Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review – A Well-Made Sequel In A Galaxy Nearby

Platforms:

• PlayStation 5
• Xbox Series X and Series S
• Microsoft Windows PC

PC Minimum Requirements	PC Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 10 64-bit RAM: 8Gb CPU Features: 4 core / 8 threads CPU* AMD: Ryzen 5 1400 GPU** AMD: Radeon RX 580 GPU Features: DX12, 8Gb VRAM Storage: 155Gb	OS: Windows 10 64-bit RAM: 16Gb CPU Features: 4 core / 8 threads CPU* AMD: Ryzen 5 5600X GPU** AMD: RX 6700 XT GPU Features: DX12, 8Gb VRAM Storage: 155Gb SSD

Story: In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place exactly 5 years after the events of the first game. I was once again placed in the shoes of Cal Kestis – one of the few remaining Jedi after Order 66 was executed.

Without spoiling the story too much, all I can say is that Respawn Entertainment really upped the ante in the sequel. 

In the first game, Cal was a hesitant Jedi who’s drawn into an unwanted conflict because of who he is. In the sequel, Cal’s a revolutionary, and each of his actions is one against the Galactic Empire.

Due to the introductions of more NPCs, familiar faces, and a larger open world, the entire narrative production feels more fleshed out. There’s never a dull moment.

Whether you’re bickering with BD-1 or getting quests from a galactic trader, there are always great tidbits of lore to uncover.

If you haven’t played the first game, you can watch a short summary of the game provided from the title screen. I don’t recommend starting with this game though. 

Going through Cal’s first adventure before the new events are highly recommended.

Gameplay: Becoming The Perfect Jedi

As a sequel to one of the best Star Wars games ever made, it was challenging for Respawn Entertainment to bring in enough new elements. 

I was surprised to see that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor still feels like a revolutionary Jedi simulator despite the massive improvements.

Let’s talk about Cal Kestis first.

In the first game, you have a lot more control regarding how he looks. In the first game, you could only change his outfit and lightsabers, and make customizations to BD-1.

Respawn Entertainment made it so that we can now customize Cal’s hair and facial hair too. BD-1 can be customized with new parts, other than colors. 

I was also offered more customization options for my lightsaber which for any Star Wars fan, should be the icing on the cake.

There’s also a more in-depth skill tree this time around. Without spoiling it, Cal’s given access to nine different skill trees. Each of them focuses on a specific aspect of Cal’s abilities.

You can pick skills to suit your playstyle but you’ll eventually unlock all of them as you progress through the game.

The explorable areas in the game are much larger than they were in the original title. There’s a more open-world feel to the world. 

My first few hours in Koboh were amazing. It was fun exploring the secrets of the lush planet. The non-linear approach made my Jedi traversal skills feel more important.

There are a total of 7 different planets to explore in the game. Each panel feels way different from the others. While the worlds are larger, they definitely don’t feel empty.

There are lots of secrets to uncover, NPCs to talk to, and side quests called Rumors to complete.

The game begs you to re-explore areas once you get certain upgrades.

I avoided a huge Rancor on Koboh because it was completely smashing me. A few levels and upgrades later, I went back and the battle went much smoother.

Now on to the best part of the game… Combat.

When I played Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order before, all I could think of was that it was the perfect Star Wars game. 

I was given so much to do with my lightsaber and Force powers. Pair that with the game’s challenging design, and I was instantly hooked.

Respawn brought back the same intense difficulty and combat mechanics. This time, however, Cal’s no longer a fledgling Padawan. He’s a full-fledged Jedi Knight with all sorts of abilities and powers to tinker with.

Cal only had a single lightsaber and a dual-edged lightsaber in the first game. Early on in the sequel, I unlocked the dual-wielded lightsabers. I was also given access to a blaster, and then a Kylo Ren-style crossguard lightsaber later on.

Each of the 5 stances offers a variety of movesets, pros, and cons that you need to consider.

Unfortunately, you can only equip two stances at a time. Since each one is great in my opinion, I swap between them all whenever I can.

It must’ve been a challenging feat for Respawn Entertainment to create a sequel that stays true to the first game while bringing in massive upgrades. 

The result is well-received and in my opinion, puts Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, in contention for game of the year.

Performance: Hitches And Glitches

I played the game on my PS5 in performance mode. Despite the massive 140GB day one update and the power of the console, I still experienced a few bugs and framerate drops throughout my time with the game.

I’ve heard that the PC version is abysmal regarding performance, but Respawn Entertainment is already well on its way to creating fixes for it.

FPS drops and glitches aside, the game looks great on the PS5. I suggest turning off motion blur from the settings. It will give you a better view of the game and what it has to offer.

It’s so nice to take in all of the great sights in the Star Wars universe.

Conclusion

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an amazing follow-up to the 2019 smash hit. I think that the developers are working on another game to complete the trilogy.

If that’s the case, it’ll be exciting to see how they plan on improving upon the series seeing that the most recent entry is a masterpiece already.

This post was last updated on 2025-03-17 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.