4/5 ★ – soulfulgamer19's review of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Jedi Fallen Order is a surprisingly excellent game that smartly blends several genres to create a tightly focused, consistently fun, and refreshingly accessible experience. Importantly, the game nails that classic “Star Wars” feeling of action, emotion, and adventure with its lavish environments, evocative story, and viscerally satisfying combat. High production value permeates everything, including the music, and the loving detail evokes the magic I felt when watching the films for the first time. Mechanically, the game is a sublime mixture of Dark Souls combat, Uncharted exploration, and Metroidvania backtracking. This eclectic mix feels like a stroke of genius. No one playstyle dominates; instead all aspects are evenly paced to keep the experience intriguing. Compared to typically bloated AAA games, the scope of Jedi Fallen Order is much narrower, and the game can be beaten in around 20 hours. Yet despite its shorter length, the experience is continually compelling because of the game’s variety. You’ll keep being propelled forward by a new vista, combat challenge, or treasure chest. The action is also broken up by well-designed puzzles that employ your force skills and provide a fair intellectual challenge. You are also shuffled to diverse planets and new biomes at a steady rate, all of which are beautifully realized and feel lived-in. Building on its cinematic legacy, Jedi Fallen Order distinguishes itself from most games by delivering rousing, movie-like moments that reward long-time fans and newcomers alike. For example, my wife, who usually doesn’t watch me play games, watched me take down the giant bat boss, Gorgara, and we screamed together when you had to ride in its back out of Kashyyyk. Also, there is THAT cameo at the end. OMG. I am only a casual Star Wars fan, but the reveal caused me to squeal with a mixture of fear and excitement that was electrifying, well-earned, and resonant of that signature Star Wars magic. For me though, the greatest part of Jedi Fallen Order is its approachability. It took two genres that I respect but am terrible at (Souls games and Metroidvania games) and made them approachable through quality of life features such as difficulty options (hallelujah) and color-coded doors that reveal which areas are available and which were blocked. These concessions allowed me to enjoy the visceral thrill and cerebral pleasure of these two genres without needing the skill or patience that is normally required for them. For that, I am sincerely grateful to Respawn, and I hope other developers take note so that more games can present a challenge but retain accessibility as well. The reasons Jedi Fallen Order game doesn’t get a perfect score are an array of minor issues that, in the aggregate, gnawed at my experience during my playthrough. While this is a “souls-lite” game, the controls are not as tight as any game made by From Software. It feels like there’s a slight input delay and parrying feels slightly off. The camera also gets in the way sometimes, making combat even tougher. While the map was generally easy to follow, there were a few moments where I got lost and had to resort to a walkthrough since the way forward was genuinely unintuitive. The backtracking to the ship can also get annoying and it made me wish for a fast travel option, especially when going for completion. Platforming is a little finicky, and the movement animation for Cal looks like a marionette being dragged left and right. Lastly, the upgrades felt mostly meaningless since they were all cosmetic, which reduced the incentive to explore every corner of the world. All in all though, Jedi Fallen Order is a great game that presents a fresh, challenging, and approachable adventure for anyone. It is true that Star Wars has lost its way from the new trilogy onwards, and I, like many others, openly question whether the franchise can ever recapture the glory of the Lucas era. This game, though, is a reminder that greatness is still attainable not by emulating the past, but by building on it with the modern innovations of today.