Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Released: November 14, 2019
Game Length: 16 Hours
Grade: C
Expectations: When was the last time we had a good single-player Star Wars game? We had Star Wars Battlefront II disaster in 2017 (and the Reddit post still holding one of the most down-voted posts of all time). Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO is still going strong this past decade. We could have had Star Wars: 1313 telling Boba Fett's story, but Disney buying Lucasfilm messed that up (which is kind of alright now that we have Mandalorian). I guess Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II was the last single-player game back in 2010. So when word came around of a brand new Star Wars game made by EA, I was highly skeptical. I went searching for a demo to test the waters before downloading a 55GB game, but the only thing I was redirected to was some gameplay "demo" from E3. Then I pulled up Steam...
Promotions: The "original game" is priced at $60. The "deluxe edition" is priced at $70. "Well they must have come out with some nice DLC," I told myself. I was wrong. Go ahead and look at what is included for $10 more - cosmetic skin for BD-1 and the Stinger Mantis (in which both just simply changes the color), a digital art book, and 90 minutes of behind-the-scene footage. No way was I going to pay for that. Of course, you can always dive into their EA Play subscription service for $4.99 and try out a good amount of games for a whole month. They did release the pre-order bonuses for everyone too in January 2020 if you cared about using an orange lightsaber.
First Impressions: The first hour of the game was amazing. It did everything right. It introduced what kind of character you were and what you did for a living. Being a scrapper was the perfect setting to show-off some amazing sights. You didn't have to worry about finding secret passageways or opening chests. There weren't any areas you couldn't explore. You could choose to punch through the content quickly or stay awhile and listen to the awesome dialogue between your fellow workers or the stormtroopers simply standing around. It slowly introduced you to each of the game mechanics and carefully managed the enemies set in front of you. There's even a little boss tease at the end of it all.
Reality: Then the game punched a hole in my hopes and dreams when it opened up travel to the various planets. The game didn't "feel" right to me as I was continuously being murdered by the smallest of creatures. I tried a few things to shake up the combat, but I was ultimately forced to knock down the difficulty from Jedi Master, to Jedi Knight, and finally to "Story" mode. Sadly, the game still didn't feel right even on the easiest difficulty. Lowering the difficulty only increased your parry window, decreased enemy aggression, and lowered the amount of damage taken. It did not make it "easier" to pierce through enemy targets or make your strikes faster. When I looked online for some tips, I was bombarded with people arguing back-and-forth of how the game compares with Dark Souls and Sekiro. Then I saw the Souls-like tag on Steam and realized I was actively marching up a steep learning curve (since I never managed to play through any of those games). All of this was happening while being dragged through a list of long, extensive battles where pressing the right button at the right time was essential to my success.
They don't want you to be constantly dodging enemies, blocking their attacks, or continuously striking them. They want you to so badly to parry that it feels like it is "the only move" when someone shoots their blaster or strikes you with their baton. My head just couldn't wrap around the whole concept of only pulling out your lightsaber in those moments. Perhaps I was too accustomed of pushing a second button in addition to a persistent block like pulling out your spear while holding tight to a shield in battle. Instead, the game ties both your block and parry to a single action thereby providing the enemy with windows of opportunity to attack you as you brace for a countermove. Of course, this whole "mess" could have been excused if there weren't so many instances where an enemy's stamina fully replenishes in combat.
Traveling: If only the combat was the only thing I had a problem with. There is a certain degree of sadness when the game makes you retrace your steps without the help of a fast travel option. It does alleviate the issue a little bit by creating "shortcuts" to certain areas of the map, but I most certainly did not like the idea of combating another round of enemies both coming and going. At a certain point in the game I tried avoiding them entirely, but I soon realized they instituted a quasi-RPG experience system where you can't gain more abilities without scanning items, sensing echoes, and killing enemies along the way. Early in the game, they "allow" you to visit Dathomir. About 15 minutes in and I was furious at how difficult the planet really was. I guess they didn't tell me that the planet was reserved to be visited much later in the game after you have gained all your abilities. The "option" was placed there for any of those who wanted to obtain the double bladed lightsaber early. Pushing me to revisit planets after unlocking an ability and respawning enemies when resting at the meditation spots only exasperated the problem.
Unlocks: This brings me to the central problem of the game - there are too many things to unlock. The story makes claim that Cal has since left his connection with the Force damaged and it is up to you to "remember" how to do the most basic things. As you visit each planet, you slowly regain these abilities that will allow you to get through certain sections previously unreachable. Some say that using your force abilities is "cheating" in battle. I say they were essential. Because I was so furious with my lightsaber, I found pushing enemies off cliffs and instantly killing enemies without pressing the strike button just by pulling them up to me was the most satisfying experience of the game. If only I had time to get some of the cooler abilities sooner. I somehow beat the game without ever getting enough points to use that cool lightsaber throw ability I saw in the gameplay trailer! Of course, the mechanics of the game start to feel more balanced once you have obtained all of your abilities. You just have to get through half the game leaving your hand on the oven the whole time and eventually it gets good once the story kicks in and you have all your powers.
What else can the game make you do? They already make you rerun the same platforming corridors like some sort of Tomb Raider to progress the story, find objects laying around to unlock abilities, and navigate back to previous areas of the game once you've long and forgotten about them. I guess they can always stick trivial chests randomly in the level that allows you to change a certain cosmetic - the colors of your robot, ship, and poncho of all things. Couldn't they have done something more fun like added different hairstyles, give you some cool cybernetic glasses, or modify your lightsaber in a way never seen before? I guess now is the time to mention that there are indeed chests that modify your lightsaber by adding more dimples to the side or morphs your hilt to look like a duck... a lot of good that does you. So with the 107 cosmetic chests, that brings the total amount of collectibles up to 256.
Fan Service: I can't help but feel like a part of the game is "just there" to make you see something you might be familiar with. "Hey look, it's that one guy from Rogue One and the robot doing that one hand grab move." They also included the Wookiee Planet Kashyyyk which surprisingly has a lot more mud than I originally imagined and the Nightsisters Homeworld on Dathomir which was really highlighted in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. And we can't forget that "surprise guest" that pops up at the very end of the game. All of this isn't a bad thing. I really enjoyed being inside an AT-AT and learning a little more behind where the Starkiller came from in The Force Awakens. I really liked how they handled the AT-ST fights as well. Then there were those bounty hunters that appear out of nowhere. But a part of me feels like they might have sacrificed in telling a better story by relying a little too much on these little references. There has to be more than just fighting the obligatory monster and bosses with giant health bars.
Miscellaneous Notes: Now let me cover all those nonchalant details I noticed in the game. For some reason they only allow you to sit down in the chair to "initiate travel" when I felt like I should be able to sit down before engaging the hyperdrive. Your force doesn't automatically regenerate (for the most part) and doesn't get used up when outside of combat. I really like how you raise your lightsaber over your head to light up a dark room. You are able to slow down bullets and manipulate the battlefield so they hit your opponent. There are way too many pre-planned areas where you run across the wall like Prince of Persia that ultimately feel out-of-place in the world. You can look at your overhead map at any time, but it does not pause the game. You can check the map on each world while on the ship, but it does not show any collectibles you might have left behind. Enemies "home" their attacks and can also automatically block your attack even if you are attacking from behind. Because of how this interaction takes place in the game mechanics, it can feel like enemies move and react faster than you can to their blows. Although you can pause the game to read each of the database entries, the world has to "reinitialize" when you exit the menu. You can modify your color schemes within the menu screen, but I'm disappointed there aren't any pictures to the lore entries retrieved from the planets. Sensing echoes only provides you with a sound bit of the account and not a visual rendering of it. The Respawn Entertainment logo lasts about 30 seconds upon booting up the game and cannot be skipped, neither can cutscenes.
Opinion: Star Wars: Fallen Order is an EA game with their typical business perspective marked all over it. They used elements from the lore, wall-running from Prince of Persia, battle tactics from Dark Souls, area unlocks from the Metroid series, underground puzzles from Tomb Raider, and a barrage of cheap cosmetics to keep you busy. They tell yet another "Jedi that survived the Purge" story with a very anti-climatic ending that will make you question all of your actions. There are way too many enemies that can move faster than you and counter everything you dish out. Learning how to properly fight enemies will annoy you until your character can use the right abilities to outmaneuver them. Despite all this, you can still find moments of joy in an engaging experience somewhere in between all the exhaustive exploring. I only recommend it if you are prepared to use a lackluster character for the first 10 hours of gameplay. Otherwise, it can all be quite fun if you are able to adjust to its unusual combat style.
12-26-2020