Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has received widespread acclaim from fans and critics alike, particularly for its compelling narrative revolving around lead Cal Kestis.
Played by Cameron Monaghan, the character attempts to find a permanent escape from the Empire in the sequel and is betrayed by one of his closest allies along the way. As a result, we see Cal tempted by the Dark Side, with players actually given the chance to tap into that in order to lay waste to enemies.
During an interview with IGN (via StarWarsNews.net), Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen addressed the decision to out Bode Akuna as an Order 66 survivor who had been forced into serving the Empire.
"We wanted to have this character that [players] have this friendship - this bond [with]," he explains. "But then just take the player on a ride and learn that this guy is a traitor at the same time Cal learns that."
"The last, and probably, the most important moment in the game, where [Cal] fires two shots, that was [Cameron’s] idea to do the second shot," Asmussen said of the decision to have Cal gun his former friend down. "Bode became a monster. He had completely lost the plot. He would’ve killed Cal."
"If that shot fired from his blaster, Cal would be dead. Cal can’t take that risk. That’s why he did it with extreme prejudice. He goes in for that second shot."
Pushed on whether this is an indication that the Jedi will embrace the Dark Side and perhaps begin to explore that aspect of the Force in a possible threequel, Asmussen chose his words carefully.
"Cal is wading in the muck, trying to do what he believes are good things. But they’re all adding up to nothing because the Empire can’t be beaten. You talk about this morally gray and we find ourselves there because he’s going to do whatever it takes."
"If the story has that 'shades of gray,' I find it much more nuanced and interesting. As a player, you have to make different sacrifices in the game. The most important thing to us as a team was 'Do the sacrifices pay off? Do they feel worth it? Is this the decision Cal would make?'"
With no immediate plans to bring Cal Kestis into live-action, a third chapter of this series could end his story by having his battle against the Empire reach a point where unleashing the power of the Dark Side is the only option in front of him.
That would make for one heck of a finale...