Stepping back into the world ofStar Wars Jedi: Survivorit becomes immediately apparent that developer Respawn Entertainment wasn’t looking to reinvent the wheel. More importantly, the developers didn’t want to put players back at square one, strippinghero Cal Kestisof all the Jedi powers that he honed inFallen Order. In nearly every way,Star Wars Jedi: Survivoris a smart evolution of its predecessor - refining the mechanics, deepening the lore, and ensuring fans are in for another great time in a galaxy far, far away.
At a hands-on preview event forStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, we were given about 4 hours to explore one of the new planets in the game, called Koboh. While a lot of what was on display felt similar toFallen Order, each component has been expanded to ensure the game doesn’t retread familiar territory. Koboh has the look and feel of the locales seen inFallen Order, but it is far larger and more diverse. The singular environmental aesthetic of the previous game has been traded for a space that is at times barren, then lush, and then almost magical in design.
On top of that, thedesign of Kobohis far less linear. There is a critical path for players looking to move the main story mission along, but there are also branching areas that sometimes lead to secrets and serve as short detours, as well as larger paths that can feel like fully fleshed out “levels.” Respawn will even support some of that meandering with side quests.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivordoes feature the planet-jumping adventure that fans will expect, but it was clear that by choosing Koboh, Respawn wanted to show it has taken the framework ofFallen Orderand blown it out. Where in the first game the paths could sometimes fork for a brief moment, Koboh genuinely had detours that players could lose an hour following. And yes, the map is much better this time around – it’s a lot easier to get one’s bearings, despite having a familiar aesthetic.
Similar to the world design,combat inStar Wars Jedi: Survivorexpands onFallen Orderin all the best ways. Our preview took place about an hour in, but Cal jumps into combat with the full suite of Jedi powers that he developed in the first game. He can pull in targets for a quick lightsaber thrust, push stronger targets to keep them at bay, or slow a group (this ability now charges like an ultimate) before slicing and dicing them all. It gets more complex as players unlock new nodes on the skill tree - which has been greatly expanded for the sequel - but even at this early stage, Cal feels appropriately powerful.
New forJedi: Survivoris the ability to confuse targets, which makes them fight on Cal’s side for a brief time. Any that playedFallen Orderon the harder difficulties know how crucial any edge in combat can be, and the confusion ability is a huge boon. Of course, it doesn’t work on everyone, like robots.
Lightsaber combat has also been expanded to include stances, which is another way of saying lightsaber forms like dual wield, double-bladed, or traditional single blade. Players can have up to two different stances equipped, but there appear to be at least five available in the game. Each stance has its own animations, attack combos, abilities, and strengths and weaknesses in combat, so learning them is going to be key to survival. For example, thedual-wield lightsaber stancecan use some force meter to automatically parry enemy attacks while the double-bladed is great for deflecting blaster fire.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s combat is just as satisfying as it ever was, and the stances add fun ways to make everything feel flashier. The combat is still focused on timing, where parries and blocks are essential for success, but there is a lot more choice available this time around. And while we only sampled it for a brief time, make no mistake: the Jedi Master and Jedi Grandmaster difficulties will ensure players use every tool at their disposal.
Customization was a small part ofFallen Orderand has been greatly expanded forStar Wars Jedi: Survivor.It’s all purely cosmetic from what we can tell, but Cal is more customizable in terms of pieces of his clothing, hair style, and facial hair; BD-1 has its own customization options; and the lightsaber customization is back, allowing for users to change the color of their saber very early on.
Puzzles and traversal are still key components to the experience as well, but again, nothing felt like retreading old ground.Star Wars Jedi: Survivorbuilds on the ideas seen inFallen Orderto great effect, allowing players to jump right into using force powers to solve problems. While we didn’t experience a ton of the puzzling thatStar Wars Jedi: Survivorpresumably has on offer, what was included in the preview was cleverly designed and the environments were very cool.
The preview did include a good amount of cutscenes and story bits, but it is better to save that for when players get their time with the game at the end of this month. What’s worth saying is that the writing and the performances are just as sharp as they were in the first game and the adventure inStar Wars Jedi: Survivorpromises to be equally intriguing. Cameron Monaghan also feels a lot more comfortable in the role of Cal Kestis, which helps make his journey more compelling.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderwas a surprise hit in 2019because it embodiedStar Warsin ways that feel obvious in retrospect but were novel at the time. The combination of a souls-like formula with a character action adventure fits so well into this universe that as long as Respawn can build on each iteration it is sure to be a continued success.
And that’s really what the biggest takeaway from playingStar Wars Jedi: Survivoris: the game builds on its predecessor in all the ways that fans can expect. It has the difficulty there for the hardcore, theStar Wars adventure for the sci-fi fans, expanded combat to keep players on their toes, and a bigger world that is just begging to be explored. Like Han Solo stepping onto the Millennium Falcon inEpisode 7, jumping back intoStar Wars Jedi: Survivorfeels like returning home.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivorreleases July 10, 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
