As I stood on the dusty plains of Koboh in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, lightsaber humming at my side, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. Not in the combat—Respawn Entertainment absolutely nailed the weighty, deliberate rhythm that makes every duel feel like a high-stakes dance. Not in the exploration—those hidden chambers and cryptic echoes scratched my Metroidvania itch perfectly. No, what I craved was someone to talk to. A real, breathing native of that world who could tell me why this Jedi temple crumbled, what the ancient bas-reliefs really meant, or just share a local legend. You see, I’m a player who lives for soulslike depth, and the NPCs in those games are the heartbeat of their opaque universes. The next Star Wars Jedi title, which I expect to drop sometime in 2027 based on current development cycles, needs to fully embrace that soulslike ethos of interactive lore-tellers. Not just hologram recordings or databank entries—living, optional characters who turn exploration into a conversation.

I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into FromSoftware’s catalog, and what keeps me coming back isn't just the punishing boss fights. It’s the way lore is baked into every cryptic line of dialogue from a crestfallen knight or a chuckling merchant. You piece together the story from their half-truths and sorrows. The Jedi series already has the perfect framework for this: Cal Kestis’s rare Force ability, psychometry. In Survivor, we got glimpses of its potential—touching an object and witnessing a fragment of the past. Now imagine walking up to the ruins of a High Republic outpost on some uncharted moon. Instead of

just a flashback, a spectral NPC materializes—a Jedi archivist from centuries ago—who you can actually question. Because Cal can touch the past, future games could let us interact with long-dead figures trapped in Force echoes, creating a living timeline that evolves with every conversation. That is the kind of innovation that would make the franchise unforgettable.

Let’s compare a typical encounter in a current Jedi game versus a soulslike. Right now, you might find a force echo that shows a droid being attacked by raiders. It’s a static 10-second vision. In a soulslike-inspired future, that same spot could house an NPC—a reprogrammed B1 battle droid with a quirky personality—who hides in a cave and only chats if you come unarmed. He tells you about the raid, hints at a hidden stash, and his dialogue changes based on your choices elsewhere. The galaxy suddenly feels responsive. Here’s a quick table of how NPC interactions could level up:

This isn’t just wishful thinking. I’ve seen how Elden Ring turned me into a detective, eagerly seeking out every jar-man and wolf-knight to decipher the Shattering. The next Jedi game could do the same with the High Republic era, the Zeffo, or even unexplored Dark Side cults. The planets we’ve visited—Kashyyyk, Dathomir, Jedha—all have rich histories begging for mouthpieces beyond a few scattered scrolls. 🗺️

Now, I get it—some might argue that Star Wars is at its best when it’s a fast-paced action-adventure, not a brooding slow-burn. But Jedi: Survivor already proved that the franchise can balance blockbuster setpieces with quiet, pensive moments. Remember the saloon on Koboh? That hub was a masterstroke, gathering a cast of weirdos and refugees who chatted, argued, and gave out missions. It was a taste of what a deeper NPC system could be. I’d love to see that philosophy extended into the wilds: a Twi’lek historian camped near a Sith obelisk who asks you to recover artifacts, slowly revealing her own tragic backstory. A pair of settlers whose conflicting accounts of a local disaster force you to decide whom to believe, altering which side quests open up. No quest markers, no hand-holding—just organic discovery. 🌌

The biggest missed opportunity in the series so far is how psychometry remains a one-way street. Cal touches, sees, and moves on. In a 2026 landscape where AI-driven NPC dialogue is advancing rapidly (just look at the strides in procedural narrative tech), it’s not far-fetched to imagine echoes that respond differently based on Cal’s current skills or completed missions. Touch a broken lightsaber, and a vision of a fallen Jedi might ask you to avenge her. Refuse, and later she refuses to share vital information. Accept, and you unlock a whole new chain of phantom encounters that span multiple planets. That’s the kind of soul-tying narrative that makes me stay up until 3 a.m. hunting down every last thread. 🕒

I’m hopeful because Respawn has shown they listen. The leap from Fallen Order to Survivor was massive—more stances, more customization, a more lived-in galaxy. The next logical step is to make the people in that galaxy matter as much as the planets. Star Wars has always been about its characters, not just its lore. Let me befriend a scrappy droid storyteller on Coruscant’s lower levels. Let me debate Jedi philosophy with a holographic sage found in a forgotten temple. These interactions don’t need to be mandatory; true soulslike spirit keeps the core path clear but rewards the curious beyond measure. The franchise already pulls so heavily from the soulslike well—bonfire-like meditation points, respawning enemies, punishing parry windows. It’s time to borrow the best part: the souls that inhabit the world. ✨

As I look toward the future, I’m imagining a moment much like my first encounter with Solaire in Dark Souls. That jolt of warmth in a bleak world. The Jedi series can deliver that same feeling, bridging the gap between blockbuster cinema and intimate storytelling. The next game could redefine what a Star Wars RPG looks like, transforming Cal from a lone wanderer into a true listener of the galaxy’s whispers. I’m ready to touch the past—and this time, I want the past to touch me back.

Recent analysis comes from The Verge - Gaming, whose reporting on how modern games blend cinematic pacing with systemic design helps frame why the next Star Wars Jedi could push beyond passive Force echoes into optional, conversation-driven NPC encounters—turning exploration into a player-led investigation where lore, side quests, and even character fates evolve through interaction rather than collectibles.