Star Wars Jedi: Fallen OrderandStar Wars Jedi: Survivorhave excellent boss fights between them, such as the former’s Oggdo Bogdo or Taron Malicos and the latter’s Rick, the Door Technician or Darth Vader. Not every boss fight in theStar Wars Jedifranchise is created equally, however, and many of them inStar Wars Jedi: Survivorare mere precursors for respective bosses becoming regular enemies Cal Kestis will stumble into frequently thereafter. Similarly, notall boss fights inStar Wars Jedi: Survivormaintain the stakes or spectacle they deserve while more trivial encounters are surprisingly cinematic.
Dagan Gera isStar Wars Jedi: Survivor’s lead antagonist throughout a lot of the game, for example, and Respawn mimics Trilla Suduri’s Second Sister when implementing his multiple boss fights. That said, Dagan doesn’t have nearly as much to him as Trilla, and his boss fights suffer from a lack of memorability due to their sheer volume. Oddly enough, Rayvis is an intimidating and formidable foe who only has one boss fight and is insignificant to the plot, whereas Dagan is important to the plot up until the third act but overstays his welcome with three boss fights that stretch his character thin.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Repeats Fallen Order’s Second Sister Mistake But Makes It Worse
Dagan Gera’s three boss fights might not have been tedious or repetitive if not for how static his character is. Respawn didn’t necessarily need to flesh him out with a more nuanced personality or ambition given that he is eventually and finally cut down by Cal Kestis and made redundant to the overall plot afterward, but giving him three boss fights bloats the sequel without those individual encounters being tremendously exciting or challenging. TheSecond Sister’s boss fights inFallen Orderweren’t all that engrossing, to be fair, but her character was intriguing enough that repeat encounters were great because it meant players were learning more about her during those interactions.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s Second Sistertechnically has four boss fights, though players are intended to lose the first one in a scripted defeat.
Having Trilla suddenly slain at the end ofFallen Orderis devastating for that reason because it meant she would be denied a chance to return to the light side of the Force as she was visibly willing to in her final moments. Dagan’s death, on the other hand, is almost immediately glossed over byBode Akuna’s betrayaland essentially ensures that Dagan is nothing more than an obstacle that goalpostsSurvivor’s story.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Balance of Bosses Makes Up for Rayvis’ Triviality
Players contend with legendary creatures, Haxion Brood bounty hunters, Bedlam Raiders, and other miscellaneous bosses adorned with health bars—evenRick, the Door Technicianmakes the cut. Still, each of these bosses, Rick included, is an identical replica of many enemies or bosses found elsewhere.
Players fight the same handful of Haxion Brood types, for instance, with variance usually only being in the duo or combination they appear in as an enemy mob. As for Rayvis, who is portrayed as one ofSurvivor’s key antagonists, it is an underwhelming road to his incredible boss fight.
The intimidating and nearly unkillable Gen’Dai is essentially a mascot for the Bedlam Raiders who was roped into Dagan Gera’s plot as a bodyguard to have him be somewhat relevant. In this case, Rayvis is literally the muscle for a more intriguing baddie and eclipsed even further when Bode replaces Dagan as the main antagonist. Rayvis has one of the unique boss fights in the game due in entirety to how no other boss or enemy has a move set anything like his.
Rayvis’ boss fight has only two phases, yet they’re equally distinct and challenging. There’s a lot of hype leading up to it with multiple encounters Cal and Rayvis have where they’re nearly about to throw hands but don’t, including when Rayvis pulls Cal out of a squeeze-through animation and Cal worthlessly impales him with his lightsaber. It’s possible thatStar Wars Jedi’s final chapterrepeats its boss formula and gives its supposed main antagonist multiple boss fights, but designing them more along the lines of Rayvis could give it a lot more resonance and significance.
