The Star Wars saga is full of epic adventures, harrowing heroics, and galaxy-wide wars that center around the level of emotional turmoil you’d see in an opera. These passionate ideals strike us at the core of what it means to be a person, whether we go out of the way to protect our loved ones or our homes. These principles are explored in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and one of the more humbling tales is told by the Pyloon’s Saloon legendary fisherman, Skoova Stev, who simply has the best story to share.
Finding Skoova is entirely optional. He’s out and away from the central hub, Rambler’s Reach Outpost, and you only learn about him as a rumor by talking to the patrons of Pyloon’s. If you choose to find him, he reluctantly agrees to tend to the Aquarium fish in the Saloon. Although there’s no resource or direct benefit to acquiring all of these fish, every time you find Skoova, he reveals a new tale about his history and how he became such a phenomenal fisherman.
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These small stories that Skoova shares were the real reward behind this treasure hunt fishing adventure, and they struck home with me every time I heard one. It was a joy hearing a small piece about a new, wise friend who wanted to share where they came from and what they’ve learned along the way. Respawn does such a great job at delivering this side tale for a brand-new character that I had to see where it went.
I searched high and low for Skoova’s fishing spots in my Star Wars Jedi: Survivor playthrough, going out of my way to hunt them down. Skoova’s tale from an honest fisherman to battling his inner demons using his gift with the guile and deadly harpoon under the watchful eye of dread captain Wan’yek Wheet was a treat. Eventually seeing him turn on his dark ways and finding redemption at the end was the cherry on top.
It’s a fair reflection of what Cal Kestis, the main character of Jedi: Survivor, is dealing with during the main plot. We see these hints early on in the story, following the deaths of his crewmates and how he’s dealing with it. These small connected tendrils begged me to continue to seek out Skoova, learning more about the fish he was about the catch and, more importantly, to hear the next entry in his tale.
Although Cal never outwardly talks about it, how he treats Greez and consistently tries to stay on the move shows how much he is trying to hide the pain weighing him down. It’s a similar pain Skoova feels during his adventure and the high point of his darkness. Even though there are no direct player choices in Jedi: Survivor, I’d like to think that Cal learns something when he hears the end of these tales and takes a tiny bit of it to the next game.
The stories Skoova shares about his time sailing for the Way’yek and eventually being marooned and rescued by the Purrgil are enriching tales of self-reflection. Skoova is ashamed of his time serving aboard the ship, but he never forgets it. He doesn’t shy away from it, but he also doesn’t have pride about what he did there, instead using it to fuel his current passion: to catch fish and to be with fish. He loves all types of fish and is proud to spend every moment he can with them because they’re his passion. It merely took longer than he wanted to find out how to properly burn that fiery passion for every type of fish in the best way possible.
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It’s not the pinnacle story of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and it’s not a required tale players need to hear. However, when I stumbled upon it and began to hear more, I wanted to spend as much time with Skoova as possible because it struck the perfect cords of a Star Wars story. It was the most human way a Star Wars character connected to me during Survivor’s run time and I felt enamored to regale in it while exploring a galaxy far, far away.
