Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
"I've got a good feeling about this." — Cal Kestis
Protagonist(s): Cal Kestis Genre(s): Action Adventure Rogue-like Platform(s): Microsoft Windows PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X/S Playstation 4 Xbox One Release Date: November 15, 2019 Developer(s): Respawn Publisher(s): Electronic Arts Country: North America Successor: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a single-player action-adventure video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It is set in the Star Wars universe five years after Revenge of the Sith according to the official canon timeline.

Plot

The game is set five years after the events of the film Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), the player takes on the role of Cal Kestis, a Jedi Padawan being hunted by the Empire after Order 66.

Why It Brings Force To The Golden Age

1. The story is very good that managed to be a fine addition of a well-told story in the period after the Clone Wars into the Imperial Era. It tells the story of a Jedi Padawan in hiding that learns to reconnect with the force and fight against the Empire.
2. It manages to bring back the charm of the Star Wars games, especially from the The Force Unleashed games.
3. The combat is designed in a souls-like way, but isn't designed to be as frustrating as other souls-like games.
   • If you die, the enemy or boss that killed you "picks up" all your XP. If you hit them once, you regain it all, and completely restore your health and Force energy. You also bank any skill points you gain, meaning you don't lose those if you die.
4. Unexplored edges of the map are highlighted various colors depending on what skills you have and are needed to continue (bright yellow for progress that doesn't require any skills, red for unobtained skills, green for obtained skills), making it much easier to see where you haven't been, where you can't go yet, and where you once couldn't go but can now.
5. On taking a fatal fall, Cal respawns to a nearby spot having incurred only a small health penalty. Given how tricky the platforming can be, it sure beats having to restart from the last save point.
   • Falling in the middle of combat also respawns you immediately in the instance before you fell. In theory, falling in combat is treated like a weak hit from an enemy.
   • Unfortunately, this does not apply for the final boss fight, which requires platforming. Fall then, and you die instantly.
   • There is no health penalty at all for falling to your death on the lowest difficulty setting, meaning players stuck on a particularly difficult jumping puzzle can make repeated attempts at it without either suffering Death of a Thousand Cuts or finally succeeding only to become easy prey for the very next enemy they encounter.
6. Unlike in other Soulslike games, Cal can save and spend skill points at meditation spots without respawning enemies. Only by selecting the separate "Rest" option will enemy placements be refreshed, so players who have cleared out a sizable chunk of a given map could elect to just quick save and carry on with their businesses without fear of powerful monsters popping back up. Leaving and returning to a planet will still cause enemies to respawn, however.
7. Any story cutscenes and dialogue you saw won't repeat itself if you die. Meaning dying to a boss doesn't force you to sit through an unskippable intro or mid-battle cutscene.
8. While story progress relies mostly on manual save points, if you create a shortcut or obtain a collectible they will not be lost if you die.
9. Cal Kestis is another well-written addition to the Star Wars lore with a tragic backstory, including the death of his master, being forced to hide from Empire and concealing his Force powers as he aims to rebuild the Jedi Order.
   • On top of that BD-1 is a very cute droid character.
10. Aside from Cal, there is an cast of characters. Cere Junda is another former Jedi who had forsaken her old apprentice Trilla and is affiliated with Cal. The Second Sister herself, Trilla, is an intimidating yet tragic antagonist who serves as an Inquisitor under Darth Vader, and Merrin is a Dathomirian Nightsister whom her kind were massacred by General Grievous in her youth.
    • Taron Malicos is also another tragic antagonist, a former Jedi master who, having lost all hope with his order and believing in a power greater than the Jedi, embraces the dark side of the Force.
11. Great graphics with hefty attention to detail and lots of visual spectacles that look like they were made using EA's proprietary Frostbite 3 engine (even though they were actually made on the Unreal Engine 4), and they're a massive step-up from EA Star Wars Battlefront and its sequel, EA Star Wars Battlefront II.
12. A nice addition to choosing your preferred difficulty is statistics of how different certain aspects of gameplay will be such as parry timing, incoming damage, and enemy aggression.
13. Good enemy diversity, like the various stormtroopers and Imperial personnel that Cal has to contend, as well as monstrous aliens that can be challenging to battle.
14. You can find components to build your lightsaber, customize BD-1, Cal's outfit and poncho, and The Mantis.
    • You can also scan enemies after defeating them to add to your database, which gives you tips on their strengths and weaknesses.
15. Unlike EA Star Wars Battlefront II, microtransactions make no presence in this game, and that's important.
16. A great soundtrack that fits the theme of Star Wars and is 100% original.
17. The game is designed as a Metroidvania and allows you to explore up to 5 planets.
18. You can find various relics and artifacts from the Clone Wars, including Order 66 transitions by Palpatine, remains of dead clone troopers and their Force essence to replay events from the period, as well as Republic-era craft from various worlds, such as the Bracca junkyard and Kashyyyk.
19. Few characters return from other media, including Saw Gerrera, Tarful the Wookie, and of course, Darth Vader.
20. Many force abilities at your disposal including Slow, Pull‎, Push, Jedi Flip, and Wall Run.
21. Darth Vader's entrance is not only bone-chilling, but badass.
22. New updates added New Game+ and combat challenges.
    • These challenges will pit Cal against waves of enemies across multiple planetary backdrops from across the galaxy, including the Imperial stronghold Fortress Inquisitorius. Each unique location will feature its own unique challenges, too, allowing for tailor-made experiences that draw from each environment. Different challenges will have different numbers of waves and each will have a three-star completion rating. There are 12 challenges in total and each challenge has three stars. Unlocking twelve stars in total, regardless of how many you get per challenge, will give you three new BD-1 appearances.
      • Star 1: Complete the challenge.
      • Star 2: Complete the challenge without healing.
      • Star 3: Complete the challenge without taking damage.

Bad Qualities

1. The acrobatics look a little wonky.
2. Some of the animations are pretty clunky.
3. The game was slightly rushed in development, which led to many issues.
   • The game isn't well optimized as there are textures and enemies not loading in on time, poor draw distance, and framerate drops.
   • Cere Junda's overly large eyes. They look dead-eyed and fall deep into the uncanny valley.
   • The Wookie character models look unfinished as they appear to be brighter than other character models and their fur looks fake.
4. There isn't anything to do after completing the main story other than grinding to unlock all abilities and getting all the secrets.
5. The ending is somewhat anti-climatic as there isn't a proper build up to the invasion of Fortress Inquisitorius and when Cal destroys the holocron, it feels too sudden.
6. No 100% reward.

Reception

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order received almost critical acclaim by critics, and fans of the franchise, holding an 85/100 rating for the PC version an 81/100 rating for the Xbox One Version, and an 82/100 for the PlayStation 4 version, with an 8.4/10, 8.0/10, and an 8.1/10 user scores rating on three versions.

The game sold more than 8 million copies by the end of January 2020, exceeding EA's expectations. More than 10 million units were sold by March 31, 2020. And surprisingly enough, EA acknowledged the game's success, as the game's success, along with Anthem's failure contributed to Dragon Age: The Veilguard's transition from a live service multiplayer to a single-player-only game.

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