Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Everything We Know: Release Date, Gameplay, Story, And More

More than three years after the release of its predecessor, it’s nearly time for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which releases on April 28. In-universe, even more time than that has passed since the events of Fallen Order. Here’s everything you need to know about the next major release from developer Respawn Entertainment, including a story recap to catch you up, as well as what gameplay changes and additions to expect.

Story

The story so far

This section contains spoilers for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and key points of the High Republic era.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, like its predecessor, is focused on Cal Kestis, a former Padawan (now Jedi Knight) during the Clone Wars who managed to escape from the clutches of the newly minted Empire and Order 66, which saw Clone Troopers previously under the command of the Jedi turn on them.

Five years later, Cal successfully remains hidden as a scrapper on the planet Bracca, until an accident that almost claims his friend’s life forces the young Jedi to save him with his powers, revealing his identity to witnesses. Now hunted by Inquisitors, Cal is rescued by former Jedi Knight Cere Junda and Greez Dritus, pilot of their ship, the Stinger Mantis.

Cere takes Cal to the planet Bogano, where her former master Eno Cordova hid a Jedi holocron in a vault containing a list of Force-sensitive children who Cere believes could help rebuild the Jedi Order. To access the vault, the crew must follow the path of Cordova, accompanied by BD-1, an adorable droid and former companion of the deceased Jedi Master.

Cal’s quest then takes him to several other planets, including the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk and Dathomir, the birthplace of iconic Sith Lord Darth Maul, as well as a Nightsister known as Merrin, who joins the crew of the Stinger Mantis after Cal helps her take down Malicos, a former Jedi Master who succumbed to the dark side.

Cal also learns that the Inquisitor leading the hunt for him is Trilla, Cere’s former Padawan who she gave up when interrogated by the Empire. Trilla, naturally, holds some resentment over her former mentor’s betrayal.

Once Cal completes his mission and obtains the Jedi holocron, he has a vision of what could come to pass if he were to rebuild the Jedi Order: its destruction at the hands of the Empire and his turn to the dark side. Before he can figure out what to do, Trilla shows up and steals the holocron.

Cal breaks into the Inquisitor’s headquarters, the aptly named Fortress Inquisitorius, where he confronts Trilla, retrieves the holocron, and with the help of Cere, is able to bring her former Padawan back to the side of light for a brief moment before Darth Vader shows up and takes her out for failing him.

No match for the Sith Lord, Cal and Cere make their escape, and when they return to Bogano, Cal makes the executive decision to destroy the holocron and the information within it, lest his bleak vision come to pass.

Where Jedi: Survivor’s story picks up

Jedi: Survivor takes place another five years after Fallen Order, putting it right around the events of the Disney+ show Obi-Wan Kenobi in the timeline, and nine years before Episode IV: A New Hope. Since the end of the first title, the crew has been perpetrating acts of rebellion against the Empire, some of which are detailed in the tie-in novel Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, which takes place in between the two games. It’s in this novel that we learn of how Cal gets his facial scar seen in Jedi: Survivor, as well as why Greez’s upper right arm is now robotic.

However, the crew has since gone their separate ways, as Cal continues to fight the good fight, but Cere, Greez, and Merrin have seemingly lost the spark. Details on exactly what might have happened to break the crew up, as well as what happens in the game to bring them back together, are sparse before the game’s release.

We do know, however, of two of the game’s antagonists. What many fans initially believed from the first trailer to be the Grand Inquisitor is actually an imperial senator, albeit one of the same Pau’an race. Another enemy seen in several trailers for the game is Rayvis of the powerful Gen’Dai race; near-immortal beings made entirely of tendrils, their humanoid structure is given form by their armor.

The final major antagonist we’ve seen in trailers has clothing tying him to the High Republic era; he is seemingly a Jedi, disappointed in how the Order allowed for the rise of the Empire. We’ve since learned from our own preview of the game that this time period will heavily tie into Survivor’s story.

Considering that the High Republic is very new to the canon, and has yet to be detailed outside of several books and comics, here is some top-level information about that era.

The High Republic

While the High Republic has only been a thing for a few years and has, so far, only been explored in literary formats, it has also already been surveyed in great detail.

The High Republic starts several hundred years prior to Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and ends several decades before. It is named as such because it is seen as the golden age for not only the Republic, but also the Jedi, as the light-side Force-wielders were flourishing while the Sith were basically nonexistent.

Not everything was podracing and sabacc at this time, however, as a marauder group called the Nihil, under the leadership of Marchion Ro, sought to grow its influence in the galaxy. The conflict between the Jedi and the Nihil has been the focus of much of the storytelling we’ve had so far during this time period.

What made the Nihil such a threat was their ability to navigate the Paths: routes through hyperspace that only the Nihil had learned how to navigate. Considering Cal’s line from Jedi: Survivor’s story trailer of, “I think we’ve finally found somewhere the Empire can’t reach us,” the Paths could be incredibly relevant to the game.

While the High Republic has only been explored in books and comics so far, it’s about to move into other mediums, such as animation with Young Jedi Adventures releasing May 4, 2023, as well as live-action in the Acolyte series, which is dropping on Disney+ in 2024. The Acolyte will revolve around the end of the era, while most of the stories that have been told so far have to do with earlier events in the timeline.

Jedi: Survivor Gameplay

Force Abilities And Lightsabers

Gameplay in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will build off of and expand upon what was possible in Jedi: Fallen Order. Game director Stig Asmussen has confirmed that the title won’t reset Cal’s powers, and many of the abilities and techniques he had cultivated by the end of the previous game will be present at the start of Jedi: Survivor.

Cal will also, at points, be able to perform combo attacks with companions. Trailers show the Jedi Knight partnering up with Merrin, as well as Bode Akuna, a new character being introduced in the game who has major Han Solo vibes.

Since Cal isn’t losing any of his abilities from the end of the previous title, he will start with the option to form both a standard and double-sided lightsaber. In Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal could split the double-sided variant into two separate sabers as a limited-time attack; in Jedi: Survivor, dual-wielding lightsabers has become its own form.

The single-sided lightsaber is an overall balanced option, the double-sided lightsaber is meant for crowd control, and dual-wielding has a focus on speed. Over time, Cal will be able to expand his arsenal to allow for two additional forms: crossguard and blaster.

Crossguard And Blasters

Crossguard is an upgrade to Cal’s lightsaber that gives it a crossguard, akin to Kylo Ren’s in the sequel trilogy and a popular variant of the weapon during the High Republic era. The crossguard lightsaber sacrifices speed in favor of heavier attacks.

The blaster stance allows Cal to wield both a blaster and a lightsaber. While a Jedi using a blaster when the Order existed rarely, if ever, happened, we’ve seen numerous examples during the reign of the Empire of Jedi forced to utilize such weaponry to survive. In terms of gameplay, the blaster expands Cal’s options for ranged attacks beyond just chucking his blade or using his Force abilities.

Speaking of Force abilities, Cal has some new ones. These include the ability to freeze blaster bolts, something we’ve also seen Kylo Ren do in The Force Awakens, as well as perform a mid-air Force dash to make certain jumps. Cal will also be able to connect with various creatures through the Force, allowing him to use them as mounts to traverse the game’s more expansive locales.

Jedi: Survivor Locations

In Jedi: Survivor, Cal will be exploring familiar locations as well as brand-new ones. One of the most important locations, which served as the planet for our hands-on preview, is Koboh. In Jedi: Fallen Order, the Stinger Mantis served as Cal’s home base. In Jedi: Survivor, his home base is now a full settlement called Rambler’s Reach on Koboh, centering on a cantina run by Greez.

Characters Cal meets on his adventures can set up shop in Rambler’s Reach, offering him side quests and purchases such as cosmetic items, which have greatly expanded in Jedi: Survivor to include swapping out parts for BD-1, hair and beard styles for Cal, and more diverse clothing options. That’s right: Cal can wear more than just a poncho this time around.

While the majority of places Cal will visit during Jedi: Survivor are still a mystery ahead of its launch, one of the planets he will go to is Coruscant. First seen in the prequel trilogy of films, Coruscant is one of a few worlds in Star Wars that is an entire city, and is really only second to the desert planet Tatooine for importance in the franchise. In the prequel era, it served as the capital of the Republic and the headquarters for the Jedi. In the timeline afterward and through the original trilogy, it serves as the capital for the Empire, meaning if Cal’s quest is bringing him to the planet, there must be some serious stakes involved.

Release Date And Editions

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be released on April 28, 2023. With the standard edition priced at $70, the game will be coming to the latest generation of hardware only, which means the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. According to Asmussen, not having to develop for older devices such as the PS4 and Xbox One allowed for the game to implement features only possible on the newer consoles.

Preordering Jedi: Survivor will net you some in-game cosmetics inspired by the Obi-Wan Kenobi show, such as the former Jedi Master’s outfit and lightsaber hilt, and the combustion blaster he utilized before returning to his elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

A digital deluxe edition, priced at $90, will also come with an assortment of in-game cosmetics. The New Hero Cosmetic Pack includes an outfit reminiscent of Luke’s garments from when he receives a medal at the very end of Episode IV: A New Hope, an R2-D2-inspired colorway for BD-1, and his lightsaber hilt. The Galactic Hero Cosmetic Pack is Han-Solo-themed, with his outfit from a New Hope, a “rugged” BD-1 colorway, and his DL-44 blaster.

And because you’re wondering, yes, there is a physical Collector’s edition of the game featuring a steelbook case and Cal Kestis’s lightsaber hilt that was available via Limited Run games, but this option was limited to only 5,000 orders, and has already sold out.