Kay Vess, the protagonist in the Star Wars Outlaws, takes a page out of Cal Kestis’ book in the best way. On a fundamental level, Kay and Cal are pretty different. Being a scoundrel is quite a leap from being a Jedi, giving each a unique perspective on the galaxy and the people in it. Yet, the team at Massive Entertainment made a clever choice with Kay that copies one of the best things in the Star Wars Jedi series, which gives these characters an adorable commonality.
Cal Kestis, the protagonist of Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, has endured many traumatic experiences to survive and build something worth fighting for. While much of Kay’s backstory has yet to be revealed, she similarly has fought to secure a future for herself in the galaxy at a time when the Empire makes it challenging to do anything. So, despite the gap between scoundrel and Jedi, these protagonists appear to have a unifying characteristic that provides a great sense of nuance to their actions. However, the best way that Star Wars Outlaws protagonist Kay copies Cal is much simpler and cuter.
Star Wars Outlaws; Kay & Nix Are Like Cal & BD-1
Star Wars Outlaws’ protagonist Kay has a pet sidekick named Nix, quite reminiscent of the dynamic between Cal and BD-1. BD-1 was one of the most beloved additions to Star Wars that Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor made, so including a similar character to accompany the protagonist in a new game makes perfect sense. Outlaws and the Jedi series may be the beginning of a new trend in Star Wars games where the protagonist has a little companion, and it’s great. It makes for an adorable character for fans to easily fall in love with, and it helps solve an issue that has plagued many other games in the past.
Nix Helps Solve A Classic Video Game Problem
Star Wars Outlaws’ Nix, like BD-1 in Jedi: Survivor, offers a simple yet clever way to solve a classic video game problem: an over-talkative protagonist. Video game stories face the challenge of presenting information to the player in a way that doesn’t feel contrived or heavy-handed. One of the most challenging things to convey is a character’s inner thoughts. Of course, one could have the character speak aloud what they’re thinking, talking to themselves about their struggles, but this can be an inelegant way to express characterization. Aloy in Horizon Forbidden West is a recent example of a character players felt was too talkative.
On the other hand, the same can’t be said of Cal Kestis. Cal understands Binary, so he can converse with BD-1. Even though subtitles aren’t provided for BD-1, it’s easily intuited what the droid is saying. This is a much more organic way to convey characterization to the player without having Cal talk aloud to himself. Presumably, Nix will fulfill a similar role for Kay Vess. Nix can’t speak, but his physical responses and sounds will undoubtedly make him feel as natural of a character as BD-1, which will help Kay feel more realistic and believable. It’s good to see that Star Wars Outlaws is looking to the Jedi series for inspiration.
Source: Ubisoft/YouTube
