viable path to salvation in this case. “The galaxy still turns and dawn will break through your night.” Wise words of Tulakt, the seer. Or in Mosey’s words, “just remember that vengeance breeds vengeance.” Well, it can also breed closure, and that’s exactly what it did. However, Cal touched the darkness and something changed in him. I’m very curious to see what the future holds for Cal Kestis if they continue to develop this saga. Maybe he’ll witness “true horror” like we did while facing Malenia, or maybe he will still find solace in the Force.
The end of the game was sad but necessary to build the team’s resilience through confrontation with loss and betrayal. Although the promised land wasn’t exactly that appealing, it was home with the promise of a better future. And after being in the midst of loss and heartbreak, after interlocking fingers with darkness, home had to be enough.
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Paul Tobin
Courtney Herber, PhD
Thecla Maria
Claire Barnes
fomoose
Ian Kingston
