Game Over: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

I’m a huge Star Wars fan, and ever since I watched A New Hope on my family’s CRT in our living room, I’ve been hooked. I love it all, from the fast-paced action sequences, to the awesome Sci-Fi stuff, to the love stories and political undertones. There’s so much to take in and explore that I watched the bounty-hunting show, The Mandalorian, just to get a little more of that good stuff, and I started wanting more after watching the first season. So when I finally got around to playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, I knew I was in for a treat.

Until I played Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, I had mostly spent my time with games like Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, the original Star Wars Battlefront from the PlayStation 2, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. I know that’s a wild timespan between titles, but unfortunately, my experience with Star Wars videogames has been kind of spotty over the years. But thankfully, I had some funds left over in my bank account, and I decided to spend it on buying Fallen Order from the PlayStation 4’s PlayStation Network store, which I will forever thank myself for.

Fallen Order follows the former Jedi Padawan in hiding, Cal Kestis, on the planet Bracca five years after the Galactic Republic’s transformation into the Empire. During this time, Cal escapes the Great Jedi Purge caused by Order 66. Along the way, his friend Prauf is killed by an Inquisitor, forcing Cal to flee to the planet Bogano with his new allies Cere and Greez, who rescued him back on Bracca. Throughout his journey, Cal meets several friends and foes and eventually comes up against the most imposing of them all, but is able to get away thanks to the reawakened powers of former Jedi Knight Cere Junda. No spoilers other than that little tidbit, of course, because the final reveal is worth experiencing for yourself. This isn’t Last of Us levels of storytelling, but it’s still a fun plot that does a good job of getting you interested, and I genuinely enjoyed all its twists and turns.

As I played through the campaign, I started to notice how beautiful all these locations are — seriously — we’re talking major eye candy for Star Wars fans and Sci-Fi fans alike. One of my favourite moments was when you’re traversing through the shipyard with Prauf, and a massive Valor-Class cruiser is lying in the background. I was awestruck the first time I saw it, and it was worth more than a few screenshots, at least. There are so many of these moments in Fallen Order — it’s great. I mean, I’m not the biggest fan of pretty graphics in the world, but this was an exception.

Now one of my favourite parts of this title is how all its different systems come together to form an experience that is equally rewarding and challenging, but especially the Jedi stuff. Fallen Order might be the best representation of a Jedi’s journey yet, as, throughout the game, you’ll gain access to more and more force-powers while also having to contend with the save system. It’s similar to a Soulslike, where you can only save your game at specific points in the world, causing enemies to respawn, coupled with the fact that you can gain access to new abilities at these save points. I started to look forward to the meditation circles more and more, especially later in the game when it gets more challenging. These two systems meant a lot to me, and it was awesome to see them in a Star Wars title, and on a more personal note, I think it might even get me into the Souls series for real. Not to take away from Fallen Order, but there’s something to be said about putting the training wheels on and eventually kicking them off and setting yourself free. Or I don’t know, maybe this is too much to take away from a space game, but it’s still cool, though!

That Star Wars stuff is so much fun. Using the force to pull a Stormtrooper towards you and stabbing him with your green or whatever colour you choose, Lightsaber and then two seconds later force-pushing three more Stormtroopers off a ledge. While at the same time, simultaneously triple jumping and blocking blaster shots made me feel like some sort of Jedi ninja. It was so cool. This is the Star Wars game I had been waiting for all my life, and Jedi Survivor can’t come soon enough.