Over the years, I've come to really appreciate Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The care, craftsmanship and wonderful sense of adventure that Respawn Entertainment poured into that project made me amped to recapture that same feeling with its sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. For the most part, Survivor is a bigger, bolder and more expansive offering than Fallen Order, ramping up that giddy Star Wars adventure and exploration while reigning in on its strong cast of characters - yet it also falls a bit short in other areas.

The story of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor picks up a few years after the events of Fallen Order. Cal Kestis, the outlawed Jedi on the run from the Order 66 manhunt of the Galactic Empire, finds himself a lone wolf wandering the galaxy. He meets some interesting new and familiar faces along the way that pushes his plight forward to combat the Empire and restore order to the dwindling Jedi Knights. The story is simply excellent and it kept me thoroughly engaged throughout my 20 hours of playtime.

Fallen Order told us the origins story of Cal but Survivor takes the time to flesh him out in some fantastic ways.

Cal is once again a very compelling protagonist. Showing the same optimistic idealism of Luke Skywalker while also being aware of his own flaws and shortcomings, Cal strives to better himself and show a natural progression in his character. Fallen Order told us the origins story of Cal but Survivor takes the time to flesh him out in some fantastic ways. Whether it be interactions with NPCs that shows both his stern and soft sides or the tough decisions he has to make under less-than-ideal circumstances, Cal convincingly embodies the upstanding righteousness of a Jedi Knight and it's very easy to root for him, especially when his beliefs are challenged. It makes for a surprisingly introspective character arc that Respawn have absolutely nailed, brought to life by a devoted performance from Cameron Monaghan.



Starting off in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, you have a handful of planets to explore including Koboh, which kind of acts as your base of operations throughout the campaign. Here, Cal can stick to the story path or venture off and explore the enormous areas of each location - emphasis on the "enormous" part. Even though the locations seem limited on paper, in practice they're huge, sprawling interconnected biomes with plenty of hidden paths, treasures and secrets to find. While Fallen Order felt more linear in its world and level design, Survivor vastly opens up exploration - best compared to games like God of War. Furthermore, it's all incredibly rewarding and worth the detour most of the time.

Survivor also gives players a bit of base management where Cal can recruit NPCs to expand an outpost, allowing you to trade items, reinforce your skills and customise your own equipment - including your lightsaber, which is easily one of the highlights of the game. Exchanging pieces of your lightsaber doesn't grant you remedial +5% bonuses or anything since it's mostly for cosmetic purposes, but the fact that Respawn thought about including this little option means the world to Star Wars fans. In fact, it's in all the little details and nods to the Star Wars universe where Survivor really captures your attention and imagination.



Taking those skills and lessons to battle, Survivor refines Fallen Order's combat decently enough. While it still heavily leans into Soulslike territory with an emphasis on dodging and taking advantage of openings, it feels a bit more carefully curated this time. This is made better by the fact that Cal can now dual-wield lightsabers and use powerful force abilities a bit more efficiently in battle. Overall, combat is marginally better in Survivor though it still feels like it sometimes struggles to find its own identity and rhythm. The combat system is not world-shattering and feels like it could still use a bit more tinkering before Respawn finds that sweet spot.

While [combat] still heavily leans into Soulslike territory with an emphasis on dodging and taking advantage of openings, it feels a bit more carefully curated this time.

Exploration and traversal is where Survivor might divide some players. It's still great to feel like the Star Wars equivalent of Nathan Drake as you explore ruins, wall-run your way to ledges and platform up dangerous terrain or use the force to move around objects. Platforming can feel like it's holding your hand at times, but this was a small grievance. Taking the Metroidvania approach too, certain sections of the maps are inaccessible until you unlock a specific ability or item, encouraging returns to previous areas. Like I said before, exploration is rewarding in its own way and the game actively encourages you to see beyond the main story, but this also creates a bit of a pacing issue.



Where Fallen Order was more linear and felt focused in its storytelling and high-stakes adventure, you can easily detach yourself from Survivor's story beats and break the flow. Again, God of War comes to mind but Santa Monica Studio found an excellent way to balance the story with exploration (especially if exploration adds richness to the story) whereas in Survivor, it far too often puts a door-stopper on the pacing, especially when it ramps up between certain missions. Understandably it does add some world-building, but if you just want to experience the story, I recommend making a straight-line for it and maybe returning to extensive exploration a bit later.

On the visual side, animations have all mostly been improved. Facial capture is still as fantastic as it was in Fallen Order and characters convey believable emotions through subtle facial details, which adds a lot to some intense scenes or quiet moments of reflection. Unfortunately, Cal still runs like Woody from Toy Story so there's that.



We can't talk about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor without addressing the elephant in the room: the performance. I reviewed the game on PS5 and there are a number of technical issues to mention, though they aren't nearly as prevalent as the PC version, from what I understand. On more than one occasion, my audio cut out during cutscenes. I also had a couple of crashes and one instance where a mission cutscene just refused to trigger (that had to be fixed with a reload). The framerate is mostly solid on PS5 though there were notable moments when it took dips during combat. If you're planning on playing the game now, be aware of performance problems across all platforms sine it's not just limited to PC.



Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a bigger but not necessarily better sequel to Fallen Order. However, it excels in key areas including slightly improved combat, locations that are larger in scope, more nuanced and introspective character writing, and a terrific, gripping narrative. The downsides are few but enough to caution players from buying it immediately, especially since it may take a few more updates to iron out the technical issues. Despite the few glaring problems, Survivor is a worthy follow-up to Fallen Order and I can't wait to see where Respawn takes the franchise next.



*PS5 Review code provided by Electronic Arts