Star Wars Jedi is a new franchise developed by Respawn Entertainment, the guys behind the Titanfall series and Apex Legends. The Star Wars Jedi series is set, hopefully unsurprisingly, in the Star Wars universe. Players inhabit the role of Cal Kestis, a Jedi who managed to survive Order 66, a devastating event which resulted in the attempted destruction of all Jedi.
In the first game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, we get to see how Cal survived the Jedi slaughter and his quest to learn to be a proper Jedi and rebuild the Jedi Order along with his friends Cere Junda who is a former Jedi, Greez Dritus who is a master pilot and Merrin, a Dathomir Nightsister. I played Fallen Order way back when it was released in 2019 and had a great time with it, despite some technical issues.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, however, is the game we are talking about today and it picks up around five years after the events of Fallen Order. Cal is continuing to resist the Empire and is also searching for a safe place for his friends to call home.
Both games are third person games with game mechanics not dissimilar to games like Dark Souls. Not even Star Wars is immune to the Soulslike-ification of video games, it seems.
What I Liked 😃
The Dark Side Tempts
The story in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a little bit of old mixed with a little bit of new. As mentioned in the intro, Cal Cestis is still fighting the good fight against the Empire. His old friends have parted ways for the most part due to one circumstance or another which is eventually revealed throughout the plot. But at the same time, he’s looking for a safe haven, a place to call home. He believes he has discovered it with the lost and unreachable planet of Tanalorr. Cal must find how to get to Tanalorr but along the way he is, just like many Jedi before him, tempted by the Dark Side of the Force.
This game beats Cal down time and time again, both physically and mentally. We see him experience loss, betrayal, anger toward the Empire and the overwhelming sense of responsibility that he has put on his shoulders. Cal struggles with bringing his old crew back together again. He also meets another Jedi who tries to lure him toward the Dark Side. All of this culminates in a really cool way. I won’t spoil what happens, but I think the resolution to all of Cal’s hardships was satisfying. The Dark Side tempts always and it’s a very easy idea to convey and is likely the reason why every Star Wars movie, show, game, novel, etc.… has some Dark Side component. We as human beings are always struggling with dark thoughts and actions. The temptation is real and it’s only through our various belief systems and will power are we able to resist.
I’m very interested to see where the third game picks up (there has to be a third game, right?) based on what occurs at the end. I have theories but again, I won’t spoil anyone who hasn’t played this game since it’s still relatively new.
Dark Souls Lite
Both Fallen Order and Survivor take inspiration from games like Dark Souls. However, I think these Star Wars games aren’t nearly as unforgiving as the offerings of From Software games and that’s why I think these are actually good entry level souls-like games for beginners.
For those who aren’t familiar with the formula, a souls-like game has the following elements:
Regular enemies are typically easier but still have their own weaknesses and patterns during combat
Boss fights are usually much more difficult and knowing the attack patterns and weaknesses of the bosses is crucial. Being aware of animation frames and how to dodge or roll is very important as well
At certain areas of the open world, there will be a landmark where the player can rest. If they choose to rest, all enemies defeated will re-spawn
Dying a lot is not uncommon and is part of the game loop
I was not very versed in souls-like games before playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. I had played Demon’s Souls very briefly and bounced off like a super ball thrown against a concrete wall. However, I think the combination of the Star Wars setting with a more manageable souls-like experience is a really good way to get into this genre of game. I didn’t have the same negative reaction because I was already invested in the decades of Star Wars lore and the excellent narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Did I die a lot? Oh yes indeed I did. And you will too. Just remember this is all part of the plan and fun will be had.
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Always Fun Being a Jedi
It is a blast being a Jedi in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. There are so many lightsaber powers and options on top of all the force related powers that you can acquire.
Cal can wield all the different types of classic lightsabers. From the traditional two-handed lightsaber to the menacing Kylo Ren cross blade saber from Episodes 7-9, the game gives the player the choice of how to approach combat. The cross blade for example is slow but it packs a punch while the dual blade lightsaber is faster but doesn’t deal as much damage. Don’t like lightsabers? No problem, the game eventually gives you a blaster ala Han Solo’s pistol. All of the weapons can be updated visually as well, as long as Cal collects the necessary parts. You really can make your weapons look the way you want them. It’s very satisfying.
Then there are the force powers. Cal has the ability to learn everything from force push to the ability to confuse enemies. Each power can be upgraded to become more useful and again it’s up to the player which path they choose. Using these powers never gets old and while you can progress through the game without using force powers, it certainly wouldn’t be as fun. Figuring out how to wield both weapons and force powers will become crucial in your playthrough of this game. Listen to Obi-Wan and may The Force be with you.
What I Didn’t Like ☹️
It’s Still a Souls-like
Even though you can prepare mentally for playing a souls-like, the fact of the matter is, it’s still frustrating to die. Maybe this isn’t as big a deal for you younger players. But I grew up in an era of gaming in which dying equaled losing. If you died during a game, it implied you just weren’t good enough to jump across that gap or kill that enemy. Yes, you learned something from your death - hopefully - but that sting still hurt. Souls-likes, in a way, take me back to the nightmare of wanting to throw my controller across the room into the TV, ending my suffering while playing a game like Battletoads. So, it’s difficult to play a game where dying is accepted and sometimes even encouraged with all of the baggage of retro games on my back.
There are some really tough battles in this game, especially if you try to seek out some of the optional bosses. The first Rancor fight comes to mind, even though after defeating one of them, later on the game throws two at you at the same time (joy!). And, oh my goodness, the Vader fight almost made me quit the game. You do not play as Cal, instead you are Cere. The sudden shift in play styles plus a challenging force-based battle against Vader was just enough to make this fight take what seemed like forever. I didn’t count my deaths, but it had to be nearing 40 - 50 attempts.
Gardening??
Among other more interesting mini-games, there is a gardening mini-game. Why? I dunno.
While Cal is exploring, he can pick up seeds from various plants across the planets he visits. When returning to the “hub” area on Koboh, he can plant the seeds in a garden on the rooftop of Greez’s bar. After a certain amount of time, the seeds grow into plants. And that’s about it. There’s an achievement/trophy for filling up the entire garden. And I guess the plants and flowers look nice after they’ve matured. But that wasn’t enough to really make this a fun distraction from the main game. I can think of several little changes that could have made this more fun: make the plants grow taller, add the ability to take your matured plants and plant them out in the world to grow, maybe some of the plants bear fruit which can be used to heal or add buffs to Cal.
Anyway, I did fill up my garden so I guess in my digital world of Jedi Survivor, you could say Cal has a really green thumb. If this whole Jedi thing doesn’t work out, maybe he can start a planet hopping gardening service…
Overall Thoughts 🤔
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a really good Star Wars game. It has a great narrative backed by interesting characters. I am really hopeful that someday soon we get to see Cal Kestis’s story played out in a TV series or maybe even a movie. The combat is souls-like, which may cause some people to not even give this one a shot. But the game isn’t near a punishing as a real souls-like game. I loved messing around with all the different lightsabers and blasters as well as the force powers. Don’t even bother with the gardening mini game unless you are going for 100% completion. It’s boring and pointless. Some of the other mini games like Holotactics are much more worth your time. There are numerous ways to change the look of Cal and his weaponry which provide a neat level of customization and a reason to explore every nook and cranny of the various worlds. I highly recommend Survivor and its predecessor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Where Can I Play This? 🕹️
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is available on all modern consoles that are powerful enough to run it, including PlayStation 5 and XBox Series S/X.
I played the game on the XBox Series X and had very few technical issues.
What a coincidence! I installed it two days ago on my Series X (via Game Pass). I love it so far, but I had to set it to Padawan difficulty (easy) as I am too old for Soulslike fights ;)
Another thing: Although I usually prefer quality mode (raytracing in this case), I switched to performance mode. It still looks great it's much smoother experience with mostly 60fps.
I'll give this a go as a rental on Steam, as I did the previous game. I just hope there isn't as much backtracking as with the previous game.