Recent reviews by CSG

1. The game itself is pretty solid. Fun combat, cool environments, enjoyable traversal etc. The story is a bit convoluted and unfocused, though.

2. The performance is atrocious. I have RTX 3080 with i7-10700k, a top-tier PC that easily handles most modern games in 4k on ultra. This game has some serious optimization issues. Framedrops are extremely frequent, especially in the open areas on Koboh, and after the patch, the game started freezing for 10+ seconds each time new textures are being loaded. Other times the textures aren't loaded fast enough and I'm looking at potato quality environment until the game decides to do something about it.

I would advise to wait a few weeks/months until the game is properly patched. The technical issues really tainted my first playthrough, which is a big shame because underneath it all, there is a solid game. It's nothing revolutionary, but still enjoyable. I'd say 7/10 game.

Now an actual critique: I think 'Survivor' is a bit too arcadey at times, it lacks proper character development and emotional impact, and the world design is rather artificial. I also don't understand why this game is even Souls-like. Souls-like mechanics like meditation points, respawning enemies or losing XP contribute NOTHING to the overall experience and just make the game more awkward than it could have been. A simple system with normal checkpoints would be way better. There is nothing more annoying in video games than pointless downtime when you have to run back to the boss room. Just let me restart the fight instantly and don't waste my time.

Similar to 'Fallen Order', 'Survivor' has a bit of an identity issue. It tries really hard to be like God of War (2018), but it misunderstands why that game worked so well. It has loot, but it's purely cosmetic, so I never felt like I was improving my character. It has backtracking and areas you have to unlock with late-game skills but the rewards are always boring - it's either some XP, a cosmetic item you will probably never use or a basic force echo with a line from some NPC. The traversal is fun due to the addition of the ascension cable and a dash ability but it's rarely engaging or creative. Most of the time it feels like you're on rails - you're running through a very artificial obstacle course and there's only one solution. The game never lets you use Cal's abilities in a creative or unexpected way.

If you want to make a God of War-type game, you need a solid character progression system that makes exploration interesting and rewarding. The game could have some lightsaber upgrades that increase basic damage, range of the throw or the parry time. It could feature a series of upgrades for BD-1, so he can help out during combat by stunning enemies or automatically saving Cal as he's about to die. It could have different blaster upgrades that change basic damage, range, speed, type of ammo and color of the bolt. It could have perks tied to specific outfits and the option to upgrade your favorite pieces of clothing. Similar to 'Fallen Order', the loot system in this game feels like an afterthought. There are some chests in seemingly random places and they contain purely cosmetic items, some of which don't even make any sense, like haircuts and beard styles. It would make more sense to just find some sort of currency in the chests and have more vendors who sell specific items (a barber, a clothing store, store with blaster parts, junk shop where you can find lightsaber parts etc.).

I also need to criticize the devs for making a bizarre decision to limit the equipped lightsaber stances to two. The game features 5 of them, but you can only have 2 equipped at the same time. To change them, you have to meditate at a checkpoint. This makes no sense at all. First of all, it discourages the player from trying all stances, because most people will likely stick to the 2 favorite ones. Secondly, it ensures that the stances can never be used in traversal or the puzzles. For example, the game can't have puzzles that require you to shoot something with a blaster because you might not have the blaster equipped. This is a huge missed opportunity. Thirdly, the combat isn't as deep as it could have been. If the game allowed us to freely swap between all 5 stances, it could make each stance really distinct and useful against particular enemies (similar to how Ghost of Tsushima had 4 stances, each of which was best to defeat a certain enemy type). Because we're limited to only 2 stances, none of them feel particularly fleshed out. And finally, upgrading the stance you're not currently using is not satisfying. I didn't feel like I was making my character stronger, because I couldn't even use half of the abilities I learned when I wanted to. I tried a mod that lets you freely swap between all 5 stances, and I can confirm that the game feels 10 times more fun because of it. I think developers should just patch this feature in.

You play as a cat. 10/10

UNPLAYABLE