Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on last-gen consoles has big issues – but it's just about passable

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor arrives on PS4 and Xbox One machines 17 months after its original release, but has it turned out well? After all, developer Respawn built its sequel for the new generation of machines first and foremost. It was originally billed as a PS5, Series X, S and PC only project – one pushing RT reflections and global illumination, improved character rendering, and more richly detailed open world areas than the original Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Jedi: Survivor pushes current-gen hardware then, so to what extent can Xbox One and PlayStation 4 hope to compete?

Booting up the base PS4 to start, it’s clear that the push to optimise Jedi: Survivor involves big cutbacks in asset quality. The game drops its install size to just 50GB on all last-gen versions – down from the 150GB on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles – achieved via a cut to pre-rendered cutscene quality, texture assets and audio bitrates. In terms of image quality, PS4 also inevitably takes a hit by running at a lower native 1280×720 – causing more visible break-up on fine mesh detail and the definition of Cal’s hair and beard. It doesn’t hold up to PS5’s quality mode running at 1224p of course, but it’s roughly the compromise we’d expect.

Speaking of the other consoles, the base Xbox One runs at a native 1024×576 – only amplifying the issues with its sub-pixel breakup. Next, the mid-gen refresh consoles improve the presentation considerably: PS4 Pro runs at 1536×864, while Xbox One X pushes a higher still 1600×900. Between all four, there’s virtually no other visual difference outside of resolution targets. To nitpick, a slight tweak to foliage LODs divides the base machines from the Pro and One X, while the PS4 consoles deploy slightly sharper shadow outlines due to an alternative filtering method. Outside of these two points though, the four run with matching textures, foliage density, draw distances and effects quality.

Loading times bear mention too here, as the wait to get into the game is greatly extended on last-gen, owing to their mechanical HDDs and slower CPUs. Taking PS5 for example, it takes just 10 seconds to load into Koboh for the first time. You’re well into the play session by the time PS4 gets to the same point from its initial boot-up, itself taking just over two minutes to load. Added to that, an extra delay is enforced on PS4 while moving from exteriors to complex interiors like Pyloon’s Saloon. Essentially, expect to be stood at this doorway on PS4 for an extra 10-15 seconds before they’ll open to the bar.