The final a number of a long time of Star Wars video video games have been spotty, to say the least. 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a uncommon standout, a giant journey from one of many world’s greatest publishers that also felt daring and experimental. Loads has occurred since then, and now a sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, is again with extra, extra, and extra.
A whole lot of the sting Fallen Order had isn’t right here, however that’s a product of time; AAA video games taking part in footsie with Darkish Souls was extra novel again then. As a substitute, developer Respawn Leisure took what labored earlier than and went all in, stomping on the gasoline and absolutely committing to the story and characters we met earlier than. Survivor feels big, dense, and tremendous got-dang costly, and after just some hours of taking part in the sport’s action-packed intro on Coruscant (I skipped that half throughout the press preview), its heart-stopping 150GB obtain measurement began making sense.
Regardless of taking part in for round 30 hours earlier than seeing Survivor’s credit, I ended up leaving a lot of its world(s) unexplored. That is an bold Metroidvania that straddles the road between meticulous stage design and open-world map recreation, that additionally desperately needs to inform a profound Star Wars story about discovered household, defective establishments, and the private prices of resistance. You additionally get to speak with a Scottish slug-man about fishing, preserve a backyard on the roof of a grungy saloon, and play dress-up with Cameron Monaghan. I undoubtedly felt the bloat at occasions (particularly close to the tip), however between the efficient emotional core on the narrative’s coronary heart and the sport’s quick and heavy platforming motion, Survivor confirmed up able to work.
The band doesn’t at all times get again collectively
We’re reunited with Cal Kestis 5 years after the occasions of Fallen Order, and it’s not precisely a contented reunion. The Scooby Gang from the primary recreation has damaged up, attributable to occasions solely hinted at within the recreation. The novel Battle Scars from Sam Maggs fills in these blanks, however you don’t must know precisely what occurred to grasp it in all probability sucked. Cal, now piloting Greez Dritus’ Mantis ship by himself, has been working with Noticed Gerrera to undermine the Empire at each alternative, however is combating a scarcity of outcomes. However earlier than he can take care of burnout, he’s compelled to crash-land on backwater planet Koboh after a mission goes bitter and the Mantis is broken.
On Koboh, not solely is Cal reunited with Greez, he stumbles right into a battle that’s been brewing because the days of the Excessive Republic. All through the story Cal is compelled to confront the darkish aspect of the Jedi Order (figuratively and actually), and reconcile a looming fissure between wanting to face as much as the Empire and a rising need to construct a life along with his discovered household. Star Wars’ longstanding theme of steadiness on an existential scale runs parallel with the extra human conundrum of discovering (and even defining) worth in steadiness on a private stage. And to its credit score, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is trustworthy sufficient to know at a bunch of questions and reply “I don’t know,” in a manner that feels real reasonably than just like the type of fence-sitting that video games at this scale are inclined to lean into.
It actually seems like I’m a tragic and drained Jedi
The skeleton holding all that narrative muscle collectively is an interstellar Metroidvania journey comprising a number of places, however none as huge as Koboh. Launched as a rural backwater stuffed with prospectors and criminals, Koboh turns into a bustling hub that not solely homes the majority of Survivor’s aspect content material, but in addition acts as a kind of funnel towards main story beats. It’s an attention-grabbing vibe, nearly like Metroid Prime minus the jarring biome shifts. Excursions to different places fluctuate in measurement and scope, as Survivor’s story isn’t structured the identical manner Fallen Order’s was by way of places as “ranges,” so to talk.
Weirdly sufficient I discovered this method paying homage to Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (shoutouts to the OoE sickos on the market). I’ve seen disappointment from friends on this half, since exploring completely different planets was a giant attraction within the first recreation. However I appreciated Survivor’s give attention to increase a singular location within the Metroidvania custom, with the extra places including selection and taste with out demanding proportionate time funding, particularly since Survivor has a slight padding drawback in its later hours, throughout which I felt the escalating story was interrupted by chunks of “gameplay for the sake of gameplay.” It was irritating to be so invested within the goings-on simply to return to a screeching halt to cope with an hour of bouncing round on area balloons.
You is probably not working round a bunch of various planets, however there’s actually no lack of working round to do. And it feels nice to take action, even when there have been occasions I needed the sport to only get on with it and wrap up just a few hours earlier. I could have resented these area balloons for impeding my path to the ending, however I’ve to confess they had been enjoyable. Cal Kestis is a hell of an acrobat in Jedi: Survivor, with rather more pace and weight to his actions than in Fallen Order. He’s additionally extra succesful from the get-go, as a substitute of forcing you to slog via the standard trope of getting to re-learn all the pieces.
With a bag of latest tips to study alongside the best way, some really badass setpieces are spun round what will be boiled right down to a nerdy man leaping on rocks. There’s one sequence specifically that may sadly anger the Spoiler Police to get into, however it follows a notably excruciating puzzle and was so sick I fully forgave the sport fully for its heinous crime. It’s a testomony to how rock-solid Survivor’s fundamentals are.
Extra money, extra issues. And extra cool stuff too
Maybe predictably, Survivor is much less rock-solid on a technical stage. It’s necessary to notice I used to be taking part in a evaluation construct of the sport forward of a day-one patch, and I think about no matter issues that persist after that can ultimately be smoothed over as effectively. However, all through my time with the PlayStation 5 model I skilled a routinely unstable body charge, a number of crashes, and occasional glitchy tomfoolery (principally the enjoyable variety). I’ve heard every model has its personal set of efficiency woes, however you’ll have to hunt out particular person views on that entrance. General although, after twiddling with my TV and settling the sport to favor a stable 30fps over an unstable 60fps, issues had been positive far most of the time. A recreation this huge is gonna include tough edges out of the gate, and it might have been lots worse, not less than on PS5.
What actually stands out to me after taking part in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor all over is the way it manages to inform what seems like a targeted, grounded story a few single individual. When you sift via all of the messiness inherent to such a large mission, you’ll be able to actually see all the hassle put into making Cal Kestis not only a extra attention-grabbing character to play as, however making his presence felt on this universe. Star Wars prequels usually endure from having to reset the board, so to talk, as a result of all the pieces has to result in the “Everyone seems to be Lifeless” setting established within the films. There’s a few of that right here in fact, however the writers discovered a intelligent technique to subvert it, with a battle that doesn’t must have galaxy-shattering ramifications to really feel essential for each the characters and the participant.
All the issues Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has are clearly and unsurprisingly tied to its ridiculous scope. There’s stuff piled on prime of stuff, and never all of it feels substantial, absolutely baked, or in some instances practical. However the basis Respawn laid in Fallen Order continues to be right here, and all the pieces about Survivor that’s related actually shines. The characters are extra fleshed out and their conflicts are compelling and relatable. The extent design is appreciably authored in that manner that makes “Metroidvania” a stupid-looking phrase which means a lot. And relating to fight, there are such a lot of other ways to brutalize droids and Stormtroopers, the combo video group will feast for years to return. It’s a hearty stew, even when you continue to have to look at the sodium.
