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Going into 2023 one of my most anticipated games was Jedi Survivor. That was due to how much I loved Star Wars: Fallen Order. That game hooked me with its characters, the planets we could explore, and the personally grounded narrative. While Fallen Order is a souls-like game which is a genre I normally do vibe with, the Star Wars-ness was done so well that I even dug the combat. While my complaints about the first game were many I was hyped to see how they would improve with the sequel, Jedi Survivor. Did they address the complaints, improve, and nail the story of the sequel? 

Let’s talk about it. 

The Narrative:

Star Wars Jedi Survivor features one of the best narratives in any Star Wars story. You once again play as Cal Kestis, years after the events of the first game. It’s honestly great to see Cal after all this time and to see how he has progressed as a Jedi. 

After you are introduced to Cal the game does a fantastic job of launching you right into a new story that is compelling and isolated in a way that I appreciate. Sure the lore of Star Wars comes into play and sometimes that overshadows Cal’s adventure, but for the most part, the narrative is an enjoyable experience. 

“Every Jedi faces a war with the Dark Side.” This is a quote from Jedi Survivor that I think sums up the game rather well. The game is about the degrees of darkness and how sometimes you do bad things even if It is for a good reason. The villain is layered and complex in a way that makes him relatable.  The story as a whole goes through a bit of a journey, starting strong, losing a bit of steam in the middle, and ending in a manner that made me conflicted. It’s a journey that I’m glad that I took, but one that I wonder whether or not it will stick with for the long haul like Star Wars: Fallen Order did.

The Gameplay:

The action and combat in Jedi Survivor is next level. It is fast and fluid, yet you feel like you are in control the entire time. One of the biggest additions to the game is the stances. In this sequel, you get 5 different lightsaber types each with unique attacks and stats. For example, you have the Darth Maul-style double blade which is good for large crowds and defense. You have the Crossguard style like Kylo Ren which deals slow, but powerful strikes. I like and stuck with the classic single lightsaber (Purple color of course…shout out to Mace Windu) for the majority of the game, but it’s great that there are 5 different ways to do combat. 

Enemy variety is another aspect that is a substantial step up from the previous game. You encounter so many new enemies, each with their own movesets that make them challenging. This game also has a slew of Bounty Hunter mini-bosses that are a blast to take on. Challenging is a good way to describe the gameplay. Similar to Jedi: Fallen Order, Survivor is a Soulslike game and often the difference between life and death comes down to one timed blow or dodge. 

One massive way that Star Wars Jedi Survivor improved over its predecessor is the traversal and platforming. On the platforming side of things, the set pieces are a lot of what you experienced in Jedi Fallen Order. You still jump, climb on rails and walls, wall run, and rope swing from one side of the levels to another. However, the difference this time is that it feels more natural and fluid. 

Additional Pros:

The game’s score is sensational. Do yourself a favor and try this out with the DualPulse headphones or surround sound. It’s so cinematic being in the theme from the first game and mixing it with so great new additions. Jedi Survivor is packed to the brim with customization options and collectibles. On the customization side of things you can changes Cal cosmetic appearances like his hair, his shirt, his jacket, his pants, and his lightsaber. On the collectibles sides of things you can find plant seeds, fish, gear, lightsaber hilts, and other cool lore specific gear. 

The visuals of the game are a mixed bag, with the gameplay looking a bit blurry and choppy in some parts and the cutscenes look immaculate. Don’t get me wrong the gameplay doesn’t look bad at all, it just has some imperfections. The cutscenes are on par with a lot of animation that I saw in 2022 and 2023. On the production side of the fence the acting and voice acting is amazing. Really good stand out performances that I wouldn’t be surprise to see get end of the year award consideration.                

Cons/Flaws:

I experienced this game months after its intial release when it was touted a buggy mess. I didn’t have the issues that a lot of people complained about, but I did encounter a few bugs. Sometimes I would get stuck in a wall, others the enemies didn’t respawn. I did also experience a couple of crashes where I would have to reboot up the game. Those would such because of the placements of save points I would lose out on a bit of progress. 

My biggest critique of Star Was Jedi Survivor is the narrative. The story isn’t bad, but it’s not the Anakin to Darth Vader step up that I was hoping for. Instead of keeping things grounded, it felt like they went for bigger and grander. They gave us more scale, scope and characters. As a result, it feels like we didn’t get time to see some of the story beats breath and feel fleshed out. Also the game features another cameo from a major character, just like it did in the first game. This time instead of the big cameo appearance feeling impactful and grand it sort of sadly felt like a rerun that we’ve experienced before. 

Speaking of the story the ending villain felt more like a miss than a hit. The villain that was set up to be the big antagonist ended up being a sidekick to a surprise that didn’t feel all that threatening. I love a good emotional fight with built up anticipation. The ending boss battle felt like it should have been the pre-ultimate boss fight. Mirroring the whole story in general, the final boss fight feels forgettable compared to the events of the first game. 

Overall/Should you Play Star Wars Jedi: Survivor:

Jedi Surivor is the most fun that I’ve had in a video game this year. It has huge bombastic moments, rich story moments that resonated with me, and it add layers to the gameplay that allows for a slew of different playstyles. While I wish that my experience was marred a bit by performance issues, and that the story as a whole would have had more time to breath it’s a solid sequel. It feels on the level of Attack of the Clones instead of the Empire Strikes Back. That said this game made me excited to see how the assumed trilogy will conclude. 

Where Should Star Wars Jedi: Survivor fit in your video game backlog:

Here at the ProNerd Report and on the Single Player Experience Podcast, we practice the 10 games backlog rule. In this practice, you log down 10 games, those games are gonna be your video game backlog. To be as productive as you possibly can be, we recommend that you only play three games at one time. One single player narrative game, one game that’s gonna be your chill and relaxed game, and another game that’s going to be your palate cleanser game, which is a game that you play when you’re not in the mood for your other narrative. When you complete or get tired of one game, it leaves the backlog list. Then you decide which new game is added to the list, and which game on the list advances to your active three games.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – If you are a fan of the first game then you should have this sequel in your video game backlog. If you haven’t played the first game I would say go check it out or at least watch a YouTube video of the gameplay. If you can vibe with the souls-like combat then you should have Jedi Survivor in your backlog.

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Reviewed on Ps5