4.5/5 ★ – stayk's review of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

A (mostly) elegant sequel, for a more civilized age. The Force is strong with this sequel, even if its performance isn’t. Jedi Survivor improves upon what I enjoyed about Fallen Order and addresses what I didn’t with some much-desired quality-of-life changes. Navigation and combat are much more fluid and natural compared to the game's predecessor, with no more slow and clunky clambering up walls or inconsistent combat inputs. Combining that with the five different combat stances along with a wider range of enemies gave me the Jedi combat I was wanting. Story-wise I’ve loved seeing characters old and new (and some in-between) but have been especially happy seeing Cal with a more fleshed-out personality and journey. Starting off with all the previous skills helps Cal feel like a more seasoned Jedi Knight, but that’s not to say he can do it all. You still unlock skills, this time from flashbacks with Cere, a nice parallel to the old Jarro Tepal memories. The addition of Fast Travel was another big improvement, especially when you consider all of the side content available. From taking on bounties and solving “Breath of the Wild” like Jedi shrines to working on a rooftop garden and cantina fish tank, I always feel like there is plenty to keep me busy. The customization has blown past its previous limits, allowing for hairstyles, multiple clothing pieces, and materials for yourself, your saber, and BD. These are either collected through exploration, or through vendor tokens you’ll pick up along the way. These aren’t the performance stats you’re looking for in a next-gen game though. I’m playing on PS5 with performance mode, and have had some occasional screen tearing, one crash in about 18 hours of playtime, and some abnormally long load screenings and texture pop in when entering the main hub on Koboh. I find the lack of working AAA launches disturbing, but that’s a conversation for another time. A game being unplayable at launch shouldn’t be ignored but with the minimal issues I’ve had, and the vast improvements over what came before, Jedi Survivor stands tall as my current favorite title of 2023 and the best Star Wars game I’ve played since KOTOR.