'Star Wars: Jedi Survivor' Has New Features For Players To Master

Those eager for "Star Wars: Jedi Survivor" will have something more to look forward to, as the game is set to have new features for players to master.

In an interview with Game Informer, Game Director Stig Asmussen shared new details about the combat features that had been added to the game.

"We have five fully realized stances in the game," he said. "A lot of it depends on the enemy that you're coming across. It'd advantageous to use certain types of stances against certain types of enemies, and it's up to the player to figure that out."

The stances he's talking about are the stances Force Wielders, both Jedi and Sith, typically use in combat against each other and enemies. In the case of mostly self-taught Jedi protagonist Cal Kestis, these stances include a dedicated dual-blade option. The game preview showed Kestis spinning and flipping two separate lightsaber blades along with a different stance that provided a ranged dynamic to his set moves. This one saw Kestis wielding a blaster and lightsaber at the same time.

This evolution in his fighting style mirrors his character development, according to Asmussen. Not only does it mirror his development, but it alludes to the fighting styles that the Jedi and Sith were taught, each of them having a different background and reasoning.

"It really speaks to where we find Cal in this part of the story," he explained. "It's five years since the first game, and the dark times are still in full swing. He's an unconventional Jedi, and he has to do unconventional things. So, something that would be frowned upon during the height of the Jedi Order? Cal's finding he's going to do whatever it takes."

Doing whatever it takes means learning more aggressive stances that are reminiscent of Sith that gamers and fans alike have already seen. Kylo Ren's High Republic crossguard-style lightsaber stance is also found in "Jedi Survivor" for players to learn. Asmussen said that it was a "more confident approach" and that "it's weighty; it's beefy. But you have to be very measured on how you use it because the timing windows are longer with the blade."

Asmussen summed up the different stances by saying that "the player to break down the enemies and figure out what the best weapon of choice is." This intensifies the fighting within the game and focuses again on a central tenet of "Star Wars," everything comes back to choices and decisions as Kestis changes from Padawan to Jedi Knight.

Along with those choices and decisions are new traversal mechanics that allow Kestis to continue exploring new locations that are, for most characters, unreachable. Some of these mechanics include ascension cables that Ketsits will be able to use for climbing and crossing chasms much like a zipline, along with his ability to tame and ride various mounts.

"It's much of a wider Metroidvania approach," said Asmussen. "Cal can cross huge gaps by chaining several types of skills together. But it's also about how we approach these mounts and how they're used to negotiate and dominate the world."

"Star Wars: Jedi Survivor" will be released on March 17, 2023, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.