Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was the first time since Knights of the Old Republic that we had a genuinely great story-driven Star Wars game (sorry, not sorry, The Force Unleashed). It was restrained in all the right ways but had nods to the larger Star Wars universe in intelligent ways, and it kept to new and exciting planets outside of some fun, familiar haunts. It focused on the best parts of Star Wars and introduced a fun crew of flawed but heroic characters. Fallen Order mixed very light souls mechanics with Metroid and some of the more modern God of War to make a delicious Star Wars stew. It worked, and developer Respawn has taken its time with a sequel, blowing out every element and mechanic to unseen heights, and thankfully Jedi: Survivor delivers in every way.

The Good

Jedi: Survivor is astounding in its care, craft, and attention to detail. The amount of bespoke animation work, from the bench where you customize your lightsaber and BD-1 to the idle animations in the open world to the robot chef in the saloon, Jedi: Survivor, is immaculate. I was constantly impressed and surprised by the level of detail and passion that went into every inch of this game. The world is massive, especially compared to the original, but everything feels thoughtful and fun. There are light management elements, mounts, numerous fighting styles, tons of enemy types, multiple open planets to explore, and more. It all works so well and the game does such a great job of expanding and exploring its wonderful cast to create a truly memorable and wacky crew that fits right in with the best Star Wars has to offer.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a tour de force of creativity and passion for Star Wars. The combat is delightful, the visuals are consistently amazing (thanks to its dedication to only current-gen hardware), and the story is heartfelt and well-written. Seeing old friends return will bring a smile to your face, and at times the game felt a little like Mass Effect 2, where you gather your estranged crew to fight an epic threat. Jedi: Survivor exudes passion out of every crevice, and it genuinely is the best Star Wars game in the last two decades, if not ever. 

The Bad 

Jedi: Survivor’s performance is, quite frankly, terrible. At least before any large day one patch, I was constantly harassed by framerate issues, texture loading, overlapping cutscene dialogue, and more general jank. It stinks to see since these are very similar issues that the original game faced and cleared up over time, but to see another Unreal engine game flush with technical issues is just unfortunate these days. It seems like it is the ray-tracing and open-world elements where the game takes a hit, and in one particular section on the first planet you explore, I ran into a river where between the open-world and the reflections, the framerate dropped to the low twenties and teens on Xbox Series X. The game is almost cracking consoles under the weight of its ambitious design. Jedi: Survivor is properly massive, and the game is incredibly ambitious. It blows the originals scope out of the water and then some, and it layers mechanic after mechanic. This doesn’t stop at the visuals, which feel genuinely next-gen for once. It is nice to see a significant release leave behind the PS4 and Xbox One, two consoles that have only hampered new games for these last few years.

What Surprised Me

Jedi: Survivor constantly surprised me around every corner. It was always introducing new characters, mechanics, content, worlds, everything. Whenever I thought it was done, it would dole out something integral to exploring the world, from mounts to collecting seeds to dedicated mini-games. This game takes everything from the original and expands upon it in unexpected and exciting ways. I don’t say this lightly, but Jedi: Survivor is much like Assassin’s Creed II or Uncharted 2, taking a good game and making it into a truly great one. It surprised me to see the attention to detail akin to The Last of US or Red Dead Redemption 2 in Jedi: Survivor.

What Was Predictable 

Unfortunately, Jedi: Survivor is predictably technically flawed. While I didn’t quite expect the issues I have seen, I knew that it would share some of the problems the original faced, and many are inherent to the Unreal Engine. I appreciate the focus on current-gen consoles, and Respawn freeing themselves from those constraints lets this game truly expand and shine. But many technical issues are holding the game back, and while it did not ruin my experience, it will sour the soil for many. 

Bottom Line

Outside of technical issues, Jedi: Survivor is an astounding accomplishment. A tour de force of game design and passion for Star Wars with phenomenal combat, superb sound, a memorable and loveable cast of characters, all topped off with great visuals. Every element feels lovingly crafted, and every corner is stuffed with detail, from the animations to the world-building.

Visuals: 7.5

I wish I could give Jedi: Survivor a glowing score here, but it has far too many technical issues, even if it reaches for the stars. Technical issues aside, it is a vast world filled with incredible texture work, amazing ray-traced effects, and world-class art direction. From customizing your character to the lightsaber-switching animations, every element of this game is visually superb.

Sound: 9

Jedi: Survivor delivers an incredible soundscape outside a few glitches. The voice acting is top-notch for almost everyone, even the most unimportant characters, the music has that Star Wars familiarity with a touch of new, and I found myself stopping and listening to a lot of the tracks as they played in the world. The enemies have fantastic dialogue, from the Battle Droids to the Stormtroopers. I constantly giggled at their asides and goofy conversations before inevitably cutting it short with my lightsaber.

Playability: 9

Jedi: Survivor is stuffed with mechanics, and all of them work. From combat to exploration, it is a blast to explore this universe. The game makes you feel like a wandering Jedi, exploring, upgrading, and surviving in this oppressive, fascist regime. There is a little bit of clipping, like the original game, when it comes to jumping and climbing, but overall everything feels snappy, smooth, and satisfying to execute.

Story: 8.5

Jedi: Survivor can sometimes feel predictable, but it delivers its grand story with aplomb and emotion. It is tonally consistent and constantly delivers fun character moments and reveals that feel impactful based on knowledge of the original. It also doesn’t rely much on fan service and Star Wars history. It feels separate and original but also connects to the larger universe in satisfying and significant ways, much like the original. Good Star Wars stories are few and far between these days, and other than Andor, there isn’t a lot of great storytelling to grasp onto in Star Wars, but Jedi: Survivor is another oasis in a desert of good ideas.

Replay Value: 8

Jedi: Survivor will quickly eat up dozens of hours, and I am sure there will be post-release content to come. Exploring the galaxy and finding everything will entertain Star Wars fans for years until we go on the next big adventure.

Overall Score:

8.5/10

Reviewer played the game on Xbox Series X

Jedi Survivor is out now on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X | S.