Star Wars - Jedi Fallen Order Review

I finally managed to play the game and after being so critical about Star Wars recently (specifically when it comes down to the latest movies) it is time for a short review of the game.

Let's simply start with the statement that Jedi Fallen Order is like a wet dream for Star Wars fans. It is.

The story is very consistent and that is not easy to achieve when you place the story of a lightsaber wielding Jedi right between the execution of Order 66 and the battle of Yarvin. There truly isn't really much Jedi action expected in this time period but the game makes it possible with some really interesting story choices.

You play Cal Kestis, a Jedi Padawan who survived Order 66 and lost his master in the process. Cal never finished his Jedi training and after hiding for many years on a scrapyard he also does not remember much of his training. Every use of the force would have risked his life. But one day he has to use it again in order to save his friend from an accident. This does not went unnoticed by the empire and soon Cal is being hunted.

I am not going to spoil the rest of the story from there because yeah... it is actually something that better is something to be experienced. There are twists and turns... nothing really is straight forward but with the exception of two minor plot holes (which by themselves are no logical errors - just stuff that is not explained at all) the story is very well placed in this period of time. It explains what happened to Jedi that were not killed after Order 66 and it explains why the remaining Jedi were not able/willing to rebuild the Jedi Council.

Unlike the action driven Hollywood crap, Fallen Order manages to slow down the story when needed and fill it with more philosophical content. All members of your team have a dark past, all of them failed at one point in their life. "Failure is not the end. It is a necessary part of the path."

The game also comes of with the question "If you can do something, should you do it?".

Fallen Order also delivers one of the best Darth Vader scenes in Star Wars. A true demonstration of power and oppression. His appearance instantly causes fear to those who face him and shows how much more powerful he is than anybody else.

Cool references are the inclusion of already established Star Wars characters into this game.

Saw Gerrera appeared multiple times during the main story aswell as the Wookie that helped Yoda to escape Kashyyyk. The 2nd and 9th sister of the inquisitors also were established characters in the Star Wars universe.

One reference was also very interesting showing how Ilum, the world where the Jedi got their lightsaber crystals from for millennia was turned into the Starkiller base of the First Order from the Force Awakens.

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The look of the game is pretty good, eventhough not ground breaking.

When starting the game I noticed that especially the characters in cut scenes the game looked blurry. Turning off Chromatic Aberration solved this.

The game world looks pretty interesting and is very well designed. You won't be able to explore everything in one go since you need to learn new skills and get access to more equipment in order to reach certain areas of the game. This is a limiting factor which forces you to re-visit planets in order to discover new secrets and improve your skills later on. One good aspect of it is that these areas sometimes change when you visit them again. New types of enemies spice up the experience. Much later in the game you are also facing random boss battles against bounty hunters. Generally the game developers tried to change the way you play the game at certain points of the story campaign.

Btw. I think the newly added BD-1 Droid is the coolest companion droid in the entire Star Wars universe next to HK-47. I think it is great to have a bi-pedal droid which can express, sadness, joy, bravery and friendship. The fact that he can move the way he does, that he has moving eyes to express himself and that he is always with you, in every dialog, in every fight, that he supports you during every situation of the game makes this droid pretty awesome.

The gameplay is very unforgiving, especially at the beginning of the game and during boss fights.

You have to do one of the many attacks, you have to block, you have to evade, you have to use your force powers and you need to make the correct decisions within a fraction of a second.

For sure you get used to it but it takes some time to learn how all the different types of enemies react and how to counter their attacks. I personally have big troubles defeating the black troopers with dual shock swords. You can easily see that in the video below.

"Failure is not the end."

You might fail a lot in this game. It can be very frustrating at some points but maybe that makes this game even more interesting.

I have read that you can finish the game in ~20 hours. It took me 40 hours to get through it... but I discovered all the secrets in the game. I think buying the game was well worth it and I will keep it on my HDD because I meanwhile really enjoy the combat mechanics. The video below shows how the endgame combat looks like. I took a tour through two of the planets after the storyline was completed.

But I also have stuff to criticize about the game.

While technically very well done, there are a few design choices which I don't like about the game.

The game offers customization choices that you can unlock by discovering secrets. That is cool, yes. But almost all of these customization options suck.

It starts with the clothes. You can select one of 5 color options and then you have... dunno... 20 different Ponchos which almost all look the same except for a different texture pattern.

There is no option to wear a Jedi robe, no option to wear some combat armor. There are only ugly looking ponchos.

I eventually stopped using ponchos at all and used a mod to change the color of the normal clothing to something more eye friendly.

But you have more customization options.

You can customize the look of your ship... again just terrible retextures.

You can customize the look of your droid... mostly uggly retextures.

I started using mods to add better textures... its just not good what the default game has to offer in this regard.

You can also change the look of your lightsaber in many ways. You start of with a half damaged normal saber which once repaired can be turned into a saberstaff and in the final upgrade you can split it into two sabers.

The customization options allow you to replace certain parts and make it look just the way you want it.

Generally pretty cool.... BUT... in my eyes I would have wanted more diverse designs. There is not enough variation in the existing designs. Star Wars has much more interesting designs to offer.

Another issue I have with the customization is that throughout most of the game you only have access to the blue and green blade option. Only very close to the end of the game you unlock more colors. That sucks.

Customization in this game is offered as a shiny extra feature but in my eyes it is one of the biggest weaknesses of this game, simply because it was not done right.

Maybe a missed opportunity or maybe an opportunity for a sequel would be the Nightsister Merrin which joins the crew very very late in the game. Too late for her to become a true member of the crew eventhough she appears to be an interesting character. IF there is ever going to be a sequel it would be most interesting to see that character again and maybe explore the 3rd side of the force -> magic.

Would I buy a sequel of this game?

The answer is clearly yes.

It is a shock moment but EA managed to release a good game.