Last month, I finally got around to playing Jedi Fallen Order. To be honest, Star Wars had begun to grow a bit stale for me - the originals are timeless classics that I could always enjoy, and the prequels have a clever plot buried deep under stilted dialogue and overdone CGI. Since Disney acquired the rights, however, most of the films and tv shows had been disappointing. Instead of treating the property with care and respect, it has been turned into a product to churn out, using the old characters and actors, but with no original or meaningful stories to tell (with the exception of Rogue One, which in my opinion is the only satisfactory addition to the canon Disney has produced).
However, I had heard good things about Fallen Order, so I gave it a go. Given Disney and EA's track records, did I find a new story in the Star Wars universe that is enjoyable, or did it fall into mediocrity like the rest?
Jedi Fallen Order follows Cal Kestis, a former Padawan living in hiding from the Empire. When he is forced to reveal himself, he is picked up by a crew with the hopes of restoring the Jedi Order and challenge the might of the Empire. Following the clues left by a reclusive Jedi decades prior, will Cal be able to find the other force-sensitives before the Empire? How can a man who was forced to abandon the force hope to stand against the Inquisitors whose roles are to seek out and hunt Jedi? And, will he risk making the same mistakes that led to the downfall of the Jedi so long ago?
What I immediately like about the game is Cal's portrayal. From his movements to his character, he embodies the spirit of what made Luke Skywalker so compelling in Empire Strikes Back - he is young, scrappy and not by any means a master of the force. When jumping, running or swinging his lightsaber, you really feel he is in over his head, making him an instant underdog when fighting experts or exploring ancient alien tombs. Combining this scrappiness with his knowledge of the Jedi and their ways creates a character who is as up to speed with the Star Wars world as much as the general player, but untrained enough for you to relate and sympathise with him.
Along with the central character, the game includes new and returning lore and locations that satisfy fans of the films and animated shows like the Clone Wars in a way that is rewarding to hardcore Star Wars fans, and provides a unique but welcoming perspective on the series for those who didn't. I won't pretend to be an expert in everything Star Wars, but I was vaguely familiar with some of the locations, and I have to say it is awesome to see them in this media, portraying rituals of the Jedi, their allies and enemies in a way that sheds new light onto them, making for a fantastic contrast to the overused desert planets in the shows and films. That isn't to say the style, enemies or motifs aren't classic Star Wars, they very much are, but it acts to bridge the gap between the original and prequel eras in a very natural way, forming its own identity as a result.
Sadly, I felt that many of the side characters, namely the companions Cere and Greeze, along with the central antagonist, The Second Sister, and the hub in the form of The Mantis, felt quite one note and standard Star Wars. The banter and comradery between them feels really quite forced, and any character motivation and backstory they have is repeated over and over rather than demonstrating meaningful change or variety - at least in my opinion. Other, more interesting characters do play parts, but they either show up significantly less or toward the end of the game, wasting lots of their potential. However, the main focus is on Cal, as you control him on his expeditions in hostile alien worlds, and not the time between the missions, so I can largely overlook them, but it does prevent the game from feeling totally genuine or unique.
The combat and exploration have taken some healthy inspiration from the Dark Souls games, of which I am a big fan, and seeing this format merged with the Star Wars saga was a dream come true for me. The period it is set also works best for this format - several years after Order 66 and the end of the clone wars, with crash sites of giant cruisers, imperial dig sites, ancient temples and ruined battlefields - perfect thematically as Cal attempts to pick up the pieces of the Jedi Order - while the remnants of the old world struggle, be they good, bad or with their own agendas, do what they must to survive in the face of the Empire.
One downside is that there were quite a few glitches on my playthrough. My copy is second hand for the PS4, so I don't know whether running it on a PC with the right specs would make it smoother, but just based on my experience, sections of the map would fail to load in as I jumped onto them, leaving me falling to my death or out of bounds entirely, along with a several crashes. Despite this, however, I think the combat and graphics make the game worth a shot.
The only problem I have with this worldbuilding is that quite a bit of the enemy dialogue - specifically from the stormtroopers and bounty hunters, is played more like a joke, and not a very funny one at that, which doesn't quite match the tone of the game. Since the originals, the stormtroopers have become a joke to fans because of their inability to hit the protagonists (or anything else, for that matter), when they are meant to be scarily accurate and ruthless killers. The Mandalorian decided to turn them into tongue-in-cheek clowns who are aware of their incompetent aim but Rogue One tried to have them live up to their intended infamy as they pick off the protagonists one by one in the final act, which is absolutely necessary if we are to take them seriously. I understand that the game wants to humanise them, but I think there are better ways to go about doing it than making them sarcastic, snarky and clumsy. That being said, I've spoken to others who have played the game, and they don't think it much of a problem, so this may just be down to preference.
The game is just the right length - about 15 hours, twice as much for a full 100% with collectibles and secrets, not overstaying its welcome or padding out the story. You do have to return to areas on several occasions, but there is always a new route opened up and a story to continue, turning what would be one level into two or three in quite an inventive way.
To conclude, I think this game is another standout title among the increasing portfolio of dull and derivative Star Wars entries, combining what you would love about each era of the franchise into a slick, enjoyable story with fun gameplay mechanics, beautiful level designs and more than a few surprises to keep you on your toes. I give Jedi: Fallen Order a 8.5 out of 10
8.5 OUT OF 10
SPOILER SECTION
I like the wide variety of enemy types in the game - the purge troopers and inquisitors upping the stakes as professional Jedi killers. I also like the idea that they are brainwashed jedi and padawans, demonstrating what would happen should Cal fail in his mission and the force-sensitives fall into Imperial hands, culminating in a confrontation with Darth Vader himself.
The new planets are also welcome additions - Bracca, Bogano and Nur, along with locations seen only on more outlandish and creative shows like the Clone Wars or Rebels - Dathomir, home to Darth Maul and the Night Sisters, who use the force in ways akin to witchcraft, Ilum, the icy planet which younglings were sent to receive their kyber crystals, power sources for their lightsabers, most of them installed with imperial bases and surprises, meaning that you'll get something out of the game whatever era of Star Wars you prefer.
Personally, I never quite resonated with the story of Cere and Trilla, perhaps due to the fact that it was mostly delivered through exposition, with neither encountering the other until the very end, and simply repeating the same story with a few more details each mission. It isn't a bad concept a Jedi master giving up her padawan through imperial torture, the other turning to the dark side through brainwashing and a sense of betrayal, and if executed right it could have been a nice narrative parallel to Obi-Wan and Vader, but the format of the game as a Souls-like left this section of the story lacking.
Greeze was very generic to me. Most of the characters in Star Wars fit into certain architypes, and this isn't a bad thing necessarily, but when it feels like he was done by committee, I can't see him as anything special. Like Han Solo, he is a criminal with a murky past that brings the danger of bounty hunters tailing him in a scrappy ship, and as an alien his is small, aging and snarky, which reminds me of numerous other characters - Yoda in the Empire Strikes Back, the small orange woman from the Force Awakens (I'm not even going to try and remember her name) and the blue guy from Battlefront 2. Some characters work as parallels or references, but this one just feels overdone.
What was not disappoint was the story that plays out on Dathomir. As the game progresses, you'll have to make at least 2-3 stops there due to roadblocks that require abilities locked elsewhere (although this makes a full and satisfying level and opens a shortcut back to the Mantis, so it isn't too intrusive), and later as Cal's lightsaber is broken through a powerful force apparition of his dead master, leading to another diversion to create a new one before facing the main boss of the planet Malicos, a Jedi who became power-hungry and desperate while stranded on Dathomir, tapping into the dark side not just through temptation, but necessity. I really like how, unlike most Sith villains in Star Wars, he actually has a good point to be made - the way of the Jedi failed and lead to ruin, so why should he or Cal adhere to it? He isn't acting through entirely selfish means, but genuinely believes that what he is doing is good and for self-preservation, begging the question as to if Cal or any other Jedi had been through what he had, would they become just as desperate? A perfect villain for this game from design to what he represents to the protagonist.
We also get introduced to Nightsister Merrin, who similarly presents a different view on the Jeid and their ways, since she uses the force in a totally different way and believes the massacre of her own was the result of the Jedi. Despite being hostile at first, she eventually comes to understand Cal and his honourable mission, eventually joining him. I only wish there was some way to have her involved as a crew member even more in the game, since only two full missions occur while she is onboard, but it wouldn't make the final confrontation on Dathomir anywhere near as awesome as it was, so I can live with getting more of her in the sequel.
What I really like about the inclusion of Vader in the conclusion is that the game never tries to steal his thunder by having him in a straight up boss fight. To live up to his name, he swipes Cere off the edge (in a moment I found unintentionally hilarious), leaving Cal to just run away. Even when Vader catches up, it takes help from Cere, BD1 and Merrin just to escape alive, since there would be no way that they could face him in a one-on-one fight. This is a perfect example of how to respect legacy characters in a new story, not undermining them like the sequel trilogy, but reinforcing the power and presence that they brought to the screen in the original trilogy, making for an awesome finale sequence in an already fantastic game, and for that I can only sing its praises.
UP NEXT:
My roster for what to review next includes Hellbound, Angel (Seasons 1-2), Doctor Who (series 3) and Dawn of the Dead. Expect these posted soon.
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