The new trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was arguably the highlight of last night’s Game Awards ceremony. It only offered a small taste of what’s to come. Regardless, the footage showed off lots of exciting new gameplay mechanics, including new lightsaber tricks, Force abilities, and new ways for players to interact with their environments. But none of this matters without an engaging story to keep fans invested as they navigate the next leg of Cal Kestis’ journey. Luckily, Cameron Monaghan insists that the game will deliver on this front.
Monaghan dropped a few extra hints about Survivor’s plot during a recent interview with StarWars.com. The game has a lot of expectations to live up to. Its predecessor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, refused to shy away from the Empire’s ruthlessness. But Monaghan says the highly-anticipated sequel raises the stakes considerably, resulting in an “emotional rollercoaster” that “you’d have to be made of stone for it to not hit you in the heart.”
“We have a really dire situation that we find Cal in at the beginning of the game,” revealed Monaghan. “Where he is searching for ways to rebel that are becoming increasingly difficult and perhaps even hopeless. But we have a character that was given meaning and a goal by this resistance. And he was given this hope, and that hope is very hard to extinguish. But what happens when you have hope in a situation that becomes increasingly hopeless? Different people have different ideas about what is the best way to resist.”
RELATED: Cal’s Journey Continues In New Trailer For Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
The trailer also featured the return of Cere Junda (Debra Wilson), another ex-Jedi and a pivotal supporting character from the first game. Fans were undoubtedly shocked by how different Cere looks from the last time we saw her in Fallen Order. Aside from shaving her head completely bald, she has also traded in her tactical wardrobe for more formal-looking attire. Additionally, her brief exchange with Cal in what looks like the remains of the Jedi Archives suggests that the two characters aren’t on the best of terms these days. According to Monaghan, this boils down to their conflicting philosophies about how to fight the Dark Side’s growing influence throughout the galaxy.
“Cere and Cal have this interesting dynamic, where she’s not his formal master, but she is his mentor,” explained Monaghan. “And, frankly, they have different ideas of how to deal with imperialism and the Empire. In the first game, it was about finding family and what it means to create a family. With this story, a lot of it is to do with ‘What happens when there’s stress on a family?’”
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will hit the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on March 17, 2023.
Are you looking forward to playing the game next year? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
