Welcome to Korriban where a mental screwball is the only option on the menu. Much like Dantooine, there’s not much to this particular planet because (unlike Dantooine) everyone’s dead. Sure you have to kill a lot of creepy creatures and Sith Assassins but it’s not like you’ve got people to talk to. Hell, even the Jedi Master you came to find is already dead thanks to Darth Sleeps-With-Vibroblades. Oh yeah: you have to fight him to and then run away because Kreia says so. It’s uhhh… something. Honestly, this is a planet that’s way more fun if you’re playing dark side because at least you get to see Bastila. Sort of.
It’s also now occurring to me that you probably have to go to Korriban and Dantooine in this game since the basic maps for those planets already existed and they had to rush production. (Or at least that’s my assumption. I’m making things up.) It’s smart but also there’s a reason why these are the two fastest/most boring planets to deal with.
What makes Korriban worth it is the cave. Technically, it’s the tomb of Ludo Kressh but it’s a blatant take on Luke’s Dagobah cave except with 1000% more dialogue. Snark aside, I actually really like the writing in this part of the game and I think doing this planet close to last makes the most sense. The tomb confronts you with both the choices that you’ve made and the choices that have yet to come. It starts with taking you back to when Malak first returned to the Jedi Temple to recruit other Jedi to join him and Revan in fighting the Mandalorians. The next flashback is from a battle on Dxun where lots of soldiers under your command died. I like how the game lets you choose the exposition in regards to why the Exile decided to go fight and to also determine whether or not it was all worth it. It brings up some good questions because the Exile was responsible for (in the course of war) leading people to their deaths and for everything that happened at Malachor V. It’s nice that you don’t have to send the ghost versions of the soldiers to their deaths this time even though they’re totally still dead but all of it still really makes you think about choices and consequences.
The really weird vision of sorts happens when Kreia appears and looks very Sith-like. That should be warning sign number one. Admittedly, it’s mildly hilarious when Atton, Bao-Dur, and T3 all appear warning you away from the crazy old bat. (And let’s be honest: they’re right.) The first time I played through this section, I went with the “Yeah whatever, you’re all fake and this is a vision so do whatever” dialogue tree which got me the “Apathy is death” drone responses and also got me killed. Whoops. Thankfully I had a save from only a few minutes before. The second time, I sided with everyone against Kreia because hell no am I siding with that crazy old bat. Weirdly enough, this got me light side points? The one interesting thing I noted was that the rest of the crew randomly appears. A little bit of research informed me that they were all supposed to have lines too but those never got scripted. Again… goddamn this game shouldn’t have been rushed onto shelves. We could have had it aaaaaaall.
The final confrontation in the tomb is with Darth Revan and also a dark side version of yourself who disappears almost immediately. I beat the Revan vision with my patented method of running away and throwing my lightsaber at her every so often and then running in circles again. It’s very Jedi-like of me.
And with that, we’re freed from the tomb and honestly, I don’t know why we don’t just kick Kreia off the damn ship right then and there. DON’T TRUST HER. DON’T KEEP HER AROUND. COME ON, EXILE. But hey! I guess no time for that because we’ve got to go back to Dxun and help uphold a monarchy!
