Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the Electronic Arts Game We've Been Looking For!
No endgame, no road map, no microtransactions! Star Wars Jedi: The Fallen Order shows its Force even before the release, and has the chance to revive the cult setting.
Save us, Jedi: Fallen Order – you're our only hope! Why so much weight on a single game? First, the Star Wars universe deserves a game that's more than just chaotic battles in a multiplayer clone of Battlefield. Electronic Arts, for its part, is in a dire need of a complete and high-quality production – without any controversies, lootboxes, microtransactions, or a list of broken promises on the roadmaps. After a few hours spent with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and a short conversation with the game director, Stig Asmussen, I got the impression that both of these may just be achieved.
The new game with Star Wars in the title is primarily focusing on the plot – with a beginning, middle and an end. It's no multiplayer, no endgame, and no scheduled chapters or events. It's even a departure from the Frostbite engine, mandatory in other games from EA. If it weren't for the logo at the beginning, it would be hard to even guess that this is an Electronic Arts' game, which gives an impression that the Force of Respawn Entertainment is particularly strong, and it's actually their game – in every aspect. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order seemed to me very similar to Darksiders 3, with a small dose of Tomb Raider or even God of War. The main director (who worked on the third installment of the adventures of Kratos) – Stig Asmussen – confirms the great experience of his team, but he also emphasizes the uniqueness of the Jedi: Fallen Order in many aspects.
I learnt a lot from the God of War (the third one – ed. note) game, but I also learnt that there are many other ways to create a game and this one is different from the games I made in the past (...) There are of course many influences from games that we worked on before. People brought them from a great variety of games. It was learning from people that are industry veterans and learning together to make something I am really proud of.
Stig Asmussen – game director
How to become a Jedi?
For many players, however, the most important aspect of the new Star Wars game will be the shift of focus to the story. The authors note that this story is not about a Jedi knight, but rather about becoming a Jedi. About the entire process of education and learning the capabilities of the Force, which we'll experience with the protagonist, Cal Kestis. Together with his mentor, Cere Junda, the captain of the Stinger Mantis ship, Greez Dritus, and the robot BD-1, he travels the galaxy on a complex mission to restore The Jedi Order. Everything unfolds between the third and fourth episode of the film saga, which gave the developers a bit of creative freedom and greater ease in entering the current Canon.
One of the greatest thing about the time of our story is that we own it to a certain extent. There are things which are happening during this time period, but with all the other things which are known publicly, this is kind of our space. We know there is Saw Garera in our game and he is alive and doing things so we thought that it is a neat opportunity. It is something that fits effortlessly with Cal’s journey.
(…)
In regards to lore the game is choke full of little nuggets whether the come from a main story or or you can scan objects found in the environment. The way that we are giving out support information to the story - there are certainly nuggets that pay homage to the films but also animated series and you might even find things in there that come from other sources as well.
Stig Asmussen – game director
The authors also talked a bit about the thread of Kanan Jarrus, which is pretty similar at first glance – he was another Jedi, who had survived the slaughter of the Knights when Order 66 was executed We know his story from the comic books, and a cartoon series Star Wars: Rebels.
Yeah, Kanan escaped Order 66 in comic books. But we are not repeating that story. All we know is that tens of thousands of Jedi have fallen. We don’t have any idea how many have survived that is basically what the game dives into. No other Star Wars featured at this point what is like to be a Jedi during this dark times. The story of Kanan is much further along so I think the stories are very different.
Stig Asmussen – game director
After just a few hours with the game it is, of course, difficult to form a definitive opinion on the plot. What was apparent, though, was a strong emphasis on the story itself, both in cut-scenes and during dialogs and interactions with our mates aboard the Stinger Mantis. Basically, the only thing I could take issue with was the appearance of the main character, and that says something. He looked more like a polite schoolboy, which, combined with his impeccable haircut, creates a rather strong contrast with his actions, that is mowing down Imperial soldiers by the dozens. This was done on purpose, though – to get the image of an innocent, young man, which reminds me a bit of the controversies surrounding casting Hayden Christensen as young Anakin. Which makes me wonder whether Cal will also have such a character arch?
Lots of puzzles during inventive exploration
A few hours of play is quite enough, in turn, to immediately sell me on the idea of the two main pillars of gameplay that reinforce the story: combat and exploration. I mentioned the similarity to Darksiders 3, and you will see it immediately in the level design. After landing on a planet, we navigate relatively closed, and fairly linear areas. However, we quickly discover that they are full of seemingly inaccessible passages that we access over time, by learning new abilities, for example. There's also no fast-traveling to the ship, so you'll have plenty of chances to explore the areas, oftentimes encountering some really interesting spots along the way.
Then, there are some really decent environmental puzzles. As Lara Croft in the tombs, we will have to manipulate levers, skillfully use the forces of nature, like strong gusts of wind, and, of course, the Force. On top of that, the game doesn't go out of it's own way to give us any solutions. Aside from the gentle highlighting of objects that we can interact with, and the rather vague hints from our robot, most of the brain-raking we have to do ourselves, which we learned with a puzzle with huge orbs. These objects, Indiana Jones would certainly run away from, required different operations without any markers on the map, and other facilitations, so every time any progress was made, there was also considerable satisfaction.
Cal has to navigate the environment skillfully: his abilities include climbing, using a rope, walking on ledges, and short wall-running. The story aside, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order looks like an amazing platformer with inventive puzzles and exploration, regardless of whether you like Star Wars or not. And then, there's the combat – according to the authors, strongly inspired by the Souls series, at least in some respects.
Dark Souls for everyone
Similarly to exploration and puzzles, the combat was more reminiscent of the Darksiders 3 or God of War series than the Souls. It's really nice, full of grace, different animations and lets you feel the power of the lightsaber in your hand. Jedi: Fallen the Order doesn't try, however, to punish us for underestimating weaker enemies, doesn't cheat with strange behavior of bosses, whose moves you'd have to study in-between dozens of "You Died" screens. The authors seem well aware of how popular the franchise is, and tried to create something that suits everyone, so that both beginners and veterans can find something for themselves.
You can rank up the difficulty up to the highest level and the game is pretty damn difficult but we want player to have a choice. They should decide to choose something to challenge them when they go further. You don’t want the game with such a giant fanbase to feel incredibly punishing. Even though and I like that experience and I am glad that we have something that is more difficult sometimes, we’re gonna make sure that people who play for the story are able to. Having a new, engaging narrative that really lives in Star Wars lore is a big deal. We know that there are people out there that want to be able to play to experience that, not have to grind through really tough battles, so we have a "story mode" for them as well.
Stig Asmussen – game director
On our way, we will meet both opponents who fall after one blow with a sword, and those who will require a few minutes of battle and a few tricks up your sleeve. In return, we'll see various animations of the character, such as when he slides down an enemy's back, slows them down by using the Force, or perform glamorous finishers. However, only the boss fights will require full range of attacks and provide a true test of our skill, which we learned the hard way in a fight with the Epire's inquisitor – the Ninth Sister. Only some could learn that, I should say, because only a handful journalists approached the stand with the game set to hard, and only two of them managed to win.
Perhaps at higher levels the game will provide a challenge to equal the Souls. But with the boss presented to us, I felt it was more like an opponent from Darksiders 3 – easy to defeat for any battle-hardened player after a longer, satisfying struggle. Fighting is simply enjoyable thanks to the different animations, combining the use of the Force with swordplay, and developing your abilities in three different trees. It's about time these features made a come-back in a SW game!
What we have we call thoughtful combat. When you start a duel, we want to make you try all sorts of tricks that you have learned so far. When you are going into a fight, we encourage you to try different moves you learnt to that point, try to exploit the weaknesses you identified in the enemies, find the quickest path to get through the fight. You could go in and just start mashing the buttons and some fights might work, but you will find that the deeper you go into the game, it requires a little bit more patience and thought into the execution.
Stig Asmussen – game director
Microtransactions? No, thank you!
The authors also tried to make us really love the combat in Jedi: Fallen Order, so that each encounter is "personal” – because our lightsaber can be customized! It's very atmospheric, done aboard the ship, with six different elements to configure – from the color, through the casing, the power button, and a few other things. Then, we can also choose the outfit for Cal Kestis, which obviously raises concerns about whether micropayments will actually be present in the game or not – will we finally be able to change the color of the jacket zipper without spending real cash?
Well, according to Stig Asmussen, we will. First, Respawn is taking a really firm stance here, and second, Electronic Arts seems keen on warming up its image with the fans of Star Wars after the Battlefront scandals. There's also no word on paid DLCs, but the developers don't rule the possibility out in the long run.
In regards to microtransactions, paying for stuff like parts of the lightsabre – absolutely not, it’s not happening in this game.
In regards with a DLC and where we are going with the future of this game, lots of happening right now, but we are not committed at the moment what exactly are our plans. We are still focused to get this thing out of the door. A lot of people have ideas that are kicking around that it would fun, it would be cool (to have a DLC – ed. note), but that's a topic for further conversations.
Stig Asmussen – game director
I have a good feeling about this
So, if the combat is great (especially with bosses), and the exploration and puzzles are compelling, then what doesn't work in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order? Currently – only minor things and issues. Apart from his appearance, I also didn't like the one-liners that the protagonist serves every now and then. He just says the cheesiest things in the heat of the battle, such as "You didn't even scratch me!." Given the boyish appearance of Kal, this just doesn't fit the atmosphere of fighting the mighty Inquisitor. The young Padawan should probably have a little more respect for such an opponent, and all of this raises concerns that the plot of the new Star Wars might be a little too "juvenile,” and fans of Rogue 1 or the upcoming series The Mandalorian may not be completely satisfied. However, these are only my presumptions, which do not necessarily have to come out to be true.
Then, there's also the matter of the graphical design of Jedi: Fallen Order, which looks decent at best, and probably won't allow the game to compete for the title of the prettiest release of this year. This is particularly visible with far-away backgrounds, the render distance, or rather modest level of details in the interiors, in comparison with, say, Rise of the Tomb Raider. But when looking at the cut-scenes, and the faces of the characters, which are finally not bearing any traces of the Andromeda disaster, and look overall more natural, I can accept those shortcomings. Although the graphics lag behind competing titles, creating the game on Unreal Engine 4 ultimately paid out.
No matter how good, or how average, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order turns out, one can't ignore the fact that it's the first game set in the Star Wars universe with such a strong focus on the story in years. And since DICE didn't tamper with it, there's a good chance the calamity of the single-player campaign in Star Wars: Battlefront II won't repeat. This is a game from the creators of the Titanfall 2 campaign! It's a game with no endgame, no network services, no road map with chapter II and III for spring and summer 2020, which would bringh about rainbow-colored swords and an outfit of "late" Han Solo for Cal. The number of things that can go wrong is simply kept at a minimum. To quote one of my favorite characters – I have a good feeling about this!
