PREVIEW – Star Wars Jedi: Survivor continues the story of Cal Kestis as he battles across the galaxy to keep the Jedi way alive. As the Inquisitors hunt Cal, he grows stronger every day in the Force and embarks on a new journey to rebel against the Empire and the Sith.

EA announced the Star Wars Jedi sequel Fallen Order at Star Wars Celebration 2022. Aside from a short teaser trailer, not much was shown, but we were given a release window to linger over. Surprisingly, it doesn’t look like we’ll have to wait that long, which means we’ll hopefully see gameplay and a full trailer soon.

We’ve put together this guide to keep you updated with all the official Star Wars Jedi: Survivor information released so far. In the teaser, we get to see a new character suspended in a Bacta tank, Cal’s duel with a hooded Sith, and plenty of marching stormtrooper soldiers. As further details are released, we’ll update this page.

‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’ release date

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be released in 2023. That’ll be roughly four years since Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was released, meaning the sequel has been in development for a while. It will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. We don’t have a full release date yet, but luckily we could see the game next year if all goes to plan. We’ll update this section as soon as we hear more about the release date for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

‘Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’ trailer

So far, we’ve only seen one trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. This is a pre-rendered cinematic trailer without gameplay. We see the Inquisitors continuing their hunt for the remaining Jedi, as well as an older Cal discovering a character floating in a Bacta tank. A hooded Sith is seen battling Cal.

What platforms will Star Wars Jedi: Survivor be released for?

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will only be released on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It will not be released on older generation consoles like PS4 and Xbox One.

In an interview with Star Wars.com, the game’s director Stig Asmussen spoke to the Respawn team about the possibilities of current-gen consoles.

“So I think the biggest thing is ray tracing or lighting. It allows us to continuously do real-time lighting with a fidelity far beyond anything we’ve ever done before. Because it’s real-time, we can see the changes as we refine the light-shadow elements – essentially instantaneously. That means we have more time to polish the graphics. It means we can test more and get better results that make the game look more cinematic.”

Hasbro has revealed new action figures for ‘STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR’ including Cal Kestis’ new design and new characters such as a KX security droid and a B-1 battle droid. #SDCC pic.twitter.com/1yjBWT0JXq

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 23, 2022

Cal Kestis’ look and new weapon

Hasbro has unveiled some new figures based on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, with the figure of Cal Kestis of particular interest to fans. Those who look closely at the Cal Kestis figure will notice that he now appears to be sporting a short beard, giving him an older look compared to how he appeared in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. A more important detail, however, may be the laser pistol Kestis wears on his hip.

In Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal Kestis’ combat was limited to using lightsabers and the Force. However, the figure of Cal Kestis, based on his appearance in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, shows him armed with a blaster. While this may be nonsensical, it appears that Kestis will have a laser pistol at his disposal in the new game, which could add an interesting new gameplay element to the combat.

When does Star Wars Jedi: Survivor take place?

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. The first game was set five years after Revenge of the Sith, so the sequel takes place ten years after the fall of the Jedi. This means that we are nine years before A New Hope, and the story runs parallel to the events of the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series. We don’t know much about this period before Luke Skywalker’s training, except that the Jedi are in hiding, and the few remaining humans are on the run from Darth Vader’s inquisitors.

We actually saw Vader at the end of Fallen Order so that he may return in this game. Regardless, based on the trailer, it looks like other Sith are hunting Cal.

Gameplay

Many players have fallen in love with the gameplay mechanics of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It was a reimagining of the old Star Wars games, borrowing some mechanics from the Dark Souls series. But then Dark Souls and now Elden Ring basically wrote the book on how to make an exciting action/adventure RPG.

Asmussen talked about three central “pillars” that worked for Jedi: Fallen Order: combat, exploration, and story. With the chance to “not fix what isn’t broken,” players can expect the same gameplay mechanics in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

If Respawn could borrow one more tiny thing from Dark Souls, it would be warping between spawn points. In Fallen Order, players could rest at spawn points to regain health and restart the world, but they can’t teleport, so they all have to go back the way they came, often through a one-way maze of enemies, hazards and puzzles.

Multiplayer mode:

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order prided itself as a single-player, story-driven game. There’s no reason to expect Survivor to stray from that path. Those who want to duel other players with lightsabers should stick with Star Wars Battlefront II.

For multiplayer to work, it needs to fit into the overall story. As it stands, the storyline of the Star Wars Jedi franchise does not support multiplayer, and chances are it won’t.

DLC?

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order never received any DLC that would have furthered the overall storyline. Instead, players received a May 4, 2020 update that added some exciting mechanics to the game, with new challenges and opportunities. The lack of Fallen Order DLC worried some players and critics, while the base game was just enough for others. So will Star Wars Jedi: Survivor have DLC after launch? We cannot say for sure. Perhaps we can expect a special update again on May 4, 2023.

Pre-order?

There is currently no pre-order for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and there won’t be until closer to release. Regardless, players can expect to receive different versions, as is the case with all modern games.

They will probably be able to spend $70 for the base game, and perhaps $80 for a “gold version” and $100 for a “deluxe version”. With each “upgrade”, players can expect exclusive cosmetics and great bonus content.

That’s all we know so far about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. We’ll likely hear more about it sometime this year before its release in 2023.

-theGeek-