We’re not that deep into 2023 yet, but already, it’s been a banger of a year- and it doesn’t look like that momentum is going to slow down anytime soon. There’s no shortage of megaton releases lined up for the next few months, and one that is obviously occupying a great deal of headspace for people right now is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Based on everything that we know about it so far, it seems like Repsawn Entertainment is making a host of welcome improvements on all fronts with the upcoming action-adventure sequel, and with its launch right around the corner, we’re going to talk about a few things we can’t wait to do in the game with those improvements and changes in mind.
DISMEMBER ENEMIES
Combat was obviously one of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s biggest strengths, but one area where it sort of ended up disappointing a fair few people was its lack of dismemberment in human enemies. When you’re slashing people open with a lightsaber, you want to see a few limbs flying around. It’s Star Wars, after all. And while Respawn hasn’t explicitly confirmed that Jedi: Survivor will have dismemberment, we have seen instances of it here and there in the gameplay that’s been shown off thus far. That’s something that we’re particularly excited about, and we’re hoping there will be enough of it in the game to satiate our demands.
COMBAT STANCES
One of several ways Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is building on the foundations of its predecessor is by beefing up the combat experience, which is being done primarily through the introduction of several new combat stances. The game will feature five combat stances in total, each boasting unique strengths, weaknesses, and even weapon designs, from dual lightsabers, to a lightsaber with a crossguard a la Kylo Ren’s weapon, to even a stance that will see protagonist Cal using a lightsaber and a blaster in conjunction. On paper, it sounds like that’s going to inject quite a bit of variety into combat, and we can’t wait to try our hand at each of those five stances.
BOSS FIGHTS
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is, of course, going to be a Soulslike title, just like its predecessor was, and one aspect that can make or break a Soulslike experience is boss fights. This was an area where Fallen Order went all out, and obviously, our hope is for Jedi: Survivor to crank things up a notch here as well. There are solid foundations to build on here for the sequel, and if it can indeed end up delivering boss encounters that manage to one up those found in its predecessor, it’ll be one hell of an experience.
EXPLORE THOROUGHLY
Like Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor has been designed as a Metroidvania experience, so it goes without saying that, like all Metroidvania games, exploration is going to be a massive part of the game. The lock and key design of Metroidvania games and how that can recontextualize areas that you’ve already been to is something that has never gotten old in games, and we’re excited to see how Jedi: Survivor implements that design style. Fallen Order was an accomplished Metroidvania experience in its own right, and it looks like its sequel is building on its ideas in more than a few ways, so we’re quite optimistic about how it’ll shape up.
GAPPLING HOOK
Traversal mechanics have always been something that Respawn’s games have excelled at, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was no different in that regard. Similar to what it’s doing with combat and exploration, Jedi: Survivor is expanding its predecessor’s traversal gameplay as well, and one of the ways it’s doing that is by adding a grappling hook. Now, it’s an unwritten rule in gaming that any game that implements a grappling hook mechanic automatically becomes a better experience, and we’re hoping that that’s going to be the case in Jedi: Survivor as well. It’s something that has the potential to not only make moment-to-moment traversal more enjoyable, but also make exploration and things such as backtracking that much more engaging.
RIDE MOUNTS
Another big addition in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor that’s promising to improve traversal and exploration in meaningful ways is rideable mounts. Obviously, the full extent of all the rideable creatures that will be available in the game hasn’t been revealed yet (nor will it be, in all likelihood, until the game has launched), but we’re excited to see what that list will look like. It’s been confirmed that both land and air traversal will be featured with rideable mounts, so what other creatures can we expect to see in the game? Presumably, it’ll differ from planet to planet, but can we expect the likes of Banthas? Maybe Tauntauns? Cal rode on top of a Shyyyo Bird to get to the top of the Origin Tree in Kashyyyk in Fallen Order, so maybe that’s something that could be gameplay this time around rather than a cinematic? Maybe some entirely new creatures could be introduced to Star Wars lore as well?
FORCE ABILITIES
Using Force abilities was obviously a big part of the gameplay loop in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in everything from combat and puzzles to exploration and traversal, and there should be little doubt in anyone’s mind that that’s another area where Jedi: Survivor will be making plenty of improvements. Fallen Order already had plenty of variety in the Force abilities it allowed players to use, and based on what we’ve seen of Jedi: Survivor so far, it looks like Respawn is adding plenty of new ones for players to use in the sequel as well. Cal is, of course, going to be an experienced Jedi Knight by the time the game’s story picks up, so we’re curious to see what new abilities he will have learned in the time that’s passed since the events of the first game.
JEDI CHAMBER PUZZLES
Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that Jedi: Survivor will feature Jedi Chamber Puzzles scattered throughout its planets that will function sort of like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s shrines, serving as optional challenges that reward players on the progression front. Given that there’s going to be plenty of emphasis on combat and exploration on the critical path itself, we’re more than a little excited about the prospect of having an entirely separate set of optional activities that will be much more puzzle-focused and revolve primarily around using the Force and Cal’s traversal abilities.
COSMETIC CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS
One area where Fallen Order left quite a bit to desired was its cosmetic customization options, mostly because there wasn’t much variety on offer. Respawn has said that Jedi: Survivor is making plenty of improvements on this front, with Cal’s boring old ponchos being replaced by entirely new outfits that will bring a much greater amount of variety to the table. From Han Solo’s bomber jacket to outfits inspired by Luke Skywalker, what has been revealed for the game so far has certainly got us optimistic.
STAR WARS CHARACTERS
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order deserves a lot of credit for how it managed to carve out a place for itself in Star Wars’ massive mythos with a cast of characters that was, for the most part, built entirely for the game itself. At the same time, however, there were also a few very familiar faces that showed up that Star Wars fans have seen in other stories (whom we’re obviously not going to mention here to avoid spoilers). The expectation is that Jedi: Survivor will do something similar, and we can’t wait to see which known characters from the Star Wars universe it will rope into the story. Maybe Maul could show up? One can always hope…