Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2154 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,571 out of 2154
  2. Mixed: 339 out of 2154
  3. Negative: 244 out of 2154
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  1. ForeverRev
    Nov 23, 2019
    4
    Decent game, but I will focus on highlighting the cons:
    - Slow responsiveness. Makes the combat difficult since it doesnt respond as quick and smooth as it should be. You find it much smoother in a Souls game.
    - Unnecessary long animations. Those who have played the game will understand when e.g. opening crates, flying to a new planet or customizing your lightsaber. The game forces you    Decent game, but I will focus on highlighting the cons:
    - Slow responsiveness. Makes the combat difficult since it doesnt respond as quick and smooth as it should be. You find it much smoother in a Souls game.
    - Unnecessary long animations. Those who have played the game will understand when e.g. opening crates, flying to a new planet or customizing your lightsaber. The game forces you to watch the long animation play off every time.
    - Big areas, no fast travel. As you progress, you get deeper into the map. You will also need to get back. In this game, you have to WALK all the way back to your ship. Granted, there are shortcuts but it is still tedious to find your way back since some areas are designed like mazes. Lack of fast travel also means that when you need to backtrack to a map because there is an area you havent explored, you need to walk all the way there.
    - Enemy spam at times. This usually wouldnt be a problem if the game was more responsive, but it isnt. Each enemy will make you stagger and the game loves to throw a bunch of close range enemies as well as long range enemies at you.
    - Camera. At times, it is not showing what you want to see, making the game even more difficult and obnoxious.    … Expand
  2. Kneighbors
    Nov 25, 2019
    2
    Played for 30 minutes. It's an ugly port from consoles with unskippable cut-scenes and clunky controls. There seems to be a big amount of bugs I encountered within my 30 minutes, like couldn't escape the inventory menu because my Esc key stopped responding. Had to alt+f4 and then after watching few minutes of start up scenes closed the game and uninstalled it. Game seems really boring tho.
  3. Aklim
    Nov 17, 2019
    1
    This game has a Star Wars minimum Disney Story. Only 5 Levels that you can Play Multiple times, because you get new Powers. There are only a few boring fights because the KI ist stupid. It ist more a Jump and Run, but quite as good as Tomb Raider, more a new Version on Jungle Hunt meet´s Supermario. The length of the Story ist not so long as promised because of the 5 Levels. Full ofThis game has a Star Wars minimum Disney Story. Only 5 Levels that you can Play Multiple times, because you get new Powers. There are only a few boring fights because the KI ist stupid. It ist more a Jump and Run, but quite as good as Tomb Raider, more a new Version on Jungle Hunt meet´s Supermario. The length of the Story ist not so long as promised because of the 5 Levels. Full of Quicktime Events. It has a good Grafik and sound, but is a nothing else, nice to see, boring to play.… Expand
  4. Logic_bomb
    Nov 22, 2019
    4
    Mediocre at best, lot's of backtracking, the combat mechanics are between Souls games and God of War, very frustrating at times. Character and weapons customization are very few. Story-wise, predictable and nothing special. Overall, what a forgettable experience, no replayabilty value at all, uninstalled it right after finishing it.
  5. Twicely
    Nov 30, 2019
    2
    Dark Souls came out in 2011, retailed for $60 and is one of the best games of the decade. 8 years later, EA vomits out this pale imitation. My impression of Star Wars was that Jedi are supposed to be agile, dynamic fighters; the combat in this game is stiff, clumsy and unintuitive. Hope you're a fan of being stun lock because that's apparently all the designers could come up with. TheDark Souls came out in 2011, retailed for $60 and is one of the best games of the decade. 8 years later, EA vomits out this pale imitation. My impression of Star Wars was that Jedi are supposed to be agile, dynamic fighters; the combat in this game is stiff, clumsy and unintuitive. Hope you're a fan of being stun lock because that's apparently all the designers could come up with. The puzzles would be interesting if I didn't play them in Metroid Prime 17 years ago. If you're cool paying the same price for a game 1/3 of the length, with none of the thought and care put in by all means buy Fallen Order; otherwise put on the Mandalorian and just play something not by the embarrassment that is EA.… Expand
  6. Avadon
    Nov 15, 2019
    7
    "Competent" is the word I'd use to describe this game overall. Competent combat, competent story, competent mix of elements from other games that work well enough together. Polished and well optimized, super smooth on 1440p max settings on a GTX1080, looks great, sounds great. It is rather short and there's a lack of variety in its skills and collectables, but this is a 15-20 hour game,"Competent" is the word I'd use to describe this game overall. Competent combat, competent story, competent mix of elements from other games that work well enough together. Polished and well optimized, super smooth on 1440p max settings on a GTX1080, looks great, sounds great. It is rather short and there's a lack of variety in its skills and collectables, but this is a 15-20 hour game, not some mega-RPG. Overall satisfying. It brings us back to an era when good Star Wars games were being made, when you could expect some standards when you bought a Star Wars game. Other than that, it's not gonna light the world on fire. It's definitely the best Star Wars game in many many years, but that bar was set pretty low. Definitely worth a month of Origin Prime to play through, but I'm hesitant to recommend it full price. Still, I hope it does well and that the developers get a chance to expand on their ideas some more.… Expand
  7. captainweeaboo
    Nov 15, 2019
    5
    Pretty mediocre game trying to be both souls-like hard but casul easy same time. Developers think you are dumb. Tutorials are annoying. Combat is ok, cant say much about plot yet but it feels too naive at this moment.
  8. Meeleepit
    Jan 20, 2020
    0
    Dark souls meets jedi meets brick.
    The combat feels wonky, i seriously didn't feel as if i am a jedi rather a heavy brick.
    Fighting is horrible, its slow and there is no flow.
    The respawn points is horrid and it makes you feel as if you are taken out tof the Star Wars Universe. You die, you respawn and kill all the bad guys with your brick body.
  9. Cythrax
    Dec 20, 2019
    2
    I cannot think how this game could be worse. I have played it through the first few planets and I am amazed at how terrible it is. Tonight it even glitched to the point that I fell through a wall and ended up trapped in a place where I got stuck every time I respawned. Fighting is garbage, the level design is garbage, just a typical big money licensed product with flawed execution. I satI cannot think how this game could be worse. I have played it through the first few planets and I am amazed at how terrible it is. Tonight it even glitched to the point that I fell through a wall and ended up trapped in a place where I got stuck every time I respawned. Fighting is garbage, the level design is garbage, just a typical big money licensed product with flawed execution. I sat through all of the Captcha to register on metacritic just to state my absolute disdain for this POC game. I should have just played Witcher 3 through again instead of wasting my money.… Expand
  10. DaggasPlays
    Nov 20, 2019
    3
    I've only played this game for roughly 5 hours so I can't say anything about the storyline. However, the combat is basically identical to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In these 5 hours, there was only a single boss and on top of that there is no fast-travel, so after you finish your mission objective you have to go back all the way back on foot... Fantastic
  11. JuanJe
    Nov 17, 2019
    2
    Bad optimization, with my ryzen 5 2600x and GTX 1070 ti I get fps drops and freezes everytime there are a explosion.
    Is just a Tom Rider or Uncharted with Star Wars esthetic, no check points or autosave, you can stay in a world 30 mins and if you die you go back to the begining.
    and that's not all, the game is all about... PUZZLE! yes, you think you will use the force for kill storm    Bad optimization, with my ryzen 5 2600x and GTX 1070 ti I get fps drops and freezes everytime there are a explosion.
    Is just a Tom Rider or Uncharted with Star Wars esthetic, no check points or autosave, you can stay in a world 30 mins and if you die you go back to the begining.

    and that's not all, the game is all about... PUZZLE! yes, you think you will use the force for kill storm troopers? maybe later, first use the force to stay 40mins resolving a puzzle.

    I'm a big fan of star wars and this game is a joke for me.    … Expand
  12. PR3D4T0R_H31105
    Nov 18, 2019
    4
    Broken glitches make it unplayable. Forces repeated dying to substitute for content. 1/3 playtime is running back to where you died. first 2 worlds gave no star wars feel. fighting bugs and worms. annoying protagonist is a 19 year old virgin with a lisp. story is flat and you have no idea what’s happening. fugitive aspect is gone fast. 20 year old mechanics. platforming, linear,Broken glitches make it unplayable. Forces repeated dying to substitute for content. 1/3 playtime is running back to where you died. first 2 worlds gave no star wars feel. fighting bugs and worms. annoying protagonist is a 19 year old virgin with a lisp. story is flat and you have no idea what’s happening. fugitive aspect is gone fast. 20 year old mechanics. platforming, linear, save-point, infuriating, clunky, dispassionate,dry.

    nice graphics and sabers and cinematics. that’s no reason to phone in the rest of the game!    … Expand
  13. Versalador
    Nov 18, 2019
    0
    If you have a brain, this game is ridiculously boring, even on the hardest, which is completely buggy and meaningless. You pass the lightsaber all over the enemy's body and he keeps acting like it's no big deal.
  14. natgreystar
    Nov 18, 2019
    3
    You should probably read this before you buy. First thing I need to say is this game is full of bugs and basic mechanics are broken. I gritted my teeth and played through this entire game for the story and sadly, that wasn't even worth my time. People rating this well are fanboying it up.

    Let me start of with some positives. The story is good-ish but in the end I felt like the story    You should probably read this before you buy. First thing I need to say is this game is full of bugs and basic mechanics are broken. I gritted my teeth and played through this entire game for the story and sadly, that wasn't even worth my time. People rating this well are fanboying it up.

    Let me start of with some positives.

    The story is good-ish but in the end I felt like the story was inconsequential. I can't say anything more without it being a spoiler. The story was just not that good. It seems good until you finish it, then you're like... oh. Well. Why did I play this then? I could sum the entire story into one paragraph and it would make you sad.

    The graphics for scenery are amazing. Characters and objects look like a 360 game though. The concept is good but fails to deliver on everything. Too many ideas, none of them landed. Customizing your lightsaber is neat but too limited. Customizing your character was a lack of trying.

    Negatives

    This game is 90% silence. Music rarely cuts in and you just feel bored.

    There are huge performance issues on every console. PC, regardless of your rig, has stuttering, lag, and frame drop issues. It's actually the most prominent topic of complaint. No matter what your settings, you'll have these issues.

    The bugs... oh the bugs. There are so many and they are so bad I started making a list. I count 36 major bugs so far. Some actually break the game so you can never progress. You have to start the game over from scratch. Some stop progression until you reset the game. There are physics problems, clipping, ragdoll, teleporting, and oh wow is combat busted. Things don't spawn when they should, enemies randomly spawn right on top of you, some enemies spawn or get knocked back into the sky and stay there shooting at you, I mean I can go on for a while. I hope you get the point.

    You can't flow between moves like attack, force, and block or dodge. You can't dodge or block while being attacked. Blocking doesn't actually work a lot of the time, you still take full damage on basic attacks. You can't chain moves. You can't attack or block an attack and use a force power. You can't dodge or block once you've been hit. Animations must fully complete before another action can start meaning you are constantly vulnerable in combat unless you're blocking, which I already said doesn't work a whole lot.

    Oh and the worst thing is when force powers just don't work. Like, they just don't work. It depletes your force, you do an animation, but nothing happens. Enemies can cancel your force moves too, all they have to do is hit you with some attack before you complete the animation and boom canceled. This goes for healing too. Having your heal canceled also consumes your healing packs but you don't heal. Fun huh?

    This game is almost unplayable. It's taken me hours just to make minor progress because all of the mechanics of the game are broken. I discovered half of the bugs I've reported in the first 3 hours of playing this game. I've played 16 hours and it feels like I've made no progress. Even on the easiest level you die over and over. It's a constant drain. You can get piled on by enemies and they can chain attacks so you can die before you even have a chance to react. It's worse than quick-time events, but those exist too and they're done terribly. They never work.

    I mentioned customization before. It's a neat idea but it's very limited in what parts you can get, what colors you can make your saber glow, and the costumes are terrible. You have a poncho. You can pick colors for that poncho. Have fun customizing your poncho! How about ship colors? You see the ship maybe 1% of the game but hey you can customize it. Think maybe BD-1 colors are great because there are so many? Well no, many of them overlap or just don't look good. Customization was a big fail here.

    Look, if the game launched working I'd give it an 8. It's very broken and possibly one of the most broken games EA has put out in a while and that's unacceptable. The story is the only thing that saves this from a 1. Seriously, it's that broken. I have no idea what people rating this a 10 are doing because they are definitely lying if they say the combat isn't garbage at the least.

    Now I know you want to be that pissy troll on the webs saying "git gud" but there is no "gud" when the game gives you instructions for how things work and they just don't work. When I'm targeting and facing an enemy but my force moves happen somewhere completely random. When enemies auto-target instantly without animation and melee you no matter where you are what's the point of dodging? Even that is broken. I honestly feel like I'm playing a low budget PS1 game with the quality and bug list here. I've nearly completed the game and the more I play the more bugs I find. Even basic animations don't load in some areas.

    I had more fun playing Jedi Academy. At least that one had more than basic force moves.    … Expand
  15. Tihomi
    Nov 17, 2019
    4
    I looked at the graphics, animations, plot presentation, level architecture, voice quality, combat mechanics, face animation, AI and gameplay in general.
    Verdict: STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order = Mass Effect Andromeda!
  16. Alexplissken
    Nov 24, 2019
    5
    Tomb raider with light saber well…, it should be ok with an exception that game is very boring.
    Good optimization and AAA graphics
    Sound is mediocre The game itself is some kind of slasher with tomb raider style puzzles and if last thing is pretty good the fighting part is hard for player who likes star wars universe and don’t spend a lot of time in fighting and slasher type games and    Tomb raider with light saber well…, it should be ok with an exception that game is very boring.
    Good optimization and AAA graphics
    Sound is mediocre
    The game itself is some kind of slasher with tomb raider style puzzles and if last thing is pretty good the fighting part is hard for player who likes star wars universe and don’t spend a lot of time in fighting and slasher type games and one more thing RESPAWN, its cheapest and most stupid way to make tension, hate it and because of it I stopped playing.    … Expand
  17. TwiTu
    Nov 26, 2019
    1
    I played it about 3 hours before I realized Im just wasting my time.

    - Its all about combat and its a lot of trial and error, like a Dark Souls or Sekiro with Star Wars paint job. - The previous point wouldnt be such a problem, if the saving mechanic wasnt just as frustrating as in those games. When you die, you even lose all your accumulated experience that is not a full level and all    I played it about 3 hours before I realized Im just wasting my time.

    - Its all about combat and its a lot of trial and error, like a Dark Souls or Sekiro with Star Wars paint job.
    - The previous point wouldnt be such a problem, if the saving mechanic wasnt just as frustrating as in those games. When you die, you even lose all your accumulated experience that is not a full level and all enemies respawn. You often die on trash mobs, because the controls are so unresponsive and stupid. As if they just want to troll people or only aim for masochistic people.
    The saving/meditation points dont feel like Star Wars Jedi at all. Superimposed BS.
    Oh yeah, reloading from a save point takes ages, even on my very fast SSD. I guess backtracking over half the map wasnt enough wasted time already...
    - Again, the previous point wouldnt be such a big deal if the controls were good on PC. But they arent. They are a horrible mess and the devs obviously knew that, because when you start the game for the first time they implore you to use a controller instead of mouse/keyboard. WTF?
    The tutorial for the controls is also only half-assed. In the beginning I didnt even know what to do, because the game didnt really tell me what I was supposed to do. Later it wont even tell you anymore at all what to do when there is a new ability you learn.
    - The maps seem very un-Star Wars like, the enemies, too.
    - The maps also are very lazily designed. I read there are only 4 and you have to unlock all the regions in them over time and go back and forth between them while you do that. So after a few hours you actually feel like you have seen the whole game already, and of course they get boring very quickly. On the first map, for example, I knew that there was still a lot to explore (I had 62% explored), but I was already tired of it and so went on to the next planet.
    - The graphics arent very optimized and look very cartooney at times. There are huge amounts of animation and clipping errors. And even the lip sync often is way off. Come on... this is an EA game... Or is this normal now since the Andromeda fiasco?
    - The story doesnt seem very appealing, the dialogues are only basic, there are a lot of illogical and not SW-canon things happening and when I saw that little alien that is your friend, I was instantly reminded of Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy. Not only how he looks, but also how he talks, and his personality. Even his voice sounds very similar to Rockets. A cheap and very blatant rip-off.

    Honestly, when I played this game, I really felt like playing a cheap or very old console game. Even the graphics arent that great, and as I said, the map design seems very limited, coupled with very low view distance/very poor detail in the distance, this probably made me feel like that about it.
    And of course the controls, which really feel like one of the first console ports ever made.

    A completely overrated game in pretty much every aspect.
    I guess Dark Souls speedrunners and other masochists will will love it.    … Expand
  18. DiavoloGR
    Nov 28, 2019
    2
    Nice graphics but THE GAME IS BORING .. SUPER BORING. Its a decent little action puzzler with bad controls bad mechanics so and so story.. .. im not impressed by this kind of games
  19. Seector
    Nov 24, 2019
    6
    Overall the game is pretty ok, good maps, the metroidvania aspect is good, climbing is straight from Uncharted 1/2 and not much better. The """Dark Souls""" part of the game is not perfectly mastered yet its acceptable. The thing is this, apart from the game art desing which keeps you going, the game is a sum of multiple early 2010 games for its gameplay, nothing is innovative here. IOverall the game is pretty ok, good maps, the metroidvania aspect is good, climbing is straight from Uncharted 1/2 and not much better. The """Dark Souls""" part of the game is not perfectly mastered yet its acceptable. The thing is this, apart from the game art desing which keeps you going, the game is a sum of multiple early 2010 games for its gameplay, nothing is innovative here. I would have expected far more, especially when you know games like Jedy Academy exists and are more developped and go further with force, lightsaber fights and gameplay. Maybe for the next one ?… Expand
  20. Pier
    Dec 23, 2019
    4
    Nice graphics and combat but very repetitive and boring. It all feels very cookie-cutter. The world is not very interesting so exploration is pointless and the combat in itself is the same stuff over and over again. No RPG elements, no dialogs, nothing to do other than moving forward and killing some enemies. It's like a bad copy of Tomb Raider mixed with Dark Souls. It seems they spentNice graphics and combat but very repetitive and boring. It all feels very cookie-cutter. The world is not very interesting so exploration is pointless and the combat in itself is the same stuff over and over again. No RPG elements, no dialogs, nothing to do other than moving forward and killing some enemies. It's like a bad copy of Tomb Raider mixed with Dark Souls. It seems they spent all the budget in the cutscenes and forgot they had to actually make a game.… Expand
  21. TwoEars
    Dec 6, 2019
    6
    This game is like vanilla ice cream, it's good enough and does little wrong. But it's also a bit boring, predictable and formulaic. The combat looks impressive in demo videos but it's actually pretty mindless and not very deep. Not only do you have limited amount of control over the lightsaber combat but there's a very limited set of force powers on display too. If you came here expectingThis game is like vanilla ice cream, it's good enough and does little wrong. But it's also a bit boring, predictable and formulaic. The combat looks impressive in demo videos but it's actually pretty mindless and not very deep. Not only do you have limited amount of control over the lightsaber combat but there's a very limited set of force powers on display too. If you came here expecting something like the fluid and dynamic combat in Jedi Academy chances are you'll be disappointed.

    Similarly if you were expecting a well written RPG with twists and turns like KOTOR 1 or 2 you'll likely find the game severely lacking here too. There really aren't that many RPG elements, or important choices, at all really. The game plays very linearly and with very limited room to really express your own take on the character and story. Honestly, the last Tomb Raider game had better character customization and more important choices.

    So what we're left with is a pretty linear and mindless hack n slash game with a very minimal set of RPG elements and with a pretty formulaic story. The only people who should be impressed by a game like this are those who are so young and impressionable that they yet haven't gotten around to trying Ben & Jerry's.

    I will also say that I'm not a fan of the healing system, if you're going to make this kind of mindless middle-of-the-road-take-no-chances kind of game just give it automatic health regen and be done with it. You're not going to make it into Witcher 3 or Dark Souls by having an awkward healing system.

    Lastly i will say the average user score for this game is suspiciously high, I suspect EA has been in here meddling.    … Expand
  22. skeith
    Apr 6, 2020
    9
    Good game with a decent story, not a Star Wars fan myself, but still find it enjoyable, I played it on April 2020, didn't encounter much problems like the other users mentioned. Hope there will be more wielding style in the next game.
  23. Mandulum
    Jun 18, 2020
    9
    It's a Dark Souls inspired Jedi game, what can go wrong? Not much! The combat, exploration, and story are the focus and they are all great. More, non-cosmetic, customization options for Cal would have been nice, I don't need a dozen differently colored ponchos.

    Date Completed: 2020-06-17
    Playtime: 18h
    Enjoyment: 9/10
    Recommendation: Absolutely!
  24. ERC1
    Apr 3, 2020
    8
    First the bad. Some optimization would have gone a long way in making this a better game, but the bugs and slow downs too often interrupt the experience. Most of the time the game is running 60 + fps for me and often about 70 fps @ 1440p/Ultra setting. It looks very good and smooth until you hit a slow down point where the CPU (not GPU) maxes out. I'm sure a faster CPU could probably solveFirst the bad. Some optimization would have gone a long way in making this a better game, but the bugs and slow downs too often interrupt the experience. Most of the time the game is running 60 + fps for me and often about 70 fps @ 1440p/Ultra setting. It looks very good and smooth until you hit a slow down point where the CPU (not GPU) maxes out. I'm sure a faster CPU could probably solve the problem, but my CPU is well within the specs for this game.

    The good, this is a Metroidvania style game and for those that like the genre its great to see a Star Wars entry into the genre. Of course it also has some Dark Souls elements and increased difficulty compared to most in the genre, but, it is much more forgiving than Dark Souls games. The force abilities are where the Metroidvania style come into play, while there is a skill tree, there are certain force abilities that are unlocked only by playing through the story. They open up new areas each time you get one which of course means that you will need to go back and explore. A nice feature is that the map is very good and it shows locations that are now accessible that were not before, so while there is back tracking, there is not the problem of trying to remember every place to use your new skill. For the most part the platforming is pretty fun and sometimes challenging, but you feel like you have pretty good control over the character.

    Overall, its a great entry into the Metroidvania genre and a great Star Wars game.    … Expand
  25. Andante
    Mar 30, 2021
    8
    A really great game after almost 40h of gameplay. I really felt throughout the game like a real Jedi. A fantastic atmosphere, bringing the Star Wars world into life, FANTASTIC graphics and really nice characters and level design. Boss fights were also absolutely BRILLIANT. There are of course some minor issues in the game.

    The lootboxes throughout every level contained only cosmetic    A really great game after almost 40h of gameplay. I really felt throughout the game like a real Jedi. A fantastic atmosphere, bringing the Star Wars world into life, FANTASTIC graphics and really nice characters and level design. Boss fights were also absolutely BRILLIANT. There are of course some minor issues in the game.

    The lootboxes throughout every level contained only cosmetic items and not items of real substance. I would really love to find also gear upgrades and special items....Another minor critic is that I found myself losing lots of time only because I was searching for Mantis. It would be very helpful if there were more shortcuts in the level but no fast travel! Keep it like this!

    I also wanted the game not to end and was a bit disappointed because there were no more planets to explore! A personal wish would also be to bring even more exploration to the mix into fallen order 2 and less fighting.    … Expand
  26. Kristoff_PL
    Jun 21, 2020
    9
    Great Star Wars game, between 3 and 4 episode :D

    Recommended only for mouse + keyboard
  27. parallax_84
    Apr 2, 2020
    8
    Good game, perhaps the best SW game since Kotor... yes its been a while. The story was good the combat is also good and it has cool graphics and level design but also has terrible performance and a lot of glitches. Anyway it made me feel like good old SW games, like if i was playing inside a movie that thing alone is a feeling i've missed a lot and for that reason i liked this game.
  28. Dco326
    Mar 21, 2020
    9
    It's a good game the ned is especially good but I wouldn't play it any more times. 1 playthrough is enough.
  29. dr_yev
    Apr 14, 2020
    6
    Much like most of the star wars movies from the past 30 years, this game falls short of greatness on many levels. It could have been amazing but a lot of poor creative choices (most likely to reach a wider audience) were made so it is just slightly better than mediocre. Had this not been a star wars game and had I need grown up steeped in the original trilogy, I would have stoppedMuch like most of the star wars movies from the past 30 years, this game falls short of greatness on many levels. It could have been amazing but a lot of poor creative choices (most likely to reach a wider audience) were made so it is just slightly better than mediocre. Had this not been a star wars game and had I need grown up steeped in the original trilogy, I would have stopped playing it about 10 hours in. It's a crappy imitation of metroidvanias, soulsborne games, and, weirdly, the uncharted/tomb raider series.

    It started out great. The 1 on 1 combat works well and some of the platforming sequences are breathtaking. But, after a while the fact that one still has to put effort into killing all but the lowest enemies becomes immersion-breaking. I mean I have a laser sword that can cut through anything and melee units can block my attacks with stun batons? Also, dismembering humans would have made the combat more satisfying but I get why they would leave that out, ratings and all. But, how does it fare in its aspirational categories?

    Metroidvania: definitely lacking. They clearly want you to revisit areas but most of the stuff you find is cosmetic upgrades that are underwhelming. Who cares how my saber hilt is arranged? I can't see it during game play and there is gameplay benefit. Furthermore, some sections become locked forever after platforming or quick-time events, therefore, keeping one from collecting anything. And, the gating is artificial. It's obvious that areas cannot be reached without the double jump, which you do not get until quite far into the game. And what's behind this invisible wall? Probably some boring lore thing or cosmetic nonsense. It seems they want you to revisit areas and explore but they also punish you for doing it.

    Soulsborne: very poor imitation. it is clear that this game takes a huge amount of inspiration from from software games, sekiro in particular. But, there is no stealth. There are also no I-frames, meaning that you can be damaged by a trash mob while trying to execute another trash mob. Further, rather than introducing interesting enemies with different combat mechanics, they just make them sabersponges and put dozens of them in a room. After a certain point in the game, it turns into a series of arenas, which seems against the spirit of a soulsborne game and is just busy work. Finally, it seems they decided to give a difficultly slider to make the game more accessible but then also did not polish the combat, because, hey, you can just turn the difficulty down.

    The combat gets CLUNKY and CHEAP a few hours in. I turned the difficulty down it all the way down to get past a couple of particularly cheap bosses and I just did not feel invested enough at that point to learn their dance. And, as the protagonist grows in power it almost makes more sense to turn the difficulty down. Can a jedi knigh seriously find himself in a bind against two or three melee troopers? How the hell are they resisting my force powers?

    Fights with other saber wielders are really rare and are all boss fights. There could be some rank and file sith to chop into bits but I guess that goes against the whole theme of redemption. That actually poses another ethical point: what are storm troopers but just soldiers that signed on to fight in the army? Why is it cool to turn them into chopped liver when force users deserve redemption? It's a difficult line to straddle, maybe there is no solution.

    Uncharted/tombraider: here the game is pretty strong. There is lots of stuff to discover and the levels can have a lot of verticality. But the worlds are rather lifeless. There is only so much learning about a poorly fleshed out minor culture in the star wars universe I can take before getting bored.

    Ultimately, I wound up forcing myself to finish the game and then deleting it. I hope to forget it soon.    … Expand
  30. TPiatek360
    May 9, 2020
    5
    This review is hard to write, because while I love Star Wars, I don't love this game.

    My friends played this game and loved it, and once the price dipped below $30, I bit. So far I've played about 5 hours, and for now at least, I'm done. No more, and good riddance. Why so? Is the game not satisfying? In many ways, it is! The graphics are good (not amazing, but not worse than say, the    This review is hard to write, because while I love Star Wars, I don't love this game.

    My friends played this game and loved it, and once the price dipped below $30, I bit. So far I've played about 5 hours, and for now at least, I'm done. No more, and good riddance. Why so? Is the game not satisfying?

    In many ways, it is! The graphics are good (not amazing, but not worse than say, the Witcher w/o mods or patches). The story is, from what I've got so far, pretty fun and solid. The characters are interesting both visually and as people. But the gameplay... oh, the gameplay!

    For me, the combat is essentially fine, even on Jedi Master. It's hard, but that's OK. What's not OK? I've hit the block button and had nothing happen repeatedly, leading to a one-shot kill. I've walked up to a pipe to traverse a gorge and had Cal walk off the edge of the cliff, sometimes catching the pipe, sometimes plunging helplessly to my doom. And I've dodged attacks only to be hit by them. In general, the combat system feels clunky and imprecise to me. I've used special attacks only to whiff because I wasn't locked on to a target, etc. That's on me, but in general, it feels unresponsive and like I'm walking with my boots stuck in the mud.

    And nevertheless, in general I enjoy the combat alright - leaving aside the non-registered button-presses and the like, it's do-able. Worse than some, better than others. But the first thing that really steamed me was the hard reset to the last save point on death. Sometimes, this point would be mere seconds away from where I died, so no problem. But often, it would be several areas away. On death, this would not only necessitate a tedious slog across ground I've already covered, but up to 30 seconds or more of loading. Usually around 20 seconds, and this from an m.2 SSD. Death, wait. Death, wait. Death, wait. This was less pleasant. A game can be difficult, but preferably not tedious, and for me, this was very tedious indeed. Now that I advanced a bit and gained some new abilities and more health, I'm doing much better, but I'm finding the most effective strategies are some combination of dash in and slash, block the almost universal immediate counterattack, then roll and kick/stun to attack until dead. Not much thinking, but it's working for me. I was hoping for a little more strategic depth and thought.

    The next annoyance is the platforming, including in particular the hill-sliding sections. For starters, sprinting doesn't seem to add much distance to your jump, which is strange. Second, which involves the level design component of platforming, it's hard to tell which things can be interacted with and which not. The wall-running is well-marked, but many boxes and ledges that should be climbable or Cal should be able to grasp he simply can't because he's not supposed to. Trust me, after playing a game like Middle Earth: Shadow of War or Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, I think you'd agree the traversal mechanics, and even the feel of them is more pleasant and positive. I had more trouble judging distance of jumps and direction, and I've had more missed jumps in this game than any other game in memory, including some of the more challenging ones like the original Mario Bros. Rarely in Assassin's Creed have I just missed a ledge on a side-jump, but here it's happened more than I'd like to admit. It's VERY sensitive to your position and jump range.

    All of this is unpleasant, but then I entered sliding hell. One portion of a planet forces you on a long, twisting slide coupled with jumps to ropes between sections of slide. Simple? It should be - left joy con and jump is all you can do, you can't even slow yourself or speed up as far as I can tell. Sometimes the first turn would simply throw me off. Other times, I'd jump to catch a rope, but miss it by anywhere from 90 to 10 degrees. Sometimes I missed the rope, but my character caught it, surprising me. After about 20 runs, I somehow made it, and the main problem is this: I don't feel like I learned anything, or got better. It might take me another 20 runs until I accidentally succeed. Mercifully, when falling, they plunk you down near the start of the slide with an HP penalty until you die after many falls. I can play racing games and IMPROVE. But I have no Earthly idea what mechanic is governing the sliding portion, and I was just glad to pass it.

    After gritting my teeth and getting through that, I came upon a puzzle. I wasn't in the mood for deep thought (or any thought) at 1 am, so anything requiring both thinking and timing just isn't in the cards right now. Maybe later, but like I said, I'm done with this game for a long time, I'd say. I'm not interested in tedious puzzles, i wanted challenging combat.

    Then there are the bugs. 6+ months after release, I've walked onto a pipe and started quivering for 30 seconds, then it stops. Weird.

    Would I buy the game again? Naw, I'd just watch the cutscenes for story on **** or YouTube.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Best PC Game of 2019
8
#8 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 10, 2020
    90
    Fallen Order is a must have for Star Wars fans and the best Star Wars game in years. Both literally and figuratively: the Force is strong with this one. [01/2020, p.42]
  2. Multiplayer.it
    Dec 19, 2019
    88
    Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order gives its best on PC, delivering an awesome experience in 4K and 60 frames per second with advanced visual effects.
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  3. The Overpowered Noobs
    Dec 18, 2019
    80
    An excellent entry into the new Star Wars canon.
    Read full review
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