![]() ![]() I tend to be a player who focuses on exploration rather than action, playing often on lower difficulty levels, and it was about 10 hours of play time before the central mysteries of “Survivor” revealed themselves to me, when Kestis on the planet Koboh discovers a Jedi who’s been in stasis for decades. ![]() After a rigorous opening in which Kestis is on a rebellion mission - one in which not every one of Kestis’ collaborators makes it out alive - the game dials down the action for a moment. What struck me with “Survivor” is how patient it can be. In a franchise that often relies on save-the-galaxy heroics, Jedi Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan) is starting to wonder if he should be after something more akin to a work-life balance. This is an action game - and an awfully challenging one, depending on how you adjust the difficulty settings - in which one’s relationship to the devotional lies at its heart. If “The Mandalorian” and, especially “Andor,” have shown us “Star Wars” can get along just fine without a preoccupation with the Jedi and their Force powers, “Survivor” shows us why Jedi stories matter. “Survivor” is a love letter to the Jedi, those mystical yet superpowered beings who have often stood at opposite ends of the franchise’s moral compass. Arriving at a time when series such as “Andor” and “The Mandalorian” are attempting to push “Star Wars” beyond its familiar slate of characters and stories, “Survivor” taps into a mix of action adventure, hokiness and light spirituality that can make even the largest and silliest of “Star Wars” tales feel somewhat personal. It’s also “Star Wars” at its most comfortable and old-fashioned, in the best way possible. ![]() Perhaps, then, it makes sense that I’ve taken so highly to “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,” the latest large-scale video game from Sherman Oaks-based studio Respawn Entertainment. It’s a place to wander, explore and play, and a reminder that the original films created not just a new American myth but a world we wanted to get lost in. My favorite element of “Star Wars” these days is the one that’s in a physical space - Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park. I suspect that most fans who are interested in the brand pick and choose their spots, rather than try to keep up with it all. “Star Wars” in 2023 is sprawling, a franchise with numerous animated and live-action streaming series, books and theme park lands. ![]()
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