TODD HOSEA
AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR & USAF VETERAN
GAMES
STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR
By Respawn
I grew up with video games, but not like this. My gaming history goes all the way back to Atari 2600, followed by Sega and the early PlayStation years, when I spent plenty of time playing games like Madden Football. Back then, games were something you picked up, played for a while, and eventually finished—or simply moved on from. So when I started playing Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I remember thinking more than once, How long is this game? Just when I thought I must be nearing the end, another planet, mission, character, or twist opened up. And I loved every minute of it.
What surprised me most is how completely Jedi: Survivor pulled me into its world. This isn’t simply a game where you swing a lightsaber and use the Force—although doing both is ridiculously fun. It feels like an interactive Star Wars adventure. You explore enormous environments, discover hidden areas, solve puzzles, battle everything from stormtroopers to creatures and droids, customize your lightsaber, and gradually become more powerful as Cal Kestis grows as a Jedi. But what keeps me playing is the story. Cal isn't some invincible superhero. He's older, more experienced, and carrying the weight of everything he's lost while trying to decide what he's willing to sacrifice for the people he loves. BD-1, Merrin, Greez, Cere, Bode, and the rest of the cast make the galaxy feel populated by actual characters rather than people who exist merely to hand you another mission.
I'm a lifelong Star Wars fan, but I'll admit that not everything in the galaxy far, far away has worked for me. I'm not a big fan of the prequel or sequel movies. For my money, Jedi: Survivor is the best Star Wars storytelling we've gotten since The Clone Wars animated series. It understands something I think the best Star Wars stories have always understood: the spectacle only matters if you care about the people caught in the middle of it. There are lightsabers, Imperial bases, ancient Jedi mysteries, enormous creatures, strange planets, and some terrific action, but underneath all of that is a surprisingly personal story about friendship, loss, obsession, betrayal, hope, and what happens when good people become so focused on what they're trying to save that they risk losing themselves.
As a writer, that's probably what I appreciate most. Jedi: Survivor demonstrates how world-building and character development can work together instead of competing for attention. You aren't simply told about this galaxy—you get to wander through it. You can leave the main story behind, explore some distant corner of a planet, stumble across something completely unexpected, and suddenly feel as though you've discovered a tiny story all your own. That sense of discovery makes the universe feel enormous. It also reminded me that some of the best storytelling happens when audiences are given room to live inside a fictional world rather than being rushed through the plot.
And then there's the sheer immersion of it all. There are moments when I'm running across a wall, Force-pulling an enemy toward me, deflecting blaster bolts or leaping across some impossible chasm, and I have to laugh at how far video games have come since I was sitting in front of an Atari. Younger gamers probably take worlds this enormous for granted. I don't. I'm still amazed that someone built all of this—and that I can spend hour after hour exploring it.
Maybe that's why Jedi: Survivor has made such an impression on me. The kid who grew up watching The Empire Strikes Back and playing Atari could never have imagined actually stepping into a Star Wars story like this. Now I can. And I don't want it to end!
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