Man, everyone I know loves Star Wars for some reason. The first film came out in 1977, meaning it’s more than forty years old now. Written by legendary director George Lucas and published by 20th Century Fox, Star Wars became one of the most successful films of all times. It’s twists and reveals provided a memorable story and it set a gold standard for science fiction. Afterwards came loads of sequels, shows, spinoffs, and merchandise that helped Star Wars evolve into an iconic billion dollar franchise. Ask anyone about Star Wars and they probably know what the series is, even if they haven’t watched any of the movies like me. With a widespread franchise like Star Wars there are bound to be methods to drag other audiences into the universe.
Such as the case of making video games that help gamers and fans of the series feel more immersed in the world. There have been several Star Wars video games released in the past, some of them being pretty good. There’s Republic Commando, a first person shooter where you step into the shoes of an elite clone trooper, fighting off several creatures from other planets. Knights of The Old Republic which is not only considered one of the greatest RPGs of all time, but the game that helped BioWare boost themselves towards success with the likes of Mass Effect which draws heavy notes from Star Wars. Who couldn’t forget the original two Battlefront games, which contained the most addicting multiplayer modes out there. Then there's the two recent Battlefront games produced by Electronic Arts and Dice, which we don't talk about the amount of corporate controversy surrounding them and their problematic releases.
Star Wars is fantastic, but it ain’t perfect. After the original trilogy the films ranged from basically okay to hot flaming garbage. 20th Century Fox got bought out by Disney, and the creative freedom for Star Wars started to drain overtime as Disney milked whatever magic and joy was left from the cow's utters. Disney being the mega corporation it is, handed the right of Star Wars games to Electronic Arts. You know, that one company. One of the worst, greediest video game companies in America. Releasing unfinished buggy messes at launch and making a living off of microtransactions and live service trash. The company that killed Visceral Games, ruined BioWare’s reputation, and made DICE their bitch. Maybe I’m being too harsh. No, wait, I lied, get the whip!
Anyways acquiring the rights to develop Star Wars games, Electronic Arts tasked DICE to make a reboot to the original Battlefront. In 2014, DICE revealed their new game to be taking a similar name Star Wars Battlefront, and many die hard fans of the original two Battlefronts were excited. The last Battlefront came out in 2005, and seeing the series make a comeback got their nostalgia running. Unfortunately the game received quite a bit of backlash, actually a lot of backlash. The game contained no single player campaign meaning it was multiplayer exclusive. That’s fine since the original games were praised for their multiplayer, but it turns out much like other games published by EA the new Battlefront was glitchy as hell when it launched in 2015. The game was rushed, incomplete, and to get the rest of the game you have to pay for a season pass which was close to the game's main price being around fifty dollars. No, I'm not joking.
Battlefront 2015 was a mess and DICE apparantly wanted to follow this up with a sequel. They wanted to improve upon what they did and then announced that the sequel would contain what the first game didn’t have. A single player campaign, no overpriced season pass, and above all else loot boxes. Yes, Electronic Arts found a way to screw up the sequel too. The sequel was also glitchy when it came out in 2017, and what made it worse is that these loot boxes made the sequel a pay to win system. Players who paid for higher priced loot boxes were guaranteed to be given stronger weapons and characters, raising the chance for their team to win during a match. 2017’s Battlefront 2 was a highly controversial game, being considered one of the worst games of 2017 and a shame to the video game industry.
All hope was lost for an actually good Star Wars games until the most recent one. Rather than task DICE with making another big budget multiplayer shooter, EA tasked Respawn Entertainment with making an action adventure Star Wars game. If you don't know, Respawn Entertainment is a highly respected studio for how much love they put into both single player and multiplayer content. Titanfall 2 being their best game for contaning one of the most creative shooter campaigns in recent memory, and a multiplayer mode while not as successful as other shooters is incredibly well rounded. It's entirely skill based, a majority of content is unlocked in game, and while there are paid cosmetics they aren't needed to gain a winning advantage. They also made the highly popular Apex Legends, which took the movement and reactive combat of Titanfall 2 and combined it with the battle royale formula to create a battle royale that is actually fun to play. Personally not my thing, but I can respect Apex Legends.
In early 2019, Respawn revealed their new project Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and expectations for it were somewhat mixed. Some claimed the game looked promising, and then there was the majority who doubted it because it was another Star Wars game by EA. I was one of the few people who saw the reveal and expected the Fallen Order to suck upon launch. When Fallen Order came out it blew everyone’s expectations. It had some pretty good combat, creative level design, memorable characters, and a well written story. It may not be the most original game out there since it borrows elements from several other games, but it’s one of the best Star Wars games to date. I recently sat down to play the game, mainly because my friends knew I’m a die hard Dark Souls fan and they told me it takes heavy influence from it. Normally I hate anything Star Wars related, but I can confidently say Fallen Order is good. Really good actually. It's not only a good Star Wars game, but a Triple A studio took the time to figure out what made Dark Souls work and put a spin on it to make one of the more accessible entries in the soulslike genre. Today we’ll be talking about why I surprisingly and unexpectedly loved Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and why it deserves your attention. Prepare to journey across the galaxies young padawan.
Story
The game takes place five years after the Great Jedi Purge, when the Galactic Empire initiated Order 66 and began to rise in power. We play as Cal Kestis, a former Jedi Padawan who survived the purge and is hiding from the Empire on the planet Bracca. He spends his days working as a scrapper, salvaging parts from rusting ships from the Clone Wars and staying alongside his best friend Prauf. Cal has been hiding his Force abilities for years, but one day during an accident Cal uses his powers to save Prauf before he falls to his death. Prauf tells Cal that he has to pack his stuff and leave Bracca before the Empire shows up, but while riding on a train back home they are stopped by the Empire. They encounter two inquisitors, the Second and Ninth Sisters, both were contacted by a droid who witnessed Cal’s powers. Prauf tries to stand up for everyone aboard the train saying that even after the interrogation the Empire is still gonna kill them, but the Second Sister goes ahead and kills Prauf.
Cal is shocked, reveals he is a Jedi, and tries to fight the Second Sister. He is chased by the Second Sister and eventually rescued by a former Jedi Knight named Cere Junda. They escape using a ship piloted by Greez Dritus, and Cere reveals to Cal that he is the last hope they have. Cere takes Cal to an ancient vault on the planet Bogano where he meets a small droid named BD-1. While exploring the vault, BD-1 reveals to Cal an old message recorded by former Jedi Master, Eno Cordova. Cordova states the vault once belonged to an ancient alien race known as the Zeffo and they possessed a holocron capable of locating all the remaining Jedi in the galaxy. Cal reveals the information to the rest of the crew, and they decide to hunt down the clues that will help them gain access to the holocron. Doing so will help them locate Jedi children and build a resistance against the Empire. However, the Empire is also after the holocron, and if they get their hands on it first it will lead to another purge. Cal must work quickly, piece more of the puzzle together, and stop the Empire before it’s too late. But he learns that there is a dark story behind those he now trusts and not everything is what it seems.
Gameplay
There is nothing original in Fallen Order at all, but it’s still a well designed game. It borrows concepts from several other games to form a solidly designed experience. The main influence I get from Fallen Order being Dark Souls. For any hardcore Dark Souls or Bloodborne fan who is reading this review, here are a few examples. When you press the attack or dodge button you can’t cancel out and must finish your action before performing another action. There is a dodge roll that allows you to avoid most basic attacks using invincibility frames. Enemies that hit like trucks, so it forces you to analyze their attack patterns. Maze-like level design with shortcuts leading back to previous areas you ventured through and cutting down backtracking. Having to hunt down healing upgrades so you can heal more often during battles. And checkpoints where you can rest, level up, and refill on health items, but all the enemies you kill respawn. There’s also quite a bit of Sekiro in here with the posture meter and breaking enemy defenses. I already thought the game borrowed enough from From Software.
Rather than level up multiple stat categories you gain skill points which can be spent to earn skills on a skill tree. You can deflect enemy attacks, and if timed right you can parry them. And enemies have what is basically a posture meter, and if emptied all the way you can stun them and open them up for a critical blow. Between Sekiro and Fallen Order, I like Fallen Order much better. It leans more towards the design of Dark Souls and the combat is more accessible. Enemies are much easier to predict and the variety of each encounter provides unique challenges. Crowd control plays a big role in Fallen Order, because much like Dark Souls and Bloodborne you have to know who to pick off first. Take down gunners so they don’t interrupt close ranged fights, remove the standard troopers and leave the stronger hitting enemies last, simple as that.
Being the Jedi you are, you unlock special powers that can help you during combat. By using the environment wisely you can turn a difficult fight into a much easier one. You can push enemies off of cliffs, pull them towards you, slow them down, and much more. You have a meter for your powers and you can refill simply by striking enemies. I like this, because unlike Sekiro where the use of prosthetic tools are limited by spirit emblems and aren't utilized all too well, Fallen Order allows the player to experiment and sets scenarios up in such a way where they'll be given the opportunity to make the most out of their abilities. Another thing I like better than Sekiro is that the skill tree in Fallen Order contains more useful perks, because most of the skills on the skill tree are things you actually need and might use. Charge attacks, upgrading your maximum health, the efficiency of healing items, different combos, and much more.
Speaking of healing, BD-1 provides stims that can heal you quickly during battle. Not only that, but he can scan enemies to learn their weaknesses and even scan the environments which helps the player learn about the universe of Star Wars. Another weird change to the soulslike routine is that Fallen Order leans more towards a metroidvania design philosophy than Dark Souls' linear-nonlinear exploration. The Souls games had levels that interconnected with each other, but Fallen Order makes it so that you need certain powers to gain access to new areas. Wall running, double jumping, and navigation maneuvers which not just add to the combat but the way you traverse the world. There are also chests that you encounter throughout the world, but unlike Dark Souls where you unlock gear that you may use, Fallen Order gives you cosmetics. For your lightsaber, outfit, and all that stuff. That’s fine if you're a guy who likes to rock on a look, but what if they made it so that certain mods to your lightsaber gave you special perks or traits? That would have added more use to them. Besides that, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a fun video game and that’s all I can ask for. Hopefully you can find the holocron and find other Jedi much like yourself.
Thoughts
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a very good game and I surprisingly had an enjoyable experience with it. The story is well written, extremely better than I thought it would be, actually understands the material it is based off of, and one of the main reasons I kept playing through the game. Cal is trying to get closer towards his goal and mastering his Jedi powers. While forgiving himself for his past and how he wasn’t useful at the time. All the characters are likable and the writing is actually much better than the recent Star Wars films. Is that bad? Is it bad that a group of game developers who have a lower budget than a film producer can write a better story than the films it’s based off of? Maybe that should tell JJ Abrams that he is doing something wrong and that he should go back to the drawing board. Probably ask Respawn Entertainment how to make a Stars Wars story next time you are on the writing board buddy.
Combat is badass and opens up further as you unlock new powers. The environments are stunning and it’s impressive Fallen Order can handle it most of the time. Level design is great with paths that loop back into one another. The amount of challenge this game has to offer during combat makes it a decent soulslike. That’s right folks! I’m calling Fallen Order a soulslike! I would even say I like it more than last year’s Sekiro which I had mixed feelings about. There’s this one moment on the first planet where you can drop into a small room and fight a normal enemy that is deemed a boss. At first I thought it would be really easy since I’ve fought six of them up until that point, but then I died in like two hits and my mouth dropped. Yet, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is way more accessible and forgiving towards the player than most soulslikes. It’s not accessible because of the difficult options. It’s accessible because it executes it’s ideas well and knows when to forgive the player. Remember, “when you have a system it needs to work”. The game has a good amount of replay value due to the collectibles and explorable sections for each area, and for the amount of content you get I say the price for Fallen Order is worth it. It's a complete product which is rare to see from EA.
Even though I’m praising Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, I do have quite a few gripes with the game. Obviously it’s another title published by EA and even after a few patches the game tends to glitch and lag a lot. Some sections of the game slow down when too much stuff is happening on screen and there was one point where I fell through the floor of the canyon planet and had to reload the game because Cal kept falling. However, one honorable thing about Fallen Order is that it does run better at launch than some of the other games published by EA. The amount of detail in this game is amazing, but the facial animation could have been improved. Finally while Fallen Order there's the game originality and how much it borrows from other big releases. Besides Dark Souls and Sekiro I can see a bit of God of War, Uncharted, Zelda, Tomb Raider, and even though it came out the same year I can see a little bit of Control.
In the end I can safely and definitely recommend Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Maybe this should set an example for EA. To stop pouring so much time into big budget multiplayer games that don’t even work half the time and put some effort into making well thought out single player experiences. Some of you may like multiplayer games more than single player games, because you can spend time with your friends , but I always liked getting immersed in a world and enjoying a good story. Overall I am going to give Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order a 9/10 for excellence at best.
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