14 DAY TRIAL // 
The sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order continues Cal Kestis’ saga, which abruptly stopped just when things became more interesting. The second game in the series created by Respawn puts some of the characters in the previous games that didn’t get that much attention in the spotlight. Also, it tries to refine the combat system and all the collectibles in the game in an attempt to make exploration more rewarding.
Set five years after the events in the first game, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s opening feels like a déjà vu with different actors. A more mature and more powerful Cal is fighting a similar enemy to the one he faces in the first game, although somehow the fight seemed much easier thanks to the many improvements the combat system received.
Going forward, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor feels like a bigger and better version of the original game. While the same Stinger Mantis ship remains your mobile headquarters, the folks at Respawn have added a full-fledged base of operations that can be “upgraded” as you progress.
Many of the characters that briefly made an appearance in the first game are now more fleshed out, while those who accompanied Cal throughout his adventures got deeper characterizations. It’s a clear sign that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor focuses on the narrative aspect just as much as the combat system, which was the highlight of the original game.
After a brief action sequence on Coruscant where we’re introduced to a new Cal who’s hunted by the Empire, the game takes us to the planet that will soon become your base of operations: Koboh. Just like in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, there are areas on the planet that Cal will not be able to access until he gets specific powers. Same goes for other destinations where Cal will land in search for a way to reach Tanalorr, a mysterious planet hidden behind an impenetrable nebula.
Each new planet Cal and his friends travel to has a different ecosystem that makes the game feel fresh every few hours (or how often you decide to switch locations). Despite the fact that this isn’t a true open-world game, you’re only gated by the powers that you gain as you progress into the main story. It’s a more natural way to keep players from accessing areas that they aren’t supposed to, just like in the first game.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor does a good job at keeping a good balance between combat and platforming sequences. In fact, some of the platforming strings in the game would make any Assassin’s Creed fan jealous (they’re so good). I can’t say the same thing about combat though, especially on the hardest difficulty.
While Respawn has added a bunch of new mechanics like stances for different weapons, they don’t benefit from the same advantages. For example, the crossguard blade stance is the only one that allows you to break the guard of the opponent, but it also has the slowest moveset of them all. Dual blades stance is one of the few that allows move canceling, which is very important considering all lightsaber combos have long animations.
On the bright side, you can always have two stances equipped and you can switch between them on the fly. I finished the game using the double-bladed stance mostly because it’s the most reliable at hitting multiple targets. Since you’ll be fighting multiple enemies at once almost throughout the entire game, it’s probably the most suitable.
I think mechanics like move canceling and guard breaking should have been added to all stances to avoid some frustrating encounters that require fast reactions.
One other downside of the combat system is that most of the force powers are unusable during fights. You literally don’t have time to stick in a “push” or “pull” when you’re surrounded by multiple, very tough enemies. Not to mention that the enemies that you’ll encounter later in the game are resistant to force powers, so you’ll need to upgrade the Force skill tree to be able to do so crowd control. Of course, that comes at the expense of putting skills into whatever stance you like.
Despite these shortcomings, the combat system in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an evolution of the one from the previous game, and a step into the right direction. The most important thing is that with the addition of stances, there are plenty of playstyles to try out, and a lot of fun to have.
I can’t end this piece without talking about performance. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a great game, but it’s marred by technical problems. The most prevalent is frame drops, but I had the game crash a few times and there’s a lot of screen tearing in some regions.
I did not have any glitches that would break the game and I’ve been able to finish Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in about 22 hours without any major issues. Still, these technical problems, especially the frame drops in such a heavy action-oriented game, certainly drag down the immersion. I’m pretty sure that everything will be fixed in a few months, but the first patch released did nothing good for me.
The Good
- Outstanding world building
- Captivating story, deep characterization
- Great voice acting
- Amazing platforming sequences, clever puzzles
The Bad
- Major technical issues
- Combat needs a bit more refinement
Conclusion
The world building and the overall atmosphere lives and breathes Star Wars. Everything feels grandiose, from the platforming sequences to the exploration parts and combat. Ironically, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a much better game than Fallen Order, but it plays worse performance-wise.
As it stands, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor offers a captivating narrative experience marred by optimization issues. It’s an excellent, yet undercooked action-adventure title that gets me hyped for a third Star Wars game.
Review key was provided by ALSO Technology.
