Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to Respawn Entertainment’s acclaimed Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is due to release this year. Given the high praise for Jedi: Fallen Order, which was one of the most tightly packed single-player Star Wars games in years following more multiplayer-focused titles such as EA’s Battlefront reboot, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is expected to improve and expand upon the elements that made its predecessor so popular with its impressive character work and lightsaber combat.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order introduced players to a new Jedi Padawan character, Cal Kestis, in the years after Revenge of the Sith and the fall of the Jedi Order. Despite tying into the wider lore, this allowed Respawn to tell an original Star Wars story within this time period as Cal went on a quest to find a Holocron containing the identities of other Force-sensitive children in an attempt to protect them from the Empire and ultimately rebuild the Jedi Order. Cal became a fan-favorite character, and a sequel seemed inevitable to continue his story.
What Is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Release Date?
EA had previously announced alongside an extended gameplay trailer in December that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor would be aiming for a March 2023 release date. A month later, however, the publisher took to Twitter with a statement that the title would be delayed by a month to allow Respawn more time to polish and fine-tune the title. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is now due to launch on April 28, 2023.
Every Platform Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Will Be On
Whereas Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was released on last-gen devices and received a current-gen patch, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be a current-gen exclusive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Respawn has explained that the team wanted to expand and improve upon the formula of its previous title and discovered early in development that it could take advantage of the current gen’s improved hardware to create “much larger maps, with more detail, greater density, broader enemy and NPC variety, and overall fidelity“.
Jedi: Survivor Story Details: Setting, Characters, Plot
Jedi: Survivor takes place in 9 BBY, picking up Cal Kestis’ story five years after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, taking place in a similar time to the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. The title seems to have a darker tone, which is unsurprising considering the Empire continues to grow stronger in this time period. Trailers at 2022’s Star Wars Celebration and The Game Awards gave more concrete details surrounding Jedi: Survivor‘s cast and story, with Kestis’ loyal droid BD-1 and his Stinger Mantis crew with Greez Dritus, Cere Kunda, and the Nightsister Merrin all set to return, although the trailer did indicate that the Stinger Mantis ship itself would be decommissioned.
Several new characters have been revealed for Jedi: Survivor, such as a mysterious white-haired figure recovering in a Bacta tank, and a new ally called Bode Akuna, who will be an AI companion character with characteristics akin to that of lovable rogues Han Solo or Poe Dameron. Kestis will also be facing new adversaries in the form of the hulking, armored Gen’Dai Rayvis in Jedi: Survivor, who believes the Jedi should be extinct, and a mysterious Pau’an Imperial senator.
There has been speculation that Cal Kestis will not be the only playable character in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, with many fans speculating that the second playable character could be Cal’s potential love interest, the magick-wielding Nightsister Merrin. Others have speculated that players may even be taking control of an Inquisitor who could use the Dark Side of the Force, which would show an alternative perspective to the rise of the Empire. Either option would allow players to experience distinct and different power sets in Jedi: Survivor from Kestis if true, but nothing has been confirmed by Respawn yet.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Gameplay, Combat, & Exploration Details
Trailers showed more brutal, cinematic lightsaber combat with several sequences of battle droids being dismembered in Jedi: Survivor as Cal has become a more adept fighter over the years. Jedi: Fallen Order was praised for its challenging lightsaber combat that required timing and skill to master. Players compared the lightsaber gameplay to that of FromSoftware titles such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, rather than the typical hack-and-slash mechanics of past Star Wars titles, and Respawn seems keen to expand upon the systems already in place.
Part of this expansion will see a variety of new weapon types to unlock throughout the game, as well as Ghost of Tsushima-esque combat stances to efficiently dispatch different types of foes. Trailers have confirmed two examples of this with Cal wielding a Kylo Ren-esque crossguard lightsaber, which will likely result in a “heavy weapon” combat approach that could deliver devastating blows that dismantle foes quickly in a couple of hits, and the option to wield dual lightsabers throughout one battle, adopting a similar fighting stance to Ahsoka Tano to result in faster-paced flurries of attacks.
Whereas creatures in Jedi: Fallen Order were more antagonistic, with Cal cutting his way through them as much as he did Stormtroopers, the 2022 Game Awards trailer revealed more friendly creatures in the form of mounts that Cal will use to traverse Jedi: Survivor‘s much larger maps. There seem to be plenty of vast, stunning landscapes for Cal to explore as he ventures across different planets similarly to how the Stinger Mantis did in Jedi: Fallen Order. The creatures on show included both flying and grounded creatures, and while the trailer only showed Cal taming a couple of them, there’s the likelihood that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor could include several more recognizable beasts from across the Star Wars universe such as Tauntauns or Banthas for Cal to ride.
Source: thegameawards/YouTube