4/5 ★ – Speady9's review of STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™.

I'm not a hardcore Star Wars fan like most people, but I enjoy space operas and action games. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order actually quite surprised me in some aspects, namely in its design and presentation. It's not a perfect licensed game or anything, but there are some flaws here that can easily be fixed in future entries. All I knew going into this game was that it was very "Souls-like". For the most part, that design philosophy is definitely present here, but a bit more tame for the better, in my opinion. With its handful of large planets and maps to explore, sometimes having you backtrack after unlocking certain abilities, there's a mix of metroidvania energy blended in as well. It's definitely not challenging like a Souls game, but the core concept of having "meditation" points that refill your health and respawn your enemies is quite refreshing, especially for a game in the Star Wars universe. I especially thought the few dungeons had some creative puzzles to help you grasp your new abilities. And while I didn't do much side exploring, I did also think the side-boss encounters were a nice touch. This is very much a semi-linear experience, giving players the option to collect and explore if they wish to do so, which is great. I do have a few gripes with how certain things are laid out for the player though, mainly personal annoyances. Firstly, the combat just feels a bit...complex? Maybe I'm just not good at playing on the normal difficulty, but every time I hopped into a session of Fallen Order, I would always have to re-adjust myself to combat, often finding myself taking hits that I shouldn't be taking. Part of me thinks it has to do with the new abilities you are given over the course of the story, but it might also have to do with how certain commands are laid out. (I often found myself performing a force pull rather than a force push. Stuff like that.) Secondly, speaking of abilities, the consistency of when new abilities and powers are given to you feel quite unbalanced, which is pretty rough for a game that carries those metroidvania aspects. Trying not to spoil as much as possible, but the early game would grant you things like force push/pull and wall-running, then closer to the end of the game, you earn dual-blade combat and...double jumping (which really should've been one of the first abilities given to you). Even towards the last chapter of the game, you basically gain a powerful subcommand for whatever type of lightsaber you're using. Again, probably just my personal tastes, but I was just kinda baffled by how everything was placed. From a presentation standpoint, I was quite polarized by it all. To start off with the good, there are some incredible setpieces here, from riding inside an AT-AT to fighting an order of Inquisitors. It's fun sequences like this that show the game's overall AAA quality, very akin to the likes of Naughty Dog or Crystal Dynamics. My personal favorite parts were the vision/flashback sequences that occurred throughout the story, which are absolutely incredible showcases of quick room transitions and immersion within Unreal Engine 4. Really cool stuff. The plot itself was...fine, I guess. It's a typical run-of-the-mill hero's journey taking place shortly after the Jedi purge within the Star Wars universe, so I found certain story choices to be a tad bit predictable or even rushed. I will say, I think the characters were better here than the story itself, especially the crew aboard the Mantis. Each character has their own little backstories and feelings, which make them quite relatable. The story very seemingly leads into a sequel of sorts, as evident by certain characters being recruited during the final chapters (no spoilers), so I'm even more excited to see where they're going to take this cast next. They're quite fun! Other minor annoyances with presentation include the visuals. Not just referring to the occasional ragdoll twitching or hair physics, but I just think some of the character models look kinda weird upon closer inspection. Mainly has to do with the humanoid characters; Cere and Trilla both have oddly-sculpted faces, and even the Wookiees have fur that looks even worse than the hair on some human characters. Just a minor art direction like these can break immersion during certain points, especially cutscenes. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a good start for a surprisingly-refreshing action game. Seeing as we're probably getting a sequel to this soon, it's going to be great to see how they are going to be able to top this experience. It's all uphill from here.