The new Star Wars game continues Cal Kestis’ galactic adventure
Prices vary; PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
A narrative-driven Star Wars game is what many wanted and the 2019 Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order gave that to its loyal fans. Now building on the strong base laid down by the Fallen Order, the Star Wars: Jedi Survivor is the latest instalment in the Star Wars saga that continues Cal Kestis’ journey and his fight against the Empire. Playing the previous game is recommended but newcomers to the series will also fit right in as the game offers a quick recap at the start.
It’s been five years since the events of the Fallen Order with Cal now arrested by the Empire. The arrest, however, turns out to be a ruse for the Jedi to extract more intel but the mission goes sideways and expectedly, the game wastes no time to put Cal’s combative skills and abilities to test early on. The good thing about the sequel is that it retains skills from the previous game without having Cal relearn or unlock them.
However, some abilities and features get unlocked over the course of the game. One of these are stances and there are five stances to choose from that help you define the combat playstyle. Our favourite is the one where you can wield a lightsaber and a blaster that lets you fight enemies from a distance and the crossguard lightsaber that delivers the most damage but at the expense of speed. These different playstyles coupled with the detailed skill tree add depth to the combat, which only gets better from the previous game. A successful attack, defence or parry is satisfying but the game also punishes for dying. Death during a fight means you lose the accumulated experience points, respawn at a meditation point (save point) and the only way to get it back is to strike (and hopefully kill) the enemy who killed you in the recent fight.
The game allows customising Cal, weapons and his robot friend BD-1. Right from Cal’s appearance to BD-1’s body material and paint to the lightsaber’s colours and materials, it brings lots of customisations to make the central character look different for different players.
Jedi Survivor takes Cal to six different planets throughout the game and each region is well-designed, elaborate and distinct that will want you to explore and discover secrets of the place, find loot boxes for customisations, new shortcuts and pathways. Traversing the regions can be done on foot or take help from some tamed animals that will allow them to fly or ride them. The game also involves a decent amount of platforming with wall runs, air dashes and double jumps.
Our playthrough on the PS5 was relatively issues-free. We did experience one random crash and performance issues like screen tearing and graphical glitches but that did not hamper our overall playing experience.
In conclusion, the Jedi Survivor took good things from the previous game and made it fitting for a sequel with great combat mechanics and a decent storyline.
WE’RE IMPRESSED Combat, story
WE’D IMPROVE Performance
THE LAST WORD Jedi Survivor brings great action and story, making it a must-play for every Star Wars fan