Jedi Survivor is a good soulslike (Sekiro-like) that is let down by a weak story and a lack of new ideas as the game starts to wrap up.
Gameplay ★★★
The mechanics are basically the same as in Fallen Order and they still work very well. My biggest complaint about FO was that it wanted to be Sekiro but didn't have the ability to cancel your attack to switch to a block for as many frames which made it more difficult to be aggressive. Survivor does improve on this (though it's still there to a point) and it also reduces the post-attack recovery frames before a dodge can be performed, which was also helpful. I enjoyed the two new lightsaber forms that were introduced, giving a larger variety of playstyles to choose from. I favored the blaster and dual wield forms. I also enjoyed the variety of Force abilities that were available, though it is annoying that most bosses are most if not entirely immune to Force attacks. The biggest issue is that 75% of the way through the game has presented you with all of the different enemies that you're going to fight so in order to make things hard it just starts throwing huge crowds at you and multi-wave encounters. This forces you to be extremely defensive and becomes tedious very quickly.
Story ★★
I won't go into spoiler territory because, frankly, it's not worth my time to discuss. The story started out strong but quickly became boring and the characters' motivations and choices questionable. The overall goal is very poorly thought out and doesn't really make logical sense until about halfway through the game, like when a kid has an idea and gets really excited about it before thinking it through. The villain's motivations are unclear and the extent of his fall quite over the top. The big twist at the end is very obvious as it approaches and also makes no sense. Another "ok now what?" type of plan.
Characters ★★★★
This one is tough to rate because the characters do feel fleshed out and full, with significant relationships to each other that seem meaningful to them, but I as the player don't really care. I'd give it 3.5 stars but I don't know how to do a half star so I'll just round up.
Art/Graphics ★★★★
The environments look good and the monsters are interesting. I like the enemy designs as well.
Music ★★★
This is another middle one where I'd normally say 2.5 but whatever. The music does a fantastic job of emulating the classic John Williams style that you would expect from Star Wars but the composer either didn't know how to communicate feelings musically or the director didn't know where to put what songs. As an example, the final scene that should be somber but hopeful sounded apprehensive and like bad things were about to happen. I actually thought based on the music that the game wasn't over and that there was about to be another surprise confrontation. Nope, just weird musical decisions.
Overall I did enjoy Jedi Survivor, and I would probably continue to play games in this series.
Gameplay ★★★
The mechanics are basically the same as in Fallen Order and they still work very well. My biggest complaint about FO was that it wanted to be Sekiro but didn't have the ability to cancel your attack to switch to a block for as many frames which made it more difficult to be aggressive. Survivor does improve on this (though it's still there to a point) and it also reduces the post-attack recovery frames before a dodge can be performed, which was also helpful. I enjoyed the two new lightsaber forms that were introduced, giving a larger variety of playstyles to choose from. I favored the blaster and dual wield forms. I also enjoyed the variety of Force abilities that were available, though it is annoying that most bosses are most if not entirely immune to Force attacks. The biggest issue is that 75% of the way through the game has presented you with all of the different enemies that you're going to fight so in order to make things hard it just starts throwing huge crowds at you and multi-wave encounters. This forces you to be extremely defensive and becomes tedious very quickly.
Story ★★
I won't go into spoiler territory because, frankly, it's not worth my time to discuss. The story started out strong but quickly became boring and the characters' motivations and choices questionable. The overall goal is very poorly thought out and doesn't really make logical sense until about halfway through the game, like when a kid has an idea and gets really excited about it before thinking it through. The villain's motivations are unclear and the extent of his fall quite over the top. The big twist at the end is very obvious as it approaches and also makes no sense. Another "ok now what?" type of plan.
Characters ★★★★
This one is tough to rate because the characters do feel fleshed out and full, with significant relationships to each other that seem meaningful to them, but I as the player don't really care. I'd give it 3.5 stars but I don't know how to do a half star so I'll just round up.
Art/Graphics ★★★★
The environments look good and the monsters are interesting. I like the enemy designs as well.
Music ★★★
This is another middle one where I'd normally say 2.5 but whatever. The music does a fantastic job of emulating the classic John Williams style that you would expect from Star Wars but the composer either didn't know how to communicate feelings musically or the director didn't know where to put what songs. As an example, the final scene that should be somber but hopeful sounded apprehensive and like bad things were about to happen. I actually thought based on the music that the game wasn't over and that there was about to be another surprise confrontation. Nope, just weird musical decisions.
Overall I did enjoy Jedi Survivor, and I would probably continue to play games in this series.