Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (opens in new tab) will significantly expand on the combat system first introduced in 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (opens in new tab). In an interview with Game Informer (opens in new tab), game director Stig Asmussen explained that the game features "five fully realized [combat] stances" aimed at making the main character, Kal Kestis, a more flexible fighter.

"Much of it depends on the enemies you encounter," Asmussen said in an interview. 'Players need to break down the enemy and figure out what the best weapons are.'

A recently released trailer shows Kestis fighting with a dual lightsaber and the double-bladed lightsaber made famous by Darth Maul. Other new stances include a "heavy" stance centered around the crossguard saber used by Kylo Ren. It is "heavy and sturdy. But you have to be very careful how you use it because the timing window is longer," Asmussen explains.

One of the most unusual stances is the style in which Kestis wields his lightsaber and blaster simultaneously, which Asmussen claims "tells you where Kal is in this part of the story." He adds. 'It's been five years since the first game, and the Dark Ages are still upon us. He is an unconventional Jedi and must do unconventional things. Even though it would be frowned upon at the height of the Jedi Order, Kal will do anything."

He is also a "Jedi who is not afraid to do what is right,"

and "he is not afraid to do what is wrong.

While the chat focuses primarily on combat, Asmussen provides some details on the game's broader mechanics: "Survivor" expands on the platforming elements of Fallen Order, allowing Kestis to use elevating cables to move through canyons and cliffs with It can move quickly. Kestis will also be accompanied by a new character, the mercenary Bode Akuna, with whom Kestis has a "special bond" to assist him in and out of combat.

In terms of combat, Survivor seems to be aiming to be to Raven Software what Jedi Academy (opens in new tab) was to Jedi Outcast (opens in new tab). The question is whether Respawn can apply those new styles to more interesting encounters; I liked "Fallen Order" in parts, but spent too much time chopping up small animals instead of stormtroopers, wasting a rich combat system. I also hope that the story is more fleshed out than in "Fallen Order," which seemed to struggle with the setting of the events between Episodes III and IV. In any case, we will know then what "Survivor" will look like when it is released next March.