Now the news has settled about the new The Sims 4 Journey to Batuu game pack, I wanted to take a moment while we wait on the release to give a little background on Batuu and Galaxy’s Edge. I haven’t personally been there yet, but I was supposed to go to Walt Disney World in May. Yeah, it’s 2020, you can guess how that worked out! However, while I was still planning the trip, I’ve been following the information about Galaxy’s Edge closely, as I can’t wait to go.
Firstly, some business background. Star Wars and Disney have a long history. Even before Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, the Star Tours ride featured in both Disneyland, California (opening 1987) and Walt Disney World in Florida (1989)
Following the merger, Galaxy’s Edge was announced in 2015, and opened on both coasts in 2019. The plan was to take you to a planet within the Star Wars Universe without tying it to any one specific timeline by using a known place like Tatooine. That planet was Batuu, located on the Outer Rim of the galaxy, specifically the Black Spire Outpost on Batuu. Disney Imagineers developed a rich and detailed back story for Batuu, a planet that used to be a bustling transport hub before hyperspace travel caused it to become largely forgotten. The first appearance of Batuu in the Star Wars Extended Universe is in the 2018 novel Star Wars: Thrawn Alliances.
The Star Wars Wookieepedia has a great description of Batuu here.
So, how does this tie up with the new The Sims 4 Journey to Batuu pack?
Let’s look at the EA announcement page:
One of the key features of Galaxy’s Edge is the Millennium Falcon, which houses the Smuggler’s Run ride, allowing riders to fly the fastest hunk of junk in the Galaxy. You can visit Oga’s Cantina, build your own lightsaber, and buy a variety of souvenirs to take home with you. While there’s no stand alone area to play sabaac, there is a table available on the Falcon as a photo prop, and of course you can buy your own sabaac set tot take home with you. The Disney Cast Members in Galaxy’s Edge portray locals, and each has their own backstory if you ask them. The standard greeting on Batuu is “Bright Suns”, or in the evening, “Rising Moons”
So, all in all, sounds pretty close. And while they haven’t announced if Batuu will be a destination like Granite Falls or Selvadorada, or a new world with a story like Strangerville, that description reads to me like a destination.
This aligns with the storyline within Galaxy’s Edge. You will run into various characters in the land, including Chewbacca, Rey, Kylo Ren, and various Stormtroopers and Imperial/First Order officers. You will be asked to declare your allegiance to helping either Rebels or the First Order. Depending on how well you do on Smuggler’s Run, your reputation can follow you round the land. Quite how much of the original plans for the reputation system made it into the actual park, I’m not sure at this point, but it sounds like the intended plans!
Vi Moradi is another character that can be found lurking around Galaxy’s Edge, who you may be asked to help or hinder. Hondo Ohnaka can be found in animatronic form on the Falcon – he’s the one recruiting Smugglers at the start of the ride. Again, this sounds pretty close to the expectations in real life.
Savi’s Workshop allows you to build your own lightsaber – for a price! The set up in Galaxy’s Edge is to keep it under the radar and stop the First Order discovering it. You’ll ask for scrap metal, rather than lightsaber parts, and small groups will be allowed into the workshop to follow an ancient Jedi ritual to create and power up your own lightsaber. Likewise, the Droid Depot allows you to choose the parts to make your own R2 or BB droid.
All in all, it sounds like a good replication of a trip to Galaxy’s Edge.
I’ve been a Star Wars fan for almost 40 years, and the thought of being able to walk round such a detailed recreation, and to see the Falcon – even pilot that hunk of junk – has had me so excited! I’m hoping that I’ll be able to go early next year, but meantime, if I can take my Sims and visit virtually instead, that will keep me going.
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