Jedi: Fallen Order took the world by storm with its amazing playstyle and rendition of the beloved Star Wars universe. Seeing the game’s success, the fans are looking forward to what Respawn Entertainment will bring to the table with the sequel. There are tons of changes between these two games, so let us see what are the biggest things that Star Wars Jedi Survivor does compared to Fallen Order.
Compared to Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor has heaps of customization, allowing you to truly make this Cal your own. Companions will assist you in combat and traversal. There are creatures that you can ride now. The combat has various stances to choose from. And the enemies, levels/environment, and almost everything else has been improved.
Let’s take an in-depth look at Star Wars Jedi Survivor and Fallen Order to draw comparisons between the two and see how similar or different they are.
Cal Kestus
Cal Kestus in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, no doubt, will be the first thing you’re going to notice. He has grown up a bit since the events of the last game with a light beard, groomed hair, and slightly more bulk to his figure. Cal also ditched his old outfit and begins his new adventure wearing something more reminiscent of a smuggler.
In Fallen Order, Cal seems a bit younger, with an average build and overall aesthetics showcasing his younger life stage. His clothing was restricted to ponchos of different varieties.
Cal Customization
Jedi: Survivor also benefits from a greatly expanded customization system for Cal, with the ability to mix and match different clothing options found throughout the galaxy to suit your preferred style. Fallen Order had some customization options, mainly different overlaying ponchos and different color configurations.
The sequel gives players a lot more freedom in this area. Players can even customize Cal’s hair this time around. It can go from the classic clean-shaven look to having a full beard or handlebar mustache along with various hairstyles.
BD-1
BD-1 has unsurprisingly not seen any growth spurt between the events of these two games and looks practically identical to his original design. He has the same paint scheme, angled scope lens, and even the same exposed wires on the inside of either leg.
Players can customize BD-1’s appearance but are now given more control over individual pieces just like everything else. Allowing players to swap between different legs, antennas, scopes, body kits, color schemes, and materials to really make this little companion their own.
Fallen Order only ever lets you apply different color schemes on him and nothing else besides that.
Lightsaber Customization
A similar customization workshop menu is also shared with the game’s lightsabers. Much like everything else, this has been expanded considerably with dozens of different swappable pieces, designs, materials, colors, and even an option to determine the polish of the hilt.
Fallen Order had a great lightsaber customization feature with comparable points of customization, but it was nowhere near as robust as Survivor.
Returning Characters
Jedi Survivor sees several familiar faces return, too, including the lovable pilot Greez Dritus and Cere Junda. All of them have received a major makeover of their own with new outfits, haircuts, and evolved personalities to demonstrate how much things have changed since the last game.
Along with the returning cast, Jedi: Survivor also introduces players to several brand new characters who all feel just as well developed and expansive as those characters from Fallen Order. They build on the series’ lore while also keeping the experience feeling new and fresh.
Enemies
Jedi: Survivor really bulks up the amount of enemy variety found throughout the game. Mixing in the classic Stormtroopers and wild animals from before with an entirely new faction of Raiders that have hijacked a legion of old Trade Federation droids to do their bidding.
Jedi: Survivor’s character models are miles ahead of what’s on offer in Fallen Order which is impressive, considering the enemy designs in the old game still hold up great.
Levels & Environments
In Fallen Order, players are given the chance to explore several different worlds within the Star Wars universe, each with their own unique visual aesthetic and style. Some of these areas are straight linear sequences with players fighting through swarms of Stormtroopers or wildlife in between important story beats.
Yet most of the game occurs in these much larger semi-open-world environments built with a metroidvania mindset. This includes the grassy canyons of Bogano, the mountainous ruins on Zeffo, and the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk.
Most of the play area is built around fairly straightforward paths with dozens of platforming obstacles separating out arenas to fight different groups of enemies. Sometimes these paths are blocked by an unusual obstacle that requires a specific gadget, usually unlocked later in the game’s story.
Jedi: Survivor builds on these exact concepts. Using some planets as story-driven linear set pieces while bulking up the game’s base with larger metroidvania style locations. But a few subtle changes to the design style set it apart.
Those long slides found all throughout Fallen Order are not nearly as prevalent this time around. There’s instead a lot more wall running and wall jumping mixed in with ropes. zip lines, and more varied climbable surfaces.
A large chunk of Jedi: Survivor actually takes place on a single planet called Koboh that serves as a sort of central hub world. This world is misleadingly large, and you will be spending full days just exploring it using the game’s Hollow map.
For players that preferred the variety and smaller levels in the original game, Survivor still features plenty of traditional planets to explore, too, which can be accessed throughout the course of normal story progression by boarding the Mantis.
Traversal
In Fallen Order, players spend a lot of time running, jumping, and dashing across walls using a combination of unlocked gadgets and force-based abilities. Most of these core abilities are available right from the get-go in Survivor, maintaining the continuity of the narrative. The developers have tried to streamline these actions more, removing unnecessary button presses for climbing up on grates and vines, etc.
Star Wars Jedi Survivor also introduces new tools like the Ascension Cable that can be used to instantly zip to certain points. These can then be combined with traditional wall runs and flips to make for more interesting platforming challenges.
Mounts
To help navigate the larger environments, players can even ride around on some of the wildlife. Not only will they provide speed, but can sometimes be utilized for getting over obstacles in what can only be described as a move straight out of Super Mario World.
These rideable creatures were not present in Fallen Order since the environments weren’t large enough and their inclusion is very much welcomed.
Companions
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order boasted the company of BD-1, Cal’s trusty sidekick who proved invaluable on their journey with its impressive repertoire of healing, scanning, and traversal abilities. The little droid returns in Jedi: Survivor, but Cal’s roster of allies will expand to include other remarkable characters.
There are companions like Bode Akuna, the mercenary who adds an extra dimension to Cal’s combat style with his slick double-team maneuvers. These companions are much more helpful when it comes to combat as they each have their own specific attacks that can be used to temporarily stun enemies making them susceptible to some easy strikes.
There are traversal mechanics that are only available at certain points in the story and often involve pressing the right bumper whenever the game tells you to proceed further. This makes those characters feel more involved in the traversal and provides an opportunity to expand dialogue during the animations.
Combat
Star Wars Jedi Survivor also makes a few changes to how the iconic lightsaber is handled. In Fallen Order, players begin the game with a standard blue lightsaber, but later they’re given an opportunity to craft their own double-sided blade that can even be separated into a dual-blade configuration for combat diversity.
To expand on this concept, Star Wars Jedi Survivor introduces specific stances to the game that can be toggled using the D-pad. This includes the traditional single blade, the double-sided blade, the dual wield, and even a new Blaster stance that combines a single blade with a blaster sidearm. The catch is that only two of these stances can be equipped at any one time so players will need to swap them out Meditation points.
Combat moves have also been expanded slightly with more animations and flashy new finishers, complete with the highly requested limb dismemberment. The Force powers function about the same as before with Force Push, Pull, and carefully timed parries capable of deflecting Blaster fire.
The old slow-motion trick from Fallen Order has been delegated to a new double stick press special attack that slows every enemy at once, only freeing them after they’ve been struck. This new ability does come in handy in tough fights, especially when dealing with hordes of enemies.
Players also have the option to use the Force to confuse enemy combatants now, which will temporarily turn them into allies and pit them against each other.
Conclusion
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor does stay true to its predecessor, Fallen Order, in many ways all the while adding much-requested and surprising elements to the game that pushes it over the edge. It feels like the right kind of evolution from the previous game and one that truly cements its place in the sequel hall of fame.