Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
I wasn’t sure whether or not to write a review for Jedi: Fallen Order given that the game has already been out for a few years now. Nevertheless, I recently revisited the game and it left me with some lingering thoughts that I wanted to cover in a blog post – Especially with a sequel potentially coming in the next few years. So…Without further ado!
Warning! Spoilers ahead!
The Good:
In a lot of ways, Jedi: Fallen Order was the Action-Adventure Star Wars game that we’ve all been waiting for - arguably since The Force Unleashed. There is a lot in the game to make fans very happy.
The animation and artwork throughout the game’s four playable planets is beautiful. It certainly fits well within the Star Wars ecosystem and it is nice to see planets that will be familiar to fans such as Dathomir, Ilum and Kashyyyk. There are familiar enemies in the stormtroopers with their AT-ST and AT-AT machines. There are also some new enemies in the Sith Inquisitorsall of whom are, for the most part, artfully executed and, in particular, given a high level of facial realism. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a modern era entry into the Star Wars series without a loveable new droid to make merchandise out of, and BD-1 more than fits the bill for that!
Who wouldn’t love BD-1?
The artwork is accompanied by a clear and recognisable soundtrack driven by the familiar strings of Star Wars soundtracks past. ‘Eno Cordova’s Theme’ in particular, strikes all the right tones for the game and its setting.
The puzzle and level design is interesting enough. Some levels actually present quite a challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I can’t help but be more impressed by this achievement, knowing that Respawn are a studio who have almost exclusively stuck to FPS games - managing to get this balance of challenge and fun right first try is an impressive feat.
The Second Sister, Trilla, is a strong entry into the Star Wars antagonist encyclopaedia, though not for the same terrifying reasons as Darth Vader or the Emperor. Trilla’s quality as an antagonist comes in the seeming lack of control that she has had over her own fate. The passion of her hatred towards Cere for her circumstances is broiled down to that of a wounded child, abandoned by a parent that should have kept them safe. Overall, this deep sense of betrayal is something that makes the player much more sympathetic towards the Second Sister – in turn making her and Cere all the more interesting as characters. This is driven perfectly towards an ending for her character in which, even for a short moment, her redemption seems plausible, before a certain black-masked Sith Lord appears to make sure that it cannot happen.
Room for Improvement:
I want to preface this section by saying that I picked areas of the game that I personally felt fell a little short of expectation. They are by no stretch of the imagination bad. I think there is a certain expectation of unattainable high-quality that is placed on Star Wars games in the minds of consumers. This isn’t altogether surprising given that entire generations grew up alongside the cinematic adventures of Luke, Anakin, and, more recently, Rey. It’s made even more complex by the long history of successful Star Wars game characters (not looking at the Revan, Starkiller, or Malgus-sized elephants in the room). That said, these are the areas where I would have liked to see more.
To be blunt, the main character, Cal Kestis, felt safe. He is, despite a relatively strong voice-acting performance from Cameron Monaghan, a generic good guy – an Obi-Wan, but without the snarky comments, or the hints of Anakin-fuelled conflict that make him an interesting character. More frustrating, the story has moments in which it could push his character further by introducing a stronger sense of personal conflict to overcome, for example with his former master. However, they fail to really deliver on this, reducing his strife to an internalised need to overcome self-blame for events that were largely out of his control to begin with.
Obi-Wan may be a good guy, but his character is much more than that.
In the context of the game’s story, Merrin is perhaps the biggest missed opportunity for Cal’s development. The two have a great deal in common, but their ideologies are completely alien from one another. The witches of Dathomir traditionally despised the Jedi. Yet, despite their beliefs being dangerously incompatible with one another, they are able to become friends. Not only this, but Merrin displays a genuinely endearing wittiness that is mostly missing from the rest of the characters.
Unfortunately, little is done to develop Merrin’s character or her relationship with Cal past this. She displays little of the sacrifice-centric dark-side sorcery that Dathomiri witches are known for in the Star Wars universe, nor does her lack of compatibility with the rest of the team cause more than a moment of hesitation in Greez, whose concerns are reduced to irrational xenophobia rather than a justified reaction given knowledge of her roots.
Saddest of all, this character’s inclusion ultimately boils down to a matter of convenience for the story – she’s the only reason they manage to infiltrate and escape Fortress Inquisitorius a few scenes later.
Aside from the lacklustre ‘good-guy’ personality of Cal Kestis and the relatively safe direction of his story, the game also suffers from somewhat repetitive gameplay. The game centres around Cal’s use of his lightsaber. This eventually becomes a double-bladed lightsaber with some limited ability to split it off. Given the setting of the story, I’d have liked to see a wider variety of combat styles.
The best way that this could have been done is with the introduction of more playable characters, or, perhaps, having Cal start the game without his lightsaber. This would open the avenue for more varied styles of gameplay using blasters or force sorcery to engage in battle in ways similar to the way it is utilised in Star Wars: The Old Republic. They might even have been able to include space battles. In the grand scheme of things, this was a minor issue that I had with the game, and it’d just be nice to see Respawn expand upon it in the sequel.
Last of all, when I returned to the game, I badly wanted it to have more content added after my last playthrough two years ago. I am aware of the time and effort required to make more content for a game as monumental in scope as Fallen Order, but even just an expansion containing a new planet to explore with some minor side-stories would be something small to keep players coming back after finishing the main story, which only took me the better part of a weekend.
Final Thoughts:
On the whole, Jedi: Fallen Order is a fantastic addition to the list of Star Wars games to have been released in recent years. I’m beyond ecstatic to know that the game will be allowed to go ahead with a sequel, despite EA losing the exclusivity to the Star Wars IP.
That said, on a personal level, I’m a little disappointed with the decision that developers have taken to ignore the Old Republic Era of the Star Wars lore in recent years. That particular period in the lore is brimming with full-scale battles between the Empire and Republic that would give incredible artistic licence for a studio to develop unique stories, places, and characters within the universe and attach it to some genuinely fun gameplay. Unfortunately, on that front, I guess I’ll have to wait.