Star Wars: Jedi Survivor Review – I Will Survive – Game on Aus

IT has been four years since EA and Respawn Entertainment first introduced Star Wars fans to Cal Kestis and the crew of the Mantis in Jedi Fallen Order. The Follow-up; games/starwars/jedi/jedi-survivor”>Star Wars: Jedi Survivor jumps forward five years in the galaxy far, far away with the Empire still on the hunt of Jedi and controlling the galaxy.

The game starts with a captured Cal on a ship being returned to Coruscant, so things look grim from the outset. But no sooner are you handed over to the senator of the planet do you realise that Cal is not alone and is in fact on a mission for Saw Gerrera whom you met in Fallen Order to obtain information.

As I said, Cal is not alone and is joined by a group of rebels headed by Bode Akuna. After the events transpire and the mission takes a turn,

After the battle, Bode and Cal make a lucky escape on the Mantis off of Coruscant. Badly damaged you search for a friendly planet to seek refuge and repairs on. This leads you to make a crash landing on Koboh where your good friend Greez Dritus has settled during the five years since the events of the previous title.

Koboh being located in the outer rim of the galaxy and free of the Empire, Cal manages to locate Greez in a settlement outpost known as Rambler Reach, where he now runs a cantina with a small community. It is here where you learn of what happened to the crew and that everyone went their separate ways as they didn’t all believe fighting the Empire head-on was their path. Greez is more than happy to assist you in repairing the Mantis but requires the parts and sends you off in search of the required replacement parts.

The planet of Koboh will serve as the main hub world in your adventures in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor with many places to explore and unlock as you progress throughout the game. 

In your quest to find the parts, Cal stumbles onto a droid containing information about a hidden planet called Tanalorr. Others are looking for the planet as well and thus the race has started in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor for the secrets to gain access to Tanalorr.

Not wanting to spoil the story much more than the opening sequence you then set out to enlist the help of your former teammates Cere Junda and Merrin who are attempting to recreate the Jedi Archives on a deserted planet to work in secret.

Having the gang back together is done really well. You can really tell the impact that they all have together as well as learning of what happened over the years since they all went their separate ways. I especially loved the bond between Cal and Merrin as she accompanies him on his quest which culminates in an epic escape sequence.

It wasn’t until I encountered these storytelling spots that I felt that the newest companion, Bode, didn’t really have much more to say or learn about. I then realised that later on in the story you get to know him a lot better.

All up in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor there are six planets to explore with Koboh being the largest, thus having so many areas to explore. This is with good reason. As I mentioned earlier, this will serve as the main hub world of the game and when I tell you the first 9 hours of the game after the opening sequence were spent exploring Koboh as there are many characters to find and recruit to Ramblers Reach and the cantina that Greez owns. 

You will find fishermen, DJ’s and many more on your exploration of the planet who can all be recruited to the town. After this all occurs, you will be able to converse with them at the cantina and hear about ‘rumours’ Once these are unlocked, they will show up on the map to be explored. This will range from unique battles to dungeons of sorts. 

The Dungeons are in the vein of, most recently, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild where you will be tasked to traverse and solve mind-bending puzzles to unlock secret unlockables. I found these to be difficult at times but the payoff was gratifying.

There are also many collectables to be found on each of the planets you will visit, the most common being Force echos, loot containers and currency to spend at a few different stores where you can purchase new clothes, haircuts, beards, lightsabre parts and colours. I didn’t spend much time with this customisation as I felt it was too much and didn’t really add too much. For those wondering, ponchos are back as an outfit, so if you loved Cal’s look in Fallen Order, you can continue on with his keen sense of style.

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor also adds to the different lightsabre stances you can use throughout the game. The original three are still there and available from the outset of the game and there are two more to unlock as your Adventure continues. The first new one was a bit of a surprise and an interesting choice. It was a single sabre with a blaster pistol. Although I didn’t really spend much time using this one, I could definitely see its appeal for ranged combat and the last stance was the Crossguard stance, made famous by Kylo Ren in the latest Star Wars Trilogy. This is more of a power stance for slow but huge damage attacks.

You can only use two stances at a time in addition to your single sabre, duel sabre and staff. For the majority of the game, I used the crossguard and staff sabre combo. These can be swapped out at mediation points which are fairly plentiful on each planet.

In addition to combat, when out with Bode and Merrin on missions there is an option to give them orders to assist with combat. So when you feel a bit overwhelmed, just call on your friends to help out and even the odds.

Meditation points get an upgrade with quick travel (sabre drop) This was a huge missing part of the original game and a very welcome addition to Star Wars: Jedi Survivor as this makes it much easier to get where you are wanting to get to much quicker than running around the whole planet multiple times. There are also perks that can be unlocked, these are mostly found in the dungeons that will boost certain stats depending on your gameplay style.

Combat and platforming are relatively unchanged other than the aforementioned new sabre styles and the addition of a grappling hook which is unlocked on the opening planet to help swing and gain access to hard-to-reach areas. I won’t lie, some areas really put my brain to work and had me yelling at the game in frustration, but in typical style, the answer is much easier if you just settle and look around at your surroundings.

I felt like the more one on one encounters were dialled down from Fallen Order as most battles were fought in numbers with bosses and mini-bosses being the only real exceptions, though I will admit my memory is a bit foggy since playing the previous title.

I had such a great time in my 30 or so hours spent in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. The story was well-paced, allowing you to go at your own speed and investigate the planets as you travelled across them. Obviously, some skills need to be upgraded to complete some areas but in terms of gameplay, story, plot twists and overall Star Wars lore, this game has it all.

The combat system took an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach all along giving the sense that this is definitely going to be a trilogy story.

If you are a Star Wars fan or even a fan of platformers and Soulsborn lite games, make sure to check out Star Wars: Jedi Survivor.