3.5/5 ★ – peacebrendanp's review of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

What happens when you combine Uncharted, Dark Souls, and Metroid together? You get Jedi: Fallen Order. This game is an amalgamation of different games/genres, and the end result is something quite satisfying, despite it's flaws. There are a lot of things to love about this game, but there are quite a number of things to find fault here as well. The game is stunning. One of the most beautiful games I have ever played - I truly visually realized Star Wars world. The audio is quite great as well. Haptics play nicely into how Cal Kestis controls as well. And, might I say, he controls quite well. It just feels good to move through the world with Cal, for the most part. The story is strong here as well. This is a fantastic Star Wars story, and even though there are maybe one or two eye-rolls (in regards to how corny this shit can get), the overall writing and story was memorable and impactful. The characters are all really well written, and the performances here are actually impressive and sincere. The level design has to be applauded here as well. I just was impressed with how expansive these levels were, and how detailed they were. There were decent variety, and plenty of secrets to uncover. Platforming feels pretty good as well. Though, I thought Cal's running was weird as hell. But, he has this great weight to him when maneuvering him through the world(s). Where the game starts to contradict itself for me is with it's combat. It's arguably 50/50 with how it's combat and platforming mechanics are split. And, unfortunately, the combat came up short for me. The combat does not feel fleshed out. While it feels good at times, it just doesn't feel fair or consistent. Parrying felt inconsistent. Fighting more than two or three enemies just gets annoying. It's like the game wants to be Uncharted with how it plays, but has a Dark Souls combat system in place. I'm unsure how to explain it, but it just feels off. The combat skills to unlock are serviceable. The lightsaber modes were cool, but I was a bit disappointed that the dual-blades were used for just a special move. I also felt the force kind of felt a bit stiff at times to use? That might just be me. Also, enemy variety I felt was serviceable as well, but by the time you get to the end of the game, it start to feels like none of the different types, except for a few, really demanded a switch up in play style. I should digress, but I though the map could have been better implemented, as navigating the planets post-story can become quite a chore. This is easily probably one of the best Star Wars games ever made, and with one of the best Star Wars stories ever told. It's a great Jedi origin story, where we follow a young and naive Cal Kestis, and his charismatic companion, BD-1; it feels almost like a hero-origin story in some way, and that feels unique and fun in this universe. However, there are plenty of bugs and jank, and the main combat mechanic feels under-baked to me. It was still a great time to play around in the Star Wars universe again. This is what I would consider a great foundational game; a game that lays the framework for subsequent entries to build upon. I'm really hoping Jedi: Survivor ups the ante a bit in terms of quality and feel. Regardless, this is a really solid game, with some great story, some fun exploration, and some good (albeit underwhelming at times) lightsaber combat. Console Played On: PS5 (PS4 Version) Game Played: 07/2024 - 07/2024 Review Written and Published: 07/20/2024