Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review (PS5)

Hi everyone! If you have any questions, feel free to copy me in.

@LiamCroft Is the map still the awful hologram? I quit Jedi Order because planet navigation was so horrible

Oh wow nice! Glad to hear this is so good. Might have to take the plunge

@LiamCroft has the platforming gotten any better? I thought that was easily the weakest aspect of the original, especially sliding areas.

@jmac1686 It's still presented in that hologram style, but it's a much better map this time that's easier to read.

@Odium The platforming is really good, I enjoyed it a lot. Super satisfying.

One thing that puts me off is that the protag looks like a massive tw*t. Is he actually a likable character or is he as annoying as he looks? He looks like he should be a jock in a bad slasher movie.

@LiamCroft whats the graphical quality setting ,I presume 30fps at 4k any ray tracing etc ,and hows the map is it less confusing.

My wallet…it’s going to suffer. I’m still playing Octopath Traveler 2 and have yet to dive into Resident Evil 4 remake. And the pixel remasters.

I still think Titanfall 2’s campaign is one of the greatest of all time, with some positively incredible and original levels and set pieces. I’m curious to see if Respawn has surpassed that with this game.

@Matroska 😂 hes actually ok well he was in the first ,im gonna give him a massive beard in the sequel and maybe change that early 90s hairdo,shame you can't make him less ginger 😁

As a fan of all Star Wars media, the great previous entry including, I'm buying it today, to start the preload ASAP!! No brainer!!

@Matroska Wow, poor Cameron Monaghan. It’s literally like a 1 for 1 scan of his face.

N.i.c.e. good to know star wars jedi survivor got a really good score.a 9 is amazing.star war jedi fallen order is a excellent game also.word up son

Im ready for this I love the first game.

I love it when games let you build-up/restore a home base like Monteriggioni in AC2.

Without venturing into spoiler territory - is the main storyline satisfying?

Oh baby yes. Its already downloaded now ready for launch and wait is killing me.

@Matroska So you're just insulting Cameron Monaghan then?

@Matroska I hope you don't do this to people irl, it's extremely rude to judge a book by its cover.

An uncharted Soulslike metroidvania, that doesn't have the failings of each individual genre (those being either too linear, too convoluted, too much backtracking), almost sounds like a perfect formula. That is if you like Star wars.

@nessisonett Right? Cameron's a good looking guy, and I found his char in the first one to be extremely rogue-ish and likeable.

@yohn777 I've always found that saying silly because you're meant to judge a literal book by its cover - that's the point of it. LotR will have certain covers that, say, Clockwork Orange wouldn't have. Anyway, the fact I'm asking what the character is actually like means I'm looking for input, not just assuming the character is as annoying as he looks. Anyway, the look of a character is important - how would you feel if Dante looked like James Corden? Or if Nathan Drake looked like Snape. It wouldn't really work, would it?

yehay I’ll get this. Better get crackin on that dl ..

Unless it's something best left unsaid, I'm curious to know if there are more or less planets to explore than in Fallen Order?

@LiamCroft You mentioned that the game was basically technically broken prior to the patch they released. Did the patch seemingly make the gameplay visuals so lackluster or was it already "inconsistent, “ visually?

Also curious about the combat mechanics, and if the controlling of cal/ platforming is any better, along with details on level design compared to the first(which I found a weak point) , size of the world's.

Is much of the game play fairly the same from the last one?

Is the only motivation for exploring still only cosmetics aside from skill points?

@LiamCroft
Have they added the ability to fast travel between meditation points?

@LiamCroft super concerning about the technical issues present that you mentioned prior to the patch. What would you have rated this title had that patch not happened?

Did you have to. Play through most of the title with those issues? Where does performance stand now in the 30 fps mode and how consistent are those dips in the performance mode?

I ONLY ask because I'm reading many reviewed citing still lingering issues and surprisingly little difference from the first title visually.

@KundaliniRising333 I played the vast majority with the tech issues present, yes. Before the patch, the 30fps Quality Mode was actually smoother than the Performance Mode. It was a bit mad.

I haven't tested the 30fps mode since the patch, but while there are still small dips in the 60fps Performance Mode, it's so much better now. A more than acceptable way to play the game.

@LiamCroft awesome thanks.

@Matroska he's been the most likable protagonist in a western game I've played in a long while. He looked fine in Fallen Order, but in Survivor he kinda looks dumb

Loved the first one and I'm glad this one does not disappoint.
Thanks for a good overview Liam, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

@Matroska Physical character details don't really impact the personality of characters, period. They can, but it's not really even close to the most important thing when you actually learn the details of somebody. Clearly with what people who've played DMC know about the game, if Dante looked like James Corden, obviously that would clash with lots of the games elements. Just radically judging people how they look without really knowing anything else is just kinda crappy, that's my story & I'm stickin' to it. If you think somebody is an a**hole just because they're old or have a beard or a tattoo or something, you're just stereotyping them.

Great review Liam! There have been some amazing games already this year across all systems with more to come. I'll be dropping some big hints around the house for this for a Father's day pressie

Good review. I enjoyed the first one despite its flaws. I am OK about the lack of adaptive trigger use, as I really dislike them, especially in action games where they just get in the way. Look forward to trying this after Ragnarok

Maybe I'll buy this down the line when it's cheaper.

@R1spam Thank you, hope you get a copy for yourself!

Awesome! I'll definitely be picking this up then. Really enjoyed the first game and this looks to have improved on it in every way 😁

@yohn777 "if Dante looked like James Corden" 🤣 perish the thought!

will play it next year on EAplay for £0.79

I don't really buy new games at full price anymore but I'm super tempted by this one.

Looking forward to the 0/10 crew coming out for this one with the inevitable "What score would you give" poll.

The "first" God of War was way better than the sequel (which yes, was bigger), so will see how this compares tomorrow

Amazing, thanks for the review. Preloaded it last night. So ready!

Going from Burning Shores to Jedi Survivor is simply amazing. Back to back good times 👍

@LiamCroft An easier to read map was all I wanted to know before being all in. Thanks for the great review!

@Matroska I actually agree with you and know exactly what you mean. I'm not a huge fan, he does come off a bit of a know it all sort of person but he's alright. I didn't mind him when I played it, but I didn't really care for him either.

@Westernwolf4 Thank you, I hope you enjoy it just as much as I have 😊

Looks like performance mode is 1440P x 60FPS which is fine, matches with the PS5 version of Fallen Order. I’ve just gone from playing Death Stranding to Fallen Order and it’s a bit blurry when you first start playing but fine after a couple of minutes. I guess Survivor is going to be a similar experience. Got a 2TB WD850N coming tomorrow, so by the time it’s finished downloading, I should have finished Fallen Order again 😂

@Matroska I actually kind of wish that Cal was a bit of a tw*t honestly. That way he'd actually have some character.

Obviously I'd prefer him to be likeable over being annoying, but the way he is now (Or how he was in Fallen Order) is completely devoid of any personality. He's yet another boring modern video game protagonist in the likes of Aloy or Jin Sakai. Just nothing to him, really. Just a wet blanket of a character that won't offend anyone but no one will love either

Sweet! Thanks for a great review. I better rush through Burning Shoes so I can play this on launch day.

@Matroska talk about judging a book by its cover.... cal kestis is wholesome, warm and an awesome person.

@Enigk why?

@Matroska I'm gonna be honest with you since no one else is... he is annoying as he looks. And he DOES look annoying. I was so annoyed by him in the first game.

EDIT: Being annoying is kind of a required trait of a Star Wars protagonist, though.

@mrraditch there's always an edge lord in the comments section XD

@LiamCroft Thanks! Placed my order this afternoon!

Is backtracking as annoying as it was in the first game?

Is the game 30 fps aspiring to 60 fps at times or truly 60 fps? Can you elect not to download 4k texture bloat and get 1080p for smaller files and an overall better game?

@Tr3mm0r Fingers crossed they have addressed that. I really enjoyed the first game but going back through a whole entire area for something you missed was beyond tedious.

@LordBakemono It gives me great pleasure knowing that these people have achieved everything they ever wanted in life so can now just spend their days giving games the worst rating.

Considering the significance of the release isn't this review a little on the short side? The game is bigger and better, but why isn't there more to say about it then? As someone that hasnt played the previous game, I'm sorry to say I really didn't find this review very helpful at all!

Always great to see a success story. Nice review Liam.

@Konks I think the review states the performance mode is pretty much a locked 60fps at 1440p (post day-1 patch).

I enjoyed the first game for what it was (I wasn’t as blown away by it as many others seemed to be), but thought the combat was pretty lackluster. It sounds like they didn’t do a whole lot to improve that aspect of it, so I’m not really chomping at the bit to play this one. That being said, my backlog is so full, I won’t be playing it anytime soon, anyway. I’ll pick it up during a future sale, for sure, though,

@LiamCroft does using the lightsaber still feel like hitting enemies with a whiffle bat? The trailers made it look like there were more dismemberments, etc. I get that a realistic lightsaber would be almost game-breaking, but I’ve always hated how nerfed they feel in video games. There has to be a happy medium, somewhere.

@LiamCroft several other reviews mentioned that the framerate issues are quite significant. Why would that be?

@RubyCarbuncle yeah it's been pretty insane to see the state of Pc releases the last few years. It has felt like over half of them have been a mess. It's a bummer to see an investment feel lessened by whatever issues developers are having with optimization for current hardware.

I just don't understand this trend of release now to finish later with patches at the expense of the players.

I would even consider wisting for the console versions as well, or at least until detailed tech analysis are done. Because this one is definitely releasing unpolished.

The official EA star wars account released a pre-release statement already acknowledging bugs and performance issues that they will address in the "coming weeks," post launch with patches.
Effectively admitting they are knowingly releasing this one in a subpar technical state.

@RubyCarbuncle That is why last year i finally decided to not upgrade my gaming PC anymore and moved to PS5. Nowadays i use my PC for browsing and media. Games only on console. I am pretty happy with that especially that PS5 has great gamepad and i can save a lot of money with not buying expensive PC parts (also in time i got rid off the habit of geting to settings and checking FPS in every game freshly installed lol). This year i'll be getting an iMac and try to sell my PC. If not then i'll just let the PC to die natural death.

@Matroska Nothing jock-like to Cameron Monaghan. If anything he seems the opposite, whatever that means.

@RubyCarbuncle Yeah, I have a PC with a 3060ti and a PS5 but from what I've gathered it's not playing well on even newer video cards, so it's apparently extremely optimized for consoles and not even worth trying on my PC. So, I went the PS5 route.

Any real control over the lightsabre or is it just more button-mashing?

Didn't expect it to be that good. From what I played so far, it's a masterpiece.
And my god, this is a new benchmark title. It looks so damn stunning every second. Thanks to VRR it runs fluid even in resolution mode.

Much better than the first one, the fallen order was a crap port, it was better in Xbox... but Survivor is great!, I'm playing at resolution mode and I've got 60 fps and perhaps more, not tearing, no shuttering, no issues; as for the haptics and rumbling , it's brilliant, much better in all aspects than fallen order. Mind you, I recommend that you own a VRR, ALL, HDMI 2.1 capable telly, since it uses VRR and else. I'm playing with my DualSense Edge, just epic.

Visually the game is not good. Blurred faces and choppiness. I am not impressed at all and no way I’d play the 60fps as the graphics drop more

@Tchunga

Do you skip through cut scenes or play on mute or something?

You have taken 2 of the most fleshed-out characters in the last few years and basically said that they may as well have been a piece of wood for the personality they may have.

Jin Sakia is a man with regrets about his failures, and his losses, and is conflicted in his role in the war against an enemy that is stronger than him.

Aloy is an outcast who works through the prejudice against her to save the same people who cast her out....TWICE

Maybe modern video games just aren't for you...and thats ok...

@grapetrap I wouldn't necessarily go that far, I think a piece of wood has far more personality than either Jin or Aloy.

Lol jokes aside, I'm glad at least someone was able to get something from them, I certainly wasn't. It's hard for me to when I remember what an actual good protagonist can be like. Cal, Jin, and Aloy have absolutely nothing on protags like Leon Kennedy, Commander Shepard, or even Nathan Drake. At the end of the day we're all entitled to our own opinions, but in my mind there is absolutely no comparison

@Tchunga

I haven't played RE4 so can't speak to Leon.

Sure, yes, Commander Shepard is a very good protagonist only because they are fairly black slate. Of course, they have motivations for narrative reasons, but you can, for the most part, play them however you wish.

As for Nathan Drake, He may have a great personality and is as charming as any roguish ner do well, but it all flies in the face of the ludonarrative dissonance of him literally killing so many people (albeit baddies) that he would and should be an emotional wreck.

Compare this to Jin who does have conflicting thoughts about what he is doing and the killing he is taking part in. He feels guilt over the nontraditional ways he needs to fight in order to beat this new enemy. There are also the regrets from his past when he was a youth that tear at him in very real and life-altering ways. We go through an emotional journey with Jin that most of us who have had to make profound compromises or have made bad choices can relate to.

Aloy has been shunned for her entire and now she rejects anyone getting close to her or letting them help her. She uses this defense mechanism for the loss of her youth and the fear they will die and leave her as Rost did. Then She is then thrown into a journey that she didn't ask for, but like the woman from the past she is connected to across 1000 years, she finds a way to overcome her fear and regret to do things she would not have thought possible.

Both of these characters have emotional stories that take them to places both physically and emotionally where they can work on these parts of themselves eventually making them better people.

Anyway, yes you are entitled to believe what you like but please don't dismiss these characters as not being good just because you cannot relate to the emotional growth they both experienced.

@grapetrap I'm not trying to be dismissive. The reason I don't connect with Jin or Aloy is not from a lack of trying. I never go into games, or any other media for that matter not wanting to like the protagonist. As I played both Ghost of Tsushima and Horzion Zero Dawn to completion, as well as the sequel, Forbidden West. But during that entire run time nothing stood out to me as likeable or memorable about either of those characters. And like I said, it's certainly not from a lack trying

Sure, they both have various traumas that they've gone through, like you said. But trauma and character traits aren't necessarily one in the same. For example, bad things happen to lead characters all the time, Just look at Nathan Drake. By the end of Uncharted 4 the man has absolutely gone through the wringer. Between his relationship with Elena and him finding out about his long lost brother, it's a lot for one man to go through. But just because he's been through some sh*t is not the reason I like him. I like him because he's a suave, charismatic, swashbuckling adventurer. To put it more simply, I like his personality. Not his trauma.

What you've described about Jin and Aloy, are all things that they've been through. Not defining traits or characteristics. Being an outcast isn't a personality, it's a trauma. And trauma isn't enough for me to grapple onto a character, I need something a bit more. I think what Jin is going through is a bit closer to what I'm referring to. Being torn between two conflicting life choices is definitely compelling stuff, but even after rolling credits I still feel like what happens to Jin is far more interesting than anything he's said or done himself. That's cool if it's good enough for you, but it's not enough for me.

And as far as the ludonarrative dissonance is concerned, you'd be wrong in thinking it doesn't also apply to Jin or Aloy. Jin and Aloy kill hundreds, if not thousands of people by the end of their respective games. I know Uncharted is the popular series to slap the ol' ludo narrative title onto, but this criticism applies to most video games. It's not exclusively an Uncharted thing

@aSmilingMan I would recommend trying Jedi: Fallen Order first since that's the first game in this story, and is standalone from the Star Wars movies. Even though it's an excellent game, I don't think I could recommend Survivor at full price for someone with no exposure to the series. If you enjoy Fallen Order, though, this is even better!

I find it mental that this game is getting positive reviews with the glaring obvious technical issues it's having. In its current state even if the gameplay and story were amazing (which they're not so far), this game should be sitting at around a 6

@ActionPanther yup... It's absurd.

I get the fan boys and girls unable to see beyond their biases, but the game sites, publications, and some you tubers,.... Just seem to have ignored or glossed over the issues and given the game glowing reviews. Frankly not even considering warning their viewers in favor of whatever motivations compelled their decision to do so.

Now you have these same outlets releasing their obligatory "performance reviews," post launch, either completely glossing over the actual problems and pretending like this game is just "Demanding, " rather than technically unpolished and released knowing it was by EA and Respawn or at least talking about the issues now to some extent.

So be warned: the game is terrible in PC
On PS5/Xbsx:
The game runs poorly in performance mode with sub 50 avg framerate (will drop way lower at times), stutters, cut scene problems, and frequent screen tearing. VRR does not work to fix this because it's not been supported in the game. The visuals are also very downgraded in this mode.

If you can't wait, choose the 30 fps mode merely for a more stable framerate and better visuals.

For once a game is getting ps5 metacritic user scores that aren't mere review bombing, but legitimate outcry for this continued trend of knowingly releasing a full price AAA when not in a satisfactory technical state at launch.

I keep hearing discourse about the pc version being a mess. The ps5 version is also a mess, same issues and I can confirm this.

No excuse for this, and frankly Push Square, your review made light of the technical issues, and was too generous in it's score. Reviews are there to guard against this, otherwise what's the point.

In my opinion review sites and publishers are at fault here, and they should both look at their processes.

I'm not someone who generally cares but these issues are so bad, I can get behind the review bombing.

@Barrymore I agree. I've been watching the various tech analysis videos on Youtube, and the frame rate issues are anything but "minor".

It's catastrophically broken. The performance mode falls well below the viable VRR range on an XSX, let alone the more limited window on a PS5 , and VRR doesn't even work as the screen tears!

The image is quite literally broken and split apart! Can you imagine how movie reviewers would react if the image was literally shearing apart?!

When publishing a review before a game is launched, the review is advising consumers whether to buy the game on launch and at the full price.

It's not a "speculative" review, rating a version of the game that may or may not exist in a month, two months or even 6 months time, if indeed ever gets fixed.

@SgtTruth well put. 100% agree

Having played all weekend I think the "minor framerate issues" quote is misleading tbh.

The framerate dips are pretty horrendous in my opinion. Very disappointing to see this kind of performance for a game of this size.

I really hope patches can fix it but I have a feeling its not going to get sorted properly soon.

As others have mentioned, the frame dips are anything but minor (down to 15fps in resolution mode, sub 30 in performance mode) - and I'd take issue with the 'inconsistent visuals' too. They're consistently a blurred, horrible mess. Even the screen shots on this page are really poor.

PS isn't the only site to sing this game's praises but reviews need to hold unfinished games to account, else what's the point? They are becoming as untrustworthy as the developers.

@Tchunga

I appreciate your perspective and the civility of the conversation. I now understand your perspective and can appreciate the nuance that you have assigned to the characters that you love. My only issue at first was how dismissive you were of any value either Jin or Aloy had at all. I can now see that it was hyperbole in order to make your point about modern video game protagonists stronger.

@get2sammyb They do a recap of the story when you load up this game for the first time.

@grapetrap I appreciate your appreciation but technically it's not really hyperbole if I meant what I said, and in this case I absolutely did mean what I said. Unless of course, you're implying that I'm being disingenuous. Which I certainly don't think you are, making such accusations is clearly beneath either one of us

@Tchunga

I only meant it seemed like you outright hated Jin and Aloy in your original post only to explain that you did see the redeeming qualities in the way they were written in another post. Certainly, we have all used different tones in our comment writing to express ideas quickly. I have used hyperbole on a number of occasions just to get a conversation started. No offense was meant.