Tutorials have been a staple of gaming for a good few decades now. While old-school classics on the Atari and NES would often throw players in at the deep end, leaving them to figure out the game's mechanics and objectives for themselves, as games have gotten more complicated, tutorials have become common practice. Many titles, from the most successful indie games to the most paint-by-numbers AAA shooter have some form of tutorial, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is no exception.
A direct sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after its predecessor, meaning that its opening has a lot of ground to cover. From old mechanics to new features, and a healthy sprinkling of lore and story catch-up, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's tutorial level had a monumental task ahead of itself, but in many ways, it's even better than Jedi: Fallen Order's.
How Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's Tutorial Compares to Fallen Order's
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor wastes absolutely no time whatsoever, and throws the player straight into the action. Taking place five years after Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the game begins with Cal Kestis being captured by the Empire, and taken back to an Imperial Senator located in Coruscant's seedy lower levels in Jedi: Survivor. Of course, Cal doesn't spend too long chained up, and he immediately gets back to doing what he does best - taking down Imperials.
From the get-go, Jedi: Survivor gives players access to almost all of Cal's abilities from the first game. But rather than overwhelm the player with everything all at once, Jedi: Survivor's opening does exactly what a good tutorial mission should do, and introduces each mechanic gradually, letting the player get to grips with each system before they're all combined. First, the player will learn how to climb a wall, then use a double-jump to reach higher ledges, then wall-running, and finally, they'll all be strung together in one long platforming sequence, naturally teaching the player all the core platforming mechanics they need to know for the rest of the game.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's tutorial level teaches combat in a similar way. At first, players will face off against just one or two Stormtroopers, giving them a chance to learn or re-learn the series' Soulslike combat mechanics and all the various stamina and poise bars that come with it. Then Jedi: Survivor throws three or four enemies at the player, teaching crowd control and introducing the double-bladed lightsaber stance.
And this pattern continues for the rest of the tutorial mission, eventually introducing players to some brand-new Force powers, and a new dual-wield stance once they've mastered everything that carried over from the previous game. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's open-world and Metroidvania level design is also tutorialized well in the game's opening level, with the player being able to unlock several shortcuts along their way to make back-tracking easier.
On the whole, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's tutorial level is a truly excellent one, introducing the vast majority of the game's mechanics and systems in a gradual, natural way, while also keeping players engaged with intriguing story setups and a handful of brand-new gameplay features. In comparison, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order's tutorial isn't nearly as streamlined. As opposed to one neat, hour-long mission, Fallen Order's tutorial, arguably, takes place over three different planets, and over the course of about three to four hours.
The first level on Bracca introduces players to the game's story and characters, with the tail-end of the mission introducing combat and some barebones climbing mechanics. The second mission on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order's Bogano acts as an introduction to the game's more open-ended level design, along with some new parkour mechanics. Then finally, everything comes together on Zeffo, where the player finally gets to use all of their newly learned skills in quick succession.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S
