Star Wars Jedi: Survivor had the potential to be a truly intriguing game, but the broader universe just doesn’t fit and feels forced. It’s also a shame that the tale only picks up steam near the finish, and technical difficulties ruin the pleasure. In one words, I’d characterize the Survivor as God of War Ragnarok in the Star Wars universe. Although the game builds on the previous installment’s foundations, Respawn Entertainment was definitely influenced by Santa Monica’s successes when it came to global construction. The impact isn’t overpowering, and I’m not certain that the Survivor required such a large boost in scale, much alone a massive quantity of artifacts. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order stuck with me as a more personal experience, with little semi-open areas. It was a breath of fresh air in the midst of a deluge of massive open worlds. The Survivor’s action takes place on five planets in all, the majority of which have a reasonably linear world layout, but there are also large places frequently visited by the hero, the exploration of which can take lengthy hours, during which the spell knew from “one” vanishes someplace. The environments are likewise considerably more densely filled with varied items, although this came at a significant cost.
To be clear, the optimization of the game on PlayStation 5 was a nightmare for the majority of the time I spent with it before releasing the review. The graphics “performance” option had little to do with performance, and if I were to guess the percentage of time the game reached 60 frames per second, it would be approximately 5% – the remainder is “by eye” around 40 frames per second. However, in an instant, we had access to the “day 0” patch, which really enhanced the game’s speed. However, it is far from ideal. Even with the update, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has the worst performance mode of any game I’ve played on the PlayStation 5. The creators had to make considerable graphics sacrifices, and the game looks terrible in this variation, and it still doesn’t run at 60 frames per second in all larger locales or when there are a lot of features and opponents nearby. Furthermore, there is frequent smearing, poor quality shadows, a significant decrease in details, a fuzzy backdrop, and such weak anti-aliasing that several objects flicker on the screen. When approaching a new area, textures and shadows are loaded in front of the player’s eyes, and hopping between a greater level of detail 20 meters in front of the hero is also on the agenda. Even at 60 FPS, it wouldn’t be a six experience, let alone when the game lacks smoothness. In higher resolution level, at 30 frames per second, the game looks significantly better and even pretty amazing in spots, particularly in real-time cutscenes. The droids appear virtually lifelike in several moments. However, performance mode implies that the game is just incapable of handling such huge and intricate areas. Given the technical issues and the fact that the majority of the content in this open world leads to insignificant collectibles, I believe the scaling up from the previous installment was not a natural process, but was motivated by a desire to “break in” to current trends and an attempt to extend the game.
The areas of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor that resemble one function best. Tight, semi-open, with dialogues and sequences to broaden the pleasure. Every time I had to cross large areas, I yearned for the old-school single-player experience. Planet Koboh is the game’s largest locale, and we visit it at least several times during the plot. It has a very large core space, as well as multiple routes radiating from it, which branch into even more. They are full with opponents, collectibles, including hills, ledges, running walls, and other climbing aspects. There are several discoveries. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has an excessive quantity of trinkets. A modest cluster of a dozen or so interconnecting routes can conceal up to 50 valuables. These include cosmetic goods as well as other currencies that may be used to purchase further cosmetic things from merchants. There are few truly helpful collectibles that enhance the health or Force bar or grant new skills. It appears to me that the choice to create the globe larger was made first, then they filled its branches with collectibles, and last it was devised that some of them would function as cash in stores. The collectibles are tied to the ability to customize Cal, his weaponry, and BD-1, the attractive droid-companion who has returned from the “one.” New clothes, coats, and even haircuts and beards, as well as weapons and “skins” for BD-1, are earned through exploring, which includes discovering several chests hidden around the globe or collecting coins to spend in the aforementioned businesses. All of these cosmetic presents are meticulously crafted, but they are a bit too tiny a reward to excite the urge to seek for treasures – all the more so because the exploring itself becomes tedious rather soon, because the landscape is too barren and dull in parts. Some of the places are so big that the feature of riding various animals has been included to make it simpler to move about in open areas. Fortunately, there is also a rapid transportation system here.
The problem is salvaged by the inventors’ somewhat distinct charms. This is the name of the side missions in Star Wars Jedi: The Survivor’s universe, which are accessible by chatting to various NPCs scattered about the locales. Although these missions lack an engaging narrative and appear to be put on top of it, they may be delightfully challenging. Furthermore, they do not lead the player by the hand and you must discover the beginning point yourself, implying a relatively vague clue on the map. Other alternative activities are available, and their focal point is the previously mentioned canteen, to which we may draw additional regulars by discovering them in the game environment. Cal can also scour the world for various fish species that end up in the canteen tank, as well as seeds that may be placed on the saloon’s roof and grow into flora with the aid of a friendly fisherman. The garden system is quite intricate, and the aquarium allows you to enjoy the water species you capture, but I believe most gamers will just glance at these features once.
In addition, there will be many mini-bosses, legendary opponents, and instructions for the so-called in the globe. Hunters are another sort of difficult enemy whose defeat allows you to gain unique goods. In a nutshell, there’s a lot to do in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, but there’s another issue. I must warn you: you will become disoriented while playing this game. The globe is extremely convoluted due to the complexity of the network of pathways and corridors that stretch vertically and horizontally and also interpenetrate, and the map reflects this. I can’t tell you how many times I opened the map every few seconds to find the appropriate way. Trying to decipher the map is similar to a puzzle minigame in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Unfortunately, there is no minimap, however it is difficult to think how it might operate in such a vertically stretched globe. It’s like attempting to make a platformer minimap.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is entertaining, but that’s all there is to it. The creators lost the appeal of the last chapter by attempting to apply “fashionable” solutions developed in the only proper method. Instead of investing on a careful evolution of the model, Respawn Entertainment focused on components that the game did not require: a massive environment with a clear mark on optimization, or tiny things like an aquarium and a garden. Still, it’s worth playing since the combat and climbing are still enjoyable, and the plot may be surprising.