Does Jedi: Fallen Order Get Everything Right?

Fallen Order was released about a week ago so I'll keep this spoiler free for anyone who hasn't finished or bought the game yet.

Prior to the release of Jedi: Fallen Order, seeing the trailer wasn't initially enough to get me to pre-order the game. The main character Cal, didn't seem like a character I was interested playing as, especially in the context of the Star Wars universe. There are so many different species and kinds of creatures in this universe, but we have to play as another white man? This really isn't integral to the review at all, just mainly a question on why we couldn't have a main character that looked somewhat different than the status quo. The acting throughout the game in cutscenes, with all characters are quite good in fact. There's a lot of good within this game! Storytelling, gameplay, the general tone of the game are really great and help unravel the plot in a way that's genuine and well thought out way.

In terms of gameplay, I did encounter a few bugs while I was playing that made it frustrating to get past certain parts of the game. One specifically included a wall climbing bug, and if you aren't far enough left of these rocks that fall down, even if the rocks don't look like they're going to hit you, for some reason their hitbox is so big that it doesn't matter, and I fell off many times. Playing on the Jedi Master difficulty really added a challenge to the regular gameplay and boss fights especially. There's one difficulty higher than Jedi Master, Jedi Grand Master. And each difficulty, before starting a game, will show you the parry difficulty, incoming damage, and enemy aggression towards Cal. Jedi Master has the most balanced settings, however Jedi Knight and Story Mode, offer much more of a cinematic experience more geared towards getting you past everything in one piece, delivering you all of the story without much challenge. If you're looking for a challenge, Jedi Master and Grand Master are the ways to go. Playing on the Jedi Master difficulty was especially apparent while facing off against the bosses and against large groups of mixed enemies. These difficulties challenge your parry timings and make you prioritize certain enemies first.

The story of this Star Wars game is certainly the best there's been in a while. With Cal hiding from the Empire on a scrapping planet, keeping his Jedi powers a secret. That is until you get your first introduction to the Inquisitors, those who hunt force users under the direct order of Darth Vader. We go through the story trying to find a map with names of other force sensitive individuals on it, trying to keep it out of the hands of the Empire.

There's also a fair bit of customization within this game. Cal has many different ponchos and clothes you can find throughout the galaxy on your missions. Your favorite droid buddy BD-1 gets a bunch of cool skins, along with the ship you fly in the whole game. But most importantly, your lightsaber is YOUR LIGHTSABER. You can customize it however you'd like, making for plenty of great looking combinations.

If you've been waiting for a great Star Wars game, that has you face off against threats across the universe as a Jedi who slowly masters their force powers, this game is for you. Now that I've beaten the game, I would definitely wait til the game goes on sale, unless you're planning on playing it over and over again. That's always been my problem with single player games, is replay-ability of it after you've beaten it. Jedi: Fallen Order forsure has some of that in it. I'm going back for Jedi Grand Master.

Overall: 9/10. An extremely well written game, with intense gameplay that will have you wanting new force abilities and the coolest lightsaber around.