Adventures of Yet Another Padawan
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is an action-adventure RPG that dropped in November of 2019, right before the release of Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Within this time-frame, Star Wars as a franchise revealed that quite a few people had actually escaped the infamous Order 66. With Fallen Order, we follow the story of one particular survivor by the name of Cal Kestis.
A former padawan who escaped Order 66 and proceeded to hide his abilities from the Empire since, we are introduced to Cal during his stint of working in a scrapyard. In true fashion for most Jedi and their trainees, Cal doesn’t get to stay in hiding for long, which launches him into an adventure to reconnect to his original path, bond with an adorable droid named BD-1, and even encounter some intimidating foes that may include some familiar figures for movie fans. Throughout the entire adventure we get to see Cal grow from a refugee desperate to be left alone to a strong peacekeeper and protector.
With Cal being a former padawan, he has the Force powers and foundational training to give him a good base for players to build off of as they advance through the game. Among the abilities that players can unlock are wall running, double jumping, and Force pulling ropes into Cal’s hands. These abilities and the timing for their unlocks helps to pace map exploration, and provide a reason to return to levels later for those that love to find hidden loot and secrets. Cal’s Force abilities don’t just add versatility to exploration though, they also add options in combat. From deflecting blaster bolts back to Stormtroopers to Force pushing them off cliffs, Cal brings more than just his natural agility to the table.
Game-play breaks down into what the gaming community has come to call a “Soulsborne” light experience. Saving can only be done via checkpoint autosaves and at select locations. Those locations also serve as rest spots to restore healing potions, or rather stim packs, and places to level up Cal’s abilities. However, whenever the player makes the choice to rest, heal, and replenish their items, enemies on the map respawn, with the exception of boss enemies. For those who find Soulsborne experiences overly stressful, take heart as there are easier difficulty options, and the timing for parries and dodges are much more forgiving than Fromsoft’s infamous IPs. There are harder difficulties for those who do prefer more of a challenge where enemies deal more damage as well.
Overall, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a fun adventure in the Star Wars universe that puts players in control of a padawan that had to find his own way without guidance. While not necessarily wholly unique in experience, Cal is still a strong, lovable character, and being in control of him gives players a more intimate view of his journey than previous iterations of such a character that Star Wars fans may have seen before. The game-play gives options for a player to approach combat as they prefer, with the occasional exception for certain boss mechanics, and the difficulty options make it more accessible for players of differing skill levels. Even with re-spawning enemies on maps, it is more than possible to dodge around most of them to get to the nearest rest spot. Players, and Cal, will also never be alone because BD-1 will have their backs throughout the entire game.