It’s one of the most common sequel clichés: At the beginning of part 2, your character from part 1 suddenly forgot what you had previously learned. Now start all over again and work your way up the skill tree.
Good news for fans of Cal Kestis: In Star Wars Jedi: Survivor you will be spared this reset! So you start right away as a competent warrior – but fights should still be challenging.
The sequel reset
Examples of game series that reset you after part 1:
- The Nameless Hero from Gothic
- Shepard from Mass Effect
- Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
And these titles have at least tried to explain logically why your character has forgotten a lot. Yes, we squint at you, Zelda and Rayman.
Why do developers do this? The reasons are simple: in many games, your powerful prequel character would plow through the levels. Opponents would have to be extremely strong from the start to challenge you – and what should they look like in the endgame?
Many sequels also rebuild their skill system, adding new skills or removing old ones. You almost have to reset a character for that.
And, of course, it’s much easier to give games satisfying progression as they progress through the game from small bruisers to powerful elite fighters. How does Jedi: Survivor plan to do that without a nerf?
Cal doesn’t forget
The developers didn’t want to take away from you painstakingly learned skills from part 1 (like the power boost) like they did in an interview explain. Cal Kestis is expressly not supposed to feel like a Padawan anymore. So they designed the enemies in such a way that they should still be challenging. Many of them can counter your skills – but you make short work of normal stormtroopers.
But since Cal isn’t on the same level as Luke or Obi-Wan, he still has a lot to learn. The new skills allow you, for example, combat maneuvers that a classic Jedi would find far too uncivilized.
Now, of course, you’re asked: what do you think of this sequel cliché that Jedi: Survivor intentionally circumvents? Does it annoy you when your powerful hero is suddenly no longer powerful? Or don’t you really care as long as the sequel provides a halfway decent explanation and is a good game overall?
