2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order was somewhat of a renaissance moment for EA’s Star Wars games. It boasted a spectacular action-packed story filled with rich characters, exhilarating worlds to explore, and some of the best lightsaber-wielding combat to ever be in a video game. Back in 2019, I said that Jedi Fallen Order, “..mixes the magic of Star Wars with the stellar combat gameplay mechanics only Respawn can provide…”, ultimately giving it a 9/10. It was a stellar game at a time when Star Wars seemed to be hitting a bit of a speed bump.
Fallen Order was released just days after the premiere of The Mandalorian‘s debut season; and just a month shy of The Rise of Skywalker hitting theaters. It was a weird time to be a Star Wars fan, and one wouldn’t be mistaken for feeling conflicted about the overall direction of the IP. Nevertheless, Jedi: Fallen Order has won fans over since its launch and has gone on to be one of the more successful Star Wars video games. Needless to say, a sequel was all but certain.
Jedi: Survivor has been shrouded in a mist of secrecy ever since being announced in mid-2022, and only recently have little tidbits been offered to fans to tide them over until the game’s launch on April 28th. Graciously, I was invited out last week by EA and Respawn to check out 3 hours of the game; just enough time to check out the entirety of the game’s second planet Koboh. And even though those three hours were enough to get just a taste of what Jedi: Survivor has to offer, it was nowhere near enough time to get the full breadth of everything on offer.
The Story So Far
Nope. Not going to talk about this one. Aside from embargo restrictions barring me from discussing certain story and character elements shown during my time with Jedi: Survivor, there was enough shown that I couldn’t possibly fathom wanting to spoil it for everyone. So you’re not going to get any hardcore story details from me on this front.
What I will say, however, is that Jedi: Survivor‘s tone is still keeping in line with the first game. Respawn did an excellent job of balancing the magical whimsy of Star Wars with its more serious narrative elements in Jedi: Fallen Order, so I was happy to see that tone carried over into Jedi: Survivor. I’ll just have to talk more about this when I get my hands on the full game!
*BshBrrrrrZzzzz Lightsaber Noises*
Jedi: Survivor has taken the awesome Souls-esque lightsaber combat from Fallen Order and turned it up to 11. Now featuring five different lightsaber stances (Single, Double-bladed, Dual Wielding, Crossguard, and Blaster), the breadth of the combat system has been blown wide open to allow for some crazy gameplay combinations. In my three-hour preview, I only had access to three of said stances, but mostly played around with the brand new Dual Wielding stance. With Dual Wielding, Cal breaks apart his lightsaber to have one in each hand and assumes more of an aggressive stance that is ideal for those who like to play on the offensive. This stance in particular is a bit weaker than the others in terms of parries, but using Cal’s various force abilities opens up a lot of striking opportunities.
After our initial gameplay preview, the Respawn developers presented us with a quick 2-ish minute preview of what every stance looks like in combination with one another. Players who dedicate themselves to learning their preferred lightsaber stance and skill upgrades will have a field day when it comes to chaining together stance combos. I’m most interested in seeing how the Crossguard and Blaster stances factor into my own personal playstyle in the full game.
Outside of lightsaber combat, Cal has several new abilities and tools to play around with as he explores Koboh and the other planets offered in Jedi: Survivor. What’s a game in 2023 without a grappling hook? Cal Kestis has one now. Being able to zip up to many different cliffs and climbing points is a welcome addition to Cal’s navigation options, and makes exploring just a tad bit more enjoyable. On top of now being able to grapple up to certain points, Cal has the force ability to tame various animals throughout the open world and use them as mounts to quickly navigate wide open areas. These mounts aren’t the fastest mounts you’ve ridden in a game before, but it sure does beat having to sprint everywhere.
Speaking of navigating the open world, a big gripe I had with Jedi: Fallen Order was its wonky climbing system. Oftentimes when scampering up a climbable section, or jumping from one climbing spot to another, Cal would completely jump in a different direction than what you wanted or simply plummet to his death. It didn’t happen too often, but enough to make traversal in the game a frustrating ordeal. Luckily it seems climbing has been completely updated for Jedi: Survivor. No longer do players have to hit L2 to grab onto a wall and hold onto it, Cal simply holds onto a climbable section. It was so smooth, I didn’t actually think to write it down in my notes until just recently I decided to replay through Fallen Order and remembered how frustrating the climbing used to be.
Your Cal, Your BD-1
A big-time addition to Jedi: Survivor is the complete overhaul of its customization options. Whereas Fallen Order only had simple poncho unlocks and BD-1 skins, Survivor allows players to completely customize how they want Cal and BD-1 to look; right down to the wear of Cal’s lightsaber. Numerous hairstyles, beard options, jackets, pants, and undershirts are available to unlock and discover through discoverable chests. BD-1 can be customized with completely different-looking parts, turning everyone’s favorite droid (admit it, BD-1 is your favorite too) into exactly how they would want him to look. It’s something I can’t wait to mess around with more.
The Force is Strong
The biggest feeling I came away with after my three hours with Jedi: Survivor is just how ambitious the game felt in such a short amount of time. Jedi: Fallen Order, for as fantastic as that game is, came across as a bit reserved in everything it was trying to do in both the story it was trying to tell and the gameplay it was offering. Jedi: Survivor feels like a Star Wars game that is trying to take some risks with what it’s trying to do, especially with an IP that is so protective of its canon. That sentiment isn’t even about the game’s story, which is certainly shaping up to be quite ambitious in and of itself. It’s everything else: Cal’s new tricks, the vast customization options that sometimes completely alter Cal and BD-1’s looks, and giving the players agency in playing Cal through various lightsaber stances are all ambitious additions to a game that could have played it more safely. Needless to say, I’m excited to check out the full experience when Jedi: Survivor releases later this month; but I’m even more excited to see what else Respawn has up their sleeves after these first initial hours with the game.
