Judging merely from the 9+ hours of gameplay I’ve played so far, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a worthy sequel to its already fantastic Fallen Order original and expands the game in every way from accessibility, lightsaber & Force combat options, vastly increased open worlds to explore, and a companion combat system that never gets in your way.

If you don’t read anything past this point, let this be your TLDR recommendation of the highest order to get the game immediately when it debut April 28 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

RATING: 9 out of 10 bogling stars

This review will make no effort to spoil or even hint at what you experience in terms of story but here is what you CAN get:

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the sequel to 2019’s blockbuster hit Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and follows the continuing epic adventures of Jedi Knight Cal Kestis as he enlists the help of old friends and new companions in his fight against the growing threat of the Empire across the galaxy.   

And yes, the old gang from the first game do come back as their evolved journey and relationship with Cal Kestis are the heart of what makes this sequel’s core heartbeat strong.

You’ll also meet plenty of new characters (friends and foes), with one particular highlight to your combat companion Bode Akuna, who from the get go, drips major romance potential. It’s not even bromance, it’s straight up romance how actor Noshir Dalal delivers his lines with oozing charisma and charm.

While the story has been extremely intriguing and the voice acting is superb (a separate follow-up article will follow that will highlight the incredible global majority VO/mocap actors, courtesy of Emily Schweber Casting), you will easily keep yourself quite occupied with the open world aspects. In fact, it’s so easy that I’ve been spending most of my gameplay time doing random side quests and hunting random artifacts along the way. But the vast majority of it? It’s immersing myself heavily into the countless opponents I encountered that were CHALLENGING even in the easier game difficulty settings.

Survivor is not merciless though. In its difficulty options, players will have access to four distinct difficulties that allow them to set the level of challenge they want from enemies.

• Story Mode — For those who wish to enjoy Cal and crew’s adventure with little resistance from foes. Parry times are generous and damage dealt by enemies minimal.
• Jedi Padawan — More of a challenge than Story Mode but gentler than Jedi Knight. Parry times are still somewhat generous though enemies deal a fair amount more damage than they do in Story Mode
• Jedi Knight — A challenging adventure. Players will need to hone their reflexes to overcome enemies.
• Jedi Master — Offers even more of a challenge than Jedi Knight, with enemy aggressiveness dialed up to keep you on your toes.
• Jedi Grand Master — The most difficult option. Parry windows are small and enemies are merciless. This difficulty setting will test your mettle.

You can choose the difficulty level that will make your gameplay experience most enjoyable and take comfort in the knowledge that there is no difference in the in-game rewards earned. What’s great is that you can switch between modes during gameplay so long as you are not in combat. 

Alongside difficulty options, the game also features many gameplay modifiers that can be adjusted at nearly any point in the game. These options include:

• Camera options for auto-targeting
• Button mash options
• Hold/Pull Toggles
• Navigation Assist (including audio ping)

Slow Mode: This unique toggle allows players to slow down the action of the world in order to ease the challenge of both combat and platforming. The game’s Senior Director of Development Jonas Lundqvist explains, “It primarily started out as a feature that we thought would be helpful in combat, but quickly realized that it could be beneficial for anything that had a timing component. It opens up some of our platforming to be more accessible, allows for different reaction times and  helps make the game generally more accessible to a larger audience.”

I can go on and on about the gorgeous worlds (you’ll definitely want to take the time to enjoy the scenery and the many idle conversations from foes and friends), the sheer giddy fun it is timing your parries and taking down your foes, and everything in between but I leave that up to you to explore on your own. We’ll be back in a few backs I highlight the global majority VO + mocap actors and their characters that make up this amazing world!