Star Wars is usually a reasonably light-hearted sequence aimed toward household viewing, so any darkish themes or occasions stand out all of the extra. Star Wars motion pictures have their fair proportion of darkish moments, and it is fairly arduous to prime Anakin killing youngsters in a Jedi temple.
Star Wars video games have extra room to discover darkish themes than the films, particularly since they have an inclination to allow you to select between the darkish and lightweight sides. Darkside playthroughs are hardly ever canon, however they do exist, and the tales they inform are sometimes a number of the darkest in Star Wars. Right here we’ll introduce a few of them.
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Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Kill your mates and create new Sith threats
The Jedi Knight recreation has undergone a change with the flexibility to create a brand new character, Jaden. This was the primary Star Wars recreation I ever performed, so it has a particular place in my coronary heart. What I vividly keep in mind is Roche turning to the darkish facet after which being given the selection to kill him or spare him. I at all times helped him like a very good Jedi, however as soon as I killed him simply because he was a nuisance. And I wished to see him obtain some sort of retribution for betraying me.
It seems that killing your buddy in chilly blood will lead you down a darkish path. Jaden kills the cult that was attempting to resurrect Malka Ragnos, and so they grow to be Sith Lord-like beings themselves, however Darkseid’s ending ends on a cliffhanger.
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Star Wars: The Pressure Unleashed II
haunted by the reminiscence of a lifeless man
Tales in regards to the battle with Darth Vader are at all times destined to be miserable, as a result of we all know how he’ll die. It is a little higher since it is not canon and has a cheerful ending, however the starting of this story is fairly darkish.
You play as a clone of Starkiller, haunted by visions of his predecessor. Topic 1138 experiences id anxiousness and doubts about his value, which inevitably befalls all clones, however the addition of Darth Vader and his family members additional complicates issues. Comparisons to highly effective figures like Galen Marek are already horrible, and Topic 1138 feels pressured to observe in his predecessor’s footsteps and forge his personal id and path with the folks he thinks know him.
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Star Wars Jedi Knight: Darkish Forces II
Penalties of falling
Kyle Katarn seems as a instructor on the Jedi Academy, however he is finest identified for his recreation. Kyle lived an attention-grabbing and weird life, serving as a Jedi within the Empire, Rise up, and New Republic earlier than coming to the Pressure as an grownup. Darkish Forces II goes to some fairly darkish locations even with out falling to the darkish facet, however right here the trail to the darkish facet is mainly a journey that leaves a path of corpses.
Darkish Forces II’s enlargement pack, Mysteries of the Sith, goes even additional, exhibiting Kyle truly succumbing to the darkish facet. This fall is commonplace, albeit short-lived. Kyle’s wrestle along with his failures, disconnection from the Pressure, and abandonment of his function as a Jedi is handled with a gravity not seen within the motion pictures, and is a serious level of character progress in Jedi Outcast.
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Star Wars: Battlefront II
See the empire in motion firsthand
Star Wars: Battlefront II follows Imperial forces within the years between Return of the Jedi and The Pressure Awakens. Tales about empires are typically darker than what we see in motion pictures, giving us a first-hand take a look at the atrocities dedicated by empires and the individuals who carried out their orders.
That is very true of Inferno Squad. The character of Star Wars is that we all know how issues finish, however the writers use that dramatic irony moderately than making the story predictable. We already know the place The Pressure Awakens begins, however the story turns tragic as we watch the characters hurtle towards destruction. One of many issues I actually favored about this story was the schism between the group and the bounce many years later on the finish, exhibiting how totally different the folks of Squad Inferno grew to become due to the alternatives they made.
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Star Wars: Republic Commando
tragedy of clones
The one recreation solely about being a clone trooper in The Clone Wars, this gem explored the cloning expertise years earlier than The Clone Wars aired. You play as a clone who leads a gaggle of elite particular forces and takes on particular missions throughout the galaxy.
Something that takes clones severely for greater than 10 minutes goes to be left at nighttime, and Republic Commando does simply that. Within the ultimate minutes of the sport, you might be compelled to go away behind Seb, one of the beloved members of your unit. It is a second of abysmal failure that forces Seb to desert somebody he was answerable for conserving protected, however Republic Commando offers Seb the burden it deserves as a substitute of being handled as disposable cannon fodder.
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Star Wars: The Previous Republic
Cipher 9 is trapped inside my head
Most of Star Wars: The Previous Republic’s storylines negate the light-hearted banter of the Star Wars movies, with little darkness to offset them. More often than not that is tremendous, however there are occasions while you need extra angst in Star Wars.
Enter the Imperial Agent storyline. Imperial Brokers are non-Pressure customers who work as spies and infiltrators for Imperial intelligence. This entails the standard assassinations and espionage, however the story takes a darkish flip within the second act. The agent discovers {that a} swap has been implanted in his mind that disables his free will with a code phrase. The Republic acquires this code and you might be compelled to grapple with the lack of free will, hallucinations, and being trapped inside your personal head.
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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Cal reaches breaking level
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor follows the standard Star Wars formulation for a lot of the story, however takes a darkish flip with betrayal within the ultimate act, when a Darkish Aspect-fueled rage slaughters everybody on the ISB base and kills the kid’s final father or mother earlier than his eyes.
Cal’s journey takes a darkish flip along with his loss, betrayal from these he actually cared for, oppression from the Empire, and the deaths of Cele and Cordova. Jedi Survivor ends with three burning logs, and the ultimate shot is of Cere’s lightsaber mendacity within the ashes of the log. There’s little hope left on the finish of Jedi Survivor, with even Cal saying he would not know the place to go from right here.
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Star Wars Knights of the Previous Republic II: Sith Lord
Star Wars’ darkest story
Star Wars Knights of the Previous Republic II: The Sith Lords is such a drastic change from its predecessor that it is arduous to think about it is even from the identical sequence, however it nonetheless appears like a pure development. KotOR 2 is a narrative about what occurs after the villain is defeated and the heroes return house, however the image is darkish. The results of struggle will reverberate for many years, making issues even worse than earlier than.
As an alternative of victory, the Republic of KotOR 2 is on the breaking point. The Jedi Order not exists attributable to a risk that looms from the shadows within the ashes of the Jedi Civil Battle. But, regardless of its darkish setting, KotOR 2 is actually a narrative about therapeutic the Star Wars galaxy, a love letter written to Star Wars that interrogates its most beloved tropes in ways in which finally make Star Wars higher.