Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review: Fallen Order was one of the best Star Wars games we have encountered recently, especially with its action style, despite its significant shortcomings.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review / PS5

In the previous game, we were controlling a Jedi who survived Order 66 and while trying to survive, we were trying to rekindle the lost order. Jedi Survivor is set five years after this game.

Story and general progress

At the beginning of the story, we see Cal Kestis, who is on the radar of the empire, going into seclusion after an important operation. While trying to gather the team on the one hand, we find ourselves in a bigger story on the other.

At this point, important details of the story dating back to the High Republic period are revealed. I will not give any details about these parts and spoil your enjoyment. I can say that I like the new characters and the storyline of the game.

Although the name of the game is Survivor, there is not much of a survival situation. Or the game cannot make you feel it fully. As you play, new characters are included in the story and you feel that the action is slowly escalating. The story has details that attract your curiosity in general. This is the biggest driving force for the progress in the game.

There is a pub in the game, which we can also call our main centre. Here side missions are more weighty. You take on the task of developing this place in a way. Here you find a musician, colour the aquarium with various fish, or plant the seeds you find in your small orchard on the roof terrace thanks to a botanist you encounter.

It is also quite enjoyable to fight with bounty hunters that appear at certain points on the map. There is even a mini strategy game. It is possible to increase the characters in this strategy game according to the types of enemies you encounter and scan with the BD-1 as you progress through the game.

There is also a mount system. It has become easier to move around the map with different mounts. In addition, platform dynamics that allows you to float in the air or hook dynamics more effectively have enriched the gameplay.

Although Jedi Survivor generally follows in the footsteps of the first game, it also gives the impression of being influenced by some productions, including Horizon and the latest Zelda game. I say this influence in a positive way. For example, there are some Shrine-style shrines that we remember from Breath of the Wild.

We see that puzzle dynamics or some features that BD-1 gains come to the fore. You usually encounter rewards that affect life and force power. The only problem here is that these dungeons, which are quite enjoyable, are quite few.

Exploration dynamics

As in the first game, the story progresses on different planets and we also go to iconic locations such as Corusant. In terms of atmosphere, I really liked Jedi Survivor. It really manages to put you in the mood while playing in terms of both space and atmosphere. The map structure is also well built in general.

As you progress, you open shortcuts and try to explore the remote corners of the map. Metroidvania logic is also preserved in this game. Of course, the new features you gain are of great importance at this point.

Forward dash, force, use of grappling hook or some of the features that BD-1 gains allow you to reach points that you could not reach before. The exploration dynamic and progressing to certain points of the map using platforming elements is really enjoyable. There is a very smooth gameplay and the game makes you feel that you are getting stronger and more specialised as you play.

I would like to say a big but here, because after a certain period of time, no matter how enjoyable this feeling of discovery is, it starts to lose its purpose. The reason for this is that the reward system of the game is very weak. Side quests are very superficial and weak. The rewarding side is mostly just cosmetics.

Apart from Cal Kestis, there are various customisations for your BD-1 or lightsaber. You can change your outfit, hair, beard, or the colour and parts of the lightsaber you use. Similar cosmetics are also available for BD-1.

Almost all of the exploration dynamics in the game is spent for these cosmetics. Sometimes you can find level points or GoW-like cracks on these side routes, but other than that, I can say that you will most likely find cosmetics from the chest you will open.

This undermines the exploration dynamic after a certain period of time and makes the side routes meaningless. Platform dynamics, getting there is incredibly enjoyable. However, at the end of a path where you jump from here to there and think “how can I get there?”, you get a little bored when an almond moustache comes out of the chest. The beautifully designed map is ruined by different routes with unsuccessful rewarding.

Although the general progression of the game is similar to Fallen Order, the game is a bit more stripped down from the Souls dynamic and focuses more on the action side. They did not do this sharply and balanced it nicely. In other words, the Save system and point event in the first game were preserved.

Again, you earn force points by killing enemies or doing small missions, and as these points accumulate, they turn into experience points. As you play, you can see that the points start to increase as the bar at the top fills up.

Skill tree

It is possible to improve your abilities with these points from save points. If you don’t spend the points and die, you leave the Force points at that point like you leave Souls. If you do it again from the save point (a kind of bonfire) and reach that point before you die, the experience points are yours again.

The skill system is divided into three categories: Survival, which includes features such as life and defence, Lightsaber, where we focus on the fighting part, and Force, where we develop Force features. Within these three categories, the Force part is divided into three more categories. Here are three different skill trees as Confision, Telekinesis and Concentration.

With the updates you will make, you further strengthen your force effects during the fight. While you can do mind trick on simple enemies in the first place, if you bring this ability to higher levels, you can confuse more challenging enemies. Or this number increases when you improve your force power while throwing a single enemy into the air.

Combat Mechanics and Stance

In the fight and skill system, the place where the real calf is broken and where great improvement is made is in lightsaber fights. In Jedi Survivor, a system called Stance is included. We can call this briefly as different lightsaber uses or fighting styles. Already in the skill system, under the Lightsaber tab, there are five different Stances, two of which are locked in the first place.

Firstly, we have a lightsaber called Single, which we also used in the first game. The second Stance is the lightsaber called Double Blade, which is identified with Dart Maul. It is possible to make more fluid and effective combos, especially against multiple enemies.

Our third style is Dual Wield, that is, carrying two lightsabers in both hands. As you can guess, the hitting distance is lower, but you can make much faster attacks.

Apart from these three Stance styles, two more styles are unlocked in the later stages of the game. The first of these is Blaster and the other is Crossguard. In Blaster, as the name suggests, we have a lightsaber in one hand and a Blaster weapon in the other. This has faster combos than Single in terms of speed.

In addition, the combos combined with the weapon are really enjoyable. Crossguard has a heavy Sword style gameplay. I can say that it is much more logical to use it on bosses and slow moving big creatures.

The Stance event becomes much more effective, especially as you progress through the skill tree that each of them has. You can use two different Stances in the game. So when you get to the Save points, you are allowed to change this duo. This situation has both determined your game style and enriched the choices and fights against enemies.

Moreover, you can create a much more effective fighting system by switching between Stances. In other words, it is possible to dive at the opponent with Dual Wield and suddenly switch to Crossguard and perform finishing blows with a heavy hit. The combat system is just as fun and varied as the platforming dynamics.

Speaking of finishing hits, enemies have a shield level and you need to break them first and do real damage. When you do enough damage, you can perform finishing blows with more special animations.

At this point, the importance of the dash and block feature is also very important, especially against enemies who are skilful in close combat. While using your stamina bar with normal blocks, you can counter-attack with timely blocks. Stance is one of the biggest advantages of the first game.

In fights, the production team did the lightsaber justice. You can cut the arm and leg of the opponents even with normal hits, let alone finishing hits. The fighting system is extremely enjoyable and makes you feel that you are using a lightsaber.

Especially with the introduction of the block and counter attack system, you start to enjoy that sword and sword fight more. The biggest problem here is the animation errors that we also encountered in platform dynamics.

When you jump on a wall, or when you are going to give a finishing blow to the opponent, you clearly feel that animation shift. Here, an enemy whose back is turned turns towards you at the last hit, because the animation style is prepared in that way. or you cannot normally jump on a box.

But when it comes to a point where you need to go, that is, to a designed point, your character is drawn towards it like a magnet. This sliding animation also causes the bugs in the game to appear frequently. Apart from bugs such as objects already in the air and entering the wall, you often encounter such problems.

Before forgetting, there is also a perk system in the game. As you can find some perks in the exploration part, it is also possible to buy some perks with the special points you collect. Here you can buy different perks such as life bar, force or hit effects that fill up over time. Of course, as you progress, your perk slot increases and you can buy more perks.

How are the graphics?

The game, in which orchestral music comes to the fore, has visually successful details. Although it is not a Horizon, especially as I mentioned at the beginning, it has managed to establish its own style with the contribution of the atmosphere. The lighting is quite detailed according to the place you enter. Even when you draw your lightsaber in a dark area, you can see its contribution to the atmosphere.

Each region has its own unique atmosphere and this change is clearly felt as you progress. While the visibility is good in general, there may be interruptions from time to time on the detail side. Especially in trees or bushes, you realise this more clearly.

I played the PS5 version of the game. There are two different graphics modes in the game, Performance and Quality mode. classically, the quality mode has sharper lines and higher resolution, while the performance side focuses on the FPS rate.

I want to open a small parenthesis here because the game came to us quite early. For this reason, there were big FPS drops even in performance mode, let alone quality mode. It’s hard to say anything about bugs, but I think these FPS drops will probably be fixed with the release patch.

Before I forget, I would like to mention the Dualsense support in the game. Haptic feedback works very well both in lightsaber use and according to the environment you are in. You really feel the effect of that lightsaber in your palm. The Adaptive Trigger part makes itself felt more in the use of force. For example, you have features such as pulling and pushing enemies towards you.

If it is a strong enemy, it resists this use of force and you feel this resistance on the trigger keys. It becomes more difficult to press. they used it really well.

Conclusion

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the most successful Star Wars game that came out recently like the first game. It has managed to put on the first game and made the fights much more enjoyable and fluent with the Stance system. On the other hand, I also think that the team pity this complicated structure a bit. It could have been a much more effective and full production.

It would have been really great if some content to support the sense of discovery had been included. When it comes to extending the game time, we have to admit that the game fails a bit. However, I can guarantee that you will enjoy the main story and some side missions with great pleasure.

You cab pre order the game from Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store.