Summary
Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree was recently released and its open-world Land of Shadow, while abridged relative to the base game’s Lands Between, is a winding maze where every camera turn invites a new scenic landscape with its own gorgeous skybox. There is arguably more real estate to traverse than valuable loot to actually find in a singular region besidesScadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes, but the DLC maintains the same exceptional degree of gratifying exploration asElden Ring’s base game.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivoris not an open-world game and yet Respawn made a valiant effort to broaden Metroidvania exploration on Koboh and Jedha with regions that are competent as segmented open-worlds themselves. Given how Respawn made this choice withStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, the assumption now is that it will want to expand on that further and have even more open-world-esque planets. That said, forStar Wars Jedito make its third installment a fully open-world game likeElden Ringit would need to abandon the franchise’s Metroidvania bones and that could hurt it more than help it.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Boasts Another Enormous Open World
Elden Ring’s open worldis engrossing largely due to how interconnected each of its regions is, knowing that monuments or stretches of land far in the distance are somehow reachable and explorable. Shadow of the Erdtree could’ve forgivably recycled regions plucked fromElden Ring’s base game and instead FromSoftware chose to craft another massive labyrinth for players to traverse and inevitably get lost in while desperately searching for map fragments.
This is particularly true when tiny illustrated markers on the map’s shrouded regions are somehow impossibly near and far at the same. Players can find themselves having a tough timenavigating 3D holomaps in theStar Wars Jediseries, too, but traversal inFallen OrderandSurvivorisn’t always as easy as being able to fast travel to and from any destination they’d like.
The only notable time players can’t freely fast travel inElden Ringis when they’ve intentionally stranded themselves deep within a dungeon, whereas otherwise exploration is rewarded with each subsequent site of grace players can reach before they perish to some foul creature or SD while foolishly believing Torrent can safely land a perilous leap from a cliffside.
The Star Wars Jedi Franchise Must Abide by the Galaxy It is Leashed to
Because so much ofwhat makesStar Warsengrossing is its diverse and separable planets, players will always have to journey across the galaxy to go from one to another, thus denyingFallen Order,Survivor, and any subsequent sequels the same immersive interconnectivity thatElden Ringand its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion pride themselves on. Therefore, even if Respawn went to the effort of making each explorable planet its own open world, transitioning from planet to planet would still be necessary.
Now, it can be argued that not all regions are technically accessed naturally inElden Ringor its DLC, such as when players are journeying from theForge of the Giants to Crumbling Farum Azula, or from the Consecrated Snowfield to Mohgwyn Palace via a waygate teleporter. Still, these journeys are nearly instantaneous while Cal Kestis and his companions would need to travel quite a distance to reach a new planet, let alone find a suitable hangar or platform to park the Stinger Mantis.
This is the same reason whyStar Wars Outlaws—Star Wars’ first fully open-world game—doesn’t meetElden Ring’s standard, either, because it’s as if players’ Tarnished avatar had to climb aboard a spaceship and travel through the cosmos every time they wanted to revisit Limgrave, Caelid, or Leyndell. To accommodate this,Survivor’s sequel would need to be set exclusively on a lone planet so Respawn could flesh it out immersively and interconnectedly. Of course, that would deny itStar Wars’ richest world-building unless the chosen planet was incredibly diverse with multiple biomes and a wealth of alien races.
Survivor’s Sequel Could Be Open-World, But Star Wars Jedi Thrives in Linear Environments
These points may all seem like a compounded jab atSurvivor’s sequel potential, but in actuality it is best ifStar Wars Jedisticks to the formula it’s continued to mold sinceFallen Order. It’s successfully rooted in Metroidvania systems after all and that’s an identity it shouldn’t need to shed to compete with a trendier open-world approach; instead,Star Wars Jedicould experiment more with semi-open-world regions but never with Metroidvania characteristics at stake.
If environments on each planet are expected to become larger there is a greater probability thatStar Wars Jedi’s beloved Metroidvania elementscould be overlooked or deprioritized, especially with how many features the series has already introduced in only two games. An upcoming third game will need to once again choose what to refine or iterate on from its predecessor and there are strengths in what distancesStar Wars JedifromElden Ringthat deserve to be cherished.
That is still possible in a game further exploring the potential of open-world environments, but Respawn would need to demonstrate a lot of restraint. If not, it could bloat or muddySurvivor’s sequel whenFallen Orderis representative of how elegant the franchise can be if it remains focused on linear environments a laDark Souls,Bloodborne, orSekiro.
Koboh and Jedha aren’t a detriment toSurvivor, though they do create an imbalance in perceived quality and content from planet to planet. Taking more inspiration from a game as ambitious and overwhelming asElden Ring, not to mention its expansion, could steer Cal Kestis and the Stinger Mantis crew in the wrong direction.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
WHERE TO PLAY
The story of Cal Kestis continues in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor™, a third person galaxy-spanning action-adventure game from Respawn Entertainment, developed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. This narratively-driven, single player title picks up five years after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order™ and follows Cal’s increasingly desperate fight as the galaxy descends further into darkness. Pushed to the edges of the galaxy by the Empire, Cal will find himself surrounded by threats new and familiar. As one of the last surviving Jedi Knights, Cal is driven to make a stand during the galaxy’s darkest times - but how far is he willing to go to protect himself, his crew, and the legacy of the Jedi Order?Explore an Untamed Galaxy – Discover new planets and familiar frontiers in the Star Wars galaxy, each with unique biomes, challenges, and enemies. Master new skills, equipment, and abilities that will augment the ways you explore, fight, and roam. With larger areas to explore and more to discover off the beaten path, players who adventure beyond the horizon will find hidden rewards.
