Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review: A Galactic Adventure Hampered by Technical Shortcomings

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is now available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X, tasked with the challenge of succeeding one of the most acclaimed Star Wars games to date. The 2019 release of Jedi: Fallen Order rejuvenated expectations for this galaxy-spanning saga with its bold storyline and solid souls-like combat mechanics, defying EA’s notion that single-player experiences were extinct. It combined FromSoftware’s risk-reward gameplay with the fantasy of being a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, despite some limitations in exploratory aspects.

The sequel, developed by Respawn Entertainment, amplifies these elements, featuring a vast semi-open world structure that includes six planets, a fast travel system, refined combat, and more. But does merely increasing the scale and spectacle make for a superior follow-up? Continue reading to find out.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review – Story

The narrative kicks off on the Imperial city planet of Coruscant, where a shackled Cal Kestis, now branded a ‘terrorist’, is roughed up by a group of captors in the underbelly. In the five years since Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the crew of the Mantis have scattered throughout the galaxy, while Cal has evolved into a formidable Jedi Knight, bearing battle wounds and a renewed determination to challenge the Galactic Empire. The sequel promptly sets the stage for new players with a brief cinematic recap, although some of the terminology and references may still be perplexing.

It quickly becomes evident that Cal intentionally allowed himself to be captured to get closer to Senator Sejan and acquire crucial intelligence. This sets off a cinematic, action-packed thrill ride, as Cal navigates the convoluted base — wall-running across vibrant neon signs, cutting down Stormtroopers, clambering over rusty pipes, and evading explosive droids.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor seamlessly continues Cal’s journey, granting you most of the abilities he had acquired in the previous installment. Forget the immersion-breaking amnesia cliche found in many sequels — there’s no sudden loss of skill when it comes to executing basic moves like double jumps. You essentially play as the same Cal, with the game promptly providing new gear to embark on this grand new quest.

At the climax of your exhilarating escape, which features a boss battle against the telepathic Ninth Sister, you’ll have unlocked three combat stances and obtained the Ascension Cable, enabling you to grapple onto elevated surfaces. I appreciate how the unlocks are woven into the narrative progression, ensuring that you don’t miss any opportunities and allowing ample time to experiment with the different combat stances; I’ll delve into those details shortly.

Regrettably, the mission doesn’t go as planned, resulting in Cal and his new ally Bode Akuna being the sole survivors. This loss is compounded by the realization that, despite his efforts, the Empire has only grown more powerful, expanding its grasp to the furthest reaches of the galaxy. Even with a seemingly standard blockbuster Star Wars narrative, actor Cameron Monaghan excels in delivering emotional shifts and the guilt associated with risking his comrades in a high-stakes mission. Cal’s character is notably more restrained, constantly questioning whether he made the right decision in trusting the Force to guide future Jedi. He embodies the role of a rugged cowboy in a cosmic spaghetti Western, gripping his belt buckle with a steely stare or grin as he cautiously confronts danger.

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Koboh is a vast, rocky terrain filled with opportunities for exploration, sidequests, and collectibles
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Rahul Chettiyar

During the escape from Coruscant, the ship sustains damage, prompting Cal to crash-land on the rocky world of Koboh — an expansive area replete with exploration options, side quests, and collectibles to uncover. This desert canyon also becomes our base, where we can catch up with both familiar and new allies, recuperate before further journeys, and gradually refurbish Pyloon’s Saloon. It serves as a second home, in a sense. I also observed a significant improvement in the performance of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor the moment I entered this new environment. This is surprising, given how open and vibrant the surroundings are. In contrast, the confined and less dynamic spaces of Coruscant and the interiors of our Mantis ship were riddled with substantial stuttering.

Upon entering the saloon, we reunite with our bearded old friend Greez Dritus, who rushes up and embraces Cal like a loving grandfather. “Lemme take a look at’cha,” he exclaims, stroking Cal’s face with a big grin. It’s a small yet beautifully penned heartfelt moment between the two, with Greez urging Cal to remain at his cantina to catch up on lost years. He has even maintained a spare room in the basement, decorated with items from Cal’s past, showcasing how much he missed the young Jedi. While the narrative occasionally resorts to clichés, character relationships in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are thoughtfully crafted — some of which integrate into gameplay via the new companion system, although it may require some adjustment to fully understand.

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We meet Greez Dritus again in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Photo Credit: EA/ Respawn Entertainment

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review – Gameplay

Allies such as mercenary Bode Akuna and returning love interest Merrin join Cal on specific story missions, assisting in combat by drawing enemies’ fire. Bode zooms around in his jetpack, blasting foes to pieces, while Merrin employs her teleportation abilities to navigate the battlefield and eliminate targets. These actions are fully automated, which can be seen as a positive or negative depending on your gameplay preferences. On one hand, these companions do not take damage or get incapacitated, removing the need for you to babysit them. Conversely, this also means you don’t have to worry about their survival, almost as if their lives lack significance. You can occasionally instruct them to focus on a specific enemy, but that’s about the extent of their involvement — there aren’t significant stakes.

Interactions with these characters mostly occur during scripted segments while riding creatures or walking up to them to trigger dialogue during quieter moments. They also tend to be quite self-serving. As you move through various sections — especially on the planets Koboh and Jedha — these companions often vanish for extended periods, returning only for the final battle or to appear in cutscenes for narrative continuity. This can lead to a rather solitary journey, with BD-1 remaining your faithful companion, keeping your experience lively with its robotic sounds.

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Bode Akuna is a new ally, with whom we develop a brotherly bond
Photo Credit: EA/ Respawn Entertainment

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor broadens its combat with five stances, which are unlocked gradually. However, you can only equip two at a time. Since the game doesn’t strongly encourage frequent switching between them, you’ll often find yourself relying on the two most powerful and safe stances to blast through waves of Stormtroopers. The first three basic stances carry over from Fallen Order, giving Cal the standard yet reliable single-wield, a dual-wield (two lightsabers), and a double-bladed stance that excels in crowd control due to its impressive reach. Popularized by Darth Maul in 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, the double-bladed stance can be spun to deflect incoming shots and enhanced for flashy moves like lunging at opponents while spinning it. After experimenting with the basic stances, I quickly grew fond of the two new ones.

First up is the ‘Crossguard’ stance, inspired by Kylo Ren, where Cal wields his lightsaber like a hefty broadsword, delivering powerful swings at the expense of speed. As a purist of Dark Souls strength-based combat, I found this high-risk, high-reward style tremendously appealing as I used the Force to draw enemies in and then strike fiercely.

Then there’s the hybrid Blaster stance, which provides Cal with a firearm, enabling him to take out weaker enemies from a distance. You can execute impressive combos or engage in a more tactical approach by timing your shots perfectly as enemies charge at you. What I truly appreciate about this style is the limited ammo, which recharges only by swiftly hitting with the lightsaber — encouraging a mix of close-quarters and ranged combat. It resembles a controlled fencing match, where you dart in and out of the fray, which is incredibly enjoyable.

The double-bladed combat stance is fantastic for managing groups of enemies
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Rahul Chettiyar

Like its predecessor, Jedi: Survivor draws heavily from the Dark Souls model, having established a solid levelling system. Progression and defeating foes contribute to Cal’s overall Skill Points, which can be redeemed at Meditation circles for various enhancements. These function as Star Wars’ rendition of bonfires, allowing for full healing, training, equipping perks, and fast travel to previously visited checkpoints. The level layouts are intricately connected, complete with shortcuts and locked sections that warrant revisiting, making the fast travel system a real asset for backtracking.

Among the six planets, Cal will primarily delve into Koboh and Jedha — stunning rugged landscapes teeming with exotic wildlife and locations to explore at length. The levels themselves are meticulously designed puzzles, requiring you to employ all of Cal’s skills, be it throwing explosive orbs to clear paths or using lightsabers like glow sticks to navigate in darkness, or asking your cheerful droid BD-1 to scan and access unfamiliar crates. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also incorporates slice-of-life elements at the central hub in Koboh, functioning as a space-themed Animal Crossing minigame.

You can buy hairstyles for Cal Kestis from the shop in Koboh
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Rahul Chettiyar

Exploring off the main route is beneficial for discovering NPCs willing to settle in your community after completing their side quests. Essentially, you’re gathering individuals whose expertise can enhance Cal’s base, from stables to a rooftop garden for plant cultivation, and more. None of these grant unique skills or benefits, instead serving as side activities to deeply immerse yourself in this rich universe.

Scattered across the landscape are workbenches where you can customize your lightsaber and outfit your nimble BD-1 in stylish new gear. Modern AAA titles often associate these stations with functional upgrades, but in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, they are strictly for cosmetics. Initially, I was puzzled by the lack of stats or indicators signifying how to enhance the lightsaber for better combat performance. However, as I continued playing and collecting components, I understood how Respawn aimed to cater to dedicated Star Wars fans by allowing them to imbue a personal touch to their in-game lightsaber. It’s impressively detailed, featuring various grips, vents, pommels, emitters, and blade colors to experiment with. It’s a bold, unusual strategy from the developers, and I’m fully supportive of it.

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You can use workbenches to personalize your lightsaber
Photo Credit: Screenshot/ Rahul Chettiyar

As appealing as these features are, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor suffers from significant optimization issues. I played on a system equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800x 4.25 GHz processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super GPU with 6GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and a 500GB SSD. Even at Medium settings, the frame rate was alarmingly erratic, to the point of detracting from my experience. The micro-stutters were particularly noticeable against the 60fps limit, and the game frequently froze for a few seconds when entering new areas. In my case, performance deteriorated further on ‘Low’ settings, dropping to 20fps in enclosed spaces. However, there were no crashes, so there’s that.

I also found it odd that Cal’s face appeared significantly blurry and indistinct unless I played on Ultra settings. Adjusting AMD’s FSR 2.0 to the ‘Quality’ option did improve visual fidelity, but it was a fleeting relief until the performance issues hit me hard again.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review – Verdict

Through detailed world-building and a multifaceted combat framework, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor establishes itself as a worthy successor to Respawn’s expanding saga from the distant galaxy. While the primary plot is fairly satisfactory, the sequel truly excels in crafting memorable experiences with its characters and varied locales that serve as a canvas for play. The broader world is certainly enjoyable to explore, though collectors may face fatigue given the abundance of items. Unfortunately, its strengths are undermined by poor performance — even with post-launch patches — making it challenging to recommend until more updates are implemented. If you’re very interested, consider getting it on sale; otherwise, waiting might be the better option.