I have to admit that, overall, I preferred the predecessor—it had more linear (and somewhat more varied) levels, more memorable enemies, and a story that kept me far more engaged than the sequel.

But, I have to give Respawn credit for how well they captured that 'survivor' tone in the sequel through storytelling and gameplay design, tying it in with the fallen Jedi theme. I could feel Yoda’s words in the gameplay:

Luke: Is the dark side stronger? Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.

It was the first game to achieve something like that. Also, the first game where I could feel the difference in gameplay when stepping into the shoes of a Jedi master (there’s a short segment where you don’t play as the main protagonist) as if you can sense through the animations and character movements that you’re playing as a master. Incredible.

Production-wise, it’s very well done overall, although not on the level of what Sony for example has accustomed us to with their exclusives. It’s truly a shame that the PC version launched in such a dreadful state, though to be fair, compared to its initial release, it's now quite playable. I experienced issues with crashes to the desktop, stuttering, very large frame rate fluctuations, texture loading issues, etc.—fortunately, only occasionally. It feels like the engine couldn't quite handle the shift to an open-world format along with the new technologies (RT and DLSS) which weren’t I presume implemented properly.

To add to that, what I liked the least was the level design – for my taste, there was simply too much platforming and acrobatics to get from point A to point B. It all just felt excessive to the point where Koboh felt like a massive labyrinth, and I constantly had to open the map to see where I was and how to reach the quest point. In the end, I lost any desire to explore the levels, as everything just felt too “artificial” rather than organic, as I think it should have been. I also felt that the upgrades to move through levels were quite forced, just adding more complexity to the movement that felt unnecessary.

As for the RPG side of the experience, the whole leveling system was quite rudimentary, just enough to give a sense of character progression, but I feel like if I hadn’t upgraded a single skill except for the health bar, I’d still play and finish the game the same way. Combat, on the other hand, was good and satisfying, and they finally added animations where the lightsaber can slice off limbs. But the different lightsaber stances felt like unnecessary fluff, and in the end, most players probably just picked two and stuck with them till the end.

Another thing that bothered me was the excessive repetition – going back to Koboh like five times, having the same boss fight with the same antagonist three times, five unnecessary waves of enemies just to stretch playtime, etc. Aside from the bigger levels, it felt like they padded the game with copy-pasted content just to add more hours. In my opinion, less is more 🙂

When I add everything up, it’s a solid 8 out of 10. Honestly, after the previous game, I was expecting a 9+, but that didn’t happen. Still, I’d warmly recommend it to everyone, especially Star Wars fans."