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First Star Wars Jedi: Survivor trailer features dual-lightsaber combat, open-world teases

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is launching on March 17, 2023, for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC. The action-adventure game received an impressive trailer during The Game Awards that showed off several new features and teased some potential open-world aspects.

Survivor takes place five years after 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, continuing the adventures of Cal Kestis and his droid pal BD-1. Cal is no longer a young Padawan and is now a full-blown Jedi. The much larger scope of the game seems to reflect that change.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - Official Reveal Trailer

Combat is notably evolved in the trailer, as Cal can now freely use a dual-lightsaber stance in battle. Later, we see him enter “cross guard” stance as he takes down droids with heavy, two-handed slashes. EA tells Digital Trends that the goal of the sequel is to give players more agency when it comes to their playstyle.

Traversal plays a large role in the clip too. In addition to swinging around via grappling points, Cal is seen mounted on animals. He’s shown riding the back of a four-legged creature and using a winged one like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s glider. The clip seems to imply that the game’s planets might be more open-ended than Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s, as one shot shows Cal peering out over a gigantic vista. EA notes that the sequel is still largely a Metroidvania-inspired title where Cal gets new abilities over time.

Cal has a new human companion this time named Bode Akuna. In one clip, we see Bode flipping over Cal’s back to attack an enemy with a combo move.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was built with current-generation consoles in mind, with ray tracing being a major focus. It appears to be a graphically impressive showcase that features more dynamic lighting and flashy lightsaber effects. The adventure won’t launch on PS4 or Xbox One, but it’ll be available for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on March 17, 2023.

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Giovanni Colantonio
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All lightsaber stances in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Jedi Cal Kestis.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes place five years after its predecessor, and Cal Kestis has definitely gained some new Jedi tricks during the time that has passed. While there are some returning features that you're likely to recognize and appreciate, there are also a wide variety of new mechanics, skills, and more to check out in this highly anticipated follow-up. Among those new additions are an expanded set of lightsaber stances that allow you to decide what kind of fighter you want Cal to be. Whether you want to strike fast at the cost of defense, take things slower with bolstered protection, or find the middle ground between the two, you have five options that can ensure you'll find what works for you.
How to change stances
You can have two stances equipped at one time, and switching between them can be done on the fly, allowing you to weave together different elements of your two chosen kits. However, you can only change stances at a meditation point, so you'll need to be sure that you've thought things through pretty well before heading out into dangerous areas. To help you with your decision-making, here are all of the stances in Jedi Survivor and how they work.
Single Blade Stance

This stance is unlocked from the beginning of the game.

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is being review-bombed on Steam as a ‘total crap’ PC port
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor reviews on Steam.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is off to a bad start. The game launched to Mostly Negative reviews on Steam, with only 34% of the over 2,000 reviews being positive. That's around the same level as the disastrous The Last of Us Part One PC port released in March, and it's for the same reason: poor performance.

As pre-release footage showed, the game struggles to maintain a consistent frame rate even on a system equipped with an RTX 4090. Steam reviews claim frame rates around 30 frames per second (fps) at 1440p with an RTX 3090, and many are saying the game consumes upwards of 19GB of video memory with ray tracing turned on.

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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s arachnophobia toggle removes all spiders
Cal Kestis with BD-1 droid on his shoulder.

From endless hordes of Empire goons to hulking Rancors that can crush you in one or two hits, there are no doubt a lot of things to be afraid of in EA's new action-adventure sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. However, if one of your fears happens to be spiders, developer Respawn has got you covered with an arachnophobia toggle that completely removes spiders from the game.

Survivor's Arachnophobia Safe Mode ensures that players who aren't particularly fond of eight-legged creepy-crawlies will never have to engage with any spiders that might crawl their way on-screen partway through the campaign. It's an unexpected addition to a game that is otherwise filled to the brim with strange and unsettling creatures to observe and fight, but spiders no doubt have a special way of freaking some of us out. Many folks are certain to appreciate seeing a choice to avoid arachnids altogether when they find themselves scrolling through the game's suite of accessibility options.

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