'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order'; A Review

Meet Cal Kestis, a padawan in hiding after Order 66 and the Jedi purge. When we meet him, he's working as a scrapper on a backwater planet, his Jedi master gone. Imperial forces soon show up and to save a friend, you expose yourself as a Jedi. From there, Cere and Greez, two spacers come to your rescue. Cere has a plan that set in motion, she believes could disrupt the Empire.

Spoiler Free Review:

As a big fan of Respawn Entertainment's catalogue of games, including Titanfall, I was looking forward to what they could accomplish within the Star Wars universe. Combined with the fact that in Titanfall 2, the campaign takes place primarily between "A man and his machine" and was a deep, complex, and beautiful experience of a relationship. I was eager to see what they would do with this "boy and his bot" tale.

After 12 hours of playtime ( allegedly about half the game as most sources are saying it takes 24+ hours to complete). I'm ready to render a verdict.

This title is a must play for Star Wars fans, simply for the story. On top of it, it has tight gameplay that for the most part feels perfectly responsive. Even the weight of Cal as you run around feels right. He doesn't spin on a dime, but he doesn't behave like a drunk toddler either (I'm looking at you Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto). The blocking, parrying, and dodging mechanics, reminiscent of other hard titles like Dark Souls or Bloodborne add a lot to the pacing of the game, and earlier levels on harder difficulties can be frustrating when a single storm trooper gets lucky landing multiple blows on you. Despite dying, and dying often, death isn't that frustrating. When you die to an enemy, the next time you encounter that exact mob, they glow gold. Striking them immediately refills your life, your force meter, and gives you back all the experience you had lost when you died. Not once have I "lost" XP and been unable to reclaim it.

There are a few small frustrating caveats that I've learned to deal with... The first being "Sliding." Some portions of the game feature downward slopes that the Jedi must slide down to reach a new area. I've fallen more to the slippery slope than I have to enemies; thankfully, falling off is not certain death and even on longer portions of sliding, you are reset part way. The second is impossible to tell whether it is a bug or a feature, but on the Jedi Master difficulty (The third hardest of four), enemies can sometimes trap you on the ground, preventing you from getting up, evading, or using a stim to heal yourself. I've found that dying this way makes coming back and beating them that much more rewarding. The game also has some texturing and buffering issues, although a patch says to have addressed that issue.

There are also plenty of abilities to unlock in a skill tree for Cal. Options that improve his lightsaber, his survival, and his force abilities are all present, giving you some choice on how you progress. A fair amount of customization options also appear for Cal, Lightsaber, companion BD-1, and the Mantis, the ship that ferries you too and from planets.

Although branded as an Open-World game, it is a little misleading. Sure there are multiple set pieces that you can visit at just about any time you choose, but without any real side quests, when you explore you are doing so for your own sake. The main mission is quite linear and there is often only one way to reach this specific portion. Despite this, it doesn't feel as guided or on rails as earlier games, such as The Force Unleashed, but it doesn't quite deliver the freedom that came with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (read; Kotor 1 and 2). Even so, after spending 12 hours with the game I see no sign of my interest slowing. I'm excited to sit down, deflect blaster bolts and have intense fights that leave my hands sweaty.

I give Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order;

6 Lightsaber-wielding Sisters, out of 7.