Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

A long time ago in this galaxy I was a huge Star Wars nerd. Time and over-saturation of the brand with inconsistent material has dulled for me some of the charm but I still remember with great fondness the original trilogy and several of the books I read growing up surrounding the franchise, like the Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson. My favorite of the classic films is Empire Strikes Back, and I consider it not only the best Star Wars film, but one of the all-time great science fiction stories.

So, in spite of my waning interest, I still often keep an eye on new material coming out for the franchise. In 2019 Jedi Fallen Order hit the major consoles and like most new Star Wars games handled by EA I was hesitant to jump in at launch. I do not like playing broken games and find myself waiting a few months, or in this case years, for them to finish it so I can enjoy it. But as I waited, I was pleasantly surprised to hear high praise for the game with one reviewer I follow comparing it to 3D Metroid. The Prime Trilogy and Metroid games in general are some of my all-time favorites, so when I heard this, I decided it was time to give the game a go and I have to say out the gate, I was not disappointed.

The game is set five years after order 66 and the Jedi purge and see’s our main protagonist, Cal Kestis, hiding in obscurity as a scrapper on the planet Bracca. Cal had been there since the purge and is seriously out of practice when it comes to using the force. The traumatic story of how Cal came to be on Bracca is told in flashbacks as the game progresses, but the trauma of order 66 plays a large role in his story arc overall as he re-embraces the force and steps up to the challenges he faces. Cal is voiced and modeled after actor Cameron Managham he delivers a quiet and tortured performance fitting of Cal’s trauma. I found the story to be an adequate vehicle for the very chase the McGuffin plot. The game is heavy on character interaction and light on narrative cohesion. Some characters will come into the story seemingly randomly, but they are good characters, so you tend to overlook it. Some of this is mitigated by the environmental story telling at play. Like Metroid Prime, you can scan or interact with objects to gain new perspectives or parts of the story that flesh out missing pieces of the narrative. Personally, I like when games do this, but I am sure that some find it a bit confusing or annoying.

The supporting Characters are also well voiced with the main cast truly shinning in character interactions. I love Cal’s friendship with the droid BD-1 and their banter adds a lot of charm to the game, though BD speaks in bleeps and whistles. He is just adorable though and so much more animated than any droid from Star Wars to come before him. Also liked Greez the four-armed short alien who is the captain of the Mantis, the ship that carries Cal from planet to planet. Cal is also hunted and opposed in his plot goals by inquisitors in the form of the second and ninth sister. The second sister in particular serves as Cal’s foil and a dark mirror image of who he might become. But the inclusion that made me smile the most was Travis Willingham as Jaro Tapal. Travis has played in several voice roles over the years, but he was easily recognizable here lending his “Thor” voice to Jaro, making me think of the God of Thunder every time. That is not a complaint mind you as I thought the regal resonate sound fit the character but and most people probably would not notice it, but I love details like that.

The game feels like Star Wars with the lived-in look that I love from the original three films. Everything feels used and for hundreds of years and it is an element that none of the other films have quite managed to replicate. However, this element is critical to the aesthetic of not just Star Wars, but this games narrative. Cal spends a lot of time in old Tombs, paying I suspect homage to another famous Lucas franchise. One of the themes of the game is how little the empire cares about the history of those places any further than they can exploit it. As a theme it is prevalent in every destination. Nothing is sacred to the empire, not the people nor their history. Each world is unique and chock full of secrets. Progression is handled in a very Metroid fashion. After the first world I could choose between two others. One held high risk but also high reward. The other was obviously the “intended path” but the choice was mine to make. Indeed, both worlds were gated up to a certain point, leading me back to the first location and to a fourth eventually. Shortcuts are unlocked as you progress through locations making backtracking easier as you unlock more and more moves. I like how the map is presented as an extension of BD-1 making it feel less like a game mechanic and more like something that would naturally fit in Star Wars. Not all game mechanics are handled naturally this way, but another standout exception is the skill tree and meditation system.

At certain locations Cal can medicate an attune himself with the force. Here he can work on repairing his connection to the force and learn/relearn abilities that will help him progress and grow stronger. How you unlock these abilities is largely under your control spending skill points as you get them or banking them to get more powerful moves. There is a risk in doing this as they can be lost if you fall in battle. But like the soul series they can be regained if you make it back to the enemy who killed you. I also like the use of the Mantis as a loading screen for worlds. I played in the XBOX One, not an S or X model. But the during loading segments for worlds conversations between characters would play out as the ship was in hyperspace. It is such a good idea to hide the loads this way and preserves the immersion. That said there are some moments where I was yanked out to the world hard.

I know some will likely chalk this up to me playing on an older model console, but I also own an original model PS4 and it plays Spider-man and Horizon Zero Dawn with almost no mishaps. But I died in one of the opening cutscenes, yes, a cutscene. I was worried that this might set a trend but while I did encounter a few other stutters there was only one or two more glitches that forced me to restart or just killed me. I would tell you more but most of them require some spoilers so I will spare you the details. I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly and consistently it ran otherwise but bear in mind my expectations were low. All that said the game could and should run better after a year and a half of being playable even of an older XBOX one.

But the highest praise I can give to the game is the bold decision they made to forgo making the game super accessible. The game is not the hardest one I have ever played but I was surprised by how often it could kill me. The combat centers around parrying, dodging, using the force and attacking. But in any given boss fight it is unwise to just spam attack. Cal has no armor enhancing stats, only health upgrades and enemies, especially bosses, can do major damage. The best offence is a good defense, parrying or using your force abilities to wear down their stamina and punish them. But even this is not a crutch you can rely on without being punished yourself. Some attacks are unblock-able, and you must react quickly to avoid them. This can leave your opponent open for a counter, but this is not a strategy you can spam either. Each boss battle comes down to you learning to recognize patterns punishing them overreaching themselves. There is no better satisfaction though then finally climbing the skill wall or even better, getting it first try because you are just in the rhythm.

I like this game; it uses the Star Wars aesthetic to build a satisfying gameplay loop with varied and interesting environments. It is not perfect, there are some bugs that should be worked out by know but overall, I will definitely dig into new game+ at some point or go back and 100% complete the game. The highest praise I could give is that when it was done, I was not ready for it to be over. I would love to try other versions of the game, like PS4 to see if it runs any better but when I do eventually get a next gen XBOX this will likely be the first game I try out on it.