Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes "a wider Metroidvania approach" to exploration

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Expect more traversal options like a pseudo grappling hook

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor new screenshots featuring Cal Kestis and BD-1
(Image credit: EA)

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is promising bigger areas than the original adventure, and we'll take "a wider Metroidvania approach" as we explore them according to game director Stig Asmussen.

Speaking with Game Informer, Asmussen touched on some of the additions and enhancements made to the upcoming sequel, which is now confirmed to be launching on March 17, 2023.

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

One of those skills involves some sort of grappling hook – an "ascension cable," Game Informer calls it – used to climb ledges and cross gaps. Protagonist Cal Kestis can also apparently tame the local fauna to get over and around some environmental obstacles. Asmussen's comments on the search-action nature of Metroidvania games could suggest that we'll encounter more ways to use these techniques and gadgets as well as more reasons to revisit older areas after unlocking them. 

"With larger areas to explore and more to discover off the beaten path, players who adventure beyond the horizon will find hidden rewards," the game's Steam page concurs. 

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor chatter is already simmering ahead of its March launch. One of its newly revealed lightsabers could be a massive canon revelation, or it could be absolutely nothing. Elsewhere, fans are divided over Cal's grizzled appearance, which reflects what he went through in the five-year time skip setting up the sequel. 

Many fan-favorite characters look set to return in Jedi Survivor based on IMDB listings. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.