Last week I read Mark Oshiro's Hunters: Battle for the Arena. I've been playing Hunters since release, so I figured it was about time I get to this book and learn about these characters I'm playing as and fighting against! I was surprised to find a touching story about family centering a character I hadn't expected myself to be so terribly interested in, filled of course with adventure, twists, and explaining how a hero shooter like Hunters can still fit into the greater Star Wars universe.
Spoilers ahead for Hunters: Battle for the Arena by Mark Oshiro!
Similar to another Star Wars video game book, Jedi: Battle Scars, I loved how this book "explained" some of the game mechanics in Hunters. It wasn't something I needed by any means (as an Overwatch fan, I am fully accepting of hero shooters where the main game itself isn't really canon at all), but it was a really fun addition. The characters in Hunters are all contracted fighters with randomized teams, fighting matches in an arena that rotates through different locations in the galaxy, and they all wear specialized gear to prevent them from actually getting hurt.
They're also all playing characters for the arena audience, with varying amounts of authenticity. Sentinel, for example, is a former stormtrooper, but he doesn't really believe in the Empire anymore like what he says in the arena would suggest. J-3DI though, has programming that makes him truly believe that he is a Jedi (and as far as I am concerned, he can be), but Rieve isn't a Sith Lord at all, even if her Force sensitivity is real. It was fun to see how the "real" versions of some of my favorites, like Zaina, Imara Vex, Utooni and more, both differ and are similar to their game versions.
I also loved how much the Hunters all loved each other. They considered themselves a big family of misfits, echoing Star Wars Rebels in some ways. It was fun to see characters like Zaina, Sentinel, and Grozz to hang out and joke affectionately with each other, even if they can be set up as rivals in the arena.
I really liked this way of "explaining" the game. While it wasn't necessary, it's a fun way for the game to have this fun mix of characters pulling from all different corners of the galaxy, whether it's jawas or Mandalorians, while still having it work out in canon for them to all be together.
Rieve, the not-Sith, is the main character of the book. She is the newcomer to the arena and we learn about how it all works through her. She has a really great arc in this book where we learn about her past. She's eaten with guilt about times she lost control of her Force powers, which put her on the run from some Imperial-hired smugglers and made her leave her home on Corellia, or when she lost control and ended up breaking up the gonkrock band she was in. Rieve has a great arc about not only realizing that these things weren't really her fault, but also that she doesn't have to be so afraid anymore.
She's so filled with paranoia about connecting with others, always convincing herself that they must be secretly thinking she's weird or scary, she doesn't realize how much the other Hunters love her. They think she's very cool, and she was so focused on the negative thoughts eating away at her she hadn't even noticed they'd been reaching out. It was very relatable, and reminded me a lot of Rise of the Red Blade's Iskat.
Unlike Iskat though, Rieve is able to push through and grow past these feelings when she lets the other Hunters in and gets her happy ending. She finds not just fulfillment from herself and is able to save the arena from a threat from her past, but also a family that makes her time in the arena very worth it- and Rieve finally feels like she belongs. I hadn't expected myself to be so invested in her story, but I am so glad it was told, and I'd love to see more Hunters stories focusing on the other characters in the future! (*cough* UTOONI BOOK)
ALSO the book has a cool Twi'lek hunter named Tuya! When is she coming to the game???
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