Adding something new to a universe as beloved and familiar as Star Wars must seem like an impossible task. Can you imagine how hard it is to show someone a new Star Wars droid, city, or planet and convince them that this thing has been here all along, but you haven’t seen it yet? What a crazy thing to try!
And yet developers at Respawn Entertainment, the people behind it Star Wars Jedi: Survivorhave thrown their hats into the ring with aplomb, not just creating new Star Wars characters and locations (on top of those already present in the excellent Jedi: fallen order) but moving even more completely away from the established movie canon to explore the latest era of Star Wars: The High Republic.
The stones on those people.
[Ed. Note: This post contains minor spoilers for the first act of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.]
This is one of the biggest surprises out there Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – the game Real enters the era of the High Republic. It is not shy about this. The abundant data in the database constantly refers to the era. It is the period when many of the Jedi ruins and Breath of the Wild-like shrines you encounter were built and it’s where the game’s villain, Dagan Gera, comes from, as Cal Kestis learns after waking him up after a centuries-long nap in a Bacta tank.
Image: Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
On the one hand, this is pretty cool! The High Republic is a new part of the Star Wars canon that has existed mainly in books and comics until now; seeing the iconography rendered in three dimensions is fun stuff. Respawn’s inclusion of these elements also indicates serious commitment to anyone who isn’t sure how much Disney-era Star Wars is invested in this part of the timeline. Video games take a long time to make and they have a pretty long shelf life, so this narrative twist seems like a sign that the Powers That Be have been interested in storytelling in this setting for a while.
But also: the High Republic is not special mean Already something. The setting is only just beginning to be thoroughly explored (you can read our primer on it here), and while it’s introduced some new characters that have already become fan favorites, like the fearful Jedi Elzar Mann or the sentient alien rock Geode (No joke He’s a rock!), the stories set in the era of the High Republic haven’t really made a case yet. There are plenty of adventures, but it certainly still feels like a publishing initiative, more than a fully realized place full of its own unique stories.
Consider the best analog: the similar Old Republic, an era thousands of years before the movies that, most importantly, featured two wildly popular Knights of the Old Republic related video games. Now that setting is its own distinct flavor of Star Wars, with further books and comics fleshing it out. Set just a few hundred years before prequel and original trilogy eras, The High Republic hasn’t quite had its KOTOR moment yet. Of the various stories – the rise and fall of the Jedi space station Starlight Beacon, the growing threat of the Nil space pirates, and a few Force-related mysteries – it mostly feels like a fun way to interact with a new Jedi.
Image: Lucasfilm
Jedi: survivor serves a vital function in further establishing the High Republic as an environment worth investing in by featuring beloved characters Jedi: fallen order delve into its history. Soon this setting will be reinforced even more by The Acolyte, the upcoming (and mysterious) new Disney Plus series set in the era. Building the High Republic will be a long game, and more importantly, it is one different then play the game played by the stories that revolve from it The Mandalorian and the animated Star Wars series.
Right now, The High Republic comes across as a bunch of table-top RPG sourcebooks full of interesting tidbits to pull, with no good story to pull people in to. Jedi: survivor is a pretty good bait for fans curious about this new setting, but they might be surprised how much of it still has potential.