Poor design choices, little things add up.

[Judge Lazar]

I am a VERY harsh critic of AAA games but I have to honestly say, for the most part this is a pretty good game. The mechanics, exploration, combat, extra activities, all good. That said, there are some REALLY annoying things that this game (and many others) suffers from and they're mostly things that devs/programmers really need to stop ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ doing forever.

I don't mind backtracking for loot but I have spent hours and hours trying to get loot that is impossible to get without certain abilities but is placed in areas where it seems like you won't be able to come back. Backtrack loot needs to be CLEARLY labeled in some way that you come back for it later. Just a voice line or a certain color texture near it nothing elaborate.

Fractured Malice: Really? You seriously couldn't at least put a work bench there or have a easier path back to the meditation point so we can try different tactics and perks without a 5 minute trip each time, in a challenge where the enemies can literally kill you in the first 5 seconds?

On combat Fractures in general, You can respawn the entire open world instantly at meditation points, but these difficult combat fractures require loading screens? It makes it really hard to get in the zone and buckle down when you're taken out of focus for loading screens.

NEVER TAKE CAMERA CONTROL AWAY FROM THE PLAYER. NOT EVER. Yes, yes, that's a very cool looking piece of scenery I've been looking at for the past 20 minutes, could I please be allowed to look around at the rest of the environment while I traverse this obstacle?

One of the most disappointing things about this game for me is that the wonky ass wall jumping/running is even wonkier than the last game. You stick to things when you don't want to. You glance off things that you should pass through. You slide down surfaces unpredictably. You run the wrong way for literally no reason sometimes. It just drives me crazy. Full disclosure, some of it is because I'm a spaz but still. Some of the jumping puzzle Force Tears had my forehead vein throbbing and it was mostly because the camera or wonky sticky walls would ♥♥♥♥ me over. I kept glancing of those green barriers constantly.

My number one complaint, in this and ALL games that do it. Don't hold out new abilities until the very end of the game. "Oh hey that's a cool new ability, too bad I'll only use it 4 times because the game is about to end." IMO, games that have player character upgrades like this one, should give all of those upgrades by the halfway mark, 3/4 mark at the LATEST. I don't understand the logic of doing that at all and I never will.[

Anyway....

/rant/review?

[lefty1117]

The force fractures are the one thing in the game I didn't really care for. Just not interested in them. It feels like a filler activity, I would have preferred interesting side quests.

[Shadow of Moel]

My biggest issue is also the platforming. Too much of it and too weird/wonky.
My pet name for this game is "Tomb Raider : Survivor of the Fallen Order"

[Crippling Lift Addiction]

This game was littered with poor design choices. Full disclosure, I beat the entire game, every Legendary Boss and Force Tear on Jedi Grand Master, ♥♥♥♥ this game. Red unblockable attacks being the norm in this game was my biggest complaint. Why even put a block and parry mechanic if all enemies do is spam you with the unblockable attacks? Large enemy hitboxes being inaccurate and hitting you when your well out of the way. Boss fights requiring cheese tactics because they didn't bother to test it on Jedi Grand Master difficulty. The parkour mechanics being a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mess and literally falling off ♥♥♥♥ or going in the wrong direction of the input. All of your complaints were what I was thinking the entire game. Why did Cal suddenly forget how to be a Jedi? Why give us abilities he had in the first game near the midway point and then cop out with "Oh ya I remember what Cere said this one time" and then suddenly he remembers he can use the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Force?! Game had a mountain of dumb design choices, but my god was it a great story with an equally amazing world design.

[Judge Lazar]

Originally posted by Crippling Lego Addiction:

on Jedi Grand Master

[GODzilla]

I have a nitpick, too: Koboh "late game".

I think the game checks my progress / how many points in spent in the skills, which is many because I was backtracking like crazy after I got the jump-dash and electro dart ability. So I've gotten pretty strong.

Story is not through though, I'm currently at the point to go to the shattered moon a second time.

I noticed that the amount and quality of critters in Kobohs open world has significantly risen, which makes sense from a games mechanics position. If I want to get more skill points at this point I need to grind and if there was just the usual critters and lazy patrols it would take forever.

So instead there are patrols like AT-ST, or two patrols of stronger troopers with a Magnaguard just 20m apart from each other. Even purge troopers. And the amount of Wampa is quite a bit insane. You cannot walk for a straight 3 minutes without encountering one.

And while it makes sense to grind points, it kinda ruins the idea of Koboh and its settlement. How would they be able to survive? Between the imperial patrols and the Wampa this settlement would've been ground to dust. :D

Well, that's it. My currently only nitpick with the game. Otherwise it is running more or less fine and the 42 hours I spent with it speak volumes I guess.

[CJM]

Originally posted by GODzilla:

So instead there are patrols like AT-ST, or two patrols of stronger troopers with a Magnaguard just 20m apart from each other. Even purge troopers. And the amount of Wampa is quite a bit insane. You cannot walk for a straight 3 minutes without encountering one.

And while it makes sense to grind points, it kinda ruins the idea of Koboh and its settlement. How would they be able to survive? Between the imperial patrols and the Wampa this settlement would've been ground to dust. :D

Hmm,...

I don't think the AT-ST and Imperial patrols are bad, plot wise.

However, I played on Story Mode difficulty because all I wanted to do was visit Coruscant, and fight Trade Federation battle droids.

There is just some child like joy I get from Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, that hasn't been dulled due to having been done to death, as is the case with every nod to the original trilogy.

[DefectiveByDesign]

Originally posted by Judge Lazar:

I don't mind backtracking for loot but I have spent hours and hours trying to get loot that is impossible to get without certain abilities but is placed in areas where it seems like you won't be able to come back. Backtrack loot needs to be CLEARLY labeled in some way that you come back for it later. Just a voice line or a certain color texture near it nothing elaborate.

Donkey Kong 64. Killed the franchise. Made literal records for BS collect backtracking.

Originally posted by Judge Lazar:

NEVER TAKE CAMERA CONTROL AWAY FROM THE PLAYER. NOT EVER. Yes, yes, that's a very cool looking piece of scenery I've been looking at for the past 20 minutes, could I please be allowed to look around at the rest of the environment while I traverse this obstacle?

Yeah, more common than it should be. There's a few games out there that do it right, the developers specifically mention freedom of movement and in game interactive story to be superior to on rails locked garbage, then the sequel comes out, does everything wrong, and ruins the franchise.

Originally posted by Judge Lazar:

One of the most disappointing things about this game for me is that the wonky ass wall jumping/running is even wonkier than the last game.

Back in the day, when games first moved to console focus over PC, they completely got rid of all movement. No running, and some games didn't even have a jump ability. Yay cover mechanics. Probably should be glad Doom brought movement back, and some other games for other things. A lot of this is fad copy pasting, studios aren't trying to make good games, they're copying good games. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. Probably should prioritize fun over thoughtless plagiarism. Platforming isn't a checkbox, it's supposed to be mechanics that's smoothly integrated into the gameplay. Combine this with taking control away like mentioned earlier, and it's even more annoying. Nothing like a platforming QTE, especially with backtracking and pointless collecting.

Originally posted by Judge Lazar:

My number one complaint, in this and ALL games that do it.

Yeah, this is the plagiarism, feature checkbox that publishers copy from other successful games, while never understanding what's good about what they're trying to copy.

[Jaaaake]

They needed to put more effort in to the combat. Its extremly sluggish and hitboxes/dodge seem off alot of times

[Drake Ravenwolf]

I do not like platforming, for most of the game it remains at an acceptable level, but those F-ING platforming Force Tears... who actually likes that ♥♥♥♥?!

[iambear.]

Originally posted by lefty1117:

The force fractures are the one thing in the game I didn't really care for. Just not interested in them. It feels like a filler activity, I would have preferred interesting side quests.

I hate those minigames. Other filler is also the monster hunting, farming, collecting cosmetics...

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

I do wonder why they don’t just let you change stances in the pause menu? The way the sabers seem to be set up is that they are able to go between all stances without modification, so there’s no story reason to limit where you can change them.

And to be fair to the game, you do get the last traversal upgrade with a decent chunk of the game left. You get it (the BD-1 overcharge projectile) on your way to the flying laboratory.

[WookieeAssassin]

Originally posted by Judge Lazar:

I am a VERY harsh critic of AAA games but I have to honestly say, for the most part this is a pretty good game. The mechanics, exploration, combat, extra activities, all good. That said, there are some REALLY annoying things that this game (and many others) suffers from and they're mostly things that devs/programmers really need to stop ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ doing forever.

I don't mind backtracking for loot but I have spent hours and hours trying to get loot that is impossible to get without certain abilities but is placed in areas where it seems like you won't be able to come back. Backtrack loot needs to be CLEARLY labeled in some way that you come back for it later. Just a voice line or a certain color texture near it nothing elaborate.

Fractured Malice: Really? You seriously couldn't at least put a work bench there or have a easier path back to the meditation point so we can try different tactics and perks without a 5 minute trip each time, in a challenge where the enemies can literally kill you in the first 5 seconds?

On combat Fractures in general, You can respawn the entire open world instantly at meditation points, but these difficult combat fractures require loading screens? It makes it really hard to get in the zone and buckle down when you're taken out of focus for loading screens.

NEVER TAKE CAMERA CONTROL AWAY FROM THE PLAYER. NOT EVER. Yes, yes, that's a very cool looking piece of scenery I've been looking at for the past 20 minutes, could I please be allowed to look around at the rest of the environment while I traverse this obstacle?

One of the most disappointing things about this game for me is that the wonky ass wall jumping/running is even wonkier than the last game. You stick to things when you don't want to. You glance off things that you should pass through. You slide down surfaces unpredictably. You run the wrong way for literally no reason sometimes. It just drives me crazy. Full disclosure, some of it is because I'm a spaz but still. Some of the jumping puzzle Force Tears had my forehead vein throbbing and it was mostly because the camera or wonky sticky walls would ♥♥♥♥ me over. I kept glancing of those green barriers constantly.

My number one complaint, in this and ALL games that do it. Don't hold out new abilities until the very end of the game. "Oh hey that's a cool new ability, too bad I'll only use it 4 times because the game is about to end." IMO, games that have player character upgrades like this one, should give all of those upgrades by the halfway mark, 3/4 mark at the LATEST. I don't understand the logic of doing that at all and I never will.[

Anyway....

/rant/review?

Sounds like someone needs to gitgud.

[Baron01]

@OP
I agree with few points OP made, disagree on more.

I really dislike when camera controls or certain movement options, such as running or forcing character to slow-walk, are taken away from player. Unless this is happening as a transition to a cut scene, this is pointless, confusing and annoying if you ever have to replay the same section again.

Combat-oriented fractures could have a prompt upon death asking you whether you want to replay the scenario or leave. You can clearly respawn in parkour fractures so it should be possible in fighting scenarios as well.

I do not agree or did not feel rest of points were impacting me. I found wall-running and whole parkour/platforming fine. Once you get air dash, platforming becomes a joy as it allows you a lot freedom and leeway for errors. Inaccessible loot was clearly marked on a map by red color and even Cal mentioned few words here and there at times. Last but not least, I feel the game gave us steady stream of new abilities that expanded are toolkit and arsenal. A lot of those abilities were tied to a story progression, especially the last one I wont mention due to spoilers, which even if you only used few times simply does not make any sense to have earlier.

Ultimately, everyone will feel about the game differently and that is fine. The one thing that is truly shameful is the technical state, in which Survivor released on PC that significantly impacted player experience and enjoyment. Hell, very last few cut scenes and story moments were marred by clipping issues, weird lightning and sound. It boggles my mind that the very final moments of the game were not properly tested to ensure that the scenes play properly.

[Judge Lazar]

Originally posted by GODzilla:

I have a nitpick, too: Koboh "late game".

I think the game checks my progress / how many points in spent in the skills, which is many because I was backtracking like crazy after I got the jump-dash and electro dart ability. So I've gotten pretty strong.

Story is not through though, I'm currently at the point to go to the shattered moon a second time.

I noticed that the amount and quality of critters in Kobohs open world has significantly risen, which makes sense from a games mechanics position. If I want to get more skill points at this point I need to grind and if there was just the usual critters and lazy patrols it would take forever.

So instead there are patrols like AT-ST, or two patrols of stronger troopers with a Magnaguard just 20m apart from each other. Even purge troopers. And the amount of Wampa is quite a bit insane. You cannot walk for a straight 3 minutes without encountering one.

And while it makes sense to grind points, it kinda ruins the idea of Koboh and its settlement. How would they be able to survive? Between the imperial patrols and the Wampa this settlement would've been ground to dust. :D

Well, that's it. My currently only nitpick with the game. Otherwise it is running more or less fine and the 42 hours I spent with it speak volumes I guess.

You actually don't really need to grind too much. Once you finish that second trip to the shattered moon you will be able to get to A LOT of areas with echos, skill point crystals, chests, bosses, I've actually been avoiding fighting random enemies and I have all but one lightsaber style maxed out, survival maxed out and all but confusion maxed out.

[Raziel]

Originally posted by Crippling Lego Addiction:

This game was littered with poor design choices. Full disclosure, I beat the entire game, every Legendary Boss and Force Tear on Jedi Grand Master, ♥♥♥♥ this game. Red unblockable attacks being the norm in this game was my biggest complaint. Why even put a block and parry mechanic if all enemies do is spam you with the unblockable attacks? Large enemy hitboxes being inaccurate and hitting you when your well out of the way. Boss fights requiring cheese tactics because they didn't bother to test it on Jedi Grand Master difficulty. The parkour mechanics being a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mess and literally falling off ♥♥♥♥ or going in the wrong direction of the input. All of your complaints were what I was thinking the entire game. Why did Cal suddenly forget how to be a Jedi? Why give us abilities he had in the first game near the midway point and then cop out with "Oh ya I remember what Cere said this one time" and then suddenly he remembers he can use the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Force?! Game had a mountain of dumb design choices, but my god was it a great story with an equally amazing world design.

If you didn't know, you can push parry most unblockables