Thoughts on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
I’ve recently been in something of a Star Wars phase, watching Mandalorian and also playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It has really gotten me invested in the universe. The two are somewhat close to each other in the timeline as well, so you could draw some parallells. Mandalorian is set after the original trilogy and Fallen Order is set after the prequel trilogy.
Fallen Order presents a great gameplay experience. Taking much inspiration from soulsborne games in their combat design and level design, while still doing it’s own thing. I can imagine it being similar to Sekiro? But unfortunately I haven’t had time to play that yet.
The combat is centered on parrries, dodges and timed strikes. There are a pretty large variety of enemies that presents new challenges, for example ranged units where you bounce back their projectiles, enemies that block your attacks and large monsters and robots that can’t be stunned in the same manner as their smaller counterparts. I don’t think there was one battle in the entire game that I didn’t enjoy. You had so much room for creativity and playfullness, really nice execution.
For me, the game fails with the characters. The characters have very bland personalities, especially the main character, and several uninspired backstories that doesn’t really carry the weight that the game is trying to put on them. The overall plot is good enough, and a nice setting for a Star Wars adventure, but with such a bland cast I just can’t feel properly engaged. The character with the most personality is probably the sidekick droid that the main character carries with him.
That said, the game was a wild ride and it was great fun to explore all the planets. The game has a metroidvania-like exploration gameplay; when the player discovers new gadgets and force powers you get access to new locations and secrets. Not a unique selling point by any means, but combined with the beautiful planets and the cool force powers, it feels fresh.
Overall, this is one of the best Star Wars games ever made so big kudos to Respawn Entertainment. They really know how to make quality stuff. I don’t really want a sequel, but I wouldn’t mind playing something like this again.
SPOILER ALERT BELOW!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
The ending was superb. Introducing non other than Darth Vader as the final final boss of the game. I loved it! The description after scanning him was something like “Only way to survive is to escape”. Even though that character has almost been exploited to oblivion, the presentation of him and the small hints throughout the game made the reveal super satisfying. He is perfect as a final boss!