Between movies, TV shows, books, and Disney theme parks, there’s a lot of Star Wars content. Separate from the larger franchise noise, 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was an awesome action-adventure game that captured the brand's magic. Nearly everything great about Fallen Order carries over into Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the $69.99 sequel for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Jedi Survivor is a bit bloated compared with its tight predecessor, but it’s still a smart, thrilling, and expertly crafted blockbuster gaming experience that earns our Editors' Choice award.

Struggling With the Dark Side

Aside from a few indulgent and obvious cameos, the Respawn-developed Jedi games are fairly disconnected from the larger Star Wars mythos. It wants you to care about these characters and their specific struggles. Set five years after the last game, you once again control Cal Kestis, a Jedi Knight who survived the purge and now secretly fights against the Empire between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. 

Cal grapples with despair, revenge, and other dark emotions, but his character is a bit bland, even after you customize him with wacky outfits and hairstyles. The supporting cast fares better with exiled Jedi masters, space witches, and four-armed alien bartenders demonstrating how to survive in a hostile galaxy. 

The plot starts with the operatic melodrama that you'd expect from Star Wars, thankfully without undercutting itself with too many bad jokes. The crew discovers the existence of a paradise planet that may finally let them escape from the Empire’s eyes once and for all. The backstory involves the High Republic era, a recent addition to the lore you won’t find by rewatching Star WarsStar Wars movies. As a result, even old Star Wars super-fans may encounter unfamiliar scenarios. The story is gripping, especially when it pivots to a much more personal conflict while keeping the stakes astronomically high. It doesn’t feel like a Star Wars imitation or one small side story; it simply feels like Star Wars.

Gorgeous graphics and immersive sound design also mean Jedi Survivor looks a whole lot like Star Wars. The trademark lightsaber hum and blur never get old. Sterile imperial bases and lush alien worlds look as good as any movie set. Note that Jedi Survivor suffers from technical issues on PC, and will receive patches to improve its performance. It doesn’t run on Steam Deck at all. Besides one crash and a few texture glitches, I experienced no performance problems playing the entire game on the Xbox Series S.  

Sky Walking the Universe

At first glance, it's easy to dismiss Jedi Survivor as merely a Star Wars take on Tomb Raider or Uncharted. However, the people who made Titanfall 2 (along with the director of God of War III) wouldn’t settle for something so derivative. Expanding on the previous game’s foundation, Jedi Survivor blends many ambitious gameplay ideas—and successfully executes most of them.

The game offers many satisfying traversal options. For example, you can jump, double jump, and air dash. Use your grappling hook to transition into a wall run. Hitch rides on animals to fly through the sky or walk across rough terrain. You feel as agile and nimble as a Jedi in their prime. Quick restarts encourage you to experiment without fear of losing too much progress if you fall to your death.

The polished level design puts those skills to the test, since you spend about as much time platforming as you do fighting. Before Metroid Prime Remastered, Fallen Order was one of the few modern examples of a 3D Metroidvania, a game full of maps waiting to be untangled. Jedi Survivor continues that design, forcing you to truly pay attention to your surroundings to figure out the way forward. It's impressive to see a level loop around on itself like a massive puzzle box. The structure even has cool, nonlinear elements. You visit many planets, and can sometimes choose the mission order.

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Beyond jumping over obstacles, you must solve clever environmental challenges, such as using the Force to manipulate objects or using gadgets supplied by your droid companion, BD-1. And considering the many ancient temples you explore, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a Zelda game.

Several planets are now pseudo-open worlds where you can freely explore and take on sidequests. However, sometimes that “more” hurts rather than helps, as the increased scope can feel like padding. Walking around bigger worlds wasn’t always an improvement because it watered down the slick platforming sequences and made me rely on fast travel. I didn’t care about hearing rumors from NPCs or buying new wares from the local saloon. 

There are some exceptions. One sidequest led me to an optional Rancor monster boss fight, and I loved talking to an Australian-sounding Kit Fisto-looking alien to take on bounties. For the most part, this side content was rarely compelling enough to distract from the main campaign, a campaign that is plenty long enough already at 20 hours. Honestly, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga does a better job of being a freeform experience. Jedi Survivor thrives as a guided adventure, and thankfully it’s easy to ignore the fluff and just treat it like one.   

Masters of Teras Kasi

Jedi Survivor takes combat influence from the polarizing FromSoftware formula, albeit in a more palatable and less punishing format. Fans will adore its weightiness and how the strict pacing demands you to commit to attacks and smartly time parries; it adds tension to otherwise mindless fights. In addition, the lightsaber is an extremely serious weapon, not a glowstick to carelessly wave around. 

Additional battle stances give you new moves to consider. Besides your standard lightsaber form, you can opt for a double-bladed lightsaber or a dual-wielding stance that trades defense for offensive might. The crossguard lightsaber (think Kylo Ren) has great range, but slow swings. I really enjoyed using a lightsaber and blaster together, shooting faraway enemies while slashing nearby ones while recharging. It’s not quite Devil May Cry, but it’s close. Deflecting laser blasts still feels great. You can swap between two different stances at any given time, and change your loadout at a meditation point.

You level up and gain skill-tree points as you fight, which unlocks new fighting techniques and grows your Force powers. Brainwashing enemies with a Jedi mind trick can quickly clear a crowd, while freezing time lets you land free hits on a single foe. Some battles let you call in a partner for an assist. You can also equip a limited number of perks with bonus attributes, such as increased block stamina or the ability to shoot your blaster without flinching. 

Jedi Survivor’s combat has a high skilling ceiling, so try to reach the top by practicing in training mode. The game also has useful accessibility options so nearly everyone can enjoy the experience. For example, you can make enemies weaker and less aggressive, turn on icons to make puzzle solutions more obvious, or turn off potentially troubling content like human dismemberment and giant spiders.

One of the Best Star Wars Games

Star Wars properties no longer come with massive expectations, but the omnipresent entertainment juggernaut should at least be pretty good. Fortunately, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is more than that; it's a top-tier, next-gen, AAA title that builds on its awesome predecessor, even if it doesn’t completely blow it away. Whether you love Star Wars, great games, or both, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor belongs in your library and earns our Editors' Choice award.

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