What The Critics Are Saying About Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" was a real game-changer for EA's tenure with the "Star Wars" license. After a few underwhelming years releasing titles like the controversial "Battlefront" games, the publisher's collaboration with Respawn Entertainment yielded a game that made players really feel like a Jedi Knight. The game's combination of Galactic lore and "Souls"-like mechanics proved to be a winning combination, one that won over critics and fans upon release in 2019. Now that the sequel is arriving, fans will no doubt be curious to learn whether or not the Force is still strong with Respawn and the tale of Cal Kestis. Is there enough of an awesome "Star Wars" game here to justify its massive file size?

Ahead of the new game's April 28 release, several outlets have taken up their lightsabers and given their first thoughts on the game, and it sounds like Force lightning has indeed struck twice. Here is what the critics have to say about "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor."

One of the first things reviewers have noted about the game is its sheer sense of scale. Kotaku's Lucas White writes, "'Survivor' feels huge, dense, and super got-dang expensive, and after just a few hours of playing ... its heart-stopping 150GB download size started making sense." Players can expect to put a ton of time into this one; though White completed the campaign in 30 hours, he hinted that he'd only just scratched the surface of the game's massive maps. Completionists are going to have a heck of a time exploring every nook and cranny of Coruscant and the other planets featured in the game. 

White and others have also noted that the characters and story are so compelling that the lengthy runtime doesn't ever feel like it's too much. Some of the story beats are still being kept under wraps, but spoiler-free reviews like Esquire's have hinted that even longtime "Star Wars" aficionados will be surprised by the places this plot takes them. Esquire's Dom Nero says, "As you plunge deeper into the strange and legitimately unexpected rabbit hole of 'Survivor,' a bizarre new side of the franchise presents itself." As with the first game, the performances of actors Cameron Monaghan, Debra Wilson, and others have been the subject of critical praise.

If you found the combat in "Fallen Order" to be too punishing, then you'll be pleased to know that it's been greatly refined. The game introduces different lightsaber stances that impact the ways in which Cal approaches his enemies. Some encounters call for more defensive parries and quick attacks, while others call for harder swings and brutal finishers, and the various stances account for this. However, the game still doesn't let players off easily. Polygon's Todd Harper writes, "As the game wears on, though, the battles in which you're pitted against a horde of enemies — with a melee swarm steadily hammering your block meter, and laser fire breaking your combos from afar — continually become more frequent, and those fights are intolerable. This is to say nothing of bosses." Just be ready to rage quit at least a couple of times in this game, as well.

Luckily, the game offers a ton of options for turning Cal into the badass Jedi of your dreams. For instance, NPR's reviewer found success in leveling up their health stats and charging into battles headfirst, but your mileage may vary. Best of all, Cal doesn't have to rebuild all of his skills from scratch, which is a common occurrence in action sequels like this. Instead, as GameSpot's Jordan Ramée points out, "Cal already feels suitably dominant [at the game's start], as a seasoned Jedi that has been fighting for survival should be" – then it ratchets up the challenge from there.

All in all, it sounds like the new game smartly builds on what worked in the previous installment, and fans of "Fallen Order" are in for a treat when "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" drops on April 28.