Light and darkness remain a constant throughout the Star Wars franchise, and so does the good vs. evil binary that they typically represent. We all root for the heroes of the Light Side, but of course, that doesn’t stop us from wanting to dabble, even just a little bit, into the darkness. Many Star Wars games like KOTOR have given us the option to control villainous Dark Side characters, whether they be preestablished faces like Darth Vader or custom-made avatars. With this in mind, some Star Wars fans might wonder if Jedi: Survivor follows in those games’ footsteps by allowing Cal Kestis to join the Dark Side.
Spoilers ahead
Note that Jedi: Survivor does not have the same focus on branching narrative choices that, say, KOTOR has. This almost purely serves as Cal’s story, one where you follow his individual decisions and struggles from start to finish. Having said that, Jedi Survivor actually does allow Cal to embrace the Dark Side. In fact, the game requires that he do this to progress the story.
As you chase down Bode Akuna later on in the story, the game gives you a prompt to “embrace the darkness.” You have to hit the onscreen buttons at this point, otherwise, you cannot progress. Although Cal never fully gives in to the Dark Side, the power that he does tap into still gives a considerable boost to his abilities.
After you pass this story moment, Jedi: Survivor grants you access to a new Dark Side ability that can help during combat. Essentially, it enhances your time-slowing ability both by increasing its duration and by buffing the damage of your standard attacks and Force powers. You can try and role-play to an extent by refusing to use the ability when you don’t have to. But as you might imagine, you will make the game much more difficult this way. Feel free to try this if you want to challenge yourself.
Image via Electronic Arts
