What to Expect from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

The story of Cal Kestis and his droid BD-1 will continue in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as the game prepares for its launch.

Set five years after the events of the first game, the pair continue their adventure, visiting different planets and meeting interesting characters.

Not much is known about the plot but the story looks to be darker in tone as Cal faces new, menacing enemies.

It was originally set to release on March 17, 2023, however, developer Respawn opted to postpone its release.

In a statement, the developer said: “For the last three years, the Jedi team here at Respawn has poured its collective heart and soul into Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and we are proud to say the next chapter in the tale of Cal Kestis is content complete.

“We are now focused entirely on the final stage: bug fixes to enhance performance, stability, polish, and most importantly, the player experience.

“In order for the team to hit the Respawn quality bar, provide the team the time they need, and achieve the level of polish our fans deserve, we have added six crucial weeks to our release schedule – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will now launch globally on April 28th.”

With the game launching soon, we look at what to expect from the action RPG.

The Story

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order told the story of former Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis who is trying to conceal his past and Force abilities from the Imperial Inquisition that still hunts any Jedi survivors of Palpatine’s Order 66.

His adventure takes him to several different worlds, introduces new characters and features others who have appeared elsewhere in Star Wars lore.

The sequel is set five years after the events of its predecessor.

While plot details have been kept under wraps, it is expected to have a darker tone as Cal is pushed into “an increasingly desperate fight as the galaxy descends further into darkness”.

The story is also roughly concurrent with the timeline of the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi and given the prominence of The Inquisitors in both the series and the previous game, it is possible that there may be some degree of crossover.

What Platforms will it Release On?

When it releases on April 28, 2023, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

But unlike Fallen Order, the upcoming game will not be released on PS4 or Xbox One.

Game director Stig Asmussen explained why Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is not appearing on last-gen consoles.

He said: “[PS5 allows us] to create much larger maps, with more detail, greater density, broader enemy/NPC variety and overall fidelity.

“We didn’t want to break what we did in the first game. We wanted to evolve/enhance the experience.”

This makes sense because forcing the game to work on both last-gen and next-gen platforms would probably affect the quality of the one on more powerful hardware, thus affecting the overall gameplay.

Gameplay

The game will expand upon the challenging action-RPG combat of its predecessor while also showcasing Cal’s improved skills with a lightsaber.

Game director Stig Asmussen said that Respawn is “leveraging advanced technology” of the PS5 and Xbox Series X to “create more dynamic Jedi combat.”

He added: “Jedi: Survivor will expand on the series’ dynamic combat in new and innovative ways.

“In order to survive, Cal must learn new skills and grow his connection with the Force.”

This means players will see the introduction of new Force abilities and new lightsaber fighting styles as well as the ability to use a blaster.

Respawn has also promised that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will feature an expanded range of enemies and that players will need to utilise training to overcome opponents and solve mysteries contained on both “new planets and familiar frontiers in the Star Wars galaxy”.

Expect to see new skills, equipment and abilities to augment Cal’s range of fighting styles and traversal options.

In addition to melee combat, players will be able to explore large areas, providing the opportunity to find hidden rewards.

New Lightsaber Stances

One of the most noticeable additions in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the different combat stances.

There is a total of five different stances that Cal can use over the course of his journey.

From the beginning, Cal is a much more capable fighter, with three stances – Single-Blade, Double-Blade, and Dual-Blade.

Stig Asmussen told IGN: “We felt like it was important to give the player a greater arsenal right off the bat.

“So we had two fully realised stances in the first game, and we had a stance where you had a twin blade, which was something that we wanted to fully realise in the first game, but we basically ran out of time and it ended up becoming a special move.”

He went on to say that the moment when you get the dual lightsabers in Fallen Order was a great moment but it never got the focus that the developers wanted it to have.

Dual-Blade

The Single and Double-Bladed stances were in the first game. But for the Dual-Blade stance, the developers wanted to make it unique.

When utilising it, players will take more damage but can attack faster and has a wider array of unique combos, some of which require a pause before continuing the combo.

The Dual-Blade stance is also the only one where you can dodge or guard cancel the startup animations of an attack.

You can rely more on your reflexes and freely get out of the way when danger is incoming.

Senior Design Director Jason de Heras said:

“With Twin, we kind of let you ride the line between recklessness and aggression, but you pay for it if you’re making mistakes.”

Cross Guard

With the Cross Guard stance, Cal utilises a hilted lightsaber much like the one that Kylo Ren uses in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

It is a high-risk stance that deals the most damage. But it is also the slowest and has the least amount of range.

Jason de Heras says: “We wanted the player to feel really powerful, but that there’s also a big risk, probably even more so than Twin, I would say.

“You need to understand spacing because with that stance, we don’t artificially push you towards an enemy.”

“It’s kind of like a fighting game stance a little bit.”

Blaster Stance

This stance lets players wield a blaster as well as a lightsaber, allowing for enemies at range to be shot while striking down close-range enemies at the same time.

Stig Asmussen felt the stance would provide a cool story opportunity.

He said: “We thought it would be something that reflects the journey that Cal’s going through, to do something that’s unconventional, something that’s usually frowned upon for a Jedi and kind of putting it in this circumstance where he’s doing whatever it takes in the situation.

“That’s something that I think through conversations, we were able to really make that work in regards to combat.

“We wanted something that kind of had push and pull to it where like the way the Blaster is designed, it encourages you to use your saber in order to replenish your ammunition and your gun.

“It’s almost this rubber band that we’re encouraging the player to engage up close so that they can kind of make decisions when they’re far away as well.”

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor looks to continue Respawn’s trend of immersive Star Wars games, making the player feel like a Jedi.

So it is no wonder that it is one of the most anticipated video games of 2023.

With plot details still obscure, expect some twists when it releases on April 28, 2023.