There’s a lot of hype around the launch of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which may have you wondering if you really do need to play Jedi: Fallen Order for the sequel to make sense. As with all sequels, it’s a difficult question to provide a simple answer for. This is because the answer is entirely subjective, and it will depend who you ask and what your expectations are. Of course, any Star Wars fan like myself will argue you absolutely should play Jedi: Fallen Order first, but there are a few reasons it’s still fine to skip the first game.
If you still haven’t played Jedi: Fallen Order, it’s advised you at least give it a run-through on easy mode or find a video that summarizes the story. The game is relatively cheap now, and it’s an enjoyable 10-20 hours if you play it on easy and stick to the main story. The graphical fidelity holds up great too, so there’s plenty of detailed Star Wars eye candy to see.
A quick playthrough will familiarize you with the characters and events to set up a better appreciation for the sequel story. You’ll also get a feel for the mechanics and be able to appreciate improvements made on the original design. Likewise, a condensed video that sums up the story should put you in a good spot to enjoy the sequel. Jedi: Fallen Order is protagonist Cal’s origin story, after all.
Image via EA.
A galaxy united
It’s understandable that not everyone has the time or interest to make it through Jedi: Fallen Order before getting to Jedi: Survivor. These games also draw off of successful formulas such as the Souls and the Uncharted series. There are sure to be fans of those games who are mainly curious to check out the gameplay in Jedi: Survivor and might be entirely new to the Star Wars franchise.
Going straight to Jedi: Survivor will be tough if you’re entirely new to Star Wars, but skipping the first game shouldn’t be too disorienting if you have a decent base level knowledge of Star Wars lore. You should at least be familiar with several of the films, know the Empire and the Sith are the baddies, most bounty hunters are scoundrels, and that the Force basically allows you to be a space wizard. Understand Star Wars, and you’ll know what’s going on for the most part in Jedi: Survivor.
Playing a game sequel is generally easier than watching a sequel film, because there’s way more time for catching players up to speed and providing world building. Jedi: Survivor is not out yet, so we don’t know if there will be any cinematic story to recap everything that’s happened. Fortunately, there will be info like database entries within the game to help you learn more about everything going on around you.
Considering that five years pass between Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor, it sounds like the sequel is meant to stand on its own without obsessing too much over past events. Those who played Fallen Order will technically be out of the loop as well, because there is a spinoff book called Battle Scars that covers some of Cal’s time in-between games.
New mind tricks, new elegant lightsaber styles (from a more civilized age)
Lastly, the gameplay will undoubtedly include tutorials and starting areas for players to reacquaint themselves with combat and movement mechanics. Respawn Entertainment’s talked repeatedly about everything new coming to the game as well, such as a greater diversity of weapons and fighting styles. Veteran players of the original will need to learn the new game’s mechanics all the same. You can find out more in our article about everything we know about Jedi: Survivor so far.
This should give you a good baseline to decide if you need to play Jedi: Fallen Order in order to play Jedi: Survivor to do the story and overall experience justice. You of course know our recommendation is that you should, plus you can still decide if our critical review of Jedi: Fallen Order is fair and balanced like the Force. We’re taking a look at the sequel next, so check back for our review on Jedi: Survivor.
[Updated on April 27 at 4:45 ET] – We’ve learned that the opening cinematic to Jedi: Survivor provides a several minute recap of the events that take place in Jedi: Fallen Order. It’s designed to refresh returning players on what took place in the first game, but does show some spoilers. The cinematic does not spoil the whole plot of the first game, nor does it provide a complete explanation for Cal’s adventure in Jedi: Survivor. given the known performance issues on PC at launch, it’s still a good idea to play through Jedi: Fallen Order first.
