Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor retains many of the gameplay mechanics from its predecessor and introduces new elements. In lightsaber combat, Cal Kestis has access to five different stances, each with unique features. He can use the single blade and double blade stances from the previous game, Fallen Order, and the special dual-wield blade attack is expanded into its own stance. The dual-wield stance was originally intended to be a playable stance in Fallen Order, but it was only included as a special attack due to time constraints.[2] A new stance has also been added that using a Kylo Ren-style crossguard lightsaber, which requires players to pay attention to timing windows to use effectively, particularly when blocking and parrying enemy attacks.[3] The second new stance is the blaster stance which allows the player to use a lightsaber and blaster combo allowing for both close and ranged attacks.[4] These different stances are designed to be used to combat specific types of enemies which Asmussen says will make the player "figure out what the best weapon of choice is".[5] A new Force stasis ability, similar to the one used by Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, allows the player to freeze enemies and blaster bolts in mid-air.[6]

The level design of Jedi: Survivor features larger, more expansive maps populated with more non-player characters compared to Fallen Order.[7][8] Lead level designer Martin Badowsky said that Respawn wanted Koboh to feature a dense central area with more open outskirts areas as the player explores outwards. In addition, the Mantis landing pads have been moved to more central locations on planets to provide easier access to the various regions.[9]

The planet Koboh has been described as a "home away from home" that the player will revisit throughout the game, and with each revisit, new pathways will open up. Design director Jeff Magers said that "By exploring the worlds, players will both make Cal more their own through customization" and many of the optional areas contain skills, upgrades and perks that will make Cal "more powerful and equipped to take on the challenges ahead".[9] By comparison, revisiting planets like Bogano in Fallen Order was done primarily in service of progressing the plot rather than for encouraging exploration. Exploration is made easier in Survivor with the addition of fast travel at meditation points where the player can be quickly transported to another meditation point on the planet that they have already discovered.[10] However, Respawn wanted to ensure that using fast travel was not necessary to ordinarily traverse the environment or to complete the story.[9] Fast travel was absent in Fallen Order and was a much-requested feature.[10]

Scattered throughout Koboh are seven High Republic-era Jedi Chambers for the player to discover, which have been compared to the Shrines from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.[11] Jedi Meditation Chambers feature puzzles and challenges for the player to complete and provide rewards such as perks or skill points for the player to upgrade their abilities.[12] Jedi Chambers become available once the player has rescued Zee from the Chamber of Duality.

Player cosmetic customization options have been greatly expanded in Survivor over the limited options available in Fallen Order.[13] Survivor allows the player to customize Cal's entire outfit,[14] along with his hairstyle and facial hair.[15] A white blade is a new color option in lightsaber customization.[16]

Cameron Monaghan

Debra Wilson

Daniel Roebuck

Monaghan, Wilson, and Roebuck reprise their roles as Cal Kestis, Cere Junda, and Greez Dritus respectively.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after the events of Fallen Order. The game follows Jedi Knight Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan), as he fights the Empire while searching for a place to hide from them. Cal's allies include: Jedi Master Cere Junda (Debra Wilson); former pilot of the Stinger Mantis Greez Dritus (Daniel Roebuck), BD-1 (Ben Burtt), a small droid; Merrin (Tina Ivlev), one of the last surviving members of the Nightsister clan of Dathomir; and Bode Akuna (Noshir Dalal), a Rebel fighting for the safety of his daughter Kata (Tajinae Turner). Other characters include Jedi Master Eno Cordova (Tony Amendola), BD-1's former owner, now helping Cere recover the Jedi Archive; and ZN-A4 (Kendal Rae), a droid from the High Republic Era formerly owned by Jedi Master Santari Khri (Tracy Ifeachor).

Cal fights many enemies during his journey, such as the Pau'an Senator Daho Sejan (T. J. Ramini); Imperial Commander Lank Denvik (Gideon Emery); the Ninth Sister (Misty Lee); who's trained by the Sith Lord Darth Vader (Scott Lawrence) as part of the Imperial Inquisitors program; High Republic Dark Jedi Dagan Gera (Cody Fern), who seeks to reach Tanalorr; and his right hand man: the Gen'Dai Rayvis (D. C. Douglas), the leader of the Bedlam Raiders. Temuera Morrison voices Boba Fett, having portrayed the character several times previously.[17][18]

Five years after destroying the Jedi holocron, Jedi Knight Cal Kestis has parted ways with Cere Junda, Greez Dritus and Merrin to continue his battle against the Empire as a resistance fighter working under Saw Gerrera. His latest mission has him teaming up with mercenary Bode Akuna to infiltrate the Imperial capital world of Coruscant and steal valuable military data from Senator Daho Sejan. The Ninth Sister arrives to confront Cal and kills Sejan in the process. Cal is able to retrieve the data and kill the Ninth Sister, but the rest of the infiltration team is killed, leaving Cal and Bode as the only survivors. Cal is disheartened to learn from the data that despite all of his efforts, the Empire has only become more powerful, expanding its reach farther through the galaxy.

With the Stinger Mantis damaged during his escape from Coruscant, Cal decides to seek out Greez on the remote planet of Koboh, where he finds the local population menaced by a criminal organization called the Bedlam Raiders, led by an armored Gen'dai named Rayvis. Greez directs him to a cave containing the parts needed to repair the Mantis. While exploring, Cal comes across ZN-A4 or "Zee", a droid that served the Jedi Order during the High Republic era. Zee gives Cal a High Republic tuner device and tells him she was ordered to activate a device called the Forest Array hundreds of years ago, but became trapped in the caves. Travelling to the Array, Cal senses Force visions of two High Republic Jedi, Dagan Gera and Santari Khri, who discovered the mythical planet of Tanalorr hidden behind the supposedly impassable Koboh Abyss nebula. Cal activates the Array and discovers Dagan suspended in a bacta tank. Cal frees Dagan in hopes of recruiting a fellow Jedi, but discovers that Dagan has fallen to the dark side of the Force, angry at the Jedi Order for having abandoned Tanalorr after everything he went through to find it. Dagan fights Cal before escaping with the help of Rayvis and the Bedlam Raiders.

Realizing the value of a planet inaccessible to the Empire, Cal, Bode, and Greez repair the Stinger Mantis and head for the planet Jedha, where Cere has been working with Merrin and a still-alive Eno Cordova to rebuild the Jedi Archives with the help of a resistance organization called the Hidden Path. Cere and Cordova use the Archives to research Koboh and Tanalorr. Cordova explains that Dagan was the first and only pilot who managed to find a path through the Koboh Abyss. Khri developed special compasses to navigate it, and the Republic then established a settlement and Jedi Temple on Tanalorr. However, a pirate syndicate known as the Nihil assaulted Tanalorr, causing the Republic to withdraw from the planet and destroy the compasses to keep them from using it. Dagan was incensed, believing that Tanalorr was his by right. Khri knew that Dagan would not let go of his obsession so she cut his arm off and trapped him in the bacta tank where Cal found him. However, Cordova notes that three compasses are still unaccounted for. Cal, Merrin, Bode, and Greeze decide to search for them; Bode wishes to find a refuge for his young daughter, while Merrin believes that Tanalorr could be used by the Hidden Path. During their journey, Cal and Merrin share a kiss.

Two compasses are unsalvageable, but after Cal defeats and kills Rayvis and Dagan, they discover one that Cordova is able to repair. Bode then steals it, killing Cordova in the process. Cal gives chase and finds out that Bode is not only a spy, but a former Jedi who has since fallen to the dark side. Cal tries to stop Bode from escaping but is knocked out. Meanwhile, the Empire assaults the Archives, and Cere is killed while holding off Darth Vader to buy time for the Hidden Path to escape. Furious at Bode's betrayal, Cal uses a locator beacon to track his location to the Nova Garon system. There, they discover an Imperial Security Bureau (ISB) base commanded by Lank Denvik and infiltrate it. Cal learns that Denvik had Bode infiltrate Cal's team on Coruscant, but was unaware that Bode had already told Vader how to find them on Jedha as Denvik was planning on taking credit for it. Cal eventually confronts Bode who reveals that he worked in intelligence for the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars, but disappeared when the Jedi Purge began. While in hiding, Bode married his wife and they had Kata. Bode's wife was killed by Imperial Inquisitors after she warned Bode they were coming for him. Eventually Bode made a deal with Denvik to work for him and the ISB in exchange for keeping him and his daughter hidden from Vader. Revealing that he lured Cal to Nova Garon in order to create a distraction, and hoping to be free of the ISB on Tanalorr, Bode escapes with Kata and the compass. Cal chooses to embrace his own inner darkness to escape the Imperial garrison, though he stops himself from succumbing fully by sparing Denvik after Merrin talks him down.

Cal recovers a recording left behind by Khri, explaining that the arrays on Koboh can be used to open an alternate path through the Koboh Abyss. After arriving on Tanalorr, despite Kata's pleas, Bode refuses to back down, forcing Cal and Merrin to fight him. After they defeat him, Cal once again attempts to convince Bode to redeem himself, only for Bode to attack Merrin in a desperate move to protect Kata, forcing Cal to kill him. Afterward, they hold a Jedi funeral for Cere, Cordova, and Bode to mourn their passing. With the planet now under their control, Cal, Merrin, and Greez decide to adopt Kata and plan to make contact with the Hidden Path, to relocate them to Tanalorr.

Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars is a tie-in novel written by Sam Maggs, released on March 7, 2023, which bridges the five year story gap between Fallen Order and Survivor.[32] The book's cover was revealed on December 1, 2022, featuring returning characters from Fallen Order including Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, Nightsister Merrin and BD-1. The Inquisitor Fifth Brother, who appeared in the TV series Star Wars Rebels and Obi-Wan Kenobi, was confirmed to appear.[33] A preview excerpt from the book was released on January 31, 2023 where Cal must infiltrate the secret headquarters of the Haxion Brood crime syndicate that featured in Fallen Order.[34]

It is the final Star Wars game published during Electronic Arts' exclusivity contract with Lucasfilm, which is set to expire later in the year.[35]

The PlayStation 5 version of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was the seventh bestselling retail game during its first week of release in Japan, with 16,742 physical copies being sold.[64] In the United Kingdom, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor launch sales were thirty percent higher than that of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.[65]