STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order

Like it states, EA Desktop is definitely still a beta phase client. I encountered problems with its installation and launching it afterwards, although the latter went smoothly every time when I did so via Xbox app. I wonder though if EA plans to wholly move to the Desktop and abandon Origin. It's a bit weird to support two launchers even if one was purposed just for their subscription service, EA Play.

EA Play was after a delay finally included on PC Game Pass in March. That allowed me to now play STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order, the sole proper single player Star Wars game EA has managed to publish during their decade-long (since 2013) exclusivity deal with the franchise rights holder Disney. Weirdly enough Fallen Order was developed by Respawn Entertainment who are mostly known for Titanfall and Apex Legends -- multiplayer shooters (like the previous EA Star Wars games, Battlefront I and II). Couldn't they have set BioWare to make a roleplaying game? Although with the current state of BioWare, maybe it's better they didn't.

One small, yet important detail that sets Disney-era Star Wars apart from the old stuff is how movies and games outside the main film series no longer have the iconic opening crawl. I can only wonder why and be disappointed at the change. I thought it was cool; always something familiar to start with. And how everything ended with the Star Wars theme as well. I was utterly baited by Fallen Order's ending: music builds up as the final words said are:"So where to now?" -- and then you get the game's logo in silence. Credits eventually follow but with the game's original score which, while very Star Wars, is not the Star Wars music.

Star Wars action adventure

Jedi: Fallen Order follows Cal Kestis, a Jedi Padawan hiding from the Empire after nearly every Jedi in the galaxy was wiped out in Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Cal joins former-Jedi Cere Junda and pilot Greez Dritus on their ship Stinger Mantis for a quest to reform the Jedi Order (a quest which will not succeed as is known). Cal also gets a helpful little droid BD-1 to ride on his back.

The game was clearly inspired by the Dark Souls series when it comes to combat and encounter design but Fallen Order is not an action RPG rather than an action adventure game: there is no switchable equipment nor character builds outside choosing in which order you unlock your ability upgrades.

The game's huge letdown are the countless chests scattered around its locations. In an ARPG they would contain usable gear but in Fallen Order you only find cosmetics. And it's the boring kind of cosmetics too: just different colors for your clothes, poncho, ship, and droid. The poncho is such an ugly piece of clothing too that I had Cal not even wear it. There are also cosmetics for your lightsaber hilt but the only visual that truly matters for lightsaber is the color of the blade -- and that you won't get to affect until the endgame. You do get two extra color options right away if you have premium (preorder?) content that evidently comes included on EA Play.

Despite the game's superficial nature I quite enjoyed it. Exploration does reward you in a minor way by offering increases to max health, force, and stim charges. Fallen Order helps completionists by keeping count of what there is to find in each map section. There's an occasional simple puzzle to solve as well.

Adequate at what it does

Fallen Order's combat is generally entertaining. I felt that it could've been polished a bit more but that may have been because I played on mouse and keyboard, rarely if ever locking onto targets. I reckon some moves have trouble registering if you're not locked on. For instance, there's a move that makes Cal kick his target if you attack right after dodging an attack. I only saw it happen once while playing with mouse and keyboard.

I did start the game with a controller but I discovered that I didn't enjoy having to press the left stick down to sprint. It felt unresponsive although it was that on keyboard too. I suppose you have to be moving first before you press the stick/shift key down to sprint. I don't think that's the right way of doing things. If you're holding down the sprint button, moving should be sprinting instead of you having to then press the button.

I also had trouble with the locking mechanism. I am used to constantly adjusting the camera in games when using a mouse. On a controller that habit seems to translate to fiddling with the right stick all the time. In Fallen Order that will switch your locked target if there are multiple enemies present. It was simply easier for me to just play with mouse and keyboard -- on which locking doesn't feel right since it negates your mouse movement.

The third problem I had with controller was dodge being on X, which I feel is very unusual and a completely new thing for me. I think in the games I've played with a controller, dodge has been either A, LB, or RB. On keyboard, Fallen Order's control scheme is more standard-like.

I played on Jedi Master, the second hardest of four available difficulties. It was challenging at times, mostly because how messy fights against multiple enemies can be. I had trouble against few singular enemies as well though. Brute-forcing through them with stims was faster than learning all the moves. The final boss, for instance, has a lot of different attacks and I even had to retry the fight few times before I won. But even on my successful attempt I merely had enough luck to have the boss do easier-to-avoid attacks and never learned to properly counter the more difficult ones.

I found it odd how the game tends to switch your enemy being on the offensive all of a sudden. You're pressing on, the enemy is parrying, their stamina bar is being expended -- and then you're the one being hit. It could be clearer when you're supposed to start doing defensive moves.

An inelegant weapon, for a less-civilized age

Something being a 'double-edged sword' is probably my most disliked expression. It just doesn't make sense: you don't fight with a doubled-edged sword in a way that it "cuts both ways" -- both sides are meant for the enemy. However, if the expression was double-bladed sword -- or even better -- double-bladed lightsaber (which doesn't even have flat sides on the blades), it would be so very fitting.

If you try to point at your enemy with a double-bladed lightsaber, the other end points at you (unless you're holding it to your side). It's such a dumb weapon. The only outcome from fighting with one is your lightsaber-wielding opponent cutting the hilt in two, which is exactly what happens to Darth Maul in the prequel trilogy.

The double-blade mode on Cal's saber is meant for fighting mobs of enemies as both ends will score hits while you're awkwardly waving the clumsy danger stick around. Why couldn't Cal get another lightsaber to dual-wield instead? That would've achieved the same thing and been so much cooler. It could've had separate color options like in the Knights of the Old Republic games too. I found it insulting that Cal's lightsaber actually becomes two detachable sabers towards the end of the game but then he splits them only for one particular move, otherwise continuing to use them as a single saber with one or two blades.

Lightsabers also have the issue of immersion in video games. They should be able to cut through about everything with ease according to the films but in many cases that would make a game's combat too easy. It can be done (see: the Jedi Knight games) but Jedi: Fallen Order doesn't quite do so. I didn't have too much trouble with suspending my disbelief but I did often think that a dead stormtrooper should be in two pieces instead of just having a lightsaber scar across them -- there's no dismemberment on humanoid enemies as per Disney's guidelines.

Apparently there might be a sequel for Fallen Order in the works. I'd say it would be a welcome one, provided they go deeper with gear mechanics and make exploration have more of an effect on your character. And hopefully add an option to dual wield.