SWA Advent Calendar 2019 - Day 13!

Welcome back Amino!

I'm The Force Warden, back for day 13 of the annual SWA Advent Calendar! Today I've got another Jedi: Fallen Order related post, similarly to yesterday's, but this time in the form of a short and snappy review. I've completed the game on Jedi Knight difficulty and I'm a good way through on Grandmaster difficulty.

And, of course, massive spoilers ahead! You have been warned!

---

Okay. You have been warned. I'll split it into 3 sections, characters, story and gameplay. Let's go!

The Story

So, the story revolves around Cal Kestis on a quest to rebuild the Jedi Order, finding a hidden Holocron from Master Eno Cordova. During that quest, Cal faces the demons from his past and Order 66, aswell as the impending threat of the Inquisitors.

The story is engaging right from the start on Bracca. You can feel Cal's emotions straight away when he swipes the dust from the crashed Jedi ship, revealing the symbol of the order.

The Inquisitors are incredibly done, capturing their intimidation both in cutscenes and fights. I won't say too much about them because that's more for the characters section.

Now we come to the ending. Ohh, the ending. As you progress you begin to feel more powerful gradually until you feel incredibly powerful, and at the height of you power when you defeat the Second Sister and reclaim the Holocron it all vanishes. When you hear that breathing of Vader, hopelessness creeps in. And when Vader has no health bar and you are forced to run, you feel the fear. Seeing his raw strength as he tears the fortress apart and throws it at you truly shows his power as a Sith Lord. And when you escape by the skin of your teeth, you feel relieved.

The ending also leaves it open for a sequel or DLC content, which is perfect.

The Gameplay

Fallen Order's gameplay is very refined. The puzzles are unique and most of the gameplay is not copy/paste reused mechanics. Even with climbing, a common part of exploration, I personally didn't feel like it was repetitive.

The planets are all very unique, with well designed creatures and wildlife. Again, nothing feels like a cheap copy/paste of another place. The landscapes are all fantastic, with some places having a massive area to explore outside of the story, such as Zeffo's crashed Venator.

Finally we move onto the combat. I could talk about the combat all day, it's so good. It flows amazingly, with the special animations fitting in really well. The difficulty is hard which is nice and fresh, and you need to learn by trying and trying again which is very good.

The Characters

Cal Kestis

When Cal was first revealed, many complained about how unoriginal he was; a human male. The devs responded to this saying about creating a player-character connection by making him relatable to. And boy did they do that. I found that I felt Cal's emotions perfectly - when his crystal breaks on Ilum I felt the disappointment and sadness that he felt. After the Order 66 flashback, his sadness is clearly shown. Even in his dialogue with BD-1, which the player can prompt, his voice and tone is one of sorrow. Small details really make the game shine, and even with chest opening this is clear. At the start he's surprised when BD enters a chest but as you open more he gets used to it. The immersion is massive.

The Second Sister / Trilla

Trilla has an unexpected depth to her character. Originally, I thought she'd just be a quiet villain but when she talks it's powerful and meaningful. Her story is well done and her eventual 'redemption' at the end is satisfying.

Cere Junda

Cere's story is also very engaging. In flashbacks we see her and Trilla, and Cere's use of the dark side which led her to cut herself off from the Force. Her relationship with Cordova means that he isn't just a background character that starts the quest, but one present throughout. Another very well made character!

---

Sorry it was quite short, but there you have it! Overall, this game is a masterpiece and I'd recommend it to anyone. It's managed to keep me entertained for weeks!

Thank you very much for reading and take care, amino!

#SWAAdventCalendar2019