Overview
Jedi Fallen Order (SWJFO) is an hybrid action-adventure title that combines gameplay elements from various popular genres, ultimately creating its own custom blend of mechanics. In this game players impersonate Cal Kestis, a former Jedi apprentice now gone into hiding after the infamous Order 66 was executed. Soon he has to abandon a cover-up job, after an accident puts Inquisition agents on his tracks, from here his journey begins to discover not only ancient mysteries, also his own true nature.

SWJFO plays out as a blend of mechanics from mostly Souls-like and Metroidvania genres: combat heavily inspires to the former, putting great emphasis on learning enemy attack patterns, dodging at the right times, parrying enemy attacks just before they land in order to stun them (as seen in Sekiro), plus also using Force Powers preferably in clever manners to gain the upper hand. The metroidvania part becomes prominent in exploration, with platforming / jumping sections and also with several areas of each planet being gated off until Cal acquires more powers or technologies - this encourages backtracking in a good way, to find secrets, items and even whole optional areas or bosses.

The game is not exempt from issues though: the lack of any fast-travel means between "bonfires" makes backtracking to find every secret quite annoying especially in more complex maps. Secondly, some force powers combos or skills are too powerful, such as Lv.3 force push being able to slam enemy groups and sometimes even bosses into pitfalls. Lastly, character progression is watered down with no attribute system, no "real" gear to find and no consumables apart from Stims - those wanting deeper character development possibilities will be disappointed. Also, some plot holes or sudden character behavior changes happen, especially later on, for no good reason.

Overall, Jedi Fallen Order is a really solid action-adventure game that faithfully recreates the Star Wars universe with incredible visuals, delivers consistent fun gameplay mechanics, decent story, and extreme challenge on the highest difficulty setting for those seeking a punishing experience. It took me 20 hours to gather most secrets, fully explore every planet, and complete the game on Jedi Master difficulty - for the proposed price of 60€, no replay value but also excellent overall quality of content, I can suggest buying full price to Star Wars and/or Souls-like fans, while players less passionate about these genres could wait for a sale instead.

Rating:
Excellent


Visuals in this game are really on another level. Possibly the best graphics in a game yet.
Знімок екрана STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™
Автор: Tamaster


Pros & Cons

🔵 Pros
+ Incredible visuals and art direction recreating the Star Wars universe faithfully, ensuring excellent immersion.
+ Well designed mix of genres that ultimately works well, delivering challenging combat and interesting exploration.
+ Decent storyline and characters, not as much "Disneyfied" as initially expected, though not stellar it does the job.
+ Extreme challenge on Grandmaster difficulty, on par if not harder than Sekiro, and definitely harder than Dark Souls.
+ The great quantity of secret areas, collectibles, lore entries and cosmetics will please completionists.

🔴 Cons
- Character progression system is not very deep, without custom build possibilities, gear stats or detailed attribute control.
- No fast travel between "bonfires" makes it annoying to backtrack already cleared areas over and over to get to new ones.
- Mandatory use of Origin Client even if the game is purchased on Steam.
- You cannot dismember human enemies such as stormtroopers, which is immersion-breaking and quite stupid.
- Double lightsaber is inferior to the single one and there really is no point in using it.


Map design is complex and convoluted, with shortcuts, secret areas and multiple levels of height.
Знімок екрана STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™
Автор: Tamaster


In-Depth Breakdown

🎮 Gameplay Analysis
The gameplay of SWJFO is divided into Exploration, Character Management and Combat.

Exploration is performed on foot, and progressively with the aid of various Force Powers such as wall running, double-jump and more. One of the core elements in this game's exploration is that several zones are initially barred to the player, accessible only later when Cal gained the correct force power or droid modification for BD-1. This mechanic promotes meaningful backtracking and it is really worth it doing so since other than cosmetics and lore entries, invaluable Stim Crates (Estus), the only way to increase the maximum quantity of heals, are almost only found in secret areas - exploration of such areas becomes a necessity on higher difficulties. Each planet is littered with meditation circles (bonfires), where players can spend skill points and replenish their Stims and health at the cost of respawning all enemies, they also will go back at the last circle used if defeated. The fact all hidden crates only deliver cosmetics since there is not an equip system kinda makes exploration less worth in this sense, especially for those not interested in cosmetics.

Character Management mainly consists in spending skill points at a circle to acquire passive skills and active combos, or upgrade existing force powers. The skill tree branches threefold, with Lightsaber, Force and Survival areas, each giving out respectively advanced combos (not very useful mostly), upgraded force powers and capacity, and higher max health or better defensive skills. For the rest, customizing Cal and BD-1's appearance and making your own lightsaber are cool features, though only for the sake of fashion.

Combat plays out in a faster paced manner compared to Dark Souls and focuses more on perfect parrying enemy blows rather than dodging or rolling, which are two different things in this game. There is no stamina for dodging or using basic attacks, however there is for blocking, there is Force which acts as MP, and is replenished by damaging, perfect parrying enemies, or with a late-game stim passive. Parrying enemy blows will stun them, enabling powerful counterattacks, this needs to be done multiple times for stronger foes and many times for bosses. This mechanic, unlike in Sekiro is not mandatory, as there are many other ways to damage foes, one of the most prominent being analyzing their patterns and understanding when they cannot block your blows after a specific attack or combo, and strike at that time. Force Powers are a big deal in combat especially later on, enabling quick defeat of enemy groups by, for example, pushing them all into a pitfall. Dodging an enemy blow at the last second performs a perfect dodge, enabling a counterattack as well in most cases, useful for unblockable attacks. Generally enemies hurt a lot (On Jedi Master and above) and can even stun-lock you into flurries of blows, there is a high punish level for failed dodges or parries.

🔩 Performance Analysis
PC Specs: RTX2080Ti, Ryzen 3900X, 32GB RAM DDR4
The game runs without issues on this config and presents no stability or technical problems. The optimization is reportedly very good for the graphics delivered, with Dynamic Resolution playing an important part in getting good frame-rates on lower end systems while having good visual fidelity. You will need at least an average machine by today's standards to run this game without issues.


Spectacular combat moves such as this one are a standard.
Знімок екрана STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™
Автор: Tamaster


Final Thoughts
Jedi Fallen Order is an excellent action-adventure game that successfully blends mechanics belonging to different genres, offering an experience most action, souls-like and Star Wars fans will enjoy.

Follow our Steam Curator page, OCG-Curations if you want to see more reviews like this one.

Overview Jedi Fallen Order (SWJFO) is an hybrid action-adventure title that combines gameplay elements from various popular genres, ultimately creating its own custom blend of mechanics. In this game players impersonate Cal Kestis, a former Jedi apprentice now gone into hiding after the infamous Order 66 was executed. Soon he has to abandon a cover-up job, after an accident puts Inquisition agents on his tracks, from here his journey begins to discover not only ancient mysteries, also his own true nature. SWJFO plays out as a blend of mechanics from mostly Souls-like and Metroidvania genres: combat heavily inspires to the former, putting great emphasis on learning enemy attack patterns, dodging at the right times, parrying enemy attacks just before they land in order to stun them (as seen in Sekiro), plus also using Force Powers preferably in clever manners to gain the upper hand. The metroidvania part becomes prominent in exploration, with platforming / jumping sections and also with several areas of each planet being gated off until Cal acquires more powers or technologies - this encourages backtracking in a good way, to find secrets, items and even whole optional areas or bosses. The game is not exempt from issues though: the lack of any fast-travel means between "bonfires" makes backtracking to find every secret quite annoying especially in more complex maps. Secondly, some force powers combos or skills are too powerful, such as Lv.3 force push being able to slam enemy groups and sometimes even bosses into pitfalls. Lastly, character progression is watered down with no attribute system, no "real" gear to find and no consumables apart from Stims - those wanting deeper character development possibilities will be disappointed. Also, some plot holes or sudden character behavior changes happen, especially later on, for no good reason. Overall, Jedi Fallen Order is a really solid action-adventure game that faithfully recreates the Star Wars universe with incredible visuals, delivers consistent fun gameplay mechanics, decent story, and extreme challenge on the highest difficulty setting for those seeking a punishing experience. It took me 20 hours to gather most secrets, fully explore every planet, and complete the game on Jedi Master difficulty - for the proposed price of 60€, no replay value but also excellent overall quality of content, I can suggest buying full price to Star Wars and/or Souls-like fans, while players less passionate about these genres could wait for a sale instead. Rating: Excellent Visuals in this game are really on another level. Possibly the best graphics in a game yet. Знімок екрана STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ Автор: Tamaster Pros & Cons 🔵 Pros + Incredible visuals and art direction recreating the Star Wars universe faithfully, ensuring excellent immersion. + Well designed mix of genres that ultimately works well, delivering challenging combat and interesting exploration. + Decent storyline and characters, not as much "Disneyfied" as initially expected, though not stellar it does the job. + Extreme challenge on Grandmaster difficulty, on par if not harder than Sekiro, and definitely harder than Dark Souls. + The great quantity of secret areas, collectibles, lore entries and cosmetics will please completionists. 🔴 Cons - Character progression system is not very deep, without custom build possibilities, gear stats or detailed attribute control. - No fast travel between "bonfires" makes it annoying to backtrack already cleared areas over and over to get to new ones. - Mandatory use of Origin Client even if the game is purchased on Steam. - You cannot dismember human enemies such as stormtroopers, which is immersion-breaking and quite stupid. - Double lightsaber is inferior to the single one and there really is no point in using it. Map design is complex and convoluted, with shortcuts, secret areas and multiple levels of height. Знімок екрана STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ Автор: Tamaster In-Depth Breakdown 🎮 Gameplay Analysis The gameplay of SWJFO is divided into Exploration, Character Management and Combat. Exploration is performed on foot, and progressively with the aid of various Force Powers such as wall running, double-jump and more. One of the core elements in this game's exploration is that several zones are initially barred to the player, accessible only later when Cal gained the correct force power or droid modification for BD-1. This mechanic promotes meaningful backtracking and it is really worth it doing so since other than cosmetics and lore entries, invaluable Stim Crates (Estus), the only way to increase the maximum quantity of heals, are almost only found in secret areas - exploration of such areas becomes a necessity on higher difficulties. Each planet is littered with meditation circles (bonfires), where players can spend skill points and replenish their Stims and health at the cost of respawning all enemies, they also will go back at the last circle used if defeated. The fact all hidden crates only deliver cosmetics since there is not an equip system kinda makes exploration less worth in this sense, especially for those not interested in cosmetics. Character Management mainly consists in spending skill points at a circle to acquire passive skills and active combos, or upgrade existing force powers. The skill tree branches threefold, with Lightsaber, Force and Survival areas, each giving out respectively advanced combos (not very useful mostly), upgraded force powers and capacity, and higher max health or better defensive skills. For the rest, customizing Cal and BD-1's appearance and making your own lightsaber are cool features, though only for the sake of fashion. Combat plays out in a faster paced manner compared to Dark Souls and focuses more on perfect parrying enemy blows rather than dodging or rolling, which are two different things in this game. There is no stamina for dodging or using basic attacks, however there is for blocking, there is Force which acts as MP, and is replenished by damaging, perfect parrying enemies, or with a late-game stim passive. Parrying enemy blows will stun them, enabling powerful counterattacks, this needs to be done multiple times for stronger foes and many times for bosses. This mechanic, unlike in Sekiro is not mandatory, as there are many other ways to damage foes, one of the most prominent being analyzing their patterns and understanding when they cannot block your blows after a specific attack or combo, and strike at that time. Force Powers are a big deal in combat especially later on, enabling quick defeat of enemy groups by, for example, pushing them all into a pitfall. Dodging an enemy blow at the last second performs a perfect dodge, enabling a counterattack as well in most cases, useful for unblockable attacks. Generally enemies hurt a lot (On Jedi Master and above) and can even stun-lock you into flurries of blows, there is a high punish level for failed dodges or parries. 🔩 Performance Analysis PC Specs: RTX2080Ti, Ryzen 3900X, 32GB RAM DDR4 The game runs without issues on this config and presents no stability or technical problems. The optimization is reportedly very good for the graphics delivered, with Dynamic Resolution playing an important part in getting good frame-rates on lower end systems while having good visual fidelity. You will need at least an average machine by today's standards to run this game without issues. Spectacular combat moves such as this one are a standard. Знімок екрана STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ Автор: Tamaster Final Thoughts Jedi Fallen Order is an excellent action-adventure game that successfully blends mechanics belonging to different genres, offering an experience most action, souls-like and Star Wars fans will enjoy. Follow our Steam Curator page, OCG-Curations if you want to see more reviews like this one.