For many, the first part was a compelling recommendation, especially for fans of the Star Wars-Universe is a must. It was therefore foreseeable that with Star Wars: Jedi Survivor A sequel was to follow, which could hardly have been anticipated with more excitement. However, it must also be said that the first installment set a high standard, raising the question of whether the new one can live up to it. Let's try to answer this and a few other questions in our review. “Star Wars: Jedi Survivor” to answer.
First things first
Let me address one point right at the beginning. By far the biggest negative point, which you hear again and again, is... is the performanceHow I wish I could stand here as a lone fighter against these loud voices, but rarely is a position as hopeless as this one. The setting that promises visual quality doesn't prevent either massive pixelation or bugs with lighting and shadows. Instead, it ensures that you sometimes have to play at what feels like 3 FPS, and the camera rotation is so slow and clunky that it literally brought tears to my eyes.
Nevertheless, this is better than the so-called "performance mode," which offers a lot but no real performance. While the game does seem a bit faster and more responsive, it then... accompanied by enormous frame rate drops which usually reach their climax in the cutscenes. All of the above, it should be noted, is already after the first major patch to determine this, and thus completely unexcused and, to be precise, quite incomprehensible.
[UpdateThe performance mode issue has now been largely fixed.
What's this all about again?
Let's focus on the negatives, which, aside from the performance, are relatively thin and therefore quickly dealt with. The story isn't bad; in fact, it's quite interesting and well-written. However, it takes so long to get going that, especially in the first half, you don't really know what's going on. Emotions are therefore hard to evoke, and when certain deaths are briefly presented as extremely tragic, it only made me want to hold down the circle button to skip the drama. Later, however, as mentioned, the story picks up the pace and becomes a truly interesting tale that couldn't be more "Star Wars."
Beyond that, there are several other aspects that couldn't be more "Star Wars." Take the music, for example, which not only enhances the story immensely but also provides playful and captivating sounds during hours of exploration. These sounds sometimes reminded me so much of my childhood that they often brought a smile to my face. So, a huge compliment to the music, but really to the entire sound design of the game, which truly understands the soul of this legendary franchise and has implemented it far better than in the first installment.
They did many things right
We've now covered performance, story, graphics, and sound, leaving us with the main component of such a game: the gameplay. One striking feature that surprised me right from the start was that the game doesn't force you to begin from scratch and rebuild everything. Instead, you're already, let's say, a "pretty awesome guy" who's already quite skilled but still has a lot to learn. So, we begin with several Force abilities, multiple fighting styles, and a certain level of familiarity with the characters we encounter, giving us the feeling of witnessing genuine character development.
The battles, which can be customized to your liking with four different difficulty levels, are a lot of fun despite the limited enemy variety, simply because Cal's attacks have an incredibly engaging flow. These attacks offer a multitude of possibilities, especially as the game progresses, and even though the skill tree is a little too extensive for my taste, you'll find yourself almost addicted to unlocking more and more skills and becoming increasingly powerful.
The puzzles are fun, but most of them take place on the same two planets. While you explore a fairly linear environment everywhere else, you also have two enormous planets that strongly resemble an open world and, accordingly, contain an incredible amount to explore. What screams open world more than taming animals to travel faster from point A to point B? Whether it was the right approach to include so little environmental variety in favor of two huge areas is something everyone has to decide for themselves; personally, it didn't bother me much.
Addendum: Of the current patch for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor This fixes most of the issues mentioned in performance mode, which is why we have adjusted our final rating slightly upwards.
Conclusion Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
