Major Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Spoilers AheadStar Wars is commonly known for its science-fiction spectacles with cinematic moments, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor does not disappoint in that department. Coruscant alone offers a remarkably cinematic opening sequence with Cal and his crew sneakily tricking Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Senator Sejan and defending against the Ninth Sister, but many of the game’s moments are equally thrilling. Some of these cinematic moments happen within cutscenes and are meant to be purely fun to watch, though, while others brilliantly weave cutscenes and gameplay together.
Likewise, there are many moments in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor that interrupt traditional interactivity and have players mash a button for a brief period of time. This commonly happens within boss fights where Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Cal Kestis and opponents of his clash lightsabers, which can be either a refreshing breather from the actual boss battle or an irritating pause in it while players are hoping to keep their momentum going. However, two moments of cinematic interactivity stand out, those being when Cal flies through Merrin’s portals and races on a speeder.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Interweaves Cutscene and Gameplay Fluidly
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s introduction to the High Republic era is intriguing on Koboh, but Jedha is notable for two particularly cinematic sequences that players are immersively a part of. Before Cal and Merrin take on an enormous mechanical drill, players spend most of their time on Jedha traversing and platforming.
Cal then taps into the Force and learns how to use a newfound air-dash, making Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s platforming even more diverse when combined with wall-runs, double-jumps, and grapples. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s Uncharted-like elements were competent on their own once double-jumping with Cal’s Jedi front-flips was unlocked, but all of this fluid movement is already available from the beginning of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Cal even climbs with a quicker speed than he did through most of the original game, though he seemingly does not need to have the Climbing Claws equipped that he finds on Dathomir. In order to evade this colossal mechanism, Merrin puts out green portals for Cal to air-dash into that send him flying through the air until it releases him into a new platforming sequence, making it feel like a roller-coaster ride that players have nearly full control of.
Then, later in the game, Jedha is also home to another cinematic moment when Bode Akuna kills Jedi Master Eno Cordova and flees on a speeder in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s third act. Cal pursues him on a spare speeder and players steer it left-and-right while taking in an incredible vista with AT-ATs and AT-STs roaming the sand dunes.
This sequence is shorter and not as interactive as the portal sequence due to not having any genuine platforming involved—button-mashing occurs when Cal and another speeder collide, but otherwise players simply steer. Still, that is more interactivity than an ordinary cutscene could provide, and that makes it a special moment. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order had its own fair share of cinematic moments weaving cutscenes and gameplay together, but because most of those moments revolved around sliding endlessly on sloped environments, it felt like more of a gimmick than an immersive sequence.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has almost completely removed sliding as a means of platforming, and therefore its traversal feels much more involved in cinematic moments. It is interesting that both of these cinematic sequences happen on Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Jedha, but many exciting encounters and cutscenes are apparent in every location players travel to.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
