At its best, “Star Wars: Jedi Survivor” transports you to a galaxy far, far away. All the environmental details are just right; the dusty bar, the messy, lived-in ship interiors, the spartan imperial hallways. The sounds are iconic, particularly the discharge of blasters and sabers. And the music is the most important piece – it puts you under a spell, bringing you right back to essential childhood memories. When it’s impeccable sense of place combines with massive set pieces and fast-paced action-platforming, it’s top-tier gaming.

But when it asks you to slow down, investigate, and find your way around, the game’s UI proves to be a less-than-perfect tour guide. Navigation can be a real headache, as the map is built to capture breadth and depth in 3D, and does neither well. Fast travel slots become a hack, because they don’t just shorten your trip – they keep you from getting lost.

Battle is generally quite fun, but in an effort to add depth, we get a range of different battle stances, with no real indication as to when to use each. So, I just used the first stance that gets unlocked throughout, which is probably not the most effective way to get through the game.

The navigation challenges led me to ignore most of the side missions. I tried a few, but had a hard time getting to them, so stopped seeking them out altogether. This left me underpowered for the final fight, leading me to drop the game down to “easy” for the last five minutes of the game. My fault, for sure, but it was an odd note to go out on.

Overall, it’s a well-balanced, well acted piece of interactive fiction, well worth its $70 asking price.