Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review: An immense sequel that aims high and hits

Game details

2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was one of the rare Star Wars games to capture the thrills and the spirit of adventure that come with being a Jedi exploring the galaxy. With AAA production flair, the game blended a very '90s Star Wars expanded universe setup with the scale of a modern action-adventure game to great effect. The sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor significantly ups its predecessor's scale, continuing Cal Kestis' story while expanding the suite of Jedi powers and worlds to explore.

In many ways, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the best of both worlds for classic and modern Star Wars. By blending the focus on a traditional galaxy-hopping adventure with the sprawling scope of a AAA adventure game, the follow-up to Fallen Order succeeds in offering a compelling and dense universe to explore. Although this sequel has some rough edges that can dull its main story, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a confident sequel that shows off the best of what a Star Wars game can aspire to be.

A Jedi knight story

As the second story of a Star Wars trilogy, Survivor keeps with the franchise's tradition of taking the characters and plot into darker territory. Picking up five years after the end of Fallen Order, Cal Kestis is now a full-fledged rebel and Jedi knight who has become one of the galaxy's most wanted. After a botched mission on Coruscant, Cal escapes to the frontier planet Koboh, leading to a new adventure where he unearths lost artifacts from the early days of the Jedi Order, builds new alliances, and reunites with old friends as he continues his fight against the Empire.

Survivor focuses on Cal Kestis' growth as a Jedi knight and the bonds he forms--and breaks--with the characters he encounters. The game's story presents a generally introspective look at what a Jedi must do to survive in the galaxy's darkest times.

That comes through in the way Cal bends the rules of how a Jedi is expected to operate, an interesting story angle that plays out as plot threads unravel throughout the game. Though Cal still comes off as a bit of a plain protagonist during interactions with the more interesting and personable characters in the game, he possesses an endearing and likable sense of hope through it all.

What I enjoyed most about the sequel's expanded scope is how it pulls plot threads and lore from different eras of Star Wars to bolster Cal's story. This isn't to say that this sequel is another round of "greatest hits" that many other franchise games tend to be. Rather, it uses common details from the prequel and original trilogy eras to add context to Cal's story.

Survivor's plot also leans heavily into lore from The High Republic, a recent series of books focused on the golden age of the Jedi Order. This forms an intriguing core part of the main story, with the highly principled age of the High Republic contrasting nicely with the morally gray era of the Galactic Civil War.