An IGN reporter recently got the chance to play about 5 hours of the upcoming and highly anticipated Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and in their preview video, they described one of the game's first planets, Koboh, as a "vast open world that sprawls out in every direction."
Though Survivor has previously shown off about 9 minutes of Koboh gameplay, IGN explains that that was mostly in the planet's initial sections, which play much more like the smaller path-driven areas that fans came to expect from the game's predecessor, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. However, after a certain point, the map opens up and supposedly becomes "a gigantic and wide open planet," a description that differentiates it quite a bit from the planets in Fallen Order.
Though Fallen Order wasn't a fully linear game by any means, its large planets were usually divided into separate semi-linear paths, with some larger open areas, where combat often took place.
The way Koboh is described in the video, it appears as though Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will have a much more open-world-style map design, at least on occasion. IGN did confirm that they also played through a moon planet later in the game, which had a more traditional map design.
Koboh, on the other hand, reportedly lets you wander off in any direction, and apparently, you'll find several different types of content that you'd otherwise miss if you just go straight to your destination. IGN states that they found a hidden cave on one end that housed an optional world boss. Another direction had the player end up in a raider camp, while another led them to a Meditation Chamber, the bite-sized puzzle dungeons that are a first for the franchise.
As per IGN, what's boding even better for Survivor is that the rewards actually felt satisfying. Many detours offered skill points, which work to improve protagonist Cal Kestis' various abilities and combat tools, and some offered customization options, which are much more varied this time around. Unlike Fallen Order, where players could only slightly alter their poncho, in Survivor, Cal can get completely new outfits and even hairstyles.