Fallen Order concludes with a remarkable amount of potential for future stories since Cal, Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, and Merrin are all together aboard the Stinger Mantis. It was alarming, then, to see Cal seemingly with no one other than his faithful companion BD-1 in the initial teaser for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The fate of the Mantis crew was intentionally obscured, giving the Fallen Order sequel’s Survivor title a lot of implications as to how Cal could be on his own in this upcoming adventure. However, it seems as if the opposite will be true instead.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order scratched the surface of telling a story about a Padawan refugee, but protagonist Cal Kestis was soon found by companions who took him in and cared for him. Quick to get into the action and have Cal brandish his lightsaber, fans see a disappointingly short amount of time on Bracca before Cal is swept away. This makes his narrative feel less like a Padawan attempting to hide himself on a lonesome journey, and more like a Padawan who is already prepared to take on whatever threats the Empire can throw at him.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Tones Seem Confused
Survivor’s teaser reveal showed Cal alone in a dingy chamber and was obviously meant to establish what the game’s tone would be. If successful, the game will be enigmatic and enemy threats will feel ever more intimidating than they were in Fallen Order. Rather, while Survivor’s marketing has demonstrated that while there are sure to be somber moments of reflection, Cal’s crew is ultimately okay and have one another to depend upon still. It was not until recently that Survivor finally revealed Merrin and Greez, and it is incredible to see them still around and safe five years after the events of Fallen Order. But the assumption beforehand was that Cal is the titular survivor of the crew, and that he could possibly be on his own in the sequel.
This would have established a much darker tone, as was suggested in its early marketing, and it seems to not be headed in that direction quite as explicitly. Like Fallen Order, Survivor might be misplaced in quickly lapsing over a gap in time in order to get into the meat of the experience.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Leans into Companionship
There is obviously still a chance that these characters could meet an untimely demise in Survivor and startle fans that way, but the game will certainly not leave Cal lonely. The Rambler’s Ranch on Koboh sounds like an NPC encampment based upon the few details that were shared about it lately, and that would make Cal’s adventures more involved with others as he could potentially take on side quests from these NPCs to complete on Koboh or other planets.
Likewise, Merrin has been revealed as a character who will fight alongside Cal with her own NPC AI. Because fans knew that newcomer Bode Akuna would be a similar NPC companion, it is clear that Cal will have at least two companions individually accompanying him at some point in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and that is more than he has had since his previous adventures where he traveled with BD-1 exclusively. It will be interesting to see how this tone shifts with different characters, though it seems like Cal will always have someone there to keep him company.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor launches on April 28, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.