With the upcoming release of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on April 28, there are plenty of changes that will bring a fresh and vibrant feel to the game, without outright changing many of the qualities that players enjoyed from Fallen Order. From updated characters and new locations to ridable mounts and grappling hooks, here are some of the major confirmed changes coming to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Characters
While there will have been 5 years between the events of the first and second entries, the main characters from the first game will be returning for Jedi: Survivor, with a few design changes. Given the skip in time between games, it feels natural that the characters would change up their style, like Cal Kestis trimming his hair and growing out his beard, while Cere Junda looks to have opted for a full shave.
Along with the characters from the first game, Jedi: Survivor will also be bringing with it some new characters such as Bode Akuna, who appears to be an ally that will fight alongside Cal and the rest of the crew of the Mantis. The trailers have even shown a mysterious man in a bacta tank, but the game’s launch will bring more understanding as to where this character’s allegiances will lie.
The enemies will also be getting a refresh as a result of the jump in time, so it can be expected we’ll see some updated Imperial technology to supplement the new, main antagonists seen in the trailers. In contrast, IGN’s 9-minute gameplay preview showed Cal fighting Separatist Battle Droids, so while they might not be new to the Empire, they are new to this series. The previews also shows another instance of Respawn taking notes from its audience, in the form of another long-requested, somewhat morbid feature added to the game: dismemberment. When Cal is shown attacking with his lightsaber, arms and legs are clearly being severed, which will certainly serve to ground the protagonist in the world around him.
Setting
Given that Jedi: Survivor takes place 5 years after Fallen Order, there should be a reasonable buffer between reintroducing the characters from the first game and continuing the story of the new one. That story will see Cal making his way across planets old and new with a more diverse, expansive way to explore.
The IGN gameplay preview showed Cal making his way through the landscape of the planet Koboh, a new location in the franchise filled with mountains, caves and gorges to fight through. The story trailer released on March 20 shows the Mantis coming out of hyperspace approaching Coruscant, so while it is not clear if the city-planet will be playable territory, the heart of the galaxy will be playing some role in Cal’s tale.
While Fallen Order opted for a more linear style of level design, Jedi: Survivor will open up the playable areas on each planet to allow more exploration and depth. This will provide more diversity throughout each individual planet, giving fans the opportunity to explore and get to know the environments in a way they haven’t been able to prior.
Traversal
Among the changes to the setting and characters in the game, Jedi: Survivor will be refreshing the traversal mechanics in both subtle and drastic ways. Ideally, this will improve the overall experience of traveling throughout the galaxy and bring more variety to the gameplay experience.
Between the trailers and the gameplay that has been released so far, there will definitely be some technical changes to general movement, such as being able to cover greater distances more smoothly than in the first game. In the story trailer, Cal is shown double-jumping off a wall before chaining that into force-dash onto yet another wall to clear a gap. If you still need to go farther, there will also be a new grappling hook to use to span massive gaps that are too wide to jump or wall-run over.
While the technical aspects of traversal are certainly getting an update, Respawn is adding a new, more personal way of getting around. In Fallen Order, Cal mainly meets the local fauna with hostility, but in Jedi: Survivor he will be able to tame and ride some of the creatures in the environment. If the distance is still too far to take your mount, there will also be a fast-travel option to get around quickly.
While there is no set list of mounts so far, the trailers have shown that Cal will be able to interact with creatures in ways ranging from gliding under flying beasts like Link in Breath of the Wild to riding them like a Tauntaun. Either way, this new feature will surely make for much speedier traversal around the many planets in the galaxy far, far away.
Combat
While the traversal mechanics are getting a healthy revamp, the combat mechanics don’t look like they’re being neglected in Jedi: Survivor either. Players will now be able to dual-wield their lightsabers unlike in Fallen Order, a welcome change from the double- and single-bladed options of the first game.
Not only will there be a dual-wield option, but Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be reworking the combat system to give Cal five different stances he can fight with: dual-wield, double-bladed, single-bladed, cross-guard and blaster. These stances will all provide varying play styles that can be used in different situations like crowd control or one-on-one combat. Think of Ghost of Tsushima or Nioh’s stance systems, and you’ve got the right idea.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is looking to be a massive update from Fallen Order, with more satisfying and immersive environments, interactive and dynamic creatures and a compelling story that perfectly encapsulates the franchise. For now, those are the main confirmed changes coming to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
