I absolutely adored Fallen Order and genuinely thought it was nigh miraculous that a Star Wars game that good was made under EA. It resonated with me quite a bit, and while Survivor didn’t hit the same way, I still thought it was incredibly solid if a little disappointing in parts. Ultimately, I had the same problem with this game as I did with God of War Raganrok, which is that I really didn’t like the direction they went in terms of area and world design. I still firmly believe that bigger isn’t always better, and much prefer linear and tighter level design. Survivor, sadly, loses a lot of the tight level design Fallen Order had in favor of more open areas with a larger focus on exploration. What’s there is good and there are moments where Survivor manages to recapture the tightness of Fallen Order’s areas, but it’s extremely lacking in that area in general. Aside from that, Survivor is just as good and even better in some areas. The combat still feels incredible, the music is great and the story is solid (though Trilla is infinitely more interesting than Dagan Gera). This game also introduces some platforming challenges that are genuinely exhilarating to play through.

There’s very obviously going to be more and I’m genuinely excited for what’s coming, but I do hope they go back to the way Fallen Order was desgined. If not, I hope the team at least manages to find a happy medium between the two.