Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is full of great features, but there are some aspects of the game that could have landed better. Respawn Entertainment has given us a spectacular game set in the Star Wars universe. While there are aspects of the game that need more improvement, there are a plethora of great features.
Jedi: Fallen Order has given us the first single-player game in the Star Wars universe in some time. Many have praised the game for its excellent story, and Dark Souls inspired combat. However, the game has also received some criticism over polish from the game developers. Furthermore, the game has a few areas of it can certainly improve upon.
10 Could Do Better: Traversal
A lot of Jedi: Fallen Order's traversal elements are derived from Uncharted and Tomb Raider. These other games do a great job of implementing mechanics to move through certain areas. Fallen Order doesn't quite land the stance on this feature.
There are a number of issues when it comes to climbing and sliding mechanics. For one, the sliding portions of the game are extremely hard to maneuver. Cal doesn't turn all that much, and a simple mistake will cause so much rage. Plus, the paper-thin ropes make landing specific jumps difficult. Easing up the controls for sliding and increasing the size of the ropes would greatly affect the traversal.
9 Did Expertly: Save Points
Another feature inspired by the Dark Souls series is the save points. Dark Souls uses bonfires that help players save the game, and it respawns killed, enemies. Jedi: Fallen Order does just this. Enemies are respawned once Cal meditates at a save point. He can also apply his skill points during this time.
The save points are all over the place in Jedi: Fallen Order. The game does a great job of giving players a perfectly placed save point. Before and after, boss battles are typically the most frequent places. Respawn has also done an excellent job of making the player feel thankful for a save point, and seeing one after just barely surpassing a wave of enemies is comforting.
8 Could Do Better: Graphic Polish
Jedi: Fallen Order runs on Unreal Engine, which is different from the other EA published games. All of EA's games are made with the Frostbite engine, but Respawn is the black sheep of the publisher's studios. The Titanfall franchise runs on a heavily modified version of the Source engine and is graphically pleasing.
However, Fallen Order is not as polished as its other cousins. The game has several graphical bugs, such as floors disappearing and clothing shaking furiously in cut scenes. These issues are not game-breaking, but they show just how little polish the game had. If the game had released a few weeks later, then the game would have secured these graphical issues.
7 Did Expertly: Enemies
The enemy variety within Jedi: Fallen Order is substantial. It makes sense for a game set in the Star Wars universe to have a wide variety of threats. Each planet introduces new environmental threats and enemy types that are different from the last. Boss battles are also different and scattered through the game evenly.
A combination of human and creature enemies make Jedi: Fallen Order fresh every step of the way. Players will find interesting ways of eliminating certain types of enemies while finding difficulty with others. Droids, spiders, purge troopers, and inquisitors are all part of an excellent combat cocktail.
6 Could Do Better: Fast Travel
Lightspeed is the closest thing Jedi: Fallen Order gets to fast travel. Once players are on the planets, they are required to travel by foot, which gets tedious later in the game. Granted, shortcuts open up faster routes, but they still take some time. Furthermore, the lack of fast travel promotes exploration among players, which is why the feature is lacking.
Fallen Order is not a giant game, but it does have six different planets for players to explore. The biggest of the planets are Kashyyyk and Zepho, which provide plenty of areas to explore. Having a few fast travel points through these areas would make exploring at later times easier instead of having to go through areas that you have searched numerous times.
5 Did Expertly: Combat
Combat within Jedi: Fallen Order is exceptional. The Dark Souls style is certainly present in the game, but it works well in a Star Wars format. The abilities within the skills tree provide a great variety throughout the progression of the game. Furthermore, new weapons and BD-1 upgrades help change combat situations even more.
Whether you are parrying an electrostaff strike or deflecting a blaster bolt back at a stormtrooper, the result is satisfying. Respawn nailed combat on the nose by drawing from other popular games. The double-bladed lightsaber also provides new moves for players to use. Plus, the upgraded weapon looks very cool.
4 Could Do Better: Difficulty
A game inspired by Dark Souls is bound to be difficult at times. Fallen Order has four different difficulty settings, with the lowest being a story mode. This mode is dedicated to providing players with an immersive story experience without an intricate combat system.
Players who took on difficulties above that found many challenges along the way. The levels above story mode are significantly harder. Jedi Knight, the story mode just above story mode is still extremely difficult, especially when it comes to bosses. Respawn Entertainment could have tweaked these categories just a bit more to allow more accessibility.
3 Did Expertly: Skills Tree
Players will have to replay Jedi: Fallen Order's story if they hope to max out the skills tree. There are three large branches of skills that players can focus on. The skills tree is divided into three categories: lightsaber, survivalist, and force. These three branches start of exclusive from one another, but later on, they begin to connect.
The skills tree is excellent and very reminiscent of older games. Players can freely select the areas they want to focus on based on their preferences. It also helps that obtaining skill points is extremely easy. Killing enemies and collecting force echos provide experience. These two features are all over the place, so the skills tree is filled relatively quickly.
2 Could Do Better: Protagonist
The Star Wars universe is known to have a full slate of interesting characters with various backgrounds. However, the protagonist, Cal Kestis, is not the most compelling character Respawn could have come up with. In fact, Cal is a run of the mill character with little depth. He was a Jedi youngling, and he has been hiding ever since, but nothing else stands out.
Many of the side characters, Cere especially, have great depth and likability. Cal is very vanilla, which is upsetting because the Star Wars universe is full of great characters. It would have been nice to see Respawn go out of their way to make him much different than other protagonists. Titanfall 2 has a similar issue with Jack Cooper; these characters are not the most compelling in their giant worlds.
1 Did Expertly: Character Development
Even though Cal is a vanilla character, he gets some character development. The side characters like Greez and Cere also get a lot of development in the shorter amount of time they are in the game. This development is slowly unraveled through the story, but it is very compelling nonetheless.
Tension between Cere and Cal also creates interesting story beats that get Greez to be a bit sappy for a while. These moments within the game make players like these characters and create bonds with them. Additionally, what happens to these characters is also important. Players are on the edge of their seats until the final moments to see what happens to those they care about.