No matter how good or bad its mainline movie entries have been as of late, the Star Wars series is one of few franchises so uniquely positioned in the public consciousness that it's probably never going away again. But while The Rise of Skywalker has some hardcore fans begging for a break, it's the likes of Andor that prove quality stories can still be told in the galaxy far, far away. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order did the same for the IP's video games, delivering a fantastic experience off the back of the controversial Star Wars Battlefront 2. Roughly three and a half years later, its sequel demonstrates Star Wars games have never been better.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a follow-up in the same way God of War Ragnarok was: it may seem to be retreading familiar ground, but play it for yourself and it's revealed just how much bigger and better it is compared to the predecessor. This is a huge continuation of Cal Kestis' story, packing new planets to explore, so much more side content, and welcome quality of life improvements. With only the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic instalments providing it competition, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is comfortably one of the franchise's best-ever games.
We always thought it was throughout our short but sweet review process. However, it wasn’t until less than 24 hours ago that we could actually confirm it. Prior to a Day 0 patch, the game was suffering from severe frame rate drops and terrible screen tearing. While we appreciated the experience so much, it was impossible to look past what was an unacceptable launch state. However, version 1.02 has saved Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at the final hour.
The Performance Mode now actually sticks to its target of 60 frames-per-second at a 1440p resolution — most of the time. There are still minor frame rate drops here and there, but they’re absolutely nothing compared to what was standard before. In addition, screen tearing has been wiped out completely.
The excellent experience at the heart of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor would always shine through, though, and the smooth frame rate now makes it so much easier to enjoy without any stumbling blocks. Bringing back its breezier take on the Dark Souls formula, it's paired with vast worlds to explore. There's a laundry list of side content to complete and collectibles to find, and it all feeds back into your home base: the Pyloon's Saloon on Koboh.
Following a story-focused introduction, Cal finds himself on the backwaters planet in search of somewhere to repair his ship. The place turns out to be a lot more important through later plot developments, but one of the game's more satisfying loops is bringing life back to Rambler's Reach Outpost. Taking on quests and meeting people in other areas, you're able to recruit them and bring friendly faces back to the cantina. It makes exploration so much more rewarding, with the promise of new conversations and the potential of more missions should you stumble across a welcoming figure.
In fact, it's the characters that really make the narrative. While what you're working towards is interesting enough — a new home for the Jedi on a planet called Tanalorr — it's your crew aboard the Mantis and those back at Pyloon's Saloon that'll make you care about the plight most. Charming, charismatic, and witty, they're a joy to engage with and are genuinely worth taking the time to talk to.
And even if you don't find a fresh face for your home base, exploration is addictive, with a moreish approach that'll always give you one more location to rummage through. With both verticality and a wide span of ground to traverse, you could easily double your playtime beyond the core 25 hours it takes to beat the story.
Combat hasn't been expanded quite as much compared to Jedi: Fallen Order, but a new stance system allows you to pick what type of lightsaber you wish to wield and then dictate how you use it. Modes like dual wielding, twin blades, and even the option to use a blaster work in different situations, based on the opponent and how many of them there are. It's a neat little evolution of what was there before, giving you more ways to feel the Force.
The mechanics of a usual FromSoftware joint return, with Meditation Points acting as Bonfires, death resulting in you dropping your accrued experience points, and a slightly higher difficulty curve than other action-adventure titles. However, with multiple difficulty options at your disposal, you can still customise the experience to your needs.
Respawn Entertainment also brings back the Metroidvania structure, teasing powers and abilities you'll gain later on in early areas. Fuelling that rewarding loop of exploration further, puzzles are engaging and really test your knowledge of Cal's tool set. Inventive ways to use your skills are found, with customisation options for Cal, BD-1, and your lightsaber the prize.
It's all rounded out by the little quirks of the Star Wars universe: fantastic music and really funny dialogue. The former is simply breathtaking, with tracks that feel like they could have been ripped straight from the films. The latter, meanwhile, really is one of Jedi: Survivor's greatest elements. Take a pause before jumping into combat and you'll hear droids and stormtroopers deliver some really witty conversations about how they'll be the ones to off the Jedi — only for them to feel a lightsaber sticking through their robotic innards seconds later. Top quality stuff.
The visuals aren't, though. They're actually fairly inconsistent: a lot of cutscenes look outstanding but the moment-to-moment gameplay most certainly doesn't. Of course, in-game action was never going to look as good as the cutscenes that see the game's file size balloon to 147GB. What would have vindicated the PS5 version is good support of the DualSense controller, but its features are used sparingly. While you'll occasionally feel haptic feedback kick into gear or the adaptive triggers provide a bit of resistance when using the Force, it doesn't happen anywhere near enough.
Conclusion
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor does what any successful sequel should do: it expands on the foundations of the first game and does everything better. Combat is just as enjoyable and offers more options, exploration is on a whole other level, and the Metroidvania elements make for engaging puzzles and satisfying rewards. Easily one of the best Star Wars games ever made, it hands 2023 yet another crowning highlight.
Comments (51)
Hi everyone! If you have any questions, feel free to copy me in.
@LiamCroft Is the map still the awful hologram? I quit Jedi Order because planet navigation was so horrible
Oh wow nice! Glad to hear this is so good. Might have to take the plunge
Really brilliant review @LiamCroft. I'm not a big Star Wars fan in the slightest, but I always wanted to play Fallen Order. I feel I should finally get to that before I try this sequel, but I'm excited to hear this has delivered!
@LiamCroft has the platforming gotten any better? I thought that was easily the weakest aspect of the original, especially sliding areas.
@jmac1686 It's still presented in that hologram style, but it's a much better map this time that's easier to read.
@Odium The platforming is really good, I enjoyed it a lot. Super satisfying.
One thing that puts me off is that the protag looks like a massive tw*t. Is he actually a likable character or is he as annoying as he looks? He looks like he should be a jock in a bad slasher movie.
@LiamCroft whats the graphical quality setting ,I presume 30fps at 4k any ray tracing etc ,and hows the map is it less confusing.
My wallet…it’s going to suffer. I’m still playing Octopath Traveler 2 and have yet to dive into Resident Evil 4 remake. And the pixel remasters.
I still think Titanfall 2’s campaign is one of the greatest of all time, with some positively incredible and original levels and set pieces. I’m curious to see if Respawn has surpassed that with this game.
@Matroska 😂 hes actually ok well he was in the first ,im gonna give him a massive beard in the sequel and maybe change that early 90s hairdo,shame you can't make him less ginger 😁
As a fan of all Star Wars media, the great previous entry including, I'm buying it today, to start the preload ASAP!! No brainer!!
@Matroska Wow, poor Cameron Monaghan. It’s literally like a 1 for 1 scan of his face.
N.i.c.e. good to know star wars jedi survivor got a really good score.a 9 is amazing.star war jedi fallen order is a excellent game also.word up son
Im ready for this I love the first game.
I love it when games let you build-up/restore a home base like Monteriggioni in AC2.
Without venturing into spoiler territory - is the main storyline satisfying?
Oh baby yes. Its already downloaded now ready for launch and wait is killing me.
@Matroska So you're just insulting Cameron Monaghan then?
@Matroska I hope you don't do this to people irl, it's extremely rude to judge a book by its cover.
An uncharted Soulslike metroidvania, that doesn't have the failings of each individual genre (those being either too linear, too convoluted, too much backtracking), almost sounds like a perfect formula. That is if you like Star wars.
@nessisonett Right? Cameron's a good looking guy, and I found his char in the first one to be extremely rogue-ish and likeable.
@yohn777 I've always found that saying silly because you're meant to judge a literal book by its cover - that's the point of it. LotR will have certain covers that, say, Clockwork Orange wouldn't have. Anyway, the fact I'm asking what the character is actually like means I'm looking for input, not just assuming the character is as annoying as he looks. Anyway, the look of a character is important - how would you feel if Dante looked like James Corden? Or if Nathan Drake looked like Snape. It wouldn't really work, would it?
yehay I’ll get this. Better get crackin on that dl ..
Unless it's something best left unsaid, I'm curious to know if there are more or less planets to explore than in Fallen Order?
@LiamCroft You mentioned that the game was basically technically broken prior to the patch they released. Did the patch seemingly make the gameplay visuals so lackluster or was it already "inconsistent, “ visually?
Also curious about the combat mechanics, and if the controlling of cal/ platforming is any better, along with details on level design compared to the first(which I found a weak point) , size of the world's.
Is much of the game play fairly the same from the last one?
Is the only motivation for exploring still only cosmetics aside from skill points?
@LiamCroft
Have they added the ability to fast travel between meditation points?
@LiamCroft super concerning about the technical issues present that you mentioned prior to the patch. What would you have rated this title had that patch not happened?
Did you have to. Play through most of the title with those issues? Where does performance stand now in the 30 fps mode and how consistent are those dips in the performance mode?
I ONLY ask because I'm reading many reviewed citing still lingering issues and surprisingly little difference from the first title visually.
@KundaliniRising333 I played the vast majority with the tech issues present, yes. Before the patch, the 30fps Quality Mode was actually smoother than the Performance Mode. It was a bit mad.
I haven't tested the 30fps mode since the patch, but while there are still small dips in the 60fps Performance Mode, it's so much better now. A more than acceptable way to play the game.
@LiamCroft awesome thanks.
@Matroska he's been the most likable protagonist in a western game I've played in a long while. He looked fine in Fallen Order, but in Survivor he kinda looks dumb
Loved the first one and I'm glad this one does not disappoint.
Thanks for a good overview Liam, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
@Matroska Physical character details don't really impact the personality of characters, period. They can, but it's not really even close to the most important thing when you actually learn the details of somebody. Clearly with what people who've played DMC know about the game, if Dante looked like James Corden, obviously that would clash with lots of the games elements. Just radically judging people how they look without really knowing anything else is just kinda crappy, that's my story & I'm stickin' to it. If you think somebody is an a**hole just because they're old or have a beard or a tattoo or something, you're just stereotyping them.
Great review Liam! There have been some amazing games already this year across all systems with more to come. I'll be dropping some big hints around the house for this for a Father's day pressie
Sounds like a great game! Shame it's that big of a file size though. Would take me 5+ hours to fully download.. Oh well. I'm still busy with other games anyway.
Good review. I enjoyed the first one despite its flaws. I am OK about the lack of adaptive trigger use, as I really dislike them, especially in action games where they just get in the way. Look forward to trying this after Ragnarok
Maybe I'll buy this down the line when it's cheaper.
@R1spam Thank you, hope you get a copy for yourself!
Awesome! I'll definitely be picking this up then. Really enjoyed the first game and this looks to have improved on it in every way 😁
@yohn777 "if Dante looked like James Corden" 🤣 perish the thought!
will play it next year on EAplay for £0.79
I don't really buy new games at full price anymore but I'm super tempted by this one.
Looking forward to the 0/10 crew coming out for this one with the inevitable "What score would you give" poll.
The "first" God of War was way better than the sequel (which yes, was bigger), so will see how this compares tomorrow
@trev666 Poor guy. I play it now for 60 bucks, then sell it for 60 to 70 bucks on ebay.
Amazing, thanks for the review. Preloaded it last night. So ready!
Going from Burning Shores to Jedi Survivor is simply amazing. Back to back good times 👍
@LiamCroft An easier to read map was all I wanted to know before being all in. Thanks for the great review!
@Matroska I actually agree with you and know exactly what you mean. I'm not a huge fan, he does come off a bit of a know it all sort of person but he's alright. I didn't mind him when I played it, but I didn't really care for him either.
@Westernwolf4 Thank you, I hope you enjoy it just as much as I have 😊
Looks like performance mode is 1440P x 60FPS which is fine, matches with the PS5 version of Fallen Order. I’ve just gone from playing Death Stranding to Fallen Order and it’s a bit blurry when you first start playing but fine after a couple of minutes. I guess Survivor is going to be a similar experience. Got a 2TB WD850N coming tomorrow, so by the time it’s finished downloading, I should have finished Fallen Order again 😂
@Matroska I actually kind of wish that Cal was a bit of a tw*t honestly. That way he'd actually have some character.
Obviously I'd prefer him to be likeable over being annoying, but the way he is now (Or how he was in Fallen Order) is completely devoid of any personality. He's yet another boring modern video game protagonist in the likes of Aloy or Jin Sakai. Just nothing to him, really. Just a wet blanket of a character that won't offend anyone but no one will love either
Sweet! Thanks for a great review. I better rush through Burning Shoes so I can play this on launch day.
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