There is no denying the success of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor; the sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order managed to sur its predecessor in many ways by building and expanding on what came before it. Jedi: Survivor took the format established in Jedi: Fallen Order and used that to tell a new story, add new mechanics, and even surprise players with the amount of attention to detail.
With a new Star Wars Jedi game apparently in development, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor managed to be one of the most coveted things in gaming: a good sequel. Continuing the story of Cal Kestis five years after players first met him, Jedi: Survivor has much more to offer in of plot, set pieces, and scope. From travel and combat, to story and gameplay mechanics, Jedi: Survivor stands out in all the right ways.
10 More Diversity In Enemy Types
One of the complaints leveled at Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was the lack of diversity in enemies. There are only so many stormtroopers types a player can handle before things start to get dull. It’s obvious that developers at Respawn listened to fan criticism in this area, as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has tons more enemies for players to test their skills against.
While there are still stormtroopers, Jedi: Survivor adds variety with fearsome wildlife as well as the Bedlam Raiders and their repurposed Separatist battle droids. This provides much more scope for enemy types as well as nostalgia for fans of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. With the rolling Droideka and acrobatic MagnaGuard proving to be a tough challenge, there is also the hilarious dialogue of the B1 battle droids to lift the mood even in battle.
9 Having All Of Cal's Abilities From Fallen Order
Part of the fun of Jedi: Fallen Order was rediscovering Cal’s connection to the Force and learning new abilities as players progressed. However, there is often a challenge with sequels when it comes to the player character's abilities. More often than not, there is a contrived plot device that strips the character of everything they’ve learned, forcing the player to start from square one in a sequel.
Thankfully Respawn didn’t go down this route with Jedi: Survivor, instead allowing Cal to keep all his Force powers from Jedi: Fallen Order. This was an immediate improvement as it made Cal truly feel like a Jedi from the beginning of the game. Having Cal keeping his Force abilities from Jedi: Fallen Order also allowed for new skill trees to be added, expanding the player’s options for combat.
8 Better Maps
Having a decent map when exploring a massive world in a video game is a must, and the maps in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order were not great. Many found them confusing, difficult to navigate and the color of them made them hard to see at times. Thankfully Jedi: Survivor upgraded the map system to make things much easier for players.
Jedi: Survivor’s maps have keys to help players understand what they are looking at, as well as keeping the color-coded pathway highlights to show where Cal can and can't get to yet. The maps are easier to understand with the layout being made clear, with them made to look more like solid graphics than a hologram. Finally, navigating over multiple levels is far better, with each level clearly defined, and to help stop players from getting lost, there is a handy display to show where Cal has just been.
7 Fresh & Impactful Story
While the plot of Jedi: Fallen Order was impactful, telling the story of Cal’s reconnection to the Force and the race to save future Force s, Jedi: Survivor managed to top it. Jedi: Survivor’s story feels fresh with a new focus and new antagonists. It would have been far too easy for Respawn to rely on Vader and his Inquisitors again, but luckily for players, Jedi: Survivor brings something new.
Cal and the rest of the Mantis crew are made to feel like five years have really ed with the characters growing and changing in Jedi: Survivor. There are some amazing set pieces in the game that are not only visually stunning but emotionally impactful, driving home the stakes for players. Overall, Jedi: Survivor feels like a natural progression of the story begun in Jedi: Fallen Order and what looks set to be the middle point of the Star Wars Jedi trilogy.
6 New Abilities To Learn With Room To Specialize
As Cal was relearning his Jedi abilities in Jedi: Fallen Order, the skill trees were naturally smaller. Players could choose between lightsaber skills, growing Cal’s Force abilities or increasing health and survivability. Jedi: Survivor increased player options by allowing Cal to retain his Force powers from Jedi: Fallen Order and adding new ones.
Where there had only been three branches to work through, Jedi: Survivor upped that number to nine. Survival remained, but Force powers and lightsaber stances were broken down into individual trees, expanding on skills Cal already had. All these new skills and Force powers in Jedi: Survivor meant that players could customize Cal's skillset to their own playstyle making each playthrough unique.
5 More Detailed Worlds
Another way that Jedi: Survivor improved from Jedi: Fallen Order was the level of detail found in the world. Each planet Cal travels to feels alive and more realistic when compared to Jedi: Fallen Order. Not only are the worlds bigger, but it is obvious much more care and detail has been put into each.
No world exemplifies this more than Koboh. Koboh acts as a hub for Cal and the crew and allows players to become familiar with a planet in a way that Jedi: Fallen Order lacked. Every area feel like a living, breathing world that was reacting to the decision made by players to create a home for Cal during Jedi: Survivor.
4 More Lightsaber Stances
When playing Jedi: Fallen Order, players could choose between three lightsaber styles or stances. For most of the game, Cal can switch between the single blade stance and the double-bladed lightsaber. However, it is not until much later in the game Cal unlocks the dual wield lightsaber stance where he can use two lightsabers at once, similar to Ahsoka Tano.
Jedi: Survivor improved on and increased the number of lightsaber stances for Cal. With five to choose from, players might have trouble choosing which lightsaber stance is best in Jedi: Survivor, as each has its own strength and weakness. However, with each stance having its own skill tree, it's perfect for players who like to experiment through multiple playthroughs.
3 Fast Travel Points
One of the main issues with Jedi: Fallen Order was traveling through the large, labyrinthine maps. Having to backtrack through an entire area to get a collectible or unlock a certain section was tedious. This was made especially difficult with the hard-to-read map or if enemies had respawned after a rest.
Thankfully Respawn listened to players and Jedi: Survivor had fast travel. By unlocking mediations circles throughout the map, Cal could now travel between them. This saved players so much time, given not only the size of some of Jedi: Survivor's maps but the nonlinear approach to some of the areas.
2 Customization Of Cal, BD-1, & Weapons
Although the ponchos of Jedi: Fallen Order were fun, they clearly showed that a sequel would have more potential for customization, so when Respawn announced just that in Jedi: Survivor, players got excited. And while there is still one poncho in the game for players to hunt down, the level of customization for Cal in Jedi: Survivor is amazing.
Players are able to change Cal’s hair, facial hair, and clothes. Players are even able to mix and match different styles of jackets, undershirts and pants. BD-1 isn’t left out with more components to swap and color options, and the same is available for Cal's lightsaber and blaster. This customization allows players to create a Cal and BD-1 that are unique to them and that particular Jedi: Survivor playthrough, further making the story feel more personal.
1 More Options For Traversal
Without a doubt, the biggest improvement Jedi: Survivor has that makes it better than Jedi: Fallen Order is the number of options for traversal in the world. Not only have Cal’s parkour abilities been polished for Jedi: Survivor making them much smoother, but more options have been added to not only speed up travel, but keep it fresh and interesting. The speed at which these become available to players also feels better paced, alleviating some of the frustration felt when playing Jedi: Fallen Order.
Cal can tame animals to assist him, allowing players to have mounts or use flying creatures to glide to far-off areas. Cal has a grappling line that can be upgraded for new acrobatic travel. But one of the most fun improvements to traversal in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is Force Dash, letting Cal not only leap over long distances, but through force fields, unlocking so many options for player exploration.
