Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (28th April 2023)

[Happenstance]

Definitely seeing more framerate issues now I'm hitting more open areas.

[Happenstance]

 

[Happenstance]

 

[Dcubed]

 

Sub 720p resolution on PS5 when in performance mode (and even in that mode it can still drop as low as roughly 35FPS).

This game is...

Edited April 30, 2023 by Dcubed

[Happenstance]

 

[Happenstance]

First crash for me just now. Right after a very long platforming section with no opportunity to save 🤬

[Happenstance]

Another crash, same level but this time I at least manage to get to a save point. Still gonna have to redo some enemy waves though. Think that'll be it for now for me until the next patch hits.

[Happenstance]

Well that's Jedi Survivor completed. Very good game (if a bit buggy 😄) and an enjoyable story. I ended up finding the raider enemies a bit bland and lacking in character but the main characters and antagonists were good. 

[Julius]

I finished the game on Tuesday night after ~30 hours, been chipping away at it to chase the Platinum since, which - unless anything comes up - I'll probably have cleaned up by the end of the weekend. 

Overall, I really enjoyed it! So let's throw a healthy smattering of the positives out there.

The story hooked me much, much earlier than Fallen Order's (which didn't really grab me until the end of it's second act, everything from the end of Dathomir onwards), even if I feel it did struggle with a bit of a slow start – it didn't really grab me until probably towards the end of the first act? I love some of the character work they've done in this game, there are some great emotional and epic beats throughout, a slew of new and fun characters (shout-out to Turgle and Pili, the former is silly and the latter delivered an emotional punch I didn't expect in a completely missable and throwaway line in the post-game), and it felt so good to *FINALLY* see and hear some stuff about the High Republic in this game. I thought that the antagonists in this game were probably some of the best we've had in Star Wars video games (which, uh, I'll admit is not a remarkably high bar to rise above tbf), and Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton once again killed it with the game's soundtrack, building on the solid musical foundation they built in 2019 with Fallen Order. Force Tears range from a bit of fun to much more challenging, spent a good bit of time on one or two of the platforming ones and still got plenty to go (didn't come across many during my blind playthrough of the story, mind you), and this game has one of my favourite boss fights of the last few years outside of a From Software game. Things like Fast Travel, the map being vastly improved, unlockable map upgrades (to show collectibles), and other QoL improvements just make the game a much smoother ride than Fallen Order, which I'll now admit I have zero plans to return to outside of crit pathing the main story, because it will seriously be that hard to go back. 

The customisation, from Cal to BD-1 to your lightsaber, is awesome...even if it was a bit weird that we can't customise the Mantis like we could in FO (maybe in some future patch?). I'm always a big fan of customisation when it's done right (not too many options, but enough to make something individually unique to show off to your friends), and for me, Survivor more than delivered on helping me build a beautiful lightsaber (which I'll put in the spoiler tag below because I want to show it off in a few colours but don't want to clog the page, but there aren't any spoilers; also, I'll throw a very funny clip from when I was testing out a blade colour for lighting in-game): 

Spoiler

This is what I went with during the story:

Here it is with some other pretty blade colours:

Here's the Mantis ditching me while I tested the colour out in-game (I went with cyan in the end like I did in Fallen Order, looks much better than the standard blue imo, though I also swapped between that and yellow, my favourite blade colour):

And I changed the white on the hilt out for silver after completing the story just because that seems right:

That all being said, for me - and as someone who occasionally dabbles with 100%'ing games, and was always going to go for the Platinum in this game - there is a bit of that bloat to the game that I was worried about going into it after seeing what happened to Ragnarök last year (and for all intents and purposes, the two are structured *very* similarly). I'm deep into seeking things out now for the Plat, and I'm still randomly running into entirely new segments of the map on one planet that I hadn't even come close to finding before, despite the planet being at 80% completion when I wrapped up the story (I had two planets at 100% and the rest were around 80% when I finished the story, doing most of what I could find my first time going through each planet). 

Now, I'm all for having a bunch of content in a game - especially with next-gen exclusive tax taken into consideration - but what makes Survivor a bit of a pain at times, for me, is that these wide open areas (and heck, even some of the more linear ones) suffer from some abysmal level design. I'm going to say it again: the places are pretty, the game is fun, but the level design - outside of the occasional isolated puzzle - sucks.

What do I mean? Well, we talk often about how some games are brilliant at naturally pointing you in the right direction for whatever they have planned next for you...and Survivor does the complete opposite of that. Following the natural path will get you lost more than once, and I found myself time and time again referring to the map and going "oh, damn, we took a wrong turn and I'm now about a mile west of where I should be". 

I also turned off prompts for interactive environmental cues (think L2 being prompted when there's something you can Force Pull), which is something I also did in Fallen Order, and this was a huge mistake - there's a reason that's on by default, and that's because the game is incredibly confusing and frustrating to get through without those prompts (which completely shatters the movie-like immersion it goes for). I ended up turning it back on but there were still a few occasions after that where I found myself staring at a dead end and my map and going "okay, game, where do you want me?" 

Someone might be sitting there reading this and be going "really, Julius, is that such a big issue?", to which I say "yes, absolutely, you son of a gundark", because this game for me commits one of the cardinal sins of a Metroidvania-style game in that it goes COMPLETELY overboard with the amount of teasing it does for areas you'll gain access to once you unlock abilities later in the game. I'm not talking a handful of times here, oh no, I'm talking tens of - if not a hundred or so - instances on my way to completing the game's story where I found myself staring at something I couldn't interact with *yet*, and knew full well I would be later. There is no subtlety to it like you'd expect from games that have helped pushed that style of exploration forwards - Metroid or the modern From Software games, and heck even God of War is much more subtle compared to this - and it almost always ended with me giving the game an eye roll and letting out a sigh. 

These are issues I had in Fallen Order on occasion but it wasn't as glaring as it was here, likely down to that game's linearity being such a key part of its design. I'll also slip in a mention here about the traversal jank (not new complaints by any means), from how floaty Cal is when platforming, to not really being able to accurately gauge how far you can reach with Cal (probably down to said floatiness), to being able to get to some areas in ways you absolutely weren't supposed to. It reminds me a lot of PS2 and early PS3 games, in both the positive and negative lights. 

On top of all of that, the game's combat is just...it feels incredibly unresponsive and restrictive, in that once you start an animation you're almost always locked into carrying it out, which inevitably leads to some stormtrooper giving you a whack and staggering you mid-animation which you can't dodge independently of your attack animation. There are times where it works and the combat feels fluid, but this is normally during 1v1 encounters where you can focus on just parrying, blocking, and attacking in one direction, whereas against groups - which are the majority of battles in the game - you are going to find yourself locked into an animation more than once that only they can stop. It's seriously bizarre. Maybe it's heightened for me a bit playing Bloodborne recently, which has some of the best and incredibly fluid moment-to-moment combat I've experienced in a game, but this isn't a new issue, as it was one of my gripes with Fallen Order, too. This game - once again, like Fallen Order - takes SO MUCH inspiration from modern From Software titles, and yet no-one thought to include i-frame dodges, despite some boss battles CLEARLY calling for it? Again, it's just really bizarre: of all the games where you'd think you wouldn't be locked into an animation and have more options to dodge and weave during an animation, or animation cancel, it'd be a game where you're playing as an acrobatic space wizard wielding a glowstick he can recall at any time, but alas. 

Lastly, in terms of complaints, something that has to be mentioned: yeah, I don't understand why this game only got a six week delay, it should've been delayed until June, if not September, because it's been pretty broken at launch. I experienced a crash five minutes in, I experienced crashes during cutscenes, I experienced crashes after completing puzzles (needing to do them again), I experienced crashes during key boss fights - I probably had ten or so crashes so far throughout my time with the game, and I'm sure there'll be a few more before that Platinum trophy pops. There's also some egregious pop-in at times, the frame rate can drop to the teens (and, to make it worse, is very much reproducible), and I experienced screen tearing for the first time in a newly released AAA title in about half a decade with this game, if not longer? Certainly the first time I've experienced it on my PS5, and in a next-gen (current, now, I guess?) exclusive at that. It's a shame, because I think this game does everything outside of some of its gameplay fundamentals (lack of truly fluid combat and level design) incredibly well, and so once it's polished and up to scratch - hopefully by the end of the year - it'll be worthy of running in a way that the game deserves. 

Because it does deserve it. I probably sound a bit scathing in some of my criticisms, but again, they're not new, with a lot of them being carryovers from Fallen Order, perhaps more pronounced by more open level structures than the linear ones in FO. Also, without spoilers, it's honestly just so much easier to deep dive into criticisms than it is highlight points of praise, which is why when I talk about games for the first time, I seem like I have a lot more negative to say than I do positive. 

There's a lot to love here as a Star Wars fan, or as someone looking for just a dumb fun time with a game that's more akin to a blockbuster, but I have to say - and I say this as someone who feels Respawn is worthy of praise for this game, but doesn't care much in general for game critic scores in any serious manner - I do find myself scratching my head a bit looking at some of the scores this game got, and some of the justifications given, in light of the game's launch experience, and also just how it functions as a game vs as a spectacle? 

To end on a positive note, anyways, for me the bugs are made a little more acceptable - on PS5, can't speak to the PC experience - by it pretty easily being one of the most visually gorgeous multi-platform games delivered by a third party publisher that I've seen in a while. This game's lighting, particle effects and sound design deserve special praise, and it's the first third party game for me this gen where it feels like I'm looking at something next-gen. 

You just can't deny those views. 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Julius

[Happenstance]

One thing to mention on the combat is I'm assuming being locked into animations is intentional as one of the upgrades for the double light sabers is to be able to cancel out of an animation at any time using block.

[Julius]

13 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

One thing to mention on the combat is I'm assuming being locked into animations is intentional as one of the upgrades for the double light sabers is to be able to cancel out of an animation at any time using block.

I mean, whether it's intentional or not, for me the combat suffers for it, in terms the type of combat the game seems to be trying to achieve. It just makes what you want - and what the game seems to want - to be fluid and responsive combat feel, well, unresponsive and clunky 

It makes it a strange thing to have tied to an upgrade in just one of the stances, but even stranger is that I feel like that makes it clear that the intention to have that available here was an afterthought ("what would make a cool upgrade to fill out the skill tree?") rather than an initial design focus ("we should have an upgrade to animation cancel that you have to earn"). 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Julius

[Happenstance]

To be honest it never really bothered me as I'm not a person who goes deep enough into combat to start cancelling animations etc and for those that do, it was available.

[Julius]

1 minute ago, Happenstance said:

To be honest it never really bothered me as I'm not a person who goes deep enough into combat to start cancelling animations

Maybe it's just something I've got used to in other games, but then again, it was an issue I had with Fallen Order when I first played it  and that was before I played some of the games I point to as examples of why I'd want it (which, again, are also the same games that the Jedi games are pretty obviously drawing inspiration from)

3 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

and for those that do, it was available.

I mean...in only one of the five stances, sure 

 

Something I forgot to mention, another problem for me that sprouts from the inability to animation cancel is that you end up getting staggered, but being staggered doesn't immediately cancel Cal being in an animated state, and so trying to dodge after being staggered and knocked out of an attack animation feels delayed (because it is) or, sometimes, doesn't work altogether (I encountered a few instances where I would repeatedly try to dodge or jump away from a flurry of attacks after being staggered out of my own attack animation, and find myself just watching Cal decide he wants to be hit a few more times )

 

[Julius]

Bit of a PSA I'll stick in here in case anyone runs into this issue with the game in the future, especially while trying to cleaning up trophies / achievements. Seems like such a haphazard bug that it seems like exactly the sort of thing that's going to get missed out in patches. 

The problem is that occasionally triggers (specifically R1 and R2?) seem to randomly stop functioning. First noticed it in combat when trying to use some of the new Force abilities, but it's become much more apparent trying to complete puzzles (using R1 and another button to interact with the environment, or using R2 to Force push an interactive puzzle element after Force pulling it and dragging it around a bit) where they simply don't work. 

I've tested multiple controllers and the triggers in the main PS menu and some other games, so I can safely say: it's Survivor, not the controllers (unfortunately). 

The workaround I've been using is to simply save at a Meditation Point, exit the game, fully close the app, and open it back up. It's happened a few times now and is a bit of a hassle, but yeah, seemed worth mentioning in case anyone here in the future encounters the issue and think it'll stop their progress 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Julius

[Ronnie]

UK sales data. These days, it's great to have a third party single player game selling well.

 

[Julius]

This feels pretty big: Stig Asmussen (director of both Star Wars Jedi titles) is leaving EA. 

Quote

Video-game director Stig Asmussen, who led efforts to rebuild Electronic Arts Inc.'s Star Wars game franchise, is leaving the company.

Asmussen, a leader at the EA subsidiary Respawn, oversaw two hit games. The first, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, was released in 2019 to critical and commercial success and reached 20 million players. The sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, came out in April and has topped sales charts.

[...]

"After careful thought and consideration, Stig Asmussen has decided to leave Respawn to pursue other adventures, and we wish him the best of luck," an EA spokesperson said in a statement. "Veteran Respawn leaders will be stepping up to guide the team as they continue their work on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor."

The games were widely seen as a triumphant comeback after a shaky decade for Star Wars video games under EA. Their success helped turn Respawn into one of EA's top studios and even led the company to pull back on a mandate to add multiplayer to other games

In April, Asmussen spoke to Bloomberg News about the company's remote work policies and the new game's relatively speedy development time. He said in March that he always saw the sci-fi series as a trilogy.

A shame he won't get the chance to close out the trilogy, but I feel like the Jedi games pretty much singlehandedly got EA thinking about making some decent single player games again, and it kind of sounds like he's off to start his own studio – who wouldn't be throwing money at this man after the success of Fallen Order and Survivor? 

So that's a job well done from me, and good luck to him for whatever he's got planned next! 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Julius

[EEVILMURRAY]

Finished this recently. I'm not sure if it was the fast travel aspect, which was much appreciated, but the game felt a bit shorter and smaller because of the fewer worlds. But the story much better, although the enemy rotation felt weird, the final boss was not the baddies you had throughout (spoiler tags don't seem to be working so I'll be a lil vague), the betrayal of the final boss was predictable, but when it showed you what he was... did not expect that, but the ending seemed to be of just being too proud to admit they're wrong with the ultimate motive to change.

Combat was about as bad as before, but I do love the extra stances, my one of choice was single blade and blaster. but for the bigger/harder enemies I cranked the difficulty down, because I know how clunky and unforgiving it was.

Recommend though!

[Julius]

The PS4 and Xbox One version of the game has finally been announced for release on 17th September:

Still can't believe they're attempting this, already anticipating the Digital Foundry breakdown!

[Hero-of-Time]

 

[Hero-of-Time]

 

 

[Julius]

2 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

 

 

Was really curious about how this would turn out, so this is fantastic - if a bit perplexing - to read! Hope Digital Foundry give it a proper look so that it gets the recognition it seemingly deserves