Fallen for you…

A fine game. Not great and not bad. I played through on Jedi Master difficulty on the One X. Combat is strong and tactical. Being able to take out larger enemy groups later in the game, gives the feel that Cal has both evolved and reconnected with the Force throughout his journey. Mobility in combat is worse than Nioh or Sekiro but still agile. Puzzle solving uses the power and mobility upgrades that you unlock while also allowing additional exploration on previously explored game areas. Fallen Order is a solid quasi-open world linear third person action-adventure metroidvania dark souls light.

Without being whipped into a frenzy at the thought of using a lightsaber, Jedi Fallen Order left me wanting more of some things and less of others.

Story is good. It's Star Wars. It takes place some time after Order 66. You play as Cal Kestis, a former Padawan returning to the Force.

Basic attacks are always the same 3 attack combo. Parrying feels good, but off. Missing the first parry and getting combo-ed seemed to negate parry attempts until successfully blocking an attack. I found myself only ever able to do that side-flip jump when locked on to an enemy, essentially making it a second dodge, but all I wanted was some vertical height. I never realized how much I loved the dash/roll/sprint on the same button. Cal doesn't feel as fast as he should be with having to dodge then click in a thumb stick to keep momentum. Locking onto enemies and switching feels tight. After a while, I started reflecting blaster fire coming from off-screen enemies just from audio cues. Late game attack unlocks related to story beats can cause some major damage to boss enemies. When the combat plays out like a film, (or at least how you wanted it to) it feels great. Bosses were never too difficult. After a few deaths to learn mechanics, I was on my way.

The exploration clearly took ideas from Prince of Persia traversal, climbing and rope swinging. But, enough with the sliding. When a shortcut is unlocked (Ex. elevator), I want to use it both ways. There is sliding on every planet you visit. Mud sliding. Ice Sliding. Mud Sliding. Dirt sliding. I'm over it.

The game in general feels lacking in polish. Occasional texture pop-ins and jittery legs frequently made me realize I was playing a game. Facial expressions when not in cut-scenes can suffer from occasional wonk. Movement animations (Ex. jumping near a wall or short ledge and doing a strange squirrel skitter-climb) can be strange or jarring but are mostly on point. Character customization is lacking. It feels like an afterthought for adding meaningful collectibles. It is palette swaps of a few poncho styles. Lightsaber customization gets better and better as the game progresses. The way Cal holds his lightsaber allows you to actually see the modifications that you make.

I only had to hard restart the game a few times. Exploring on Bogano, I leapt to wall climb on some vines and somehow ended up inside the rock climbing on the interior vines. Without a way to die or fast travel, I was forced to restart. When I wanted to do some exploring post-game, the first time I attempted to travel to a different planet the dialog froze, and I was stuck in an infinite hyperspace jump, unable to take my seat.

If you are a huge Star Wars fan, the bugs/glitches/issues will be easily overlooked. You would be pleased with the game, and its range of difficulties allows anyone to jump in. If you are more into the Dark Souls scene, this may scratch the itch, but you will notice it is less refined.