Star Wars Jedi: Survivor: A Sequel That Improves On The Original

As a video game IP, Star Wars has had a bit of an uneven history. While there were great story-driven games like Jedi Outcast or Rogue Squadron, there were just as many lackluster games like Galaxy of Heroes or both of the EA Battlefront games. Expectations going into Jedi: Fallen Order were, to be honest, pretty low but they managed to deliver one of the best single player Star Wars experiences to date. The sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, takes some interesting narrative turns and makes some much-needed quality-of-life improvements that make the continued adventures of Cal Kestis a worthwhile adventure to follow. Please note there may be some slight spoilers beyond this point, however these will be kept to a minimum and will really only relate to one late-game mechanic that leaves a lot to be extrapolated from.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor picks up five years after the first game as Cal continues to fight against the Empire between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. He receives information about a hidden planet from the High Republic era called Tanalorr and makes it his mission to turn it into a stronghold for those who are fighting the Empire through the hidden path (as seen in last year’s Obi-Wan Kenobi).

All the action works just as well the second time as it does the first and the game does not make the same error that many other sequels do where the player starts out at full power, through a contrivance loses their powers, and then has to slowly regain their abilities (see any Metroid game or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for an example of this). The Cal that the player inhabited in Fallen Order is the same Cal they are playing as here and he is a full-fledged Jedi Knight. What this game is however is the crisis that comes with the journey from Jedi Knight to Jedi Master without the guidance of the Jedi Order to act as guard rails. This gets juxtaposed with a character from the High Republic that Cal interacts with who illustrates some of the shortcomings of the Order causing the crisis of confidence to deepen. In terms of narrative, this game is deeper than the first and ties into the wider Star Wars mythos more uniquely than Fallen Order, which allows for the game to occupy a more interesting space than its predecessor.

This is where the spoilers come in so if someone is looking to go into the game with as little information as possible, they should skip this paragraph:

The systems in the game are a vast improvement over the predecessor, notably with a fast travel system and better UI layouts that make navigation substantially easier. There are some bugs and framerate dips on PC (the platform this review is based on), however with recent updates some of these bugs have dissipated. The number of cosmetic options is also fantastic, with the player able to customize Cal’s hair and facial hair as well as his lightsaber hilt and blade color. The addition of blasters is interesting. The new almost modular lightsaber that allows the player to pick from multiple fighting styles to find the one they’re most comfortable with is also unique for this game style. That said, very late in the game there is the introduction of a mechanic that carries over into New Journey+ that is a little overpowered while not having any drawbacks, sort of akin to the unforgivable curses in Hogwarts Legacy earlier this year.

Even if someone is not a Star Wars fan, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a strong contender for Game of the Year (although next week’s discussion of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom may put that conversation to rest unless Starfield, Final Fantasy XVI, or Spider-Man 2 manage to be something truly special) that improves upon the first game while still maintaining the identity of this corner of the wider franchise. If someone is a fan of strong narrative games with tough but forgiving action sequences, this is the game for them.

Final Rating: 9/10