Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
After everything goes wrong for Kay on Canto Bight, she ends up on the moon of Toshara, which is an original creation for the game. The moon is a combination of familiar open-world biomes—mostly canyons, rivers, caves, and grassy plains—that is initially presented as the “tutorial world” where Kay learns the ins and outs of working for different crime syndicates (the Pykes and Crimson Dawn that rule over Toshara), unlocking upgrades for her weapons and vehicles, and where she eventually receives her main mission (the aforementioned big heist). Because it’s meant to be the most beginner friendly, it’s also the world that feels the most video game-y, not quite as cinematic or immersive as all the rest.
That said, Mirogana City, the moon’s main city area that’s carved out of a giant cliff, is beautifully realized, visually stunning, and brimming with life, including many of your favorite alien races from the movies—Rhodians, Weequay, Aqualish, Mon Calamari, Quarrens, Twi’leks are all accounted for, and that’s before you even run into the Hutts, Gamorreans, Jawas, Sullustans, Ithorians, and Tusken Raiders. The game feels properly a part of the Original Trilogy era—recreating the feeling of stepping into the Mos Eisley cantina for the very first time at a much larger scale—which makes sense since the story takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, with a few other races from the Prequels and Sequels as an added bonus.
Once you’re off Toshara—after learning how to properly pilot your ship and fight off enemy ships in dogfights that unfortunately don’t really scratch that arcade shooter Rogue Squadron itch so many of us ‘90s kids still have—you head to far more recognizable locations, including the galaxy’s most important desert planet.
Tatooine is where the game really clicks, which is pretty wild considering most of it is just desert, with a few settlements scattered across the map, including the iconic Mos Eisley. But it’s on that rock farthest from the bright center of the universe that the game really captures the space western feel that made the original films so special, down to the gunslingers, scavengers, and bandits that populate the planet.
Each planet has its own main story to tell and Tatooine’s in particular kicks things into high gear quickly, leading to a tense encounter inside Jabba’s Palace, an absolute highlight of the game. Few things feel more properly cinematic in Star Wars Outlaws than approaching the towering palace from Return of the Jedi, and the feeling is heightened by the fact that you’re actually there to break into it. It’s one of the game’s most captivating missions, and as you’d expect, it’s full of nods to the movies as well as a few cameos.
Tatooine really captures the best of the Star Wars Outlaws experience in a nutshell, making you feel like you’ve stepped into your own Expanded Universe adventure, providing the nostalgia you’d expect while also expanding on things only hinted at on the big screen. Lore-obsessed fans might liken the feeling of stepping onto Tatooine, crossing paths with Jawas, Hutts, and Tuskens, and exploring Mos Eisley—including the infamous cantina, of course—to reading Star Wars books from the ‘90s, particularly the Tales anthologies that fleshed out so much of the underbelly of George Lucas’ world at a time when there weren’t any new movies in theaters.
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