Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is still over a month away from launch, but that hasn’t stopped developers Respawn Entertainment from considering a trilogy. Speaking to IGN, director Stig Asmussen revealed that he would like to see Jedi Knight Cal Kestis’ (Cameron Monaghan) arc stretched to a third and final title. While its possibility depends on how well this upcoming game performs, he claims that sequel discussions were happening before even 2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order was out. If a threequel is greenlit, Asmussen stated that it would most likely be built using Unreal Engine 5.
“I always wanted to see this as a trilogy,” Asmussen told IGN. “How can we take Cal and the crew to new places beyond what we were doing in the first game?” With Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the development team had mapped out the timeframe (the game is set five years after the events of the first game), the stakes involved, its general tone, and explored ideas beyond the main story. Shifting over from Unreal Engine 4 would also be difficult since there are a “lot of proprietary things” that the current engine has been conditioned/ optimised to do — some of it requiring some retooling to get it to work on the new engine.
Last month, some new Star Wars Jedi: Survivor gameplay emerged, courtesy of IGN, touching upon the exploration of the planet Koboh. After crashlanding onto the planet, early in the game, Kestis must reach the Cantina to find someone who could help repair his ship. The exploration is massively improved upon from the first game through tameable beasts that can be used as mounts, the ability to fast travel, and icons that inform you about closed-off areas that can only be accessed once you unlock specific abilities. Drawing inspiration from Dark Souls games, fast travel in Jedi: Survivor works by finding meditation points, where one can rest to reset any ailments and select previously discovered checkpoints to warp towards. The game also draws from Metroid for its level design by locking away parts of the world and then forcing Kestis to find new gear/ skill upgrades, come back, and gain access to those areas.
The planet Koboh also serves as the central hub world, sprawling with NPCs to interact with and shops to purchase items from. In addition to your adorable droid BD-1, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also features a new companion in Bode Akuna, who, as Asmussen previously mentioned, has a brother-like relationship with Kestis. A report suggests that he will accompany us on missions and actively participate in combat encounters by drawing enemy attention. Players can also command him to perform special moves that deal devastating damage.
Another gameplay reveal from last month offered a glimpse into some of Kestis’ fight stances, with him now being able to dual-wield lightsabers, or even join its hilts together to form a twin-blade staff that can be spun around to block incoming projectiles. You can also fling enemies into the air now, causing them to levitate above ground for a while. Previously, in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Force abilities were limited to push and pull.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is set to release April 28 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.
