Fallen Order was an interesting experience to say the least. I am not sure if the PS5 port is shoddy, but my experience with this game was mostly negative. To start, I experienced a number of graphical and gameplay related bugs. Things like the player character (Cal) sinking through the ground, elements of the environment flickering, environmental elements clipping through other elements, etc. This game also has some of the worst loading times on the PS5 I’ve ever experienced, but it wasn’t consistent.
Some of the design choices I found off, like having the game go to a bright white transition whenever you go to meditate (a la bonfire for Souls games) which results in the player being blinded. This got so annoying that I developed a habit of closing my eyes when I went into and left meditation circles.
However, the gameplay was probably the most solid part of this experience, but it still left things to be desired. It’s easy to see that Fallen Order looked toward the Dark Souls series for inspiration and in my opinion, if you’re going to have another piece of media heavily influence your creations, you need to improve or add your own spin to those elements. Fallen Order does not do this, in my opinion:
Character progression is bland. The upgrades never feel like they make Cal more powerful. Sure, some of the moves feel better and your combat toolbelt does improve, but nothing really gave me the pizzaz I was looking forward to. Not to mention that Cal wields a lightsaber, one of the most powerful weapons in sci-fi, and it feels no better than a regular steel sword. The only interactive environmental elements that react to the lightsaber would react the same way as if it was a lowly sword.
Exploration in this game is not as exciting as it could have been, as the rewards for searching every nook and cranny are lacking excitement. Finding chests provide cosmetic changes ranging from a new skin for BD-1 or a poncho for the player character. None of these upgrades alter gameplay in the slightest (and most of these cosmetics are kinda ugly). Even the game altering upgrades you do receive cause no cosmetic changes themselves. You would think that having a number of upgrades for your droid companion would change their appearance, but they do not. I want my lil buddy to look like they’ve improved since the beginning of the adventure, but all they got was a new paint job.
As for combat, all of the Souls elements are here. We got dodge-rolling, parrying, light & heavy attacks, etc., but none of it has the same variety or pop to them as the series that influenced these decisions. Combat stays stagnant due to only being able to wield one weapon whereas the Souls games have a number of weapon classes that have their own movesets and appearances. The enemy placements also leaves more to be desired due to some areas feeling like they dumped a large number of enemies and called it a day. Some could argue Dark Souls does this as well, but I disagree as enemy placement in the Souls games feel deliberate and curated. Fallen Order will have 6 enemies on the ground, 3 ranged enemies at a vertical advantage, and 2 spiders pew-pewing you with poison. This plays out poorly especially in the early game as handling multiple enemies in combat feels extremely cumbersome and clunky.
Lastly, there were numerous times where I felt like I died and it was not my fault, but rather the game’s mistake. For example: I went to heal and the animation fully played out, but I never received healing. Comparing this back to Dark Souls, as far as I can remember, I never felt like anything else was to blame for the deaths given to me.
This game has the classic “Main character has memory loss and regains their memories right at the most opportune time” vibes. Cal is basically a Jedi Master with memory loss that ended up being a scrapper on some random planet. That is, until he realizes he’s a Jedi right when he needed to save his buddy. This pattern repeats whenever it is most convenient for the story.
“Did you just drop your lightsaber down a pit? No worries, just immediately remember how to pull items back to you using the force!”
I also never really cared much for Cal. He just seems like another generic dude in a sci-fi story. What sets Cal apart from other protagonists? I can’t tell myself. This is really the same sentiment I have for all of the characters in the story. They all follow this cookie-cutter approach that ends up not making anyone feel special here, which is a shame as the one character that DOES feel special is seen for such a short amount of time after we help her.
Speaking of the best things are given a small amount of time, I found the Vault section towards the end of the game the best segment in my entire playthrough. This piece of the story only lasts for around 15 minutes, but it does shows what this game has the potential to do. It was unique, it told a story in an engaging way, and added variety to a mechanic we’ve used multiple times. I really hope the team behind this game builds on THIS FIFTEEN MINUTES of gameplay for the sequel, as it was easily the best section of the game.
Overall, this game left so much to be desired. I know the Star Wars franchise means so much to so many people and it’s really a bummer that this game had so much potential that wasn't delivered upon. Granted, the reception of this game is very positive, so I am kinda guessing this game isn’t for me. However, if we separate the Star Wars franchise from this game, what do we have left? I found that there really isn’t much to write home about. The core gameplay lacks variety, but shows crumbs of what could have been. The core story is bland, but has short segments that shows its true potential. I do hope they build upon the best elements in this game for the sequel and do not grow content with what they’ve offered here due to the positive reception, as there is so much to build off of and to grow complacent with what’s here would be a mistake.
Some of the design choices I found off, like having the game go to a bright white transition whenever you go to meditate (a la bonfire for Souls games) which results in the player being blinded. This got so annoying that I developed a habit of closing my eyes when I went into and left meditation circles.
However, the gameplay was probably the most solid part of this experience, but it still left things to be desired. It’s easy to see that Fallen Order looked toward the Dark Souls series for inspiration and in my opinion, if you’re going to have another piece of media heavily influence your creations, you need to improve or add your own spin to those elements. Fallen Order does not do this, in my opinion:
Character progression is bland. The upgrades never feel like they make Cal more powerful. Sure, some of the moves feel better and your combat toolbelt does improve, but nothing really gave me the pizzaz I was looking forward to. Not to mention that Cal wields a lightsaber, one of the most powerful weapons in sci-fi, and it feels no better than a regular steel sword. The only interactive environmental elements that react to the lightsaber would react the same way as if it was a lowly sword.
Exploration in this game is not as exciting as it could have been, as the rewards for searching every nook and cranny are lacking excitement. Finding chests provide cosmetic changes ranging from a new skin for BD-1 or a poncho for the player character. None of these upgrades alter gameplay in the slightest (and most of these cosmetics are kinda ugly). Even the game altering upgrades you do receive cause no cosmetic changes themselves. You would think that having a number of upgrades for your droid companion would change their appearance, but they do not. I want my lil buddy to look like they’ve improved since the beginning of the adventure, but all they got was a new paint job.
As for combat, all of the Souls elements are here. We got dodge-rolling, parrying, light & heavy attacks, etc., but none of it has the same variety or pop to them as the series that influenced these decisions. Combat stays stagnant due to only being able to wield one weapon whereas the Souls games have a number of weapon classes that have their own movesets and appearances. The enemy placements also leaves more to be desired due to some areas feeling like they dumped a large number of enemies and called it a day. Some could argue Dark Souls does this as well, but I disagree as enemy placement in the Souls games feel deliberate and curated. Fallen Order will have 6 enemies on the ground, 3 ranged enemies at a vertical advantage, and 2 spiders pew-pewing you with poison. This plays out poorly especially in the early game as handling multiple enemies in combat feels extremely cumbersome and clunky.
Lastly, there were numerous times where I felt like I died and it was not my fault, but rather the game’s mistake. For example: I went to heal and the animation fully played out, but I never received healing. Comparing this back to Dark Souls, as far as I can remember, I never felt like anything else was to blame for the deaths given to me.
This game has the classic “Main character has memory loss and regains their memories right at the most opportune time” vibes. Cal is basically a Jedi Master with memory loss that ended up being a scrapper on some random planet. That is, until he realizes he’s a Jedi right when he needed to save his buddy. This pattern repeats whenever it is most convenient for the story.
“Did you just drop your lightsaber down a pit? No worries, just immediately remember how to pull items back to you using the force!”
I also never really cared much for Cal. He just seems like another generic dude in a sci-fi story. What sets Cal apart from other protagonists? I can’t tell myself. This is really the same sentiment I have for all of the characters in the story. They all follow this cookie-cutter approach that ends up not making anyone feel special here, which is a shame as the one character that DOES feel special is seen for such a short amount of time after we help her.
Speaking of the best things are given a small amount of time, I found the Vault section towards the end of the game the best segment in my entire playthrough. This piece of the story only lasts for around 15 minutes, but it does shows what this game has the potential to do. It was unique, it told a story in an engaging way, and added variety to a mechanic we’ve used multiple times. I really hope the team behind this game builds on THIS FIFTEEN MINUTES of gameplay for the sequel, as it was easily the best section of the game.
Overall, this game left so much to be desired. I know the Star Wars franchise means so much to so many people and it’s really a bummer that this game had so much potential that wasn't delivered upon. Granted, the reception of this game is very positive, so I am kinda guessing this game isn’t for me. However, if we separate the Star Wars franchise from this game, what do we have left? I found that there really isn’t much to write home about. The core gameplay lacks variety, but shows crumbs of what could have been. The core story is bland, but has short segments that shows its true potential. I do hope they build upon the best elements in this game for the sequel and do not grow content with what they’ve offered here due to the positive reception, as there is so much to build off of and to grow complacent with what’s here would be a mistake.