Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
Current goal: Fill out my intergalactic fish tank
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | Target

Look, 2023 had a lot of amazing frickin’ games, okay? So yes, I am only just now playing through one of our GOTY choices. In the coming months you can also look forward to my ice-cold takes on Zelda and Armored Core VI

Hat tip to developer Respawn Entertainment for improving upon 2019’s Fallen Order in every way. Survivor features some of the most satisfying 3D platforming I’ve experienced in games; the Soulslike combat remains solid; and playing on PS5 spared me most of the jank that plagued the PC version on launch.

But what I really love about Survivor is this cast of characters that Respawn has introduced into the Star Wars canon, foremost amongst them adventurous fisherman Skoova Stev. Shout out to all the Big Daddy stans out there.

This delightful wee lad tasks you with collecting fish across the planets of Koboh and Jedha to place into the growing aquarium back at your home base of Pyloon’s Saloon. Each fish earns you an anecdote from Stev, another stirring chapter in an epic tale from his own past. Forget this new Grogu joint, give us a Skoova Stev fishing show Lucasfilm! — Eric Schulkin