Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a sequel to the Fallen Order, Respawn Entertainment’s first attempt at making a third-person action title that paid off tremendously. However, it seems that history and repeated itself with some technical shortcomings that significantly mar the experience of what is otherwise one of the best Star Wars games we have gotten in recent years. In our Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review, we’ll take a look at the continuation of Cal Kestis’s adventure.
Story
The game takes place 5 years after the events of the original. Cal Kestis has aged significantly and all of his companions from the previous game have taken to their own lives in different parts of the galaxy. As with the last game, Cal finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place once more, as he walks a tightrope between the light and dark side of the force.
As Cal, you will have to make new friends, allies, and enemies, and travel to new planets to stop the latest threat that plagues the galaxy and can cause a disruption in the balance of the force.
The story has its moments where Cal shows weakness to both sides of the force. Just like the previous game, we are given a brilliant story with a memorable cast of characters that all play a role in setting up what could be a memorable sequel to this title as well.
I liked Cal in the first title, but it was clear that he had to go through a lot more to feel a bit more fleshed out. With the events of the first title in mind, Cal is far more endearing this time and feels like a more developed character with the confidence, and wit of a Jedi.
Gameplay
Fallen Order has some of the best lightsaber combat in a single-player Star Wars title. The lightsaber combat is back again, with even more stances, and giving Cal a new weapon, a blaster. This is a weapon of choice for the clone troopers but also Han Solo and it even features a stance dedicated to it.
Cal already has his moves from Fallen Order such as double jump and wall run, but that doesn’t mean you can’t teach an old Jedi new tricks. You learn a few new force powers and also pick up some good gadgets that encourage you to return to previous planets you visited in order to explore new areas.
You also have ‘The Force’ at your disposal which continues to get stronger with newer force abilities that make battling enemies all the more satisfying and rewarding as you progress through the skill tree in the game to build and grow Cal’s arsenal of force powers. The force also feels a lot more impactful this time and has this punch that I kind of didn’t feel in the first one.
Combat and Traversal
With the addition of the blaster, Cal now has a ranged option for combat, which previously was handled by abilities that made him throw his lightsaber, leaving him vulnerable to attacks, but this is a good change to add and improve in the sequel which shows how much attention Respawn has given to the sequel.
The lightsaber combat feels as good as before, and paired with the blaster, makes for a fun experience for players who are returning to the sequel from the first game. You have a good variety of combat options, but unfortunately, Cal is restricted to only having 2 stances at a time of the total of 5 you accumulate across your playthrough. Thankfully, you can switch stances easily by finding a meditation point or a workbench.
With the addition of Cal’s abilities from Fallen Order, and the new abilities he picks up in Survivor, the game has given us a brand new character for us to do a lot of new experiments, and feels like a worthy entry to the series. All of these will come in very handy when fighting off enemies and new threats across the vast new worlds you will travel across.
In addition to the gameplay loop, you also have rideable companions that make your traversal of the world even easier, and with the game’s seamless load times, fast travel is also instantaneous. This isn’t an open-world title, but the areas are large and ripe for exploration. This is a metroidvania title at its heart, and fans of Metroid Prime will appreciate the lengths Respawn has gone to, to create a world with all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore.
Performance
Right off the bat, this is where I had a bitter-sweet experience. I was fully aware of the performance issues plaguing the game, and they show. While the console versions are only subject to FPS hitches and minor bugs and glitches, it still ruined the immersion. I had to take down the difficulty at certain points to help with my parry timings. The game is a visual marvel as you travel to new, vibrant worlds with lots of exploration to behold, but the technical limitations that impede your wonderful journey are going to sour the experience slightly.
That is to say, if you play in performance mode, you will still be able to beat the game, but will have to tolerate some inconveniences along the way. Respawn and EA have committed to fixing the game in the coming weeks. For now, I only recommend beating the main story and coming back to the game once it is in a better state in a month or two if you wish to pursue the platinum trophy.
This is a bit sad because these issues were present in Fallen Order as well, especially on the PC version. We’re hoping that these are addressed soon because the performance problems are the only thing holding this splendid title back, and it’s a shame to see a current-generation title struggling to provide a decent experience. The first major patch is already out and is targeting the PC version, and a console patch will follow soon. This is the only weaker aspect of my Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review.
Presentation
The graphics of the game are splendid and really show why Respawn made the choice to exclude the PS4 and Xbox One from the development process. Each planet and location you visit has its own distinct identity, and personality, and paired with new enemies to combat, a photo mode, and other great visual benefits to improve the experience, Jedi Survivor is easily a massive improvement over the original.
I mostly played the game in performance mode, but the quality mode is worth taking for a spin once you do beat the game to see how good the game can look, albeit at the cost of a 30FPS lock on consoles. I had minor issues with the graphics with pop-in and other graphical issues being the least of my problems. However, the game’s presentation is easily one of the better aspects of the game after the story.
Fallen Order already looked great, but it’s quite impressive to see how big of a jump this title has, especially when it’s on the same engine. We’re expecting the sequel to make a jump to Unreal Engine 5, and hope that one launches without any major performance issues.
Conclusion
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a worthy sequel to a brand new idea in the Star Wars universe. Fans undoubtedly loved the idea of a sequel and Respawn has done a brilliant job of delivering a definitive experience, but the cracks start showing when you look at it more closely, particularly the performance issues that are currently plaguing the PC version of the game, and the performance issue on consoles too.
This is almost a repeat of history as fans faced the same issues with Fallen Order in 2019 and the developer took weeks to fix the issues with the game back then too.
As it is, I would highly recommend playing the game to only complete the story, as the game is currently lacking a lot of stability for players on both platforms which makes the post-game experience feel less enjoyable.
Behind all of the performance issues is a stunning game that has strong visuals, good combat, and a fantastic story that really feels like it is close to the source material as well, making it a perfect game for any Star Wars fan.
What did you think of our Star Wars Jedi Survivor Review? Share what you think about it in the comments below.
This review is based on the PS5 version of Star Wars Jedi Survivor. The key was provided by E.
