Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Gameplay

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a third-person action-adventure video game. The game's playable character, Jedi Knight Cal Kestis, is equipped with a lightsaber to fight against enemies. Both Cal and his enemies have a health meter and a block meter. He can use his lightsaber to strike against enemies or block incoming melee attacks or projectiles. By observing the attack patterns of enemies, Cal can parry hostile attacks just before they land. Parrying an enemy will significantly deplete their block meter, opening up an opportunity to strike and deal large damage. Some enemies will glow red when they attempt to launch an unblockable attack. These attacks cannot be parried, and players must dodge them. The game features five different lightsaber stances (double-bladed, dual-wield, single, blaster, and crossguard), each of which is useful against various enemy types and encounters, though players can only equip any two of them at a time in the game. For instance, the double-bladed stance is suitable for fighting a large group of enemies, while the crossguard stance, despite being slow, is able to inflict powerful damage. The game offers five distinct difficulty modes for players to choose from.

Cal also has access to several Force abilities, allowing him to pull and push enemies and projectiles and briefly slow down time using the Force. As players progress, they will unlock more telekinetic abilities such as lifting and slamming enemies onto the ground and confusing enemies into attacking their own. Using Force abilities will deplete Cal's Force meters, though it will gradually replenish. Throughout the game, Cal is accompanied by a droid named BD-1. In combat, the droid heals Cal using Stim Canisters and helps hack into hostile droids. Occasionally, they will be joined with a companion character who will assist them in both combat and traversal. As players progress and eliminate enemies, they will gain experience points (XP), which can be used to upgrade Cal's skills. The skill tree is divided into three categories, focusing on Cal's combat stance, Force powers, and survival skills. Each combat stance has its own distinct skill trees and special abilities. Players can also equip Cal with perks, which provide passive combat bonuses.

While some of the planets in Jedi: Survivor are linear levels, some locations are large, sprawling spaces for players to explore freely. Meditation circles are scattered throughout the game, in which players can restore their health, though doing so will cause all enemies to respawn. Meditation circles also served as fast travel points and a venue for players to change their combat stance and upgrade their skills. Cal will also respawn in the nearest mediation point after he is killed in combat. Attacking the same enemy who defeats Cal after respawning will allow players to retrieve all lost XP. The game also introduces ridable mounts, allowing players to travel through locations quickly. Cal is an agile character who can perform moves such as wall-running, air-dashing, and double-jumping using his Force powers. Early on in the game, Cal will unlock the Ascension cable, which serves as a grappling hook for him to reach distant ledges. Players need to chain these highly acrobatic moves together in order to reach great distances and complete platforming challenges to progress. The game adopts a structure similar to a Metroidvania game. Both Cal and BD-1 will unlock new upgrades and tools for traversal and reaching previously inaccessible areas. Players can also unlock various shortcuts, allowing repeated visits to the same location to be more efficient.

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after the events of Fallen Order. The game follows Jedi Knight Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan) as he fights the Empire while searching for a place to hide from them. Cal's allies include Jedi Master Cere Junda (Debra Wilson); former pilot of the Stinger Mantis Greez Dritus (Daniel Roebuck); BD-1 (Ben Burtt), a small droid; Merrin (Tina Ivlev), one of the last surviving members of the Nightsister clan of Dathomir; and Bode Akuna (Noshir Dalal), a mercenary fighting for the safety of his daughter Kata (Tajinae Turner). Other characters include Jedi Master Eno Cordova (Tony Amendola), BD-1's former owner, now helping Cere recover the Jedi Archive; and ZN-A4 (Kendal Rae), a droid from the High Republic Era formerly owned by Jedi Master Santari Khri (Tracy Ifeachor).

Cal fights many enemies during his journey, such as the Pau'an Senator Daho Sejan (T. J. Ramini); Imperial Commander Lank Denvik (Gideon Emery); the Ninth Sister (Misty Lee), who is trained by the Sith Lord Darth Vader (Scott Lawrence) as part of the Imperial Inquisitorius program; former High Republic Dark Jedi Dagan Gera (Cody Fern), who seeks to reach Tanalorr; and his right-hand man, the Gen'Dai Rayvis (D. C. Douglas), the leader of the Bedlam Raiders. Temuera Morrison voices Boba Fett, having portrayed the character several times previously.

Plot

Five years after destroying the Jedi Holocron, Jedi Knight Cal Kestis has parted ways with Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, and Merrin to continue his battle against the Empire as a resistance fighter working under Saw Gerrera. Cal and his team infiltrate the Imperial capital world of Coruscant and steal valuable military data from Senator Daho Sejan. Cal is disheartened to learn from the data that despite all his efforts, the Empire has become more powerful, expanding its reach farther through the galaxy.

The Ninth Sister arrives to confront and exact revenge on Cal, killing Sejan and most of Cal's team, but is killed by Cal soon after. Cal and his mercenary comrade Bode Akuna escape Coruscant, but the Stinger Mantis is damaged. After protecting Greez's town on Koboh from a group of marauders known as the Bedlam Raiders, Cal reunites with Greez to repair the Mantis. While searching the required parts for the repairs, Cal stumbles on ZN-A4, or "Zee", a droid that served the Jedi Order during the High Republic era. Zee gives Cal a tuner device that activates a facility called the Forest Array, which Zee was ordered to activate centuries ago before becoming incapacitated. Cal travels to the Array and has a vision of High Republic Jedi Dagan Gera and Santari Khri, who discovered the mythical planet of Tanalorr hidden behind the supposedly impassable Koboh Abyss nebula. Cal discovers a one-armed Dagan in a bacta tank; in the hopes of recruiting a former Jedi, Cal frees him, but Dagan, having turned to the Dark Side, attacks Cal and escapes with the Gen'Dai warrior Rayvis, the leader of the Bedlam Raiders.

Realizing the value of a planet inaccessible to the Empire, Cal, Bode, and Greez repair the Mantis and head for the planet Jedha, where Cere has been working with Merrin and Eno Cordova to rebuild the Jedi Archives with the help of a resistance organization called the Hidden Path. Cordova explains that Dagan was the first and only pilot to find a path through the Koboh Abyss. Santari developed special compasses to navigate it, and the Republic established a settlement and Jedi Temple on Tanalorr. However, the Republic withdrew from the planet and destroyed the compasses when it was assaulted by a group of raiders known as the Nihil. Angry at the Jedi Order for abandoning the planet, Dagan killed several Jedi while attempting to retrieve one of the compasses, resulting in Santari severing his arm and imprisoning him in the bacta tank. Cal, Merrin, Bode, and Greez search for the three remaining compasses; Bode wishes to find a refuge for his young daughter Kata, while Merrin believes that the Hidden Path could use Tanalorr as their new home. During their journey, Cal and Merrin confess their feelings for each other and decide to pursue a relationship.

Development

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was developed by Respawn Entertainment. Stig Asmussen returned from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to serve as the game's director. Development of the game began in late 2019 and lasted for three and a half years. The game's production was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Asmussen adding that a significant portion of the game was created with the team working remotely. Survivor is the final Star Wars game published by Electronic Arts as per its 10-year exclusivity contract with Lucasfilm, which was set to expire later in the year.

Gameplay

Respawn described Survivor as "an expansion of Fallen Order in every possible way", with the team aiming to address players' feedback and make the general experience more polished. Fast travel and a more refined holomap were identified as some of the most requested features from players. The team also reintroduced mechanics that were scrapped in Fallen Order. For instance, the dual-wield stance was planned for the first game, but it was only relegated to a special attack as the team did not have enough time to fully flesh out its gameplay. Respawn made an intentional decision to unlock all of Cal's skills in Fallen Order at the beginning of Survivor, because Cal Kestis was no longer a weak apprentice like he was in the first game. To prevent Cal from being too overpowered, the team introduced various enemy types that can counter some of his Force powers. Early in the game's development, the team decided that droids would become a more prominent enemy type, as they gave the team more freedom to create distinct weapons and attack patterns. To maintain an overall sense of progression, Respawn decided that new skills and upgrades were tied to the game's story and were not found as hidden collectibles. The team did not want to fundamentally change the combat system from the first game, but combat was designed to be more fluid than Fallen Order, with the team comparing it to dancing. AI-controlled companions were introduced in Survivor. These companions will respond to players' actions with their own skills, though this was not taught to players in order to create "emergent" moments that were choreographed like movies.

As with Fallen Order, Survivor adopted a structure that is similar to a Metroidvania game. The studio had aimed to introduce more optional areas for players to discover. To encourage exploration, the team introduced numerous customization options and gameplay upgrades scattered throughout the game's world. Lead level designer Martin Badowsky said that Respawn wanted Koboh to feature a dense central area with more open outskirts areas as players explore outwards. In addition, the Mantis landing pads have been moved to more central locations on planets to provide easier access to the various regions. Planets were designed to encourage repeated visits, as players can utilize their newly acquired skills to access previously out-of-reach areas. The geography of Koboh, which had a lot of vertical landscape and flat surfaces, was inspired by terraced rice fields and canyon overhangs. The team attempted to maintain an "Old West" aesthetic, and settlements in the game were inspired by farm buildings and modular homes. The team wanted Jedha to feel "ancient" and "almost mythical" as it was considered to be a spiritual planet for Force users, and the team was inspired by Mediterranean and Egyptian antiquity while creating it. Tanalorr was described by Respawn as a "heaven-like, otherworldly" environment; blue and purple were chosen as the planet's major color hue to create a "very mild and quiet" ambiance. Environmental puzzles in the game, such as those found in Mediation Chambers on Koboh, were inspired by the shrines found in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Story

The team worked closely with Lucasfilm to ensure that events in the game will not clash with other projects or affect the wider developments in the galaxy, prompting the team to position Cal as an important player in a conflict not seen previously in films or other projects. As opposed to his scrappy image from the previous game, Cal was more comparable to a typical Star Wars hero, being more experienced and confident. However, according to Monaghan, Cal's worldview has changed after years of fighting the Empire, becoming more weary of the world and people and losing his determination. Monaghan portrayed Cal as a young hero bearing a "weight beyond his years", and added that the character lost "a lot of his naivete over the years." According to Respawn, Cal is tired of fighting a losing war, but he does not want to give up because too many people have sacrificed for their fight. The game explored the role of a Jedi during increasingly difficult times. The use of a blaster, a weapon Jedi typically frowned upon, also symbolized Cal's straying away from being a Jedi Knight. Cal tapped into the Dark Side several times in the game, with the narrative team aiming to leave the character in an "uneasy state" at the end of the game. Cinematic cutscenes were designed to be more "gritty", "visceral", and "grounded" to fit the game's darker tone. Composer Gordy Haab added that the game's original score also had a darker tone to reflect the "omnipresence" of the Empire. Despite this, the narrative team attempted to maintain a sense of adventure, sprinkled with moments of levity and humor.

A number of supporting characters from Fallen Order returned in Survivor. Cere Junda, now allied with the religious Anchorites to preserve the Jedi Archives, sports a shaved head to reflect the character's simpler and more spiritual life. Merrin, meanwhile, was more confident than she was in Fallen Order, and her romantic relationship with Cal became a central theme for the game. BD-1 was described as the "emotional cornerstone" for Cal's story. Gideon Emery, who portrayed the droid on set, followed the same motion capture process as other actors. He provided the sounds for the droid while wearing a nose flute, while following Monaghan around holding a cardboard replica of BD-1. According to Joanna Robb, the game's narrative technical designer, Bode was "tricky to handle at all levels", as they had to lead players into believing he was an ally for a significant portion of the game while seeding in elements making his eventual betrayal more devastating. The team implemented mechanics to ensure that he was genuinely helpful in combat and wrote banter dialogues for the two characters to establish their developing bond. According to Robb, some of the techniques used by Bode against enemies were used against Cal in subsequent boss battles. The team described the relationship between the two characters as "tragic", as the two had similar upbringings and had developed a genuine friendship with each other. Bode was created by narrative designer Aaron Contreras, who was inspired by the character Bodhi from Point Break.

Release

The development of a sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was announced in January 2022. The game's title of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was announced for Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S in May 2022 alongside the debut of a CGI teaser trailer at Star Wars Celebration. EA showed expanded gameplay for the game at The Game Awards on December 8, 2022, while also announcing that it would be released on March 17, 2023. On January 31, 2023, EA announced that the game's release would be delayed to April 28, 2023, for the Respawn development team to carry out final bug fixes. There are three cosmetic sets available with a pre-order of the game. The first, available with a pre-order of both the standard and deluxe editions, is a "Hermit" cosmetic set replicating Obi-Wan Kenobi's outfit from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and Kenobi's lightsaber from Episode I and Episode II. The two exclusive "Scoundrel" and "Rebel Hero" cosmetic sets available with the deluxe edition replicate Han Solo's DL-44 blaster and scoundrel outfit and Luke Skywalker's yellow jacket outfit from Episode IV. Versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released on September 17, 2024.

Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars is a tie-in novel written by Sam Maggs, released on March 7, 2023, which bridges the five-year story gap between Fallen Order and Survivor. Cal was also introduced as a special playable character in the mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes on iOS and Android, unlocked by completing a series of stages that recapped the events of Fallen Order with several characters from that game the player was required to collect and upgrade. EA and Disney also partnered with Hasbro and The Lego Group to release figurines and Lego sets of Cal Kestis, respectively, and collaborated with Dark Horse Comics to release an art book based on the game. Additional figurines based on Cal, Merrin, Turgle and Skoova Stev, were released by Hasbro in August 2025. Disney also released a replica of Cal's lightsaber in August 2023. A free PC copy of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was included with a purchase of an AMD Ryzen 7000 processor in a promotional bundle deal that ran from January 2023 until April 1, 2023.

Reception

Critical reception

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. 88% of the critics recommended the game on OpenCritic. Many critics felt that Survivor was a notable improvement when compared with its predecessor.

Rick Lane from The Guardian called the game "visually spectacular, mechanically sophisticated and riotously entertaining", adding that it had everything a player will want from a Star Wars game and a blockbuster production. Matt Miller from Game Informer praised the game's combat for being "challenging" and the boss battles for being climactic and memorable, adding that players need to carefully observe enemy movement in order to succeed in combat. Dan Stapleton from IGN wrote that Survivor had "some of the flashiest and fiercest Star Wars melee battles", and the presence of a dismemberment mechanic made combat more gratifying. He praised the enemy variety, which includes both the Imperial forces and the Separatist droids from the prequel trilogy. GameSpot's Jordan Ramée praised the flow of combat, which demanded players balance careful timing and strategic aggression. Connor Makar from VG247 praised the combat stances for catering to a wide range of play styles. Writing for Polygon, Todd Harper, while considering the combat an improvement over Fallen Order, criticized the tight parry window and certain encounters for overwhelming Cal with enemies, making fights "intolerable." Several critics praised Respawn's decision of making Cal powerful from the get-go and adding fast travel to the game.

Miller appreciated Cal for being a very mobile character and wrote that navigation challenges were kept engaging as they became progressively more complicated. Stapleton also called traversal satisfying and noted that players can cover long distances without ever touching the ground by chaining moves together. Alice Bell from Rock Paper Shotgun, however, felt that traversal may become overwhelming as there were way too many gadgets and options. Morgan Park from PC Gamer wrote that the game was evenly split between combat and platforming, effectively making the game a 3D platformer, singling out Koboh as "a collection of linear levels connected to a central area like spokes on a wheel". Alessandro Fillari from Ars Technica compared the game's structure to God of War (2018) and praised the game's sense of scale, though he remarked that he had difficulty finding how to progress as it was sometimes unclear what objects Cal can climb or latch onto. Bell remarked that while there were not a lot of maps in the game, they were "Swiss-cheese mazes that fold under and over themselves," praising the game's Metroidvania inspirations. Stapleton wrote that levels in the game were meticulously crafted, applauding its density and diverse environments. Writing for GamesRadar, Ali Jones wrote that Koboh "dwarfs all of Jedi: Fallen Order combined", but she felt that Respawn failed to populate these vast spaces "beyond throwing challenges" at the player constantly. Several critics were weary of the wealth of collectibles featured in the game.

Sales

In Japan, the PlayStation 5 version of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor sold 16,742 physical units, making it the seventh best-selling retail game during its first week of release. In the United Kingdom, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor launch sales were thirty percent higher than those of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It was the best-selling video game in April 2023 in the United States. CEO of Electronic Arts, Andrew Wilson, wrote that the publisher was "overjoyed" by the game's commercial performance and added that its sales were pacing "strongly" against expectations. In August 2023, EA described the game as a "commercial success". The game was the 6th most-downloaded title on PlayStation 5 in the United States and Canada, and the 9th most-downloaded in Europe during 2023. On Steam, it was among the platform’s top-performing new releases of 2023, based on revenue earned during its first two weeks after launch. It was the ninth best-selling video game in the US in 2023.

Sequel

Asmussen left EA to form his own company in 2023, but a spokesperson from EA stated that "veteran Respawn leaders will be stepping up to guide the team as they continue their work on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor." He told interviewers at the time that it was his intention to make the Star Wars Jedi series a trilogy, with the possible third game being built using Unreal Engine 5. In September 2023, Monaghan stated that the team was "in the process of [making a third game] right now". At a September 2024 presentation to investors, EA president Laura Miele announced that a third game was in production, confirming it would be the final game in the series.