The Star Wars Jedi: Survivor developers say they want the sequel's take on its protagonist to feel like "Cal 2.0."
In an interview with GamesRadar+, design director Jason de Heras explains that "for game design and gameplay, [we wanted to] make Cal feel better in traversal and combat, and that "in combat, Stig [Asmussen, game director] refers to him as Cal 2.0."
Cal's improved form is intended to be felt across his entire character. de Heras says that includes "making him feel better on sticks, more agile in combat, more confident through the animations." It extends to his varying combat forms, which Respawn was quick to flesh out in the sequel, as well as Cal's new force abilities.
Respawn is working to ensure that Cal maintains the skills he learned in the original, but de Heras also explains that in adding new tools, "there's always a dance or a marrying of a lot of these abilities we're going to use on the level and exploration, and then gameplay combat. We've got to figure out how it can work in both realms. We want to introduce new powers that could make you approach encounters in different ways."
During our Star Wars Jedi: Survivor preview, we also spoke to de Heras about maintaining the powers that Cal gained throughout Fallen Order as the game approached its sequel. Push, Pull, and Slow are all Force moves returning for the sequel, and Cal will be able to make use of them much earlier than he could in his first outing.
Look ahead to more exciting releases with our roundup of new games for 2023.
