https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GLbwkfhYZk

Summary
Respawn Entertainment has crafted such a beautiful story and built a connection with the characters of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order that fans of Star Wars are beyond happy with. The latest installation into the greater Star Wars Universe has been happily accepted by the massive Star Wars fanbase. Fans of the game are very hopeful for future installments to this series and want to experience more of what Cal Kestis has to offer. With outstanding sales numbers, it is very likely that in the future Respawn Entertainment will grace us with another amazing Star Wars experience. Until then, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will take the title of “The Best Star Wars Video Game” for me and countless other gamers and Star Wars fans alike.
Good
  • Expansive and canon Star Wars story
  • Unique and refined gameplay
  • Beautiful in game environments
  • Extensive Replayability
Bad
  • Frame Rate stuttering issues
  • Regular graphical pop in and texture delays
  • Long load times after death
9.8
Amazing
Gameplay - 10
Graphics - 9
Audio - 10
Replayability - 10
Controls - 10

Respawn Entertainment has crafted one of, if not the best Star Wars video game experiences in history with the smash-hit that is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It’s taken the title of the newest installment in what is a long line of excellent products created by Respawn Entertainment. With Apex Legends still a popular title among many gamers, Respawn has not hesitated to continue their trend of excellent storytelling (refer to TitanFall 2’s outstanding campaign) mixed with unique, well-crafted, and interactive gameplay. From the unique movement system of the TitanFall series (which Apex Legends resides within) to the weighted, visceral, and pleasing LightSaber combat of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Respawn Entertainment has a reputation for unique gameplay and mechanics. Familiar force powers from across the known universe of Star Wars have never been realized better than in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, giving you access to endless situations (thanks to replayability) that play out in a countless amount of cinematic ways while you are in complete control the entire time. You can truly live out the fantasy of becoming a Jedi while thrown into a gripping story of loss, friendship, betrayal, and growth that captures the essence of Star Wars flawlessly while also expanding the universe of Star Wars in impactful ways. This has led many to believe that this game will play a role in the future of cinematic Star Wars products (in the sense of future theatrical or televised productions) with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order being confirmed by Disney and Lucasarts as a canon part of the Star Wars cinematic timeline.

The gameplay of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order truly shines throughout and produces a sense of urgency in combat that compliments the LightSaber and Force ability gameplay so well — flawlessly filling in the gaps between the various cinematic storytelling moments within Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Throughout the entirety of the game, Cal Kestis (the games protagonist and only playable character) hones his connection with the Force and recalls the traumatically suppressed memories of his prior Jedi Master’s teachings, even developing new force abilities and enhancing ones he already knows (of course, this is all done through the game’s EXTENSIVE skill tree and skill point system). Along with the progression of Cals connection with the Force, you also enhance his LightSaber skills and the LightSaber itself unlocking three different attacking stances by the end of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order while also customizing and upgrading your LightSaber along the way. Go smoothly from single blade LightSaber combat into dual ended, Darth Maul style LightSaber combat, and then Split your saber in two for a relentless fury of dual wield LightSaber action. String combos together while seamlessly swapping between your stances all while utilizing Force powers like slowing down time around specific enemies, slamming the ground with a Force shockwave, Force throwing your LightSaber, Force double jumping, and of course, Force pushing and pulling enemies into various different situations. Parry blaster bolts back to their sender with perfectly timed LightSaber blocks, and get close and personal with melee combat Storm Troopers, Purge Troopers, Scout Troopers, and Security droids for the visceral LightSaber combat that you have always wanted. Be sure to time your blocks for right when your attacker is about to connect his attack in order to parry and stagger your enemy. Holding block will successfully defend you from an attack (so long as you still have enough stamina) but it’s the perfectly timed, last second press of the block button which will parry an incoming melee attack. This will help you gain the upper hand in combat as you are almost always outnumbered.

The exploration aspect of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a major part of the game and plays a big role in the progression of abilities and upgrades throughout the game. Through your adventures, you will find various cosmetic outfits, BD-1 paint jobs, and Stinger Mantis paint jobs found within discoverable chests on each planet (the Stinger Mantis is the ship that you traverse the Galaxy with between the many open-world-eseque planets of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order). BD-1 is Cal’s closest and most important companion throughout the story of Fallen Order and plays a significant part in gameplay as well. BD-1 provides you with Stim Canisters that heal you (and with upgrades also provides you with Force energy). BD-1 also makes traversal more accessible through his ability to Slice (the Star Wars version of hacking) through locked doors as well as overpower electrical panels for various different outcomes. BD-1 also uses a motorized system to help Cal travel on ziplines which you unlock the ability to traverse upwards on ziplines with a motor upgrade for BD-1. Exploration will bring you to many different upgrades for Cal’s adventure. These include the ability to hack probe droids and security drones with BD-1, the previously mentioned Slicing of doors and locked chests, and turning your single LightSaber into a double ended Saber. Through said exploration, you will also come across various Golden Coloured chests that will give you access to more Stim Canisters from BD-1. Exploration is key to the progression of your skills and upgrades in Fallen Order but it also provides you with a deeper dive into the history of Star Wars as by providing insight into people, places, and things you experience within Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. This is achieved through the Force Echo ability. This is a Force ability that Cal has where when he touch objects, he can see as well as hear past events related to the object. There are dozens of hidden areas with Force Echos for Cal to interact with, providing you with audio of a memory or event as well as an entry into the games Databank (which is a large collection of lore and story tidbits that you unlock through progression of the game, discovery of hidden secrets, as well as when encountering enemies and other characters for the first time). Sifting through the Databank provides insight into all sorts of unique things from tactics for countering different enemies to interesting pieces of lore and story.

Now, with all this talk about the excellent story that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order tells and all the interesting lore to discover, here is the story of Cal Kestis and his epic adventure into becoming a Jedi Knight.

Star Wars 3

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order starts five years after the execution of Order 66 and with the rise of the new Galactic Empire, Force sensitive beings are being hunted and killed all through the Galaxy. The planet Bracca starts off the journey as this is where Cal Kestis, a former Jedi Padawan, has chosen to hide from the empire after the devastating and infamous Order 66. It is here that his great journey begins. Working as a scrapper for the Scrapper Guild, Cal and a co-worker (and friend) Prauf are sent out on a job and Cal is forced to use the Force (pun intended) to save Prauf from falling to his death. Not only does this reveal to Prauf that Cal is force sensitive, but the event is also recorded by an Imperial Probe droid who relays the message back to the Empire. The Empire responds by dispatching two Inquisitors named The Second Sister and The Ninth Sister to capture Cal. Cal briefly engages with the Second Sister and is thrown onto an Imperial-controlled transport train. Through various means of fighting and escape, Cal finds himself on top of the train receiving help from a mysterious ship that’s passenger beckons Cal to board. Through an adrenaline-packed action sequence, Cal manages to get aboard the ship and is greeted by Cere, a former Jedi Knight as well as Greez Dritus, the captain of the ship (The Stinger Mantis).

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Cere, knowing Cal is able to channel the Force, takes him to the planet Bogano in hopes that he can access an ancient vault. When Cal starts to make his way towards the Vault, he comes across a little droid named BD-1. They become friends quickly and BD-1 shows Cal a message from a former Jedi Master named Eno Cordova. This message explains that the ancient vault on the planet was built by an extinct race of beings called the Zeffo. It goes on to explain that a Jedi Holocron (a tool of information storage only accessible with the Force) which contains a list of Force sensitive beings throughout the Galaxy resides within the vault. Cere believes that with the list, they could start to rebuild the Jedi Order. The only way to gain access to the temple is to follow the path of Jedi Master Eno Cordova so Cal heads to Zeffo, the homeworld planet of the Zeffo race. It is here that Cal explores a Zeffo tomb which leads him to a clue pointing towards a Wookiee Chieftain named Tarfful, who is the friend of Endo Cordova (Tarfful also appears in Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith as an ally to Master Yoda on Kashyyyk). This leads the group to Kashyyyk in search of Tarfful.

Once you arrive on Kashyyyk, Cal hijacks an Imperial AT-AT and heads into the forests. Kal uses the AT-AT to attack Imperial troops and meets a Rebel commander Saw Gerrera (played by Forest Whitaker reprising his role from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). Cal chooses to side with the Rebels to help them defeat the Imperial troops who have been capturing and enslaving the native Wookiees. Unable to find Tarfful, Cal helps aid in the Rebellion on Kashyyyk and is told by a rebellion leader that they will contact Cal when they have located Tarfful. This leads the group back to the planet Zeffo in search of more clues involving the Holocron vault on Bogano. It is here where Cal is ambushed by the Second Sister who reveals herself to be the former Padawan of Cere, Trilla Suduri. She explains that Cere had revealed her location to the Empire after being captured and tortured. Trilla and Cal fight, and Cal stands his ground before Trilla escapes while explaining that Cere will betray Cal.

Star Wars 4

Cal has learned that in order to open the Holocron vault, he needs a Zeffo Astrium to unlock it. On his way back to the Stinger Mantis on Zeffo, Cal gets ambushed and abducted by a bounty hunter working for the Haxion Brood. He is taken and forced to fight in a Gladiatorial arena owned by the crime lord, Sorc Tormo. Cal fights the beasts he is pitted against with ease and ends up getting saved by Cere and Greez. They explain that they have received a transmission from Kashyyyk and Tarfull is ready to meet.

Once back on Kashyyyk, Cal travels to Tarfull and is instructed to seek answers atop the great Origin Tree. On his way to the top of the tree, Cal is attacked by the Ninth Sister in her ship. At this time a giant winged creature helps save Cal by downing the Ninth Sister’s ship. The giant winged creature was injured while downing the ship, and Cal nurtures and heals it. It then provides Cal with a flight to the top of the Origin Tree. Here Cal  meets the Ninth Sister on foot. Cal fights the Ninth Sister and defeats her in combat. The Ninth sister is sent falling from the Origin Tree and is not heard from again. Atop of the Origin Tree, Cal discovers a recording of Eno Cardova which explains that a Zeffo Astrium can be found on Darthomir.

Once on Darthomir, Cal encounters a Nightsister named Merrin. She views Cal as an enemy and explains how she blames the Jedi for the massacre of her people during the Clone Wars. She attempts to deter Cal by corrupting Nightbrothers to attack him. Pushing further into the depths of Darthomir Cal meets a mysterious man who explains that he has been on Darthomir for a long time. Cal locates the Zeffo tomb that contains the Astrium he is searching for. While in the tomb, Cal experiences a flashback of his former Jedi Master, Jaro Tapal, who sacrifices himself to save Cal from Order 66. After the flashback, Cal finds himself in a Force realm with an incarnation of Jaro Tapal that attacks him. During this encounter, Cals LightSaber is crushed out of anger, destroying his Kyber Crystal. When Cal’s Force vision ends, he is back on Darthomir now weaponless. Cal then encounters the mysterious man again who reveals himself to be former Jedi Taron Malicos, who crash landed on Darthomir during Order 66’s Jedi purge. Malicos explains how he has been seeking to learn the dark magick of Darthomir’s Nightsisters. He offers to teach this ability to Cal, who refuses and flees when Nightsister Merrin attacks both him and Malicos.

Star Wars

Once back on the Stinger Mantis Cere speaks with Cal about how when she learned that her Padawan had become an Inquisitor this led her to briefly fall to the Dark Side, which is why she decided to cut herself off from the Force. At this point, Cere and Cal recall the planet Illum, which is host to massive deposits of natural Kyber used by the Jedi Order for the selection of young Padawans Kyber Crystals. The group travels to Ilum in order for Cal to repair his LightSaber (it has now also been confirmed that the planet Ilum is also the same planet that the First Order transformed into Star Killer Base in Star Wars: The Force Awakens … using the natural Kyber Crystals to power the devastating planet destroying weapon.) Cal successfully collects a new Kyber Crystal and repairs his LightSaber.

Cal returns to Darthomir and re-enters the Zeffo tomb containing the Astrium. Cal faces the Force vision of Jedi Master Jaro Tapal again and overcomes the guilt he holds for his Jedi Master’s death. Cal is then able to receive the Astrium and starts to exit the tomb. Cal is again confronted by Taron Malicos, who tries to tempt Cal to the dark side. Cal refuses and fights Malicos, defeating him with the help of Nightsister Merrin. Merrin then takes Cal up on his offer to join him and the Stinger Mantis crew.

The crew now returns to the ancient Zeffo vault on Bogano with the atrium in hand. Once in the vault, Cal is again ambushed by Trilla, the Second Sister, who steals the Holocron and escapes after Cal defeats her in combat. Cal quickly gets back to the Mantis and explains what has happened. Cere reassumes her role as a Jedi and grants Cal the rank of Jedi Knight.

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With the Holocron in the possession of the Inquisitors, the crew decides to assault the Inquisitor headquarters — Fortress Inquisitorius on the water planet Nur. They locate the Holocrons signal within the interrogation chamber of the fortress. Cal reaches the chamber and has his final confrontation with Trilla, the Second Sister.  He defeats her once and for all, leaving her alive and injured. Cal retrieves the Holocron when Cere reaches the interrogation chamber, attempting to make amends with Trilla. It seems as though Trilla is about to turn back to the Light Side, connecting again with her old master. Then out of the darkness, the Sith Lord Darth Vader appears and kills Trilla for her failure. With no way of defeating the powerful Darth Vader, Cal and Cere are forced to flee for their survival barely escaping his grasp. Back on the Stinger Mantis, Cal accesses the Holocron for the first time, revealing a massive galaxy map with all the Force sensitive beings charted within it. Cal, after realizing that it would be more dangerous to gather these beings together with the Empire searching for them, destroys the Holocron entirely. He states that the Force will guide these beings on the path they are meant for without the need for interference. With the journey completed, Cal asks the crew where they should head next, and then the credits role, bringing closure to an absolutely amazing Star Wars story.

Respawn Entertainment has crafted such a beautiful story and built a connection with the characters of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order that fans of Star Wars are beyond happy with. The latest installation into the greater Star Wars Universe has been happily accepted by the massive Star Wars fanbase. Fans of the game are very hopeful for future installments to this series and want to experience more of what Cal Kestis has to offer. With outstanding sales numbers, it is very likely that in the future Respawn Entertainment will grace us with another amazing Star Wars experience. Until then, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will take the title of “The Best Star Wars Video Game” for me and countless other gamers and Star Wars fans alike.

Written by
I am a life long dedicated Gamer that has gamed since my hands could hold a controller. I love all types of games from FPS to MOBA, to Indie, to VR and can appreciate games for the Art that they are. As an avid gamer, I pride myself on obtaining as much information and news related to my interests in the entertainment medium as possible and value sharing my finds with other people. From reviews to detailed opinions I strive to bring forth an outlook that is unique to myself but resonates with the masses. Come watch me on Twitch!

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