This is an in-depth breakdown of the newly released Star Wars Jedi Survivor Trailer during the Game Awards 2022 show. There are an incredible amount of new details from which we can learn new things about the game hidden in this trailer! Let’s dive!
The long-awaited trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is finally here. The Game Awards presented the trailer and confirmed that the release date of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is March 17, 2023.
There are new enemies, questions, faces, locations, and adventures that await us in this upcoming action-adventure game! Here’s my breakdown of the trailer.
A High Republic Jedi?
The first scene that we see in the trailer is Cal finding a bacta tank, I also think that it serves as a stasis chamber. Then, we see the individual inside awakening while a voice (probably his) says “The Order is gone. I was betrayed by the one I trusted most. I will not be imprisoned again.”
The subject in the chamber has a very particular physical appearance; white hair, skin that is extremely pale, and blue/silver eyes. I think that he is an Echani. Echani species are very similar to humans but their physical appearance and way of life are different.
Echanis believe that combat is the purest form of communication, and because of this, they are formidable opponents. Their teachings have survived for thousands of years, even in the era of the Galactic Empire.
Their martial arts are practiced by none other than the Royal Guard, the individuals who are tasked with guarding the most powerful man in the galaxy, so that gives you a glimpse of how good fighters they were.
In another scene, we can appreciate the clothes that he’s wearing. The traditional outer tunic used by most of the Jedi and a tabard that’s very similar to what some Jedi used in the High Republic era.
Regardless of how old he is, I’m very excited to meet a new villain that doesn’t seem to be aligned with the Empire. If he’s in fact a Jedi then that means the Empire is going to hunt him too. There’s not too much information about it but whatever his role is, it’s going to be very impactful in Cal’s journey.
New enemies
Jedi: Fallen Order had a decent amount of variety when it comes to enemies, but since there are thousands of species, droids, and trooper classes I felt that it was “insufficient”.
In the two minutes of this new trailer, we’ve already seen many new enemies that weren’t present in the first game which is a very good sign.
Here’s the list of every unit that I spotted in the trailer:
- Riot Scout Trooper
- Scout Trooper
- IG-100 MagnaGuard
- Stormtrooper
- KX Security Droid
- Heavy Weapons Stormtrooper
- BX Commando Droid
- B1 Battle Droid
- B2 Super Battle Droid
- DT Sentry Droid.
An action-adventure game like Jedi: Survivor wouldn’t be complete without boss fights. We’ve seen just a couple of minutes of gameplay but I’m already thinking about how it’s going to be facing some of these new enemies. There are two that really caught my attention, the first one is the Gen’dai that appears with the guy that I think is a High Republic Jedi.
Gen’dais are recognized as some of the most difficult species to kill, they don’t have vital organs like a heart, lungs, or stomach and they’re capable of regenerating limbs. They can live up to seven thousand years, and for all of these reasons, many believed them to be immortal. The most notable Gen’dai is Durge, a bounty hunter that served Count Dooku during the Clone Wars.
The second one is this mysterious lightsaber wielder, the armor and clothes give bounty hunter vibes. It’s odd that he’s using a lightsaber that looks extremely similar to Cal’s, but considering that the blade isn’t blue I wouldn’t rush to say that it belongs to Cal Kestis.
So far, we haven’t seen or heard anything about Inquisitors appearing in the game so maybe they’re replacing them with this enemy. It doesn’t matter who he or she is, as long as it’s an interesting and fun enemy to fight.
Jedi Survivor will offer more abilities and fight styles
The combat system in Fallen Order was entertaining when a new ability was unlocked, but fighting enemies became tedious pretty fast. I don’t like being forced to approach a situation with just a single option, there are more ways to defeat an enemy than just running straight to them with a lightsaber.
Even if you want to use your lightsaber, getting the option of using a single saber, double-bladed or dual saber is a nice improvement. There are many enemies with different strengths and weaknesses and having the ability to use three different styles is going to benefit us a lot.
Force abilities are another key part of fighting as a Jedi, limiting the player with the same abilities would have been a very bad move.
From the two minutes of the trailer, I can already think of things that are going to be extremely fun. Using a Stormtrooper to defeat his fellow soldiers or having an ally give the killing blow looks very satisfying.
However, not all force abilities are meant for combat. Taming animals and having them help you explore or reach locations is one of my favorite things about the trailer.
Being in commune with nature and all living beings is also a very important factor of what makes a Jedi, a Jedi. It really makes me happy that the developers are incorporating things about the Jedi philosophy into actual gameplay.
New Locations in Jedi Survivor
One of my favorite things about Star Wars games is being able to explore multiple planets, all of them with different biomes, secrets, and dangers. We can get a rough idea of where this next adventure is taking us by paying more attention.
For example, here we see Cere in a compound that looks like the place where Eno Cordova was stationed when studying Bogano. It makes sense that she’d continue the research of her old master in a place that is secure.
Coruscant has also been confirmed to appear in the game, but it’s unknown if we’ll be able to go there or just watch the chaotic planet city on cutscenes. Imperial installations and inhospitable planets are a must for Jedi Survivor.
I was skeptical about encountering an enemy that was part of the CIS, watching battle droids have little to zero meaning on their own, but in this scene, we can see actual AATs and MTTs in the background so we might be fighting more than two or three factions.
Jungle planets are some of my favorite places in Star Wars, it’s always so fun to explore them and learn what lurks deep inside the wilderness. In this image we see Cal and a Jungle Wampa, I can’t help but wonder which planet is it; Rishi, Kashyyyk, Belsavis?
Familiar and new faces
Where are the rest of the crew? we’ve seen Cere in the trailer and from her dialogue, it looks like the crew split a long time ago. It’s odd to think that Greez would leave the Mantis (his ship) to pursue other paths. Nightsister Merrin was a late but perfect addition to the team.
Did they go different paths so that the Empire couldn’t capture them all at once? Perhaps they decided that by separating they could help more people. Or maybe a tragedy happened before the events of the game?
Cameron Monaghan (Cal Kestis) gave an interview and he gives a hint about what happened.
“What happens when you have hope in a situation that becomes increasingly hopeless? Different people have different ideas about what is the best way to resist.”
As we’ve recently seen in Andor, fighting is not the only way to resist the Empire, there are other methods that can prove more efficient under the right circumstances. I’d like to think that everyone realized this and then parted ways with Cal.
We might learn more about this in Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, a tie-in novel that releases just a few days before Jedi: Survivor.
The fact that he’s on his own doesn’t mean that Cal Kestis isn’t getting any help from new characters, we already met Bode, he has that smuggler appearance that we all love. Not only that, but he also appears fighting alongside Cal against a Scout Trooper.
Being able to use other characters to help you while fighting enemies is a feature that could unlock so many possibilities, I can’t wait to see what Bode is made of.
What are you most excited about? Personally, I can’t wait to use the help of creatures to explore planets and learn more about the mysterious Echani guy.
