Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
Making a video game based on a cultural phenomenon is incredibly difficult. The best comparison is creating a sequel to a beloved story. You’re dealing with an existing fandom that expects excellence from their franchise that they love, and if they don’t get that the wrath of those disappointed will be even greater than building a new IP. If I’ve learned anything over the past few years since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd., it’s that the Star Wars fandom could arguably be near the top of this level of crazed and expectant fandom. I don’t see this necessarily as a negative connotation though, as Star Wars has had some of the highest highs in entertainment history, but also some of the lowest of lows. They’re a fandom that I would argue has remarkably strong judgment on anything involved in their franchise, and as a result a property based in that universe can really soar if done well, or tank if handled poorly.
When Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise along with Lucasfilm, there were plenty of questions about what came next for the franchise. One of the major tent-poles of this inquisition was “ what does this mean for Star Wars games?” Disney, quickly obliged and sought to find a publisher to contract out the rights to their games, with EA coming out on top of these negotiations, and going to work immediately on multiple different projects. Unfortunately, after 6 years working on a variety of projects only 3 have been released. Two of these games are the successful but flawed Battlefront games. The third is the newly released Jedi Fallen Order, the only of the 3 to be singularly focused on a single player experience, something fans have wanted for many years.
We follow the story of Cal Kestus, another Jedi Padawan who survived Order 66 thanks to the foresight of his master. Cal is working as a ship engineer on Bracca, a planet based solely around ship salvaging from the Republic era. After attempting to save his friend from certain death in a work related accident, Cal is immediately noticed by the Empire, and even more terrifying: the Inquisitors. Led by the Second Sister, a group of Inquisitors chases Cal across Bracca and force him into a confrontation for his life. It’s here that Cal is saved by a mysterious woman named Cere and taken to the Planet Zeffo to begin his journey and help rebuild the Jedi Order.
The reason this game is so great is that it excels in almost all areas. The most important of these being fun gameplay. Lightsaber combat is something that can be done in a variety of different ways, but most often it is seen to be a swipe and kill format where it is so strong that it almost feels like cheating, when we’ve in fact seen Jedi struggle in films and television. Respawn took a smart direction with Fallen Order, basing the combat style off of games like Dark Souls or Sekiro, making it feel weighty and putting the focus on excellent timing and maneuverability by the player. Along with this, while some of the force powers feel a bit odd such as the force slow-down, the use of the force helps to elevate the gameplay even more as it’s not simple push and pulls, but allows for a variety of techniques that give the player plenty of options for how they want to play and focus their growth.
Another important part of a Star Wars game is the story. The first of the new Battlefront games quickly learned that it’s not feasible to create a game of this kind and expect it to land with all fans if there’s not some sort of story associated with excellent multiplayer gameplay. This was quickly rectified in the second iteration of the new franchise, and Fallen Order takes this learning to a new level. Instead of creating a galaxy hopping story, Fallen Order manages to not necessarily restrict itself, but focus on a small group of planets and create a cohesive narrative that makes sense, and feels important in the context of the larger universe that is Star Wars. With excellent set-piece moments book-ending the narrative, this feels like a peek into the future of Star Wars stories post-Rise of Skywalker.
All of this wouldn’t come without a couple of negatives though. First and foremost, while being an excellent story it feels almost definitely like something we’ve seen before in rebuilding the Jedi Order between Episode 3 and Episode 4. Almost every game or show focused on this period is based around a similar idea, and while Fallen Order does enough to differentiate itself, I can’t help but feel there could have been another focus for this narrative. The other minor area of contention for me come from what I believe to be a design choice for this genre of game: the mulititude of times where you have to backtrack. While I get why it makes sense in context of the story and makes it feel more realistic, it sometimes felt like a chore. Also, one extremely small issue is the lack of dismemberment in human enemies. It’s very odd seeing a lightsaber strike through a stormtrooper only to see them collapse to the floor in one solid piece rather than in two, but it’s something you accept early on.
Overall, Fallen Order is an excellent entry into the Star Wars franchise and even with an arc that could feel like a rehash of previous narratives at times, it manages to carve itself an excellent piece of the overall story of the saga. In my mind this is one of the better Star Wars games to ever release, and I fully expect to see a sequel that stretches beyond it’s familiar roots. The combat system really makes every strike feel important, and alongside great customization to help personalize the experience for each player, there’s a level of connective tissue between you and your version of Cal that makes you that much more interested in the game. It’s never felt better to be a Jedi, and after battling Inquisitors, running from the deadly creatures of Dathomir, and supporting the small sects of rebellion, I can’t wait to get back into the world of Jedi Fallen Order.
