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!
You had to find the upgrades for different droid types to unlock that ability, but it wasn't clear it was something you could do, and felt difficult to pull off once you were in combat.
You have to have the splice ability unlocked for each droid type. ALSO you cannot use the ability once you’re in combat. You have to use it on droids before combat and they won’t immediately attack enemies but will fight for you once combat starts.
You do need the slice ability for the enemy type you intend to use the dart on for it to work but it can't be used in combat and can't be used on humanoids such as stormtroopers. Once in combat you can still instruct BD to directly slice the droid and turn it into an ally after it takes sufficient damage but that has nothing to do with the dart.
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."
Nah, EA couldn't even do a 10th of what Rocksteady did for character development and game development. These games are fun and all but they couldn't hold a candle to Arkham's flame.
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.
Not only that, but some of them are improved from the first game. I was positively giddy when I realized I could use dual sabers as a normal weapon instead of an awkward power attack.
I actually thought it was very frustrating that he didnt have everything from the first game. By all accounts hes been attacking the empire since then so he should be stronger and not have to relearn everything
Right?! I picked up my copy and one the way home I was scratching my head going “how on earth are they gonna Samus his ass?” And I was relieved they didn’t. It did take me a minute to get back on the bike though, knock off the cobwebs so to speak.
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
I agree, I definitely think it’s a better sequel to fallen order then Spider-Man-2 is to Spider-Man 1, I’m not sure about a better game but I think I’ve enjoyed it more then Spider-Man 2
It’s because 1, there were a ton of great games that came out last year, and 2, Star Wars’ reputation has fallen off a cliff in the last few years due to over-saturation and mediocre storytelling. I’m sure the game is good for what it is since it looks unaffected by Disney’s focus tested nonsense, but truthfully I just don’t care about this franchise anymore - it’s so boring now. I can’t really blame people for not knowing this game even exists.
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.
"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!_*
It was his dash attack that strapped a grenade to you that kept getting me. I will say though the main bosses in the game aren't hard because they're unfair, they're just challenging depending on what stances you're used to using at the time
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!
I'm glad that Cal is involved with the Empire (as the Jedi sgould be whether he's fighting them or hiding) but I'm happy he's not hsving a crossover with every other major character we know. Vader actually makes sense with his actual job in the Empire, so I'm perfectly happy with him showing up but I'm happy Cal is on how OWN journey.
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.
That was my first thought too and I hated that because I liked bode but they laid it on so thick that I knew he was going to be a bad guy after our entire crew died but him
It was intentional I think, they hint at him being evil but then don't follow through with it giving him such a likeable personality and eventually after enough time where you're fighting with him, like cal you grow to trust him making the twist even more impactful, its because you don't want him to be evil and you hope that your biases based on other media are wrong here, pretty clever ngl
A detail I thought was neat in the game that I don’t think was in the video Spoilers: The Lightsaber Bode uses isn’t actually his. It’s Dagan’s. The the encyclopedia thing mentions it if you look at his character profile after his betrayal and there is actually a point after the Dagan fight where Bode has Cal go ahead of him where he could’ve snatched the saber. It makes sense that he wouldn’t carry one since he’s keeping that part of him hidden but it also shows that he was getting ready to sever his ties with the Empire.
Will have to wait to watch this one. I recently started Fallen Order and am really enjoying it. Will come back and binge after I finish Survivor. No doubt that the video will be amazing!! May the Force be with you
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.
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
@@dybiosolThe game tells you about it when you unlock the electric dart (I never used it myself, but often when I was mid-combat I thought “oh wait, I should’ve tried the electric dart before getting into this fight”)
@@dybiosol You do need the slice ability for the enemy type you intend to use the dart on for it to work though and it can't be used in combat. Once in combat BD will directly slice the droid after it takes previous damage rather than use the dart.
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
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.
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.
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.
When Vader tells Cere "You have become stronger", she answers "No. I just let go of my fear". Which is one of the most Jedi things to say, ever. Cere might've struggled with the Dark Side in the first game, but by the second one she's transcended it.
Yeah I don't really get how he thinks Bode should be sympathetic at the final boss fight. After personally killing Cordova, getting Cere and Anchorites killed, I was ready to go Anakin on Kata just to mentally destroy him lmao. Like I get that his initial motivation is sympathetic, but there's no sympathy to be have with a "monster" as Cal calls him.
Cere is tapping into the dark side because she uses a specific lightsaber stance. When Cal uses the dark side, he also has the same move set as Cere. This stance is tied to the dark side.
@@WaddelingProductions ok so why does Cal use that stance when he pulls from the darkness? We know Cere has history with the dark side and that it is a strong connection. She then says that she let go of her fear, which mean she accepted and tamed the dark side. Side note, Vader is known to be weak against the dark side and Cere puts up a decent challenge for him. As for gameplay, Cere is shown with a specific stance and forces open doors in a specific way. Cal can do the same thing but only after giving in to the dark side. This is only for a short time compared to Cere always being in this state. Given her history, character growth, and gameplay, this all seems to point to her having control over the dark side. If need Cere to say to the screen, "I know form 7" and Cal says "show me" then I'm sorry but this wasn't written by the Wachowskis.
Very cool review, and it's great to see you gush over the gameplay & story of an awesome game. The only, i guess, critique i have is the grey Jedi argument near the end is based on a ultimately fanon idea. It's a word that was not really said in Star Wars stories even before the Disney buy-out. Sure, the Force wasn't strictly binary, but Lucas & other creators make it very clear that the dark side is a very unnatural power, almost like it's not a part of nature. There's a reason Yoda warns that the Dark side will forever dominate one's destiny. It's based on lucas idea of happiness (light) vs. pleasure (dark). It's why both modern & even old SW writers don't like stuff like force judgment because it's a cheap, contradictory "have your cake & eat it too " power fantasy. Balance isn't grey, it's deeper than that. So Ahsoka, Cal, Cere & Qui-Gon aren't grey jedi. Perhaps unorthodox, which is cool but far from relying on the dark side. The Jedi aren't really dogmatic. They encourage love, just not over attachment & selfish love, which is exactly what happened to Anakin & Bode in the end. Luke didn't succeed through using dark & light. He succeeded through selfless love to his father, a very Jedi solution.
My personal easiest way to understand light side and dark side dichotomy is comparing it to logging. Light side is sustainable logging, a process that takes longer, more safeguards, yields less, in order to not distrupt nature. Dark side is deforestation, it's faster and yields more, but left a mark that hard to heal. Dark side user means to make the force submit to their will, to be stronger by any means, corrupting nature and themselves in the process
@i.r.raharjo8706 And that’s exactly how the Force has always worked in Star Wars. Doing deforestation sometimes is still deforestation, and characters who frequently use the dark side often either become corrupted like Bode or stop entirely. I get where Zander is coming from, but it feels like an arkward insertion of his dissatisfaction with Star Wars not being what he wants it to be in an otherwise great analysis video. Resulting in misreading how the SW universe works and the intentions of Survivor's storytelling concerning how it ties the Force to Cal's story. Heck, neither the developers or actors ever say or even allude to grey Jedi now existing nor that grey is what they think Balance means.
Yeah I can agree with that, one thing that bothered me about the design of the game is the whole dark side power up ability you gain towards the end. It kinda feels half baked to just have that as an ability because it does the job well of tempting the players with power but its kinda pointless that late in the game when there can be no consequence from indulging in that power. But at least it sets up an opportunity for good mechanical thematic cohesion in a sequel if the player starts with access to it (along side some weaker but cool skills, unusable during the power up, that are fun when mastered to mechanically represent the light side).
@theresnothinghere1745 When you finish the temples in jeda, your journal mentions something like that Cal is afraid of the darkness that seems to be growing in him, but Merrin seems to be helping him through it. So your idea of it having ramifications on the sequel might be correct.
When you look at the boss fight with Bode through the lens of a father, you can understand the more primal aspects of it. He did everything he deemed necessary to save his daughter and he was *still* found by his newly made enemies not once, but twice. When your child is in danger or puts themselves in what you think is a dangerous situation, adrenaline kicks in. It can lead you to not thinking straight. Not to mention that Bode is still carrying the guilt of damning his friend, he’s not thinking, just reacting; hence the “lost the plot.” A common phrase that is said by parents is, “I will die for my son, but kill for my daughter.” Bode delivers on that but by fueling his anger at Cal with the dark side, he accidentally harms Kata the same way Anakin harmed Padme in ROTS. A better score can drill that point home, but the intensity and ferocity of the fight is well deserved. At least from my point of view.
1 small correction I have for this video is that cere is definitely stronger than cal. Shes permanently as strong as his temporary rage ability with only a couple changes. You certainly wouldn't have an easier time fighting vader as cal (well you might due to having a more familiar and varied moveset but it'd take SIGNIFICANTLY more hits to win)
the mullet was hands down the best creative decision they made in this game. it fits so well with early kobol aesthetics that feel appropriate for a scruffy aussie ranger keeping the peace and helping fellow folk
i hated it so much that i couldnt play with it for longer than a minute Which means the implementation was sublime. Light mustache + Crew Cut + Red sleeveless shirt and empire pants for life though.
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:)
This is the best review of the game I’ve seen. For me the game was 10/10 I absolutely loved it. Every minute, especially the story. Thank you for actually reviewing the game, and not just hammering “the bugs!” In regards to the last 1/3 of Bode’s fight, I took it as “a man desperately fighting for his daughter” and that’s how he became so vicious and unpredictable. He was scared, like an animal. I think for the third game, they have a couple options. Time jump 5 years either 0BBY or 1ABY and Cal is trainjng his padawan. And she either turns to the dark side out of anger/resentment for him killing her father and he has to sacrifice himself to bring her back to the light, or Marin eats it and finally pushes Cal over the edge into his darkness and his padawan has to bring him back, or put him down. Either way I don’t see Cal living to see the end of his story. But if they can home run this next game, it’ll be the Star Wars Trilogy we should’ve gotten in the first place.
I interpreted Bode as the antithesis of Cal. The Jedi banned forming attachments. Cal proves the Jedi wrong as his personal connections are what keep him from the dark side, whereas Bode’s personal connections are corrupted by the dark side, warping him.
I absolutely loved Jedi Survivor. I got it on PS5 within a week of launch and literally the only performance issue I had was the slightly choppy framerate, which I truly barely even noticed because I loved the game so much.
I think a natural progression for a 3rd entry gameplay-wise is to make all the stances permanently available without needing to meditate or use a workbench to access them, or add more stances and you can choose 3-4 to use; make the varied playstyle introduced in Survivor integral in the 3rd game. And I love what you noted about making the perks combinable as well, where certain kinds of perks would add an extra bonus based on their type.
I really hope they pick 4 or so and really make them flow well together. So you can fluidly swap between them. Maybe one on each Directional Pad direction
Bode’s claim to fatherhood being his motivation is also false, as no parent would place the burden of their actions on their child’s shoulders. He’s not trying to protect Kata, he’s trying to keep her. Keep her under glass, keep her his, keep her from truly living. The fight for her safety was lost the moment he handed her over to the ISB, making her a literal hostage for his good behavior. And in the final confrontation with him, he realized everything he thought he had done had been for nothing, every betrayal in vain, every sacrifice meaningless. So he snapped. He’s the textbook example of why the Jedi (wrongly) forbid their members from having families. He’s treating Kata not like his daughter, but like his possession.
I agree with the point of this statement entirely. That said, a *lot* of parents place the burdens of their actions on their children's shoulders. Or at least during the era of my childhood, it was the standard. If it's now so rare that it's unheard of - I am very, very happy the world has evolved so much. That is beautiful.
Survivor might not be the story I wanted but the plot is so emotional that it was worth being subverted. The game gives us real life lessons that we can all learn from. It's one of the few games that can even bring a tear to your eye. I can't wait for the 3rd one
Another tremendous critique, Monty!! I really appreciate the warmth of your analysis and the clarity of your writing - you help me think more deeply about the games I love, and that's a wonderful gift. Also, I have no idea how you manage to put out such high-effort, high-quality videos so frequently... hope you're getting enough sleep lol
Oh thank god. This is exactly what I needed today. I won’t go into details bc I feel that would be inappropriate for a yt comments section, but, ah, the world is rather shit at the moment and, like so so many others, it’s started to affect me personally. So having a bunch of small things to help raise my spirits- a snack I like, a warm blanket, a cute animal, or a new video by one of my favorite comfort creators- all help make this bearable. The point being, thanks Monty. I deeply appreciate it.
What I love about the story of this game is that it’s a lot murkier and less focused than the previous one. While I completely understand why some people have problems with it, I believe that it allowed it to have a lot of subtle complexity that is often overlooked. Dagon is actually an extremely interesting foil to Cal, with their obsessions with Tanalor that lead to them being betrayed, and luring them to the dark side. Another thing that people seem to overlook is that Bodes betrayal actually has valid reasons, which I’m sure the third game will explore with the empire invading Tanalor. The only thing that doesn’t make sense narratively is Bode killing BD1s creator, which feels very pointless.
When it comes to Bode, I personally had a feeling he would betray, ever since the beginning area, he was also acting suspicious and asking too many questions pretty much most of the game, his reasons are in my opinion mostly selfish reasons, he isn't the only that's lost someone dear to him, thanks to him, many died in that secret Jedi base including Cordova which he murdered in cold blood and Cere who also died indirectly because of him, and him trying to only save his child and himself by going to Tanalorr, screw lol others, as for the empire they would have eventually found Tanalorr, just like how the marauders attacked it in the flashback scenes, if marauders could have found it, then I am pretty sure the empire could as well, he had one last chance in Tanalorr to stop, even his child didn't want him to take that path, but he made his choice, the fact that he was willing to take only his child there, he didn't think it through, what will happen to his child after he is gone, he pretty much used both the empire, Cal and his allies to get what he wanted, classic selfish move, who cares if others die, even people that helped him
I feel like the reason that he kills BD1's creator is that he was the only person that could possibly have made another compass to get to Tanalor and if he could build another compass than there is a chance that the empire would be able to get their hands on it.
Small technical issues aside and little bugs here and there, the story was fantastic. The twist was really good, I think, because up until that point, the relationships had been built up between the crew; despite being a new character, I really liked Bode and I was torn when we had to fight him (why does everyone say its an easy fight jfc I struggled with it sm! second hardest fight for me) NGL, I kind of went from sympathetic and sad about his fate to angry and actually truly feeling betrayed when I went around and saw the force echoes he left behind. Oh what a massive kick that was.
16:00 I do think theres another meaning to the scene. When fighting her with ease the feeling is of "finishing what we started" we are rightfully angered and Cal should be too, it feels like our fault for letting her *survive* and cause more harm. But even if he ultimately chooses violence he refuses to go in the same route as his oppressors, it striked me, he talks almost like a meditation to himself: He knows what he needs to do, the ninth sister is long lost, but he decides to do it in a beat of compassion and empathy, its a imperfect middle term but he is still definitively a Jedi Knight
Only 3 minutes in but I will say that fallen order was also very unpolished at launch. I remember on the game completely stopping to load and textures not loading in time for cutscenes.
12:17 I did recognize that the game was clearly trying to get me to like Bode but I didn't think it was because he was a traitor, I thought it was because he was going to die. Particularly him showing Cal his daughter Kata I was like "Well, you're not making it out of this game" which I guess I was right about but not for the reasons I'd thought. 1:47:47 I think you misunderstand how the dark side works. When you fully let it consume you as Bode clearly has here you aren't yourself anymore, you aren't thinking anymore. You are a shadow of your former self and are not even bothering to control yourself. Think about someone like Luke, when he fights Vader in Return of the Jedi for 90% of that fight he's in complete control, fighting while planning, using his environment to his advantage. But once Vader threatens Leia and Luke finally stops resisting his fighting completely changes. No more planning, no more strategy, no more control, he's just throwing himself at Vader like a wild animal. This is what the dark side does to you, when you let it consume you you aren't yourself anymore, and so you don't act like yourself. The force is using you now, not the other way around.
Now while I agree that the Bode boss theme should've been more emotional with maybe piano and violins to emphasize the weight of the fight, you should go talk to Mosey a bunch. In one of the conversations, she states that an animal when cornered will do whatever it takes to survive. Bode was cornered, so he went all out, erratic, out of control, trying to keep Cal off of him. Anyone that gets cornered would be animalistic. Also a fun detail about the two ready to shoot each other with the blasters, notice how cal didnt even try shooting until after Bode tried to. Cal gave him a final chance before double tapping
This game is the best Star Wars has been since the original movies and an actual, true case of being criminally underappreciated. Its delightful soulsy combat and metroidvania exploration without all the nasty nonsense that by now after playing so many of them feels lile tedious timewaste. Every character is fun and interesting and the writing is extremely good. Cal is crazy cool in this, has an actual arc. And the exploration, dear god i didnt have so much fun exploring in a game since Hollow Knight. This game deserves so much more recognition for being such an expertly crafted experience that for me, is right up there with an Uncharted. True gem and most definitely my number 1 experience this year. Absolutely loved it. Thanks for giving it the recognition it deserves.
@@DonnyKanone Sorry, that was worded poorly on my part. I meant to say that I feel it is about a 6/10 and not a 9/10 like most people think. IMO Fallen Order is superior narrative wise
@@DonnyKanone A 9/10 star wars game for me is a game that is: 1. Polished to a good degree 2. Runs well fps wise 3. Has a good narrative with interesting characters, and no plot holes 4. Has nice combat that works well with good hit detection 5. Isn't too repetitive or boring. I've only seen youtube footage of Survivor tbh. I've formed my opinions based on that, and what my cousin thinks (he beat the game). I have played a lot of Fallen Order though. Fallen order ticks the first 3 boxes. The combat in Fallen Order is OK, not the worst but def not the best either. Hit detection can be whacked. Fallen Order only half ticks the 5th box. It gets boring and the exploration is a pain. But there is the battle grid etc. So it is about a 6 or 6.5/10. Survivor's combat looks more janky, and it doesn't have the battle grid after you beat the game. I feel as if the personalities in Fallen Order are more natural (in particular Trilla is a better villian than Bode/Dagan). So it may be a 5.5 or 6. Imo. I hope you find something useful in this comment!
Man, you’re writing; the way you weave in and out of the story, stopping to break down different game mechanics along the way, is one of the most unique and interesting ways I’ve ever seen someone review a game. I really hope your channel grows to match the quality of your videos. I’m not the type to blow smoke either. I hope my compliments find you, along with a large devoted audience. You deserve it for all the work you put into these videos. Don’t ignore your videos where you make your girlfriend(fiancé) play games though. It’s how I found you. Bring them in with the girlfriend gamer videos and lock em down with deep dives like this. Best of luck man.
I was hoping he'd eventually cover this game since there was already a video on Fallen order, and I have yet to be disappointed! I made sure to stay away from as many spoilers as possible, and the twists and turns of this story combined with the fantastic gameplay had me hooked from start to finish. Technical issues aside I think this was a fantastic follow-up, and I could not be more excited to see where the next game takes us, and takes Cal Kestis.
Jedi Fallen Orders platforming in simple terns: From Uncharted to Prince of Persia. Jedi Survivor has embraced the Prince of Persia type of platforming that has been dead in action games for almost a decade (thanks to Assasins Creed and Uncharted)
1:35:15 not to toot my own horn too much but I'm actually SO proud of myself for calling it like, in the first MINUTES after his appearance. Maybe it was a coindcidence, but to add to what you described earlier in the video, it personally was the cinematographic language that gave me the hint. from the way he was introduced to the way we stands behind you in a particular moment on Coruscant, not to mention when he tells you he's got a daughter I was like "ah, leverage". To be completely honest I didn't stay adamant about it all the time but the thought was always there and when the game kept going after you found the compass I just knew that if betrayal was going to happen, it was there so when it happened I just said "I FUCKING KNEW IT" out loud
I disagree with your assessment of the Bode fight. I remember I had a really hard time with it. Not nearly as hard as with Vader, but probably the second hardest fight for me. If your job is to play games for a living certainly some mechanics would seem trivial. But it was absolutely a challenge and a memorable combat sequence for me.
I'm not in the high regard of Disney's take on Star Wars franchise (flying Inquisitors and bleeding crystals, bleh) but the Respawn's games is one of the few redeeming qualities. And I must thank you, sir, for pointing out that Dark Side and Light Side definitions is not a cosmic imperative but only Jedi and Sith views on something much more. This is the point Disney had unable to adopt from old Expanded Universe but guys from Respawn do.
This video deserves millions of views. I have a playlist consisting of my absolute favorite youtube videos ever, and this one (having the least views) sorted itself at the bottom😢
I just beat the game a few days ago and haven't finished watching this video. I think the game is good and always on the cusp of being great but never reaches greatness. I'm still feeling out my thoughts on the game. I score between an 8 or 9. I did experience glitches. Reloading fixed most of them. I did see a lot of white popping that flashed for a second. I enjoyed the story and think it has some great quite moments. I think the main issue I have with the story is the "Villains". I think I missed some important information regrading Dagan because I just didn't get his turn and possession for Tanalorr. As for Bode. His reason just doesn't make sense to me. His plan is to live on Tanalorr with just his daughter to keep her safe from the empire? I was more interested in Rayvis then the other two. I don't know. Maybe I need to play the game again to understand it better, or finish watching your video.
Been watching since the Hellblade review Monty, just wanted to say a big grats on the soon to be 100k, more than deserved, your content and analysis has always been top tier.
The parallel at the very end about being the heart of a trilogy I believe could also apply to mass effect 2 as well. Nearly everything that game did crested the legend of that series and just like empire holds the title as the best in the trilogy. It's going to be extremely interesting to see how this series is looked back on when we can look at it as a whole.
Bode was one of the very few times during my adult times I *didn't* call a twist. I admit I expected him to die, and when he didn't....I actually thought, "okay devs way to go and not going for the cheap twist. And then. I saw his face in the backround...and the bottom fell out of my stomach. As far as his all over the place characterization post twist I thought about it in this fashion: Bode, like all the best liars, lied to you as little as possible and during the plot he actually really did find himself becoming attached to Cal and the crew and when finally saw the chance at freedom and safety he had been dreaming of and was excited to take it. Until Cal takes that away. But he still dosent quite *want* what happens next, he triggers the ambush early, tells Cal not to chase him because he *knows* who and what is coming he killed Cordova in a panic but he tried to spare Cals loved ones, albeit in a twisted way, if Cal stuck around and the mantis bailed with Cere they likely would have gotten away, he knows about Merrin's nightsister bs afterall. He *meant* it when he called Cal his best friend, it's likely the closest relationship he had developed in almost a decade. His rabid nature on Tanalor however, is likely a result of of his own relationship with the force. This is a man who has hidden his connection to the force for years, remember, he was not a member of the inquisition, any time he used the force while working for the isb would have come at massive risk to himself, because while the isb was willing to hide him, they certainly weren't going to save him if he got caught. Deniablilty is the word here, he's a pawn in a political game just as much as he is an intelligence asset. So when you show up to tanalor, putting his daughter implicitly at risk by your very presence....well, he's already under a massive amount of stress and likely all kinds of guilty, perhaps for the first time in a long time, the man has been in survival mode for a long time, even longer than Cal and we saw what 5 years did to *him*. He jumped into the darkside with both feet, Cal would have demolished him in anything resembling a fair fight afterall, one of them has been fighting non stop with a jedi skillset for years and the other has in all likelihood been terrified of touching the force unless absolutely necessary, and likely sticking to the most subtle applications he could, the man did not have a lightsaber, when it comes to the storytelling thay says a lot. And of course we have seen what happens when someone is emotionally unstable and opens themselves up to that part of the force. (Insert dead kids and familicide here) The dark side always seems to isolate its users, it magnifies rage and paranoia, while giving an amphetamine style rush. Bode is freaking out...because Bode is FREAKING OUT. And he's just strong enough, and he has hurt out Crew enough that they just can't quite talk him down. It's a slow motion tragedy and I love it.
As my 1st Star Wars game, I really enjoyed the powers and graphics, semi open world. I got a little tired of all the puzzles. Just a bit because I wanted to get in a Jedi destruction mode. Again, my first Star wars game. The storyline and acting was great. It was enjoyable.
1:35:16 For me it was literally the scene in Coruscant where they talk about his daughter My brain IMMEDIATELY went “oh he’s gonna die or betray me” Then ALL THE CREW DIED except for him and my brain instantly went “oh he sold me out to the empire, he struck a deal with them” So I was just waiting for him to do so. I never saw any of the reviews or anything but I feel like twist villains have become so common nowadays that it’s become really easy to call them out.
I straight up didnt like Bode not his characterization but i just knew what the twist was the moment hes like i got a dead wife and a Daughter id do Anything for. I was like nice try respawn but thats the oldest trick in the book especially since he just came out swinging throwing his personal info out there
Idk for me it was so obvious that Bode was going to turn. All he explained about was his daughter and he basically goes his own way for half the story. I didn’t think they were subtle with that at all. I’m actually surprised people were genuinely shocked at the twist. I guess him being a Jedi was an alright twist.
This game is somehow underrated even with the high scoring reviews regardless of bugs. It’s world building and character work is way better than anything else Disney has pushed (besides andor) and cal is a top 5 Jedi.
I disagree with your negativity on the point about regular, more difficult enemies you see later in the game being "bosses" earlier in the game. I quite like that aspect of the enemy design. I did agree though with your point about having the same fauna enemy with a different boss title in various locations. I think that's a fundamentally different issue though because the fauna enemies aren't about the timing of when you meet them. The timing is what makes it work with the KX droid on Coruscant and Rayvis' veteran bedlam raider outside the saloon, for example.
Amazing review, just finished this game a week ago, and it’s polished without bugs, just some performance hiccups but 95% of the game was great. Glad to see a review that takes time, keep up the good work.
People actually like turgle? Hes annoying af, i have 0 sympathy for characters that do blatantly dumb shit that they know isnt going to end well when they cant even defend themselves and then once saved they go and do the same shit over and over again, the amount of times you can speak to turgle and he proposes some dumb plan to scam someone and see if cal would bail him out is just annoying
I'm still bummed that they claimed there were more planets than fallen order when there werent, obviously koboh is the biggest planet in both games but other than that, zeffo is bigger than jeddha and id argue kashyyyk is too bogano is about the same size if not bigger than the shattered moon and the same goes for dathomir being the same size as coruscant, the isb base is small like the fortress inquisetorios in the first game and tanalor might aswell not even be counted as a planet because its smaller than bracca the tutorial of fallen order, there definitely arent more planets like they claimed there is just more on koboh, both games have 4 planets and one of them being tanalor should not even count as a planet, having 2 small moon bases you can go to definitely does not constitute as more planets, in this regard i wish they were more truthful
I’ve been so hyped for this review since the second I finished the game. I had some really conflicted feelings on it, and I can’t wait to see your thoughts!
I still think they should have ended the game with cal still having hate and using the dark side it could have setup the trilogy and have him go through it and we get to play/ experience all of it and by the end of the 3rd game or even halfway through his lightsaber would go to purple. He was brought back to the light side way to fast. Could have even saved bod for the next game instead of killing him off but eh what do I know about story telling
I believe that if you read the journal entries it mentions Cal is still experiencing some issues because of it, and that Merrin is helping him with them.
I actually liked the "legendary enemies." It's often not just a bigger healthbar. Vile Bilemaw, for example, has attacks that are red that the regular Bilemaw doesn't have. I hope they DON'T take your critique to heart on that. Because finding "alpha" versions of enemies is pleasing to me
Am I the only one who didnt have any bugs or crashes with the game? I got it on release on the series s and genuinely had no issues. Great critique as ever!
I didn't either, but I didn't play it on the release date, I bought and played it in December deliberately, hoping the patches would solve all the issues that I was hearing about.
I found out about you last month with your Bioshock critiques, and binged like 5 videos in one day. When Jedi Survivor came out, I wasn't really interested in it, and didn't pay much attention to it, but this video changed my mind and now I want to play it for myself, hopefully it goes on sale soon, because it looks like this game would scratch that Star Wars itch i've had for a long time, since the other media has been very disappointing.
You can use BD to electro hack droids from a distance before heading into combat, so there is use there But I wish he’d have been made a contextual option and the third d pad was reassigned to a third lightsaber option.
I would consider this game my choice for game of the year 2023. I think it has a fun single player campaign and I can see there was a lot of care and effort into creating the game and by patching it after it was released. I would consider this more of a solid contender for game of the year than Mario Wonder or Baldurs Gate or Robocop:Rogue City. I had an enjoyable time playing through the campaign.
Re: Bode's boss theme, the other example of a fantastic mournful boss theme that comes to mind is Roxas's in KH2FM. The fight is an absolute wall if you're not punching well above what the game has expected before that point, but his theme is so slow and mournful because the scene is all about Roxas's tragic desperation rather than Sora's desire to overcome and win. I definitely agree that Bode's fight should have pulled the same trick. A slow tragic theme to accompany subduing a former friend who's lost their way and fallen to obsession.
I just finished his game for the first time and I started off not trusting him and the game slowly made me trust him because of how many chances he had to stab me in the back but didn't, I finally trusted him after we killed Dagan, it really was the perfect timing on when to reveal it to me.
To be honest im glad Bode didnt get a sad and somber final boss theme. Yes he was your friend, but he also just murdered your other friends. Im glad the game didn't attempt to make us feel sorry for this despicable man like how garbage ass Revenge of the Sith tried to make us feel the same for Anakin, another terrible human being. Bode's circumstances are tragic but he still made those choices and chose to be a bad person.
The droid shock is actually usable as a long range hack prior to combat. Clever positioning means you can hack enemies at a distance without damaging them eliminating a lot of the threats before you engage. If that’s not building a better hero I don’t know what is
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!
You had to find the upgrades for different droid types to unlock that ability, but it wasn't clear it was something you could do, and felt difficult to pull off once you were in combat.
You have to have the splice ability unlocked for each droid type. ALSO you cannot use the ability once you’re in combat. You have to use it on droids before combat and they won’t immediately attack enemies but will fight for you once combat starts.
nah, you can do it in-combat, but combat is *usually* pretty much over by the time you get a droid low enough to hack them
@@TheNomnomnommer That is a hack, found in Fallen Order as well, but not the same mechanism that is employed to hack them prior to combat.
You do need the slice ability for the enemy type you intend to use the dart on for it to work but it can't be used in combat and can't be used on humanoids such as stormtroopers. Once in combat you can still instruct BD to directly slice the droid and turn it into an ally after it takes sufficient damage but that has nothing to do with the dart.
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."
I have had a similar thought myself especially after seeing survivor. I called it the arkham city to fallen order's asylum.
Are you a Redditor by chance?
@@jakedizzle I lurk, don't post much
Nah, EA couldn't even do a 10th of what Rocksteady did for character development and game development. These games are fun and all but they couldn't hold a candle to Arkham's flame.
@@RecluseBootsybias might be holding you and that community. Those games are a bit dated, Knight is the best mechanically.
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.
Not only that, but some of them are improved from the first game. I was positively giddy when I realized I could use dual sabers as a normal weapon instead of an awkward power attack.
i just wish we had all of his cosmetics and lightsaber parts 😭
I actually thought it was very frustrating that he didnt have everything from the first game. By all accounts hes been attacking the empire since then so he should be stronger and not have to relearn everything
Right?! I picked up my copy and one the way home I was scratching my head going “how on earth are they gonna Samus his ass?” And I was relieved they didn’t. It did take me a minute to get back on the bike though, knock off the cobwebs so to speak.
I can’t stand when games make you “forget” everything. Like no, build upon that and make engaging encounters based on those things
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
I agree, I definitely think it’s a better sequel to fallen order then Spider-Man-2 is to Spider-Man 1, I’m not sure about a better game but I think I’ve enjoyed it more then Spider-Man 2
It’s because 1, there were a ton of great games that came out last year, and 2, Star Wars’ reputation has fallen off a cliff in the last few years due to over-saturation and mediocre storytelling. I’m sure the game is good for what it is since it looks unaffected by Disney’s focus tested nonsense, but truthfully I just don’t care about this franchise anymore - it’s so boring now. I can’t really blame people for not knowing this game even exists.
@@SaberRexZealot 🤓
It didn’t deserve any awards
@@cj5476 wrong
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.
"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!_*
You're not alone in that 😅
I've talked with a few of my friends and we each found the boss took each of us way different amounts of time to beat.
I had to turn the different down from the middle one, one below it just to finish the game, he was destroying me on normal difficulty, lol. 🤣
I fear no Sith nor fallen Jedi. But that god damn frog!
It was his dash attack that strapped a grenade to you that kept getting me. I will say though the main bosses in the game aren't hard because they're unfair, they're just challenging depending on what stances you're used to using at the time
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!
i think it’s on sale on the ps store right now
My issue is I prefer physical copies on anything over 35 dollars
@@personman1148ps5 games are expensive asf 😒
I'm glad that Cal is involved with the Empire (as the Jedi sgould be whether he's fighting them or hiding) but I'm happy he's not hsving a crossover with every other major character we know. Vader actually makes sense with his actual job in the Empire, so I'm perfectly happy with him showing up but I'm happy Cal is on how OWN journey.
i bought a ps5 copy for $30 at gamestop new cuz of a black friday sale. hopefully they bring those prices back down for the holidays
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.
That was my first thought too and I hated that because I liked bode but they laid it on so thick that I knew he was going to be a bad guy after our entire crew died but him
It was intentional I think, they hint at him being evil but then don't follow through with it giving him such a likeable personality and eventually after enough time where you're fighting with him, like cal you grow to trust him making the twist even more impactful, its because you don't want him to be evil and you hope that your biases based on other media are wrong here, pretty clever ngl
A detail I thought was neat in the game that I don’t think was in the video
Spoilers:
The Lightsaber Bode uses isn’t actually his. It’s Dagan’s. The the encyclopedia thing mentions it if you look at his character profile after his betrayal and there is actually a point after the Dagan fight where Bode has Cal go ahead of him where he could’ve snatched the saber. It makes sense that he wouldn’t carry one since he’s keeping that part of him hidden but it also shows that he was getting ready to sever his ties with the Empire.
Dang good eye. I thought it looked a little ancient when cal placed it on his body.
Yeah There’s actually a force echo up where you beat dagan where you can hear bode choosing to take it because he knows what’s coming
I noticed that too. Very neat.
Will have to wait to watch this one. I recently started Fallen Order and am really enjoying it. Will come back and binge after I finish Survivor. No doubt that the video will be amazing!! May the Force be with you
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.
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
Holy...how did you even find this mechanic?!
@@dybiosolThe game tells you about it when you unlock the electric dart (I never used it myself, but often when I was mid-combat I thought “oh wait, I should’ve tried the electric dart before getting into this fight”)
@@dybiosol You do need the slice ability for the enemy type you intend to use the dart on for it to work though and it can't be used in combat. Once in combat BD will directly slice the droid after it takes previous damage rather than use the dart.
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
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.
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.
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.
When Vader tells Cere "You have become stronger", she answers "No. I just let go of my fear".
Which is one of the most Jedi things to say, ever.
Cere might've struggled with the Dark Side in the first game, but by the second one she's transcended it.
Yeah I don't really get how he thinks Bode should be sympathetic at the final boss fight. After personally killing Cordova, getting Cere and Anchorites killed, I was ready to go Anakin on Kata just to mentally destroy him lmao. Like I get that his initial motivation is sympathetic, but there's no sympathy to be have with a "monster" as Cal calls him.
Cere is tapping into the dark side because she uses a specific lightsaber stance. When Cal uses the dark side, he also has the same move set as Cere. This stance is tied to the dark side.
@@stormagedden785literally not though. There’s nothing to say that Cere’s stance is tied to the Dark Side
@@WaddelingProductions ok so why does Cal use that stance when he pulls from the darkness?
We know Cere has history with the dark side and that it is a strong connection. She then says that she let go of her fear, which mean she accepted and tamed the dark side.
Side note, Vader is known to be weak against the dark side and Cere puts up a decent challenge for him.
As for gameplay, Cere is shown with a specific stance and forces open doors in a specific way. Cal can do the same thing but only after giving in to the dark side. This is only for a short time compared to Cere always being in this state.
Given her history, character growth, and gameplay, this all seems to point to her having control over the dark side. If need Cere to say to the screen, "I know form 7" and Cal says "show me" then I'm sorry but this wasn't written by the Wachowskis.
Very cool review, and it's great to see you gush over the gameplay & story of an awesome game.
The only, i guess, critique i have is the grey Jedi argument near the end is based on a ultimately fanon idea. It's a word that was not really said in Star Wars stories even before the Disney buy-out. Sure, the Force wasn't strictly binary, but Lucas & other creators make it very clear that the dark side is a very unnatural power, almost like it's not a part of nature. There's a reason Yoda warns that the Dark side will forever dominate one's destiny. It's based on lucas idea of happiness (light) vs. pleasure (dark). It's why both modern & even old SW writers don't like stuff like force judgment because it's a cheap, contradictory "have your cake & eat it too " power fantasy.
Balance isn't grey, it's deeper than that.
So Ahsoka, Cal, Cere & Qui-Gon aren't grey jedi. Perhaps unorthodox, which is cool but far from relying on the dark side. The Jedi aren't really dogmatic. They encourage love, just not over attachment & selfish love, which is exactly what happened to Anakin & Bode in the end. Luke didn't succeed through using dark & light. He succeeded through selfless love to his father, a very Jedi solution.
My personal easiest way to understand light side and dark side dichotomy is comparing it to logging. Light side is sustainable logging, a process that takes longer, more safeguards, yields less, in order to not distrupt nature. Dark side is deforestation, it's faster and yields more, but left a mark that hard to heal. Dark side user means to make the force submit to their will, to be stronger by any means, corrupting nature and themselves in the process
@i.r.raharjo8706 And that’s exactly how the Force has always worked in Star Wars. Doing deforestation sometimes is still deforestation, and characters who frequently use the dark side often either become corrupted like Bode or stop entirely.
I get where Zander is coming from, but it feels like an arkward insertion of his dissatisfaction with Star Wars not being what he wants it to be in an otherwise great analysis video. Resulting in misreading how the SW universe works and the intentions of Survivor's storytelling concerning how it ties the Force to Cal's story. Heck, neither the developers or actors ever say or even allude to grey Jedi now existing nor that grey is what they think Balance means.
Yeah I can agree with that, one thing that bothered me about the design of the game is the whole dark side power up ability you gain towards the end.
It kinda feels half baked to just have that as an ability because it does the job well of tempting the players with power but its kinda pointless that late in the game when there can be no consequence from indulging in that power.
But at least it sets up an opportunity for good mechanical thematic cohesion in a sequel if the player starts with access to it (along side some weaker but cool skills, unusable during the power up, that are fun when mastered to mechanically represent the light side).
@theresnothinghere1745 When you finish the temples in jeda, your journal mentions something like that Cal is afraid of the darkness that seems to be growing in him, but Merrin seems to be helping him through it. So your idea of it having ramifications on the sequel might be correct.
When you look at the boss fight with Bode through the lens of a father, you can understand the more primal aspects of it. He did everything he deemed necessary to save his daughter and he was *still* found by his newly made enemies not once, but twice. When your child is in danger or puts themselves in what you think is a dangerous situation, adrenaline kicks in. It can lead you to not thinking straight. Not to mention that Bode is still carrying the guilt of damning his friend, he’s not thinking, just reacting; hence the “lost the plot.”
A common phrase that is said by parents is, “I will die for my son, but kill for my daughter.” Bode delivers on that but by fueling his anger at Cal with the dark side, he accidentally harms Kata the same way Anakin harmed Padme in ROTS. A better score can drill that point home, but the intensity and ferocity of the fight is well deserved. At least from my point of view.
When cal meets dagen, he's a master. This is explained through a few echos.
1 small correction I have for this video is that cere is definitely stronger than cal. Shes permanently as strong as his temporary rage ability with only a couple changes. You certainly wouldn't have an easier time fighting vader as cal (well you might due to having a more familiar and varied moveset but it'd take SIGNIFICANTLY more hits to win)
Not to mention how much bigger her parry window is. If we were playing as Cal, Vader's delays would have been hellish.
the mullet was hands down the best creative decision they made in this game.
it fits so well with early kobol aesthetics that feel appropriate for a scruffy aussie ranger keeping the peace and helping fellow folk
i hated it so much that i couldnt play with it for longer than a minute
Which means the implementation was sublime.
Light mustache + Crew Cut + Red sleeveless shirt and empire pants for life though.
@@DonnyKanone Prefer the Windswept + Stubble combo myself but I respect a good average moustache enjoyer.
@@naedanger123My go-to was windswept + full goatee and moustache.
I went bald mode speaking of things like cosmetics why don’t we have the old inquisitor outfit in the base game?
@@dexxfa7274 That and the ISB uniform from Nova Garon.
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:)
This is the best review of the game I’ve seen. For me the game was 10/10 I absolutely loved it. Every minute, especially the story. Thank you for actually reviewing the game, and not just hammering “the bugs!”
In regards to the last 1/3 of Bode’s fight, I took it as “a man desperately fighting for his daughter” and that’s how he became so vicious and unpredictable. He was scared, like an animal.
I think for the third game, they have a couple options.
Time jump 5 years either 0BBY or 1ABY and Cal is trainjng his padawan. And she either turns to the dark side out of anger/resentment for him killing her father and he has to sacrifice himself to bring her back to the light, or Marin eats it and finally pushes Cal over the edge into his darkness and his padawan has to bring him back, or put him down.
Either way I don’t see Cal living to see the end of his story. But if they can home run this next game, it’ll be the Star Wars Trilogy we should’ve gotten in the first place.
What if him and merrin have a child and then the child has to beat kata
I interpreted Bode as the antithesis of Cal.
The Jedi banned forming attachments. Cal proves the Jedi wrong as his personal connections are what keep him from the dark side, whereas Bode’s personal connections are corrupted by the dark side, warping him.
I absolutely loved Jedi Survivor. I got it on PS5 within a week of launch and literally the only performance issue I had was the slightly choppy framerate, which I truly barely even noticed because I loved the game so much.
I think a natural progression for a 3rd entry gameplay-wise is to make all the stances permanently available without needing to meditate or use a workbench to access them, or add more stances and you can choose 3-4 to use; make the varied playstyle introduced in Survivor integral in the 3rd game.
And I love what you noted about making the perks combinable as well, where certain kinds of perks would add an extra bonus based on their type.
I really hope they pick 4 or so and really make them flow well together. So you can fluidly swap between them. Maybe one on each Directional Pad direction
I am gonna have to disagree with your assessment with Cere tapping into the dark side. I believe she is actually tapping fully into the light side.
Bode’s claim to fatherhood being his motivation is also false, as no parent would place the burden of their actions on their child’s shoulders. He’s not trying to protect Kata, he’s trying to keep her. Keep her under glass, keep her his, keep her from truly living. The fight for her safety was lost the moment he handed her over to the ISB, making her a literal hostage for his good behavior.
And in the final confrontation with him, he realized everything he thought he had done had been for nothing, every betrayal in vain, every sacrifice meaningless. So he snapped.
He’s the textbook example of why the Jedi (wrongly) forbid their members from having families. He’s treating Kata not like his daughter, but like his possession.
I agree with the point of this statement entirely. That said, a *lot* of parents place the burdens of their actions on their children's shoulders. Or at least during the era of my childhood, it was the standard. If it's now so rare that it's unheard of - I am very, very happy the world has evolved so much. That is beautiful.
Survivor might not be the story I wanted but the plot is so emotional that it was worth being subverted.
The game gives us real life lessons that we can all learn from.
It's one of the few games that can even bring a tear to your eye. I can't wait for the 3rd one
Another tremendous critique, Monty!! I really appreciate the warmth of your analysis and the clarity of your writing - you help me think more deeply about the games I love, and that's a wonderful gift. Also, I have no idea how you manage to put out such high-effort, high-quality videos so frequently... hope you're getting enough sleep lol
I am going to sleep a lot over Christmas 👀
Oh thank god. This is exactly what I needed today.
I won’t go into details bc I feel that would be inappropriate for a yt comments section, but, ah, the world is rather shit at the moment and, like so so many others, it’s started to affect me personally.
So having a bunch of small things to help raise my spirits- a snack I like, a warm blanket, a cute animal, or a new video by one of my favorite comfort creators- all help make this bearable.
The point being, thanks Monty. I deeply appreciate it.
What I love about the story of this game is that it’s a lot murkier and less focused than the previous one. While I completely understand why some people have problems with it, I believe that it allowed it to have a lot of subtle complexity that is often overlooked. Dagon is actually an extremely interesting foil to Cal, with their obsessions with Tanalor that lead to them being betrayed, and luring them to the dark side. Another thing that people seem to overlook is that Bodes betrayal actually has valid reasons, which I’m sure the third game will explore with the empire invading Tanalor. The only thing that doesn’t make sense narratively is Bode killing BD1s creator, which feels very pointless.
When it comes to Bode, I personally had a feeling he would betray, ever since the beginning area, he was also acting suspicious and asking too many questions pretty much most of the game, his reasons are in my opinion mostly selfish reasons, he isn't the only that's lost someone dear to him, thanks to him, many died in that secret Jedi base including Cordova which he murdered in cold blood and Cere who also died indirectly because of him, and him trying to only save his child and himself by going to Tanalorr, screw lol others, as for the empire they would have eventually found Tanalorr, just like how the marauders attacked it in the flashback scenes, if marauders could have found it, then I am pretty sure the empire could as well, he had one last chance in Tanalorr to stop, even his child didn't want him to take that path, but he made his choice, the fact that he was willing to take only his child there, he didn't think it through, what will happen to his child after he is gone, he pretty much used both the empire, Cal and his allies to get what he wanted, classic selfish move, who cares if others die, even people that helped him
I feel like the reason that he kills BD1's creator is that he was the only person that could possibly have made another compass to get to Tanalor and if he could build another compass than there is a chance that the empire would be able to get their hands on it.
@@jameslars7391 that makes complete sense, didn’t think of that
i was completely blindsided by the Bode twist, but maybe just cuz I really like Charles in Red Dead 2
Yes! Yes! So happy to see you critique it. Your critiques are really good and I love them. Just out of curiosity, would you ever do the RE4 Remake?
Maybe one day, but if I cover RE4Make it’ll be after I cover the others!
@@MontyZanderan RE4R critique from you would be *chef's kiss*
Hope to see it happen :)
@@MontyZander Of course. Just like Little Nightmares, I can wait.
Small technical issues aside and little bugs here and there, the story was fantastic. The twist was really good, I think, because up until that point, the relationships had been built up between the crew; despite being a new character, I really liked Bode and I was torn when we had to fight him (why does everyone say its an easy fight jfc I struggled with it sm! second hardest fight for me)
NGL, I kind of went from sympathetic and sad about his fate to angry and actually truly feeling betrayed when I went around and saw the force echoes he left behind. Oh what a massive kick that was.
16:00 I do think theres another meaning to the scene. When fighting her with ease the feeling is of "finishing what we started" we are rightfully angered and Cal should be too, it feels like our fault for letting her *survive* and cause more harm. But even if he ultimately chooses violence he refuses to go in the same route as his oppressors, it striked me, he talks almost like a meditation to himself: He knows what he needs to do, the ninth sister is long lost, but he decides to do it in a beat of compassion and empathy, its a imperfect middle term but he is still definitively a Jedi Knight
Looking forward to watching as your content is always great! Hopefully Alan Wake 2 will soon be on the agenda for a critique too… 👀
Only 3 minutes in but I will say that fallen order was also very unpolished at launch. I remember on the game completely stopping to load and textures not loading in time for cutscenes.
12:17 I did recognize that the game was clearly trying to get me to like Bode but I didn't think it was because he was a traitor, I thought it was because he was going to die. Particularly him showing Cal his daughter Kata I was like "Well, you're not making it out of this game" which I guess I was right about but not for the reasons I'd thought.
1:47:47 I think you misunderstand how the dark side works. When you fully let it consume you as Bode clearly has here you aren't yourself anymore, you aren't thinking anymore. You are a shadow of your former self and are not even bothering to control yourself. Think about someone like Luke, when he fights Vader in Return of the Jedi for 90% of that fight he's in complete control, fighting while planning, using his environment to his advantage. But once Vader threatens Leia and Luke finally stops resisting his fighting completely changes. No more planning, no more strategy, no more control, he's just throwing himself at Vader like a wild animal.
This is what the dark side does to you, when you let it consume you you aren't yourself anymore, and so you don't act like yourself. The force is using you now, not the other way around.
Now while I agree that the Bode boss theme should've been more emotional with maybe piano and violins to emphasize the weight of the fight, you should go talk to Mosey a bunch. In one of the conversations, she states that an animal when cornered will do whatever it takes to survive. Bode was cornered, so he went all out, erratic, out of control, trying to keep Cal off of him. Anyone that gets cornered would be animalistic.
Also a fun detail about the two ready to shoot each other with the blasters, notice how cal didnt even try shooting until after Bode tried to. Cal gave him a final chance before double tapping
This game is the best Star Wars has been since the original movies and an actual, true case of being criminally underappreciated.
Its delightful soulsy combat and metroidvania exploration without all the nasty nonsense that by now after playing so many of them feels lile tedious timewaste.
Every character is fun and interesting and the writing is extremely good.
Cal is crazy cool in this, has an actual arc.
And the exploration, dear god i didnt have so much fun exploring in a game since Hollow Knight.
This game deserves so much more recognition for being such an expertly crafted experience that for me, is right up there with an Uncharted.
True gem and most definitely my number 1 experience this year.
Absolutely loved it.
Thanks for giving it the recognition it deserves.
It is nowhere near as bad as all the disney shows, and is decent, but it is not without its flaws.
@@Solomon_C Which is literally saying nothing at all.
Its also not carbonated peanut butter or coconut milk.
@@DonnyKanone Sorry, that was worded poorly on my part. I meant to say that I feel it is about a 6/10 and not a 9/10 like most people think. IMO Fallen Order is superior narrative wise
@@Solomon_C
Thanks for clarifying.
Whats a 9/10 game for you?
And did you finish this one? If not, how much time did you spend with it?
@@DonnyKanone A 9/10 star wars game for me is a game that is:
1. Polished to a good degree
2. Runs well fps wise
3. Has a good narrative with interesting characters, and no plot holes
4. Has nice combat that works well with good hit detection
5. Isn't too repetitive or boring.
I've only seen youtube footage of Survivor tbh. I've formed my opinions based on that, and what my cousin thinks (he beat the game).
I have played a lot of Fallen Order though. Fallen order ticks the first 3 boxes. The combat in Fallen Order is OK, not the worst but def not the best either. Hit detection can be whacked.
Fallen Order only half ticks the 5th box. It gets boring and the exploration is a pain. But there is the battle grid etc. So it is about a 6 or 6.5/10.
Survivor's combat looks more janky, and it doesn't have the battle grid after you beat the game. I feel as if the personalities in Fallen Order are more natural (in particular Trilla is a better villian than Bode/Dagan).
So it may be a 5.5 or 6. Imo.
I hope you find something useful in this comment!
Man, you’re writing; the way you weave in and out of the story, stopping to break down different game mechanics along the way, is one of the most unique and interesting ways I’ve ever seen someone review a game. I really hope your channel grows to match the quality of your videos. I’m not the type to blow smoke either. I hope my compliments find you, along with a large devoted audience. You deserve it for all the work you put into these videos. Don’t ignore your videos where you make your girlfriend(fiancé) play games though. It’s how I found you. Bring them in with the girlfriend gamer videos and lock em down with deep dives like this. Best of luck man.
I was hoping he'd eventually cover this game since there was already a video on Fallen order, and I have yet to be disappointed! I made sure to stay away from as many spoilers as possible, and the twists and turns of this story combined with the fantastic gameplay had me hooked from start to finish. Technical issues aside I think this was a fantastic follow-up, and I could not be more excited to see where the next game takes us, and takes Cal Kestis.
Jedi Fallen Orders platforming in simple terns: From Uncharted to Prince of Persia.
Jedi Survivor has embraced the Prince of Persia type of platforming that has been dead in action games for almost a decade (thanks to Assasins Creed and Uncharted)
1:35:15 not to toot my own horn too much but I'm actually SO proud of myself for calling it like, in the first MINUTES after his appearance. Maybe it was a coindcidence, but to add to what you described earlier in the video, it personally was the cinematographic language that gave me the hint. from the way he was introduced to the way we stands behind you in a particular moment on Coruscant, not to mention when he tells you he's got a daughter I was like "ah, leverage". To be completely honest I didn't stay adamant about it all the time but the thought was always there and when the game kept going after you found the compass I just knew that if betrayal was going to happen, it was there so when it happened I just said "I FUCKING KNEW IT" out loud
I disagree with your assessment of the Bode fight. I remember I had a really hard time with it. Not nearly as hard as with Vader, but probably the second hardest fight for me. If your job is to play games for a living certainly some mechanics would seem trivial. But it was absolutely a challenge and a memorable combat sequence for me.
Honestly called the Bode twist when he mentioned he had a daughter. Can't trust father figures.
Great game. Its a real upgrade over the 1st game and Cal is a very likeable protagonist now. Hope the 3rd game isnt going to be half a decade away.
I'm not in the high regard of Disney's take on Star Wars franchise (flying Inquisitors and bleeding crystals, bleh) but the Respawn's games is one of the few redeeming qualities. And I must thank you, sir, for pointing out that Dark Side and Light Side definitions is not a cosmic imperative but only Jedi and Sith views on something much more. This is the point Disney had unable to adopt from old Expanded Universe but guys from Respawn do.
35:13 Ghost of Tsushima does this well. Random encounters with prisoners to save and some lead to quests and eventually just resources
This video deserves millions of views. I have a playlist consisting of my absolute favorite youtube videos ever, and this one (having the least views) sorted itself at the bottom😢
I just beat the game a few days ago and haven't finished watching this video. I think the game is good and always on the cusp of being great but never reaches greatness. I'm still feeling out my thoughts on the game. I score between an 8 or 9. I did experience glitches. Reloading fixed most of them. I did see a lot of white popping that flashed for a second.
I enjoyed the story and think it has some great quite moments. I think the main issue I have with the story is the "Villains". I think I missed some important information regrading Dagan because I just didn't get his turn and possession for Tanalorr. As for Bode. His reason just doesn't make sense to me. His plan is to live on Tanalorr with just his daughter to keep her safe from the empire? I was more interested in Rayvis then the other two.
I don't know. Maybe I need to play the game again to understand it better, or finish watching your video.
1:28:49 there's an option to disable fall damage, so I don't quite follow how that's a problem.
Fallen Order was Uncharted Territory for a Star Wars game. heh
Been watching since the Hellblade review Monty, just wanted to say a big grats on the soon to be 100k, more than deserved, your content and analysis has always been top tier.
The parallel at the very end about being the heart of a trilogy I believe could also apply to mass effect 2 as well. Nearly everything that game did crested the legend of that series and just like empire holds the title as the best in the trilogy. It's going to be extremely interesting to see how this series is looked back on when we can look at it as a whole.
Bode was one of the very few times during my adult times I *didn't* call a twist. I admit I expected him to die, and when he didn't....I actually thought, "okay devs way to go and not going for the cheap twist. And then. I saw his face in the backround...and the bottom fell out of my stomach.
As far as his all over the place characterization post twist I thought about it in this fashion:
Bode, like all the best liars, lied to you as little as possible and during the plot he actually really did find himself becoming attached to Cal and the crew and when finally saw the chance at freedom and safety he had been dreaming of and was excited to take it.
Until Cal takes that away. But he still dosent quite *want* what happens next, he triggers the ambush early, tells Cal not to chase him because he *knows* who and what is coming he killed Cordova in a panic but he tried to spare Cals loved ones, albeit in a twisted way, if Cal stuck around and the mantis bailed with Cere they likely would have gotten away, he knows about Merrin's nightsister bs afterall.
He *meant* it when he called Cal his best friend, it's likely the closest relationship he had developed in almost a decade.
His rabid nature on Tanalor however, is likely a result of of his own relationship with the force. This is a man who has hidden his connection to the force for years, remember, he was not a member of the inquisition, any time he used the force while working for the isb would have come at massive risk to himself, because while the isb was willing to hide him, they certainly weren't going to save him if he got caught. Deniablilty is the word here, he's a pawn in a political game just as much as he is an intelligence asset.
So when you show up to tanalor, putting his daughter implicitly at risk by your very presence....well, he's already under a massive amount of stress and likely all kinds of guilty, perhaps for the first time in a long time, the man has been in survival mode for a long time, even longer than Cal and we saw what 5 years did to *him*.
He jumped into the darkside with both feet, Cal would have demolished him in anything resembling a fair fight afterall, one of them has been fighting non stop with a jedi skillset for years and the other has in all likelihood been terrified of touching the force unless absolutely necessary, and likely sticking to the most subtle applications he could, the man did not have a lightsaber, when it comes to the storytelling thay says a lot.
And of course we have seen what happens when someone is emotionally unstable and opens themselves up to that part of the force.
(Insert dead kids and familicide here)
The dark side always seems to isolate its users, it magnifies rage and paranoia, while giving an amphetamine style rush.
Bode is freaking out...because Bode is FREAKING OUT. And he's just strong enough, and he has hurt out Crew enough that they just can't quite talk him down.
It's a slow motion tragedy and I love it.
I still think this is the best Star Wars story we’ve seen in a long time as well as game. I just pray the third one isn’t ruined.
As my 1st Star Wars game, I really enjoyed the powers and graphics, semi open world. I got a little tired of all the puzzles. Just a bit because I wanted to get in a Jedi destruction mode. Again, my first Star wars game. The storyline and acting was great. It was enjoyable.
For the next entry, Respawn needs to personally ban you from character customization.
1:35:16 For me it was literally the scene in Coruscant where they talk about his daughter
My brain IMMEDIATELY went “oh he’s gonna die or betray me”
Then ALL THE CREW DIED except for him and my brain instantly went “oh he sold me out to the empire, he struck a deal with them”
So I was just waiting for him to do so.
I never saw any of the reviews or anything but I feel like twist villains have become so common nowadays that it’s become really easy to call them out.
I straight up didnt like Bode not his characterization but i just knew what the twist was the moment hes like i got a dead wife and a Daughter id do Anything for. I was like nice try respawn but thats the oldest trick in the book especially since he just came out swinging throwing his personal info out there
*sigh* fine, I'll play Jedi Survivor again...
I had like 0 performance issues when i played survivor on release or when i played it again like a few weeks ago
Idk for me it was so obvious that Bode was going to turn. All he explained about was his daughter and he basically goes his own way for half the story. I didn’t think they were subtle with that at all. I’m actually surprised people were genuinely shocked at the twist. I guess him being a Jedi was an alright twist.
This game is somehow underrated even with the high scoring reviews regardless of bugs. It’s world building and character work is way better than anything else Disney has pushed (besides andor) and cal is a top 5 Jedi.
I disagree with your negativity on the point about regular, more difficult enemies you see later in the game being "bosses" earlier in the game. I quite like that aspect of the enemy design. I did agree though with your point about having the same fauna enemy with a different boss title in various locations. I think that's a fundamentally different issue though because the fauna enemies aren't about the timing of when you meet them. The timing is what makes it work with the KX droid on Coruscant and Rayvis' veteran bedlam raider outside the saloon, for example.
Amazing review, just finished this game a week ago, and it’s polished without bugs, just some performance hiccups but 95% of the game was great. Glad to see a review that takes time, keep up the good work.
People actually like turgle? Hes annoying af, i have 0 sympathy for characters that do blatantly dumb shit that they know isnt going to end well when they cant even defend themselves and then once saved they go and do the same shit over and over again, the amount of times you can speak to turgle and he proposes some dumb plan to scam someone and see if cal would bail him out is just annoying
I'm still bummed that they claimed there were more planets than fallen order when there werent, obviously koboh is the biggest planet in both games but other than that, zeffo is bigger than jeddha and id argue kashyyyk is too bogano is about the same size if not bigger than the shattered moon and the same goes for dathomir being the same size as coruscant, the isb base is small like the fortress inquisetorios in the first game and tanalor might aswell not even be counted as a planet because its smaller than bracca the tutorial of fallen order, there definitely arent more planets like they claimed there is just more on koboh, both games have 4 planets and one of them being tanalor should not even count as a planet, having 2 small moon bases you can go to definitely does not constitute as more planets, in this regard i wish they were more truthful
Babe wake up, new monty just dropped ‼️
Exactly
I’ve been so hyped for this review since the second I finished the game. I had some really conflicted feelings on it, and I can’t wait to see your thoughts!
14:01 a THIRD is GENEROUS that was maybe a 9th bro
I very much enjoyed the game, but if im being honest, i did expect more levels/story after we get to tanalor. It all felt very short.
Respawn is the only company making actually compelling Star Wars stories.
I still think they should have ended the game with cal still having hate and using the dark side it could have setup the trilogy and have him go through it and we get to play/ experience all of it and by the end of the 3rd game or even halfway through his lightsaber would go to purple. He was brought back to the light side way to fast. Could have even saved bod for the next game instead of killing him off but eh what do I know about story telling
I believe that if you read the journal entries it mentions Cal is still experiencing some issues because of it, and that Merrin is helping him with them.
I have been binging your content lately. It's just too good lol
I actually liked the "legendary enemies."
It's often not just a bigger healthbar. Vile Bilemaw, for example, has attacks that are red that the regular Bilemaw doesn't have. I hope they DON'T take your critique to heart on that. Because finding "alpha" versions of enemies is pleasing to me
I bought the game on disk the day it released and I never experienced any problems tbh. I bought it on PS5 mind you
Am I the only one who didnt have any bugs or crashes with the game? I got it on release on the series s and genuinely had no issues.
Great critique as ever!
I didn't either, but I didn't play it on the release date, I bought and played it in December deliberately, hoping the patches would solve all the issues that I was hearing about.
I played it a month ago on a 1080 TI, Ryzen 5 and 16gb of RAM and it ran flawlessly on Ultraa 1440p
Oh thank god, a Monty take on one of my most begrudgingly loved franchises.
I found out about you last month with your Bioshock critiques, and binged like 5 videos in one day. When Jedi Survivor came out, I wasn't really interested in it, and didn't pay much attention to it, but this video changed my mind and now I want to play it for myself, hopefully it goes on sale soon, because it looks like this game would scratch that Star Wars itch i've had for a long time, since the other media has been very disappointing.
This is one of the most incredible critiques on youtube. I am waiting to finish the game to watch the last 22 mins😅
You can use BD to electro hack droids from a distance before heading into combat, so there is use there
But I wish he’d have been made a contextual option and the third d pad was reassigned to a third lightsaber option.
You can WHAT
I swear I tried that over and over just in case and it never happened. Guess I just hit a bug!
@@MontyZanderyou need to buy the ability to do so for each droid type with bounty pucks.
Ruined by the complete bastardisation of Jedi and the Force with grey Jedi BS
Really enjoyed playing when it came out. Hopefully any third instalment will be finished on release as it looks so much better now!
My second favorite game of all time❤ favorite Star Wars media
I would consider this game my choice for game of the year 2023. I think it has a fun single player campaign and I can see there was a lot of care and effort into creating the game and by patching it after it was released. I would consider this more of a solid contender for game of the year than Mario Wonder or Baldurs Gate or Robocop:Rogue City. I had an enjoyable time playing through the campaign.
A good game buried under poor optimization.
I really enjoyed this game. I was also fortunate to not run into any bugs and i put 40 hours into it.
Re: Bode's boss theme, the other example of a fantastic mournful boss theme that comes to mind is Roxas's in KH2FM.
The fight is an absolute wall if you're not punching well above what the game has expected before that point, but his theme is so slow and mournful because the scene is all about Roxas's tragic desperation rather than Sora's desire to overcome and win.
I definitely agree that Bode's fight should have pulled the same trick. A slow tragic theme to accompany subduing a former friend who's lost their way and fallen to obsession.
Monty I can’t believe you saying vaders the most difficult boss in survivor, the most difficult boss is Rick the door technician
Also, can’t wait for the Lies of P video. 🎉❤
I can't grasp how good he looks in a mustache...
I just finished his game for the first time and I started off not trusting him and the game slowly made me trust him because of how many chances he had to stab me in the back but didn't, I finally trusted him after we killed Dagan, it really was the perfect timing on when to reveal it to me.
To be honest im glad Bode didnt get a sad and somber final boss theme. Yes he was your friend, but he also just murdered your other friends. Im glad the game didn't attempt to make us feel sorry for this despicable man like how garbage ass Revenge of the Sith tried to make us feel the same for Anakin, another terrible human being. Bode's circumstances are tragic but he still made those choices and chose to be a bad person.
The droid shock is actually usable as a long range hack prior to combat. Clever positioning means you can hack enemies at a distance without damaging them eliminating a lot of the threats before you engage. If that’s not building a better hero I don’t know what is
You mentioned Sea of Stars and now I want a video about it. Not enough people are talking about that game.
Dual wield is also good if you love pure aggression. I also refuse to call it anything other than the saberstaff.
Going in blind a year later I was completely blown away at the step up from the first game….and bug free 😅