I went into my four-hour date with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor with a list of reasons to doubt it. I've been replaying 2019's Fallen Order and it hasn't been going well. A game I liked a lot at launch is now full of annoying flaws: Cal's lethargic movement, underwhelming lightsaber upgrades, and checkpoints that force me to reclimb stuff that was barely engaging the first time. Uncharted plus Dark Souls isn't the winning combo it was for me three years ago.
Judging by the opening hours of Jedi Survivor, Uncharted Souls is not what Respawn is going for anymore either. My biggest gripes with Fallen Order were tackled within minutes of picking up the controller. Wallrunning no longer drags Cal downward like gravity is getting the better of him, lightsaber combat is divided into Ghost of Tsushima-like stances with unique upgrade trees, and you can finally fast travel between checkpoints. Jedi Survivor is maturing alongside Cal himself.
