Jedi: Survivor

[Skinypupy]

I think I figured out last night one of the main reasons I'm not enjoying this very much.

As I was Jedi parkouring myself through yet another cave (whilst trying to use that absolutely terrible map to find where the hell I'm supposed to go), I stopped for a second to try and remember why I was doing it. Was a chasing a Macguffin? Was I looking for someone? Was I trying to find something? Am I searching for a big bad? Absolutely no idea. I came up completely blank.

I'm about 4 hours in, and the story and characters are all so dull, so generic, and so entirely forgettable that I honestly could not remember for the life of me what the overall premise was. It's simply running from one marker to the next with no investment whatsoever in what's going on. (FWIW, that's not entirely unique to this sequel. I thought Cal was an incredibly boring protagonist in the first game as well, but the overall story kept me pretty engaged.)

That may just be me and the gaming mood I'm in at the moment, but I just have no connection to this at all. I want to, but it's all just so...meh.

Guess this just isn't for me.

[naednek]

I think I figured out last night one of the main reasons I'm not enjoying this very much.

As I was Jedi parkouring myself through yet another cave (whilst trying to use that absolutely terrible map to find where the hell I'm supposed to go), I stopped for a second to try and remember why I was doing it. Was a chasing a Macguffin? Was I looking for someone? Was I trying to find something? Am I searching for a big bad? Absolutely no idea. I came up completely blank.

I'm about 4 hours in, and the story and characters are all so dull, so generic, and so entirely forgettable that I honestly could not remember for the life of me what the overall premise was. It's simply running from one marker to the next with no investment whatsoever in what's going on. (FWIW, that's not entirely unique to this sequel. I thought Cal was an incredibly boring protagonist in the first game as well, but the overall story kept me pretty engaged.)

That may just be me and the gaming mood I'm in at the moment, but I just have no connection to this at all. I want to, but it's all just so...meh.

Guess this just isn't for me.

Disc or digital

[coopasonic]

I agree that the story is pretty weak, particularly in the beginning. There comes a turning point where you have an idea what is going and there is more meaning. Cal's struggle is largely in his head so it isn't really in your face as much.

[pr0ner]

Pacing wasn't exactly the first game's strong point, either.

[Scraper]

I just finished my playthrough of this and I thought it was excellent throughout. I have no idea what people are talking about when they say the "jumping" parts are too hard in this game. If anything the jumping and grabbing is a ton more forgiving than in similar games. My only real complaint with the game is that it is a tad too easy on the default difficulty. There were literally only 3 boss fights that I died on. One was the first Rancor, one was the final boss, and the other is spoilerific, but it had every right to be difficult.

I thought the exploration was excellent in the game, each area is literally packed with things to find. The storyline was also top notch, I saw the surprise twist coming from a mile away but the way they pulled off the entire last act was so good that I didn't care.

All in all Jedi Survivor is a huge step up from the first game and it's definitely in the Game of Year discussion for me. Which I can't believe I'm saying about an EA game.

[Moliere]

As I was Jedi parkouring myself through yet another cave (whilst trying to use that absolutely terrible map to find where the hell I'm supposed to go), I stopped for a second to try and remember why I was doing it. Was a chasing a Macguffin? Was I looking for someone? Was I trying to find something? Am I searching for a big bad? Absolutely no idea. I came up completely blank.

Jedi Parkour
Using the map and trying to figure out my destination
Meditation saves

These are the deal breakers I ran into yesterday playing this game. Time to return and try a different winter sale game.

[Moliere]

Glad I returned it since it is now available as part of Xbox Game Pass. Might have to try it again.

[hepcat]

Yeah, glad I held off on buying it, even during sales. Once again, Gamepass pays off.

[Skinypupy]

I finished Final Fantasy V on Saturday and needed to start something new. I was originally thinking about jumping into FO4 (since I just finished the show), but kept reading about how awful the "next gen" update was and how many things it broke. I was in the mood for a Star Wars game, and while I've bounced off it hard twice now, I figured I'd give Jedi Survivor one more shot. Funny thing happened when on this third try...I love it! Played it for nearly 10 hours yesterday, up through one of the most thrilling action sequences I've ever seen in a SW game (the mining drill escape). I think the difference comes down to two things:

1. I made the conscious decision to stick as closely to the main storyline as I could and not get sidetracked by every little side path or POI on the map. Playing mostly straight through the story made a HUGE difference in how invested I was in the world, characters, and events. In my previous tries, I would play a bit of story, then wander off and get lost in huge caverns or side areas for a couple hours, then try to jump back into the story while not really remembering what I was doing. That disjointed-ness just took me completely out of the game, and I'm finding that sticking to the main path makes a world of difference. I still think Cal is an incredibly boring protagonist, but the story that is being told around him is a really interesting one.

2. I don't know if QOL improvements have been patched in over the past year or if my brain was just better at seeing them, but I found myself FAR less frustrated with the puzzle elements this time around. In my two previous tries, I would get stuck for 20, 30, 45 minutes trying to find the small scuff of wall I was supposed to run up or the tiny crack I needed to squeeze through to progress. This time, the longest I got stuck on a puzzle was about 15 minutes (didn't see the box I was supposed to force pull out of the wall). Makes such a huge difference when I'm spending my time actually playing the game and not randomly searching for the tiny doo-dad blending into the scenery that I'm supposed to interact with to move things forward. I do think some of the puzzles are unnecessarily obtuse (BD-1's "grinder" that throws out bits of energy conducive stone is pretty lame and took a while to figure out), but at least I've been able to progress. I turned on the "Navigation Points" (can't remember if those were there in the original or if they've been added) and the map is far easier to navigate now. I can actually find where I'm going instead of getting more confused when I open it.

I'm even finding myself enjoying some of the more complex parkour bits, which I wasn't really expecting. The action chains required are starting to reach the upper limits of my gaming skills (jump, then wall run, then double jump, then grapple, then air dash through a green barrier which resets your dash, then dash again, then double jump, then wall run, then...), but I've been able to move forward without too much headache so far.

In both previous attempts at this game, I got sidetracked wandering around and didn't even get off the first planet before quitting in frustration or boredom. This time around, I'm well into Chapter 3 and thoroughly enjoying myself.

Third time's the charm, I guess.

[Scraper]

Skinnypuppy, do yourself a favor and read all of the notes that you come across. They really help to flesh out the story.

[Skinypupy]

Skinnypuppy, do yourself a favor and read all of the notes that you come across. They really help to flesh out the story.

Yep, definitely been doing that.

I really like that they're all very quick (2-3 sentences) and not long info dumps.

[Skinypupy]

Got to what I assume is the big plot twist tonight.

Spoiler:

Bode’s betrayal

I kinda saw it coming but am bummed about it, as I really liked that character.

Still thoroughly enjoying it now that I’m mostly mainlining the story. My only gripe is that several of the levels have spots where it’s very easy to accidentally backtrack and you have to end up playing through chunks of the level again. Nothing that’s a dealbreaker, but it can be annoying when you took a left instead of a right and have to replay 10 minutes of tricky platforming again. The new skills are pretty cool, and I especially like the balloons that let you change direction.

[Scraper]

Got to what I assume is the big plot twist tonight.

Spoiler:

Bode’s betrayal

I kinda saw it coming but am bummed about it, as I really liked that character.

Still thoroughly enjoying it now that I’m mostly mainlining the story. My only gripe is that several of the levels have spots where it’s very easy to accidentally backtrack and you have to end up playing through chunks of the level again. Nothing that’s a dealbreaker, but it can be annoying when you took a left instead of a right and have to replay 10 minutes of tricky platforming again. The new skills are pretty cool, and I especially like the balloons that let you change direction.

I agree on that spoiler, I saw it coming too, but it still sucked.

[Scraper]

Also, the hardest fight in the game (IMHO) is close to that point in the story, so hopefully you can get past it and finish the game.

[Skinypupy]

Also, the hardest fight in the game (IMHO) is close to that point in the story, so hopefully you can get past it and finish the game.

I'm playing on Story mode. All the feeling of being a Jedi badass, none of the controller-throwing frustration.

If I can't get past it on that level, there's truly no hope for me.

[Skinypupy]

And finished. There's still a ton of stuff I could do if I wanted to run around collecting doo-dads and knick-knacks for mostly cosmetic rewards...but I don't.

I would like to formally retract all the bad things I said about this game. When sticking to the main story and not getting sidetracked by the loads of optional "stuff", this is a really fantastic game that tells a really good Star Wars story. The digital acting is excellent throughout, the characters and locales are fantastic, it does a great job instilling a sense of urgency and tension, there are some awesome setpieces, and I felt like a truly powerful Jedi at all times. Although the story ends on sort of a cliffhanger, it resolved enough that it left me really wanting to see what was next rather than being frustrated they cut it off when they did.

I honestly think I just wasn't in the right mood the first couple times I tried it. I'd probably give it an A- overall, with slight dings from some overly long platforming sections, some confusing location maps, and the risk of getting too sidetracked. I ended up enjoying it more than the first, which is certainly not what I was expecting. Very glad I gave it a third look.

[Skinypupy]

Also, the hardest fight in the game (IMHO) is close to that point in the story, so hopefully you can get past it and finish the game.

I'm guessing

Spoiler:

Vader?

If so, that fight was awesome.

[Scraper]

Also, the hardest fight in the game (IMHO) is close to that point in the story, so hopefully you can get past it and finish the game.

I'm guessing

Spoiler:

Vader?

If so, that fight was awesome.

Yes, on the standard difficulty setting that fight is challenging, as well it should be. I think I had to attempt it at least 10 times, which was unusual for me in that game as most of the bosses took me one try, two at most.

[JCC]

I really need to get this at some point, as I enjoyed the first game (with some frustration along the way). Does this game maintain the Metriodvania elements which were a light (and my favorite) part of the first game?

[Scraper]

I really need to get this at some point, as I enjoyed the first game (with some frustration along the way). Does this game maintain the Metriodvania elements which were a light (and my favorite) part of the first game?

Yes it does, it's a very similar game, there's just more of it and in my opinion the storyline in the second one is better. Survivor really is a better game all around than the first one. Also, you can play it via EA Play on both the Xbox and PS5, so a year or even a month subscription is the cheaper option than buying the game outright.