Star Wars Jedi: Survivorrighted a huge wrong when it came to customization. Lightsaber component configurations have been consistently intricate in the series, to be fair, but what’s memorable aboutStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s customization is little more than palette swaps for Cal Kestis, BD-1, and the Stinger Mantis. It wasn’t untilStar Wars Jedi: Survivorthat Respawn invested in elaborate customization options, at least beyond numerous ponchos and jumpsuit colorways, and that allows Cal to assume wholly dynamic looks now that he’s capable of growing a long, full beard.
Clothing options are wonderful to see inSurvivor, especially as they cover a broad range of specific era-relatedStar Warslore. Respawn and EA also took this opportunity to punctuateSurvivorwithfan-service cosmetics inspired byStar Wars’A New HopeandObi-Wan Kenobi. Clothing pieces both nostalgic and original are now expected to return in the franchise’s final chapter, though there is one simple and understated type Respawn will hopefully take extra care to include since doing so would help bring the series full circle while it completes its trilogy: a hood pulled atop Cal’s head.
How Cal Kestis’ Hooded Poncho Makes an Unrequited Impact on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Perhaps a hood cosmetic wouldn’t be so hotly demanded or anticipated if it wasn’t for Respawn teasing one. Indeed, Cal wore his scrapper poncho’s hood over his head when he was first revealed in the cinematic reveal trailer forFallen Order—in the trailer’s first shot, no less. The hood here helped sell the idea thatCal was actively hiding from the Galactic Empire and Inquisitors on Bracca, keeping a low profile, and not stepping on any toes in order to live a quiet life as a refugee.
It’s disappointing, then, that players wear the samehooded Scrapper Guild ponchoin-game but there is no option to have the hood worn over Cal’s head. This isn’t terribly alarming given how minimal customization options are for Cal inFallen Orderto begin with, butSurvivoralso dodged the opportunity to have a hooded gear piece in its sprawling catalog.
EvenSurvivor’s pre-orderObi-Wan Kenobicosmetic features the titular character’s hooded robe and doesn’t allow the hood to be wearable.
Star Wars Jedi’s Cal Kestis Doesn’t Need to Go to the Dark Side to Don a Hood
Middle-earth: Shadow of MordorandMiddle-earth: Shadow of War’s cosmetics include iconic hooded cloaks.Shadow of Mordor’s was included as a Dark Ranger pre-order bonus skin, whileShadow of Mordor’s is embedded in the sequel’s gear system and endgame narrative when Talion becomes a Nazgul.
This connotation inMonolith’sMiddle-earthduologywould suggest that hoods are associated with darkness and, in Talion’s case, being enslaved by Isildur’s ring—one of the nine rings given to Men. Of course, countless characters have worn hooded cloaks without them having any particular meaning or subtext besides potentially attempting to conceal one’s identity, as seen with Aragorn’s Strider persona at Bree’s Prancing Pony. Nonetheless, it’s remarkably neat and marks an aesthetic delineation that cosmetics don’t often seem to have in many games and is striking as a result.
If Respawn wanted, it could have two viable means of associating a hood withStar Wars Jedi’s Cal Kestis: it could provide a hooded cloak as a pre-order bonus similar toMordor’s, or it could hurl Cal down a path to the dark side and provide him with a hooded robe as Anakin Skywalker dons inRevenge of the Sith, much less how Talion dons a hood when corrupted by the ring. Otherwise, a standard cloak with its hood up over Cal’s head that is free from any light- or dark-sided connotation would be excellent to see in the final chapter ofStar Wars Jedi.
