Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes almost every flaw from the original game and improves on it. Easily the most impressive improvement is the platforming/exploring aspects of this game. Fallen Order had a lot of issues with its platforming. Jedi: Survivor features almost no issues in this department now. I would like to see more improvements to how this game determines fall damage and how it restarts you if you fall too far but once you get used to some of those restrictions, its not too bad to deal with. Minor frustration at times but mostly from when I'm trying to cheat the system a bit and the game won't let me.

The game also feels a bit more open and freer. I didn't feel as 'on the rails' so to speak with the story and the mechanics thanks in large part to the base planet hub setup.

Instead of being cramped up on the Mantis seemingly for most of the game like Fallen Order felt, the game has a whole base planet designed heavily with the idea in mind of doing side quests and exploring. Like any good rebellion alliance, your base is mostly setup in a dive bar with other seedy characters that you can meet along the way. The side quests that you can do will even unlock additional characters/regulars that will help add to the overall growth and popularity of your planet and bar. That type of natural progression and visual enhancement was effective in motivating me to keep exploring and take breaks from the main story.

Much like the previous entry in this series, as you progress and you unlock new abilities, you'll find more and more areas open to exploration on the various planets that you visit. The fact that the platforming is so improved is also a big motivator in me wanting to actually explore and find these additional items and side quests.

The unlockables are very similar to what was involved in Fallen Order. You can unlock lightsaber parts, new attires, BD-1 improvements, Stim pack upgrades, etc. etc. On top of that though, the game has really improved in the customization aspects of the game. Many more paint options can be unlocked for your weapons and for BD-1, the lightsaber design options are much more diverse and expanded. Hair and beard options for Cal are included this time as well. The only thing missing is paint changes for the Mantis.

A new inclusion and improvement to the combat this time around is the introduction of many more lightsaber stances. The standard single saber style and dual bladed forms return, but the game includes an additional three this time around. All have clear pros and cons to them as well. A Kylo Ren style saber stance exists for example that deals much more damage but because of its slower attack output, dealing with large groups of faster enemies can make it difficult to use. Want something with a little bit of range? There's now a saber/blaster combo style as well.

You can only select two styles at a time so there are restrictions but it never felt too restrictive, since you are able to swap them out at any mediation point.

This makes enemy strategy a bit more important than Fallen Order as well. My only real complaints with the combat mechanics in this game are minor. I don't think combat overall is all that exciting and your healing stim packs can be interrupted from taking damage, so if you're low on health and dealing with a group of enemies, it can get annoying trying to heal and not take damage.

The scale of this game is also improved over the first. This in tandem with the platforming/traversal mechanics improving makes for some incredible sections where you're having to bounce off one wall to wall run off another to grab a railing and shimmy over to the next section of the stage. Some of the things you are climbing on/around/through are huge and feel impressive to scale.

The set pieces that include some of this traversing are also wildly impressive. In particular, there is a desert battle where you and Merrin are having to take down a giant robot. You'll be dashing and wall riding, get boosted by Merrin's abilities as well as you avoid the laser blasts of the giant robot, using your lightsaber as you progress to help take it down to a smaller size.

It's a blast. There are definitely still some improvements that could be made to some of it but the fluidity of motion and how the game forces you to use it all to progress is a delight.

The story is great, the cast of characters, some new, some returning, all have quirks and development. This game takes place about five years after the first and the character writing reflects that. Your crew are different. You are different. What these characters are doing though feels like a natural progression.

The story that unfolds is great. I won't go into too much detail to avoid total spoilers but there's a moment that really kicks the game into gear and that extra gear is really the turning point for this game and where this game earns that additional half star.

Overall, potential bugs and nitpicks aside, this game is terrific. The first was a great experience. This is leaps and bounds a better game.

Two frustrating experiences mashed together is what ReCore feels like.

You've got your first half, a puzzle platformer that has moments that feel pretty good and then a second half that, out of nowhere, becomes a battle arena/stage survival style game. Unfortunately, these both feel very half baked because of this shift and ultimately buries this game.

The more puzzle platformer type area that you start off in is decent. The jumping is responsive, the exploring areas is solid. Combat is not great but not frustrating. The story feels like something that got scrapped too late into development to entirely remove. It exists to some minor degree, but the game is not actively attempting to draw you into what is actually going on.

Combat revolves around an ally who you can command attacks around and your gun. You gun features a charge ability and ammo that needs to reload if used for too long. Early on in this game you will start to collect color variants to your gun which evolves combat a bit. Basically you'll run into enemies that are yellow, blue or red and the ability to change your gun to shoot color specific bullets. Red enemies are weak to red attacks, blue to blue, etc etc.

Enemy groups will slowly evolve where you'll have multi-colored groups attacking you which makes the combat a little more on-the-fly and fluid.

The biggest issue with the combat is the eventual repetitiveness to this formula and the fact that the game doesn't make it easy to get away from the enemies once they get close up.

You do have a dash button that makes dodging general attacks but the dash itself is limited and many enemies are faster than you, so I often found myself stuck dashing until my sidekick was able to draw aggro away from me.

Some attacks can stun you though and this game doesn't feature any damage invulnerability after getting hit. I found myself constantly getting stuck in waves of attacks that take out a full bar of health because I got stuck in an attack loop that I couldn't move out of because I just would keep getting hit without any pause.

Its in part what makes the arena survival shift so frustrating.

Eventually you start climbing a tower with each floor featuring tougher platforming sections cut in between arena/enemy rush sections. The look of these stages is bland, boring, and never changes. You just climb and fight, climb and fight, for way too long.

There are bugs and other various nitpicks that combine to make this game not worth your time. The music is pretty solid, it's relatively short and there are little bits and pieces that you see throughout that could've been cool and fun in a better developed game but there are so many games that do the puzzle platforming thing better than this that those little flashes are nowhere near worth it.