I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I finally got around to playing Jedi: Survivor on my PS5. I’m not a huge gamer, but I do enjoy them. I usually have them on easy, because I don’t want a challenge, I get enough of that at work. For me, gaming is about the enjoyment of playing.
Jedi: Survivor is the second game in a trilogy, the first part was Jedi: Fallen Order. In Fallen Order, Order 66 has taken place and the Jedi are being hunted. Your character, Cal Kestis, is hiding in plain sight at an Imperial Scrap Yard. That is until some Inquisitors turn up.
The Inquisitors have been tasked with killing all force-sensitive people throughout the galaxy. Cal obviously escapes and, with a small band of friends, fights back against the Empire. The first game had good action, and a good story. I enjoyed it.
Jedi: Survivor is fecking’ epic! I will go into the story about it, but honestly, the story is some of the best Star Wars I’ve seen since maybe 2005. Revenge of the Sith? OK, that’s not saying a lot, but since then we’ve had Disney utterly Amber Herding in the bed, so this was a breath of fresh air.
Jedi: Survivor – The Story
We join Cal about 5 years after the events in Fallen Order. Most of the team have gone their separate ways, but are all still fighting the Empire one way or another.
The start of the game sees Cal in handcuffs and being taken to Senator Daho Sejan, who has been hunting Cal. Unluckily for Daho, this was a ruse to get Cal close to him and steal some valuable military data. Daho flees, so you have to chase him across the underworld of Coruscant.
Joining your team is Bode Akuna, a rebel fighter and mercenary. Bode has a jetpack and is a sharpshooter. He’s great in a fight. You work as a team to get across the landscape. This was a nice addition since there are places you can’t seem to get to, but you ask Bode to help and he can.
You catch up with the senator and get the information. Just after this the Ninth Sister, one of the Inquisitors you fought in the previous game, turns up and kills the senator and your team, all but Bode. You escape the planet and hope you will cross paths with Bode again. This is all the introduction to the game.
The Mantis, your ship, is damaged in the getaway from Coruscant, so you go to find your old pilot Greez. He is in hiding on Kobah in a bar. He tells you the parts he needs are in a local cave, where he’s been hiding all sorts of contraband. Down there you meet ZN-AA, or Zee, a droid from the time of the High Republic.
Zee has been trapped down there for a hundred years or so but was given the task of activating a device, The Forest Array. This device will provide safe passage to a hidden planet, out of the reach of the Empire. It could provide a safe haven for all Jedi.
The Main Objective
The planet, Tanalor, was also discovered by a High Republic Jedi named Dagan Gera. He went to the planet and started setting up a Jedi academy, but it came under attack and the Jedi Council said it wasn’t safe and shut it down. Dagan became obsessed with getting back there.
You find Dagan in a Bacta tank and free him. There is a twist here that I won’t spoil. The rest of the game is about finding a compass to find Tanalor again and hopefully, a safe place for the hunted Jedi across the galaxy.
Honestly, the story is amazing. It is easily the best Star Wars story I have seen in a long time. I was genuinely invested in all the characters and I was gripped by the end of it.
The Gameplay
This is where the game is let down a bit as there are a couple of big issues here. Firstly, the navigation system. Survivor is huge compared to Fallen Order. Finding your way around is a right pain in the ass at times.
I have just finished Assassin’s Creed Origins, the best of the AC games in my opinion. The navigation there is nice and simple, you are given a waypoint and you go there. In Survivor, you have to constantly check the map to see where you are going and, on several occasions, I would end up in a dead end and see no way of getting past.
I would finally realize that I needed to backtrack on myself, but it would be incredibly frustrating at times. OK, some of it was my own stupidity, but a simple waypoint marker would have really helped out.
I’m Falling
The other issue is the jumping. Pretty much all of the game takes place on the “high ground”. You have to jump from one place to another, usually with walls to run along and ropes to swing from. The downside is that I would fall to my death a lot. I mean an awful lot.
The jumps are usually in a series, meaning if you don’t get to the endpoint, you have to redo them all again. This got pretty frustrating in places, but I got there in the end. Because the game is very linear, you can only go one way. Sure, you unlock shortcuts eventually, but having a different option would be better.
What was even more annoying is when you had Bode with you. He has a jetpack and he can carry you, but most of the time he stands around watching you fall to your death over and over. This is a minor gripe though.
Skills
The game has had a few upgrades on Cal’s skill since Fallen Order. Like with the previous game, you earn different skills as you go, unlocking certain areas of the game. This is again nice since you aren’t just great at the start, you earn the powers. Something female protagonists in most movies could learn.
They have upgraded the lightsaber as well. In the previous game, you had about 3 stances, as I remember. In Survivor, you have about 8 I think it is. Dual blades, a blade and a pistol, a double-ended blade and so on. This is nice and you can play however you want. I like to be fast and deal smaller damage and there is a stance just for that. If you don’t mind going slower but hitting hard, you’re sorted as well.
Overall
As I said, I’m not a big gamer, but I am so glad I got this and played through the story. It was genuinely epic. I couldn’t help but binge through the entire game because I wanted to see how it would end and I wasn’t disappointed.
This game is the most invested in Star Wars I have been for a long time. I hate Disney for what they have done, but I’m glad that they aren’t paying attention to Lucasfilm Games so they are able to get on and make great stuff like this.
Something else I have to mention is that I think I’m in love with Merrin. You met her in the original game on Dathomir. She is force sensitive and adds a lot to this game, including some amazing new abilities. The actress playing her, Tina Ivlev, has a slight Russian tint to her accent and it’s hot. Here is a photo of her and Cal I took in the game. What can I say? I used to take photos for a living.
Cal and Merrin, sitting in a tree…
The guy who plays Cal, Cameron Monaghan is excellent. I know he does the voice, but I also know they do motion capture with him and he is great. In fact, there are moments in the game, where his acting is better than some movies/TV series I’ve seen. There is more emotion in a computer game character than there is in some people’s actual acting.
And this is not taking away anything from the other actors in the game. They are all great, believable, and you are completely invested in each one of them. If I’m going to be overly picky, I noticed how Cal is the main character and then every other character seems to be a woman. They are good characters, but you just can’t miss the obvious.
I give Jedi: Survivor 3 out of 5 for the gameplay, but a full 5 out of 5 for the story. If you aren’t going to play the game, my I suggest watching someone play it on YouTube for the story, it’s honestly brilliant.
Now that I have finished it, I’m going to carry on exploring for a while, get some more of the trophies and then head into Red Dead Redemption 2 finally.
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