OpenTube

Jedi: Survivor Critique - Balance in the Force

Monty Zander

276,309 views

Head to:
https://squarespace.com/montyzander
to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code MONTYZANDER

In the Halls of Gaming History, I believe Survivor will be rightfully punished for the state it released in. But once you move past the bugs and performance issues, what you get is a game that has a grand scope, swashbuckling ideals, is an improvement over its predecessor in almost every measurable way, and almost brings balance to the force.

LORE DUMP
What the hell happened in Metal Gear Risin...

Thumbnail by Zoltiboi
Twitter: zoltiboi

MERCH
https://monty-zander.myspreadshop.co....

TWITTER
Twitter: MontyZander

PATREON
Patreon: montyzander

TIMESTAMPS

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:03:58 - 1: Hooked on a Feeling
00:17:04 - 2: Little Things (In a Big World)
00:36:02 - 3: Jedi Knight
00:52:07 - 4: Metroid Toolbox
01:04:18 - 5: Pyloon's Saloon
01:19:28 - 6: One With The Force
01:33:51 - 7: Finding Balance

SOMA CRITIQUE - ANATOMY OF THE SOUL
SOMA Critique - Anatomy of the Soul

GOTHAM KNIGHTS CRITIQUE - SHADOW OF THE BAT
Gotham Knights Critique - Shadow of the Bat

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT CRITIQUE - LEGACY OF THE BAT
Arkham Knight Critique - Legacy of the Bat

FOOTAGE/REFERENCES
1 - The Empire Strikes Back Review - Alan Jones
2 - Sam Maggs - Jedi: Battle Scars
3 - EA - The Making of Jedi: Fallen Order
4 - Hiro365: Star Wars Jedi Survivor Funny Bugs on PS5
5 - IGN: Cal Kestis Actoor on the evolution of his character
6 - New York Times - Empire Strikes Back Strikes a Bland Note
7 - Starlog #38 - The Empire Strikes Back Review
8 - VGC - Respawn on how Jedi: Survivor expands on Fallen Order in every possible way
9 - The Washington Post - Darth Vader's Surprise Attack
10 - The Guardian - Star Wars: A Force that may be with you indefinitely
11 - IGN: Jedi Survivor Spoilercast with Stig Asmussen - Beyond 804
12 - Animus Drifter - Tour of Jerusalem | Assassin's Creed Parkour Sequence
13 - The Hollywood Reporter - The Empire Strikes Back Review
14 - Skillup - I cannot recommend Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (PC Review)
15 - Kinda Funny Games - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Spoilercast
16 - Roger Ebert - The Empire Strikes Back Review
17 - Star Wars Celebration - Cal Kestis Actor is OBSESSED with Ponchos
18 - TheWalkthroughMan - Sea of Stars - How to Play Wheels | Wheels Guide
19 - E3 - Star Wars Jedii - Stig Asmussen and Geoff Keighley talk Fallen Order Gameplay
20 - AV Club - We asked a Star Wars Jedi: Survivor dev about its biggest twists, and the joys of killing Stormtroopers

MUSIC (in order of use)
~~Licenced by Artlist~~
1 - Star Wars: Jedi Survivor OST - Rambler's Reach
2 - Star Wars: Jedi Survivor OST - A Frontier Welcome
3 - Adrien de la Salle - Particles
4 - Beneath the Mountain - Forest by the Sea
5 - Anthony Vega - Everlasting Light
6 - Beneath the Mountain - Gone
7 - Flint - Experience Sonder
8 - Kyle Preston - Discovering New Lands
9 - Hans Johnson - Overview Effect
10 - Laurel Viioolet - Looking Back From Here
11 - Trevor Kowalski - Katydid
12 - Star Wars: Jedi Survivor OST - Haven
13 - Will Van De Crommert - Dreamstates
14 - Star Wars: Jedi Survivor OST - Brothers
15 - Dark Souls OST - Gwyn Lord of Cinder
16 - Finding My Memories

#jedisurvivor

20 Comments

@MontyZander Creator 2 years ago Pinned

QUICK DISCLAIMER

During the Metroidvania section I talk about how BD-1’s electric shock can’t be used in combat. Turns out I just ran into a very consistent bug where shooting the shock at droids didn’t do anything to them, but a few of you have had very different experiences where it DOES hack droids. Which is awesome!

@callsignraven419 2 years ago

I remarked to my partner as I was playing through Survivor "If they can pull off a 3rd game like this, then this series will be to Star Wars, what the Arkham series is to Batman."

@SirSamVimesSA 2 years ago

A thing I really like about the Bode twist is the fact that it's a double twist. It's not hard to predict that he's going to betray you, but when he pulled out the saber my jaw dropped. We're all too busy congratulating ourselves for predicting the betrayal that we don't see the fact that he's a dark jedi coming.

@Silvershire 2 years ago (edited)

From a gameplay perspective, something I really appreciate about Survivor is that you almost immediately unlock everything you had at the end of Fallen Order. It builds on Cal's existing abilities instead of forcing (pun intended) him to learn them all over again.

@Jgt612 1 year ago

A minor thing I like about survivor is the outfits and customisation - I’ve never seen two similar Cal’s in anyone’s videos. Sometimes he looks like he’s come straight from the clone wars, sometimes he looks like he belongs on a Council Estate. It’s just a really cool wee thing to let everyone have their own say on his design

@CasuallyDoomedYT 6 months ago

I think Bode's ferral resistance at the end makes sence. He just commited triple cross of Inquisitors, ISB and Rebelion in one go, run off to unaccesable planet to escape consequences, hoping his daughter is finally safe from any threat, only to turn around and see Kata standing between Cal and Merrin, who are totally justified in wanting him and possibly Kata dead. It's like his guilt and fear fused into one nightmare and become reality before he could process it. He fights like this, because he is panicking.

@DGenHero 2 years ago

Bode becoming a snarling characiture is very on brand when you truly fall to the Darkside. When you fall you become a monster as you claw and struggle for everything you want, what they crave. Like Anakin choking his own wife despite everything in his character screaming he would never do such a thing.

The darkside is a cancer that erodes your humanity the more you revel in it.

@Ivbo 2 years ago

I truly hope they stick the landing on this trilogy, Survivor is without a doubt my favourite Star Wars game probably ever. I love the story, love the gameplay, love the environments, love the performances, and it may have launched with a bunch of technical issues but the game is a flawless masterpiece in my eyes.

@jeffbezos3200 2 years ago (edited)

This game wasn’t slept on per se, but I definitely think it’s a crime that no one was talking about it during the game awards nominations. Bugs notwithstanding, the game is the epitome of a fantastic sequel. Every problem I had with the first was addressed here and the spectacle was off the chart. If they could continue the evolution for the third one…it’d be one of the best trilogies ever.

Edit: I’ve been listening to this, and I can sense a reverence for…not just this game, but for Star Wars as a whole. It’s very comforting. I appreciate this deep dive into one of my favorite games of the last decade and it’s really a testament to 2023’s quality that there could be 2 games that make my top ten of the last ten years

@B_Skizzle 2 years ago (edited)

I agree that they laid it on a little thick with Bode at the start. I immediately thought, "oh, okay, this guy is either gonna die or betray me." What I find especially interesting, though, is how that didn’t diminish the emotional impact of his betrayal or his eventual death for me.

@nikothemagus 2 years ago

There is actually a combat mechanic for BD-1's electric dart. If you hit droid enemies at range before combat begins, you take control of them at full health instantly, rewarding you for thinking ahead by turning enemies into allies

@yeetkunedo 2 years ago (edited)

Blaster Stance, and particularly charged shots, has the potential to do tremendous guard damage. It deals health damage to major enemies from a distance, allowing you to use your counterattack to refill ammo for charge shots. It also has a tight-window parry in the Point Blank shot, as well as a multi-target charged shot. It’s the stance I’ve had the most success with, and the kind of Gray Jedi combat I’ve waited decades to experience.

Edit: after playing more of this game on NG+, I’ve discovered that the Point Blank counter is the only attack that halts or counters unblockable attacks (aka red attacks).

@lazypaladin 2 years ago (edited)

"Bode isn't even the 3rd hardest boss in the game."

Way to make me feel even worse at this game Monty! Bode kicked ny ass more than Ravis and Dagen combined!

@Van0range203 2 years ago (edited)

1:02:55 BD's upgraded electric charge is OP when fighting group of enemies with droids, before combat you can snipe droids to take them over then begin combat to see them order 66 the other enemies

@bobathy5710 1 year ago

Branching on the third game having a master/Palawan relationship for kata and cal, having them be alternating characters you can play with could be an interesting direction to take the combat in.

@henryparks4602 2 years ago

I understand how the performance issues at and after launch dulled the game for some people - but for me this game lives up as nearly a PERFECT sequel. The evolution of Cal was perfect and the new ways in which they introduced new force powers and explored new ideas just did it for me. Absolutely adore this series - I will revisit it yearly, very few games and series have that honor:)

@Twistedsage42 2 years ago

You changed my mind on this. I hated the ending and it colored my whole experience, but framing it with the reviews of Empire gave me a different perspective. Good show, sir.

Also--I cannot wait for your Alan Wake 2 deep dive.

@RainbowMan9407 2 years ago

Technical issues notwithstanding, this is the kind of storytelling that I love to see from Star Wars. I can't currently get this game (combination of limited PS5 storage space and low on money), but I should definitely check this game out. Great breakdown!

@Veradun99 2 years ago

actually the hidden bosses, the creature and the droids, that look the same but have health bars are different. they have different AI and new attacks compared to the regular enemies. I think the vile bilemaw spews poison more or has different attacks that cause poison buildup. there's a super battle droid that the bedlam raiders overclocked to shoot everything like 3 times as fast. granted not all of them are different in good ways, or even significant ways, but they are different.

@StickNik 2 years ago (edited)

1:32:36 - I'd argue that Cere isn't tapping into the dark side, this is the long and arduous road to becoming a powerful Jedi, from her time in the Order and her time after reclaiming it and overcoming the dark side. Bode succumbs to the dark side and that's what fuels his rage and unhinged demeanour in the final boss fight.
1:45:00 - Bode completely lost the plot when he stole the compass and sent the Empire, I don't really know how you could argue otherwise, especially when he doesn't even realize how Kata would never approve of what he did, he lost Kata like Anakin lost Padme on a road paved with "good" intentions.

Thor Skywalker is a channel you could reference for further expansion on the dark side as a corruptive power and going against the lax use of the grey Jedi term.