(I'm reviewing this now because I just got the Platinum trophy) This game couldn't have come out at a more perfect time. The Mandalorian had just started airing, and my love for Star Wars had been reignited (which would lead to me watching all of The Clone Wars -- which I love). Like the name suggests, Fallen Order throws you into the era of Star Wars about five years after the Jedi Order has... ahem fallen. And just as The Clone Wars finds a way to make the Prequel era more interesting, FO explores a time rarely seen on screen and makes it more interesting (I mean, anything is more interesting than Solo). Introducing many new (and a few old -- Saw Gerrara!) characters, FO establishes its corner of the SW universe as one that deserves more exploration in future games. From a gameplay perspective, I couldn't have been happier with FO. The Lightsaber action is unrivaled by any other melee weapon in games, except by maybe a certain sword or crowbar. Coupled with a variety of force powers unlocked during story progression and a skill tree (one that doesn't feel annoying), you can approach enemies in a variety of ways that will have you feeling like a true Jedi Master if you master them all. Traversal and finding secrets is really fun, too -- FO takes heavy inspiration from the Medroidvania genre, blocking off areas from traversal without future abilities, a plethora of upgrades and customization options hidden throughout the world, and the inability to fast-travel back to your ship (something I didn't really love, but I'll give it a pass because these worlds are really fun to explore). This may not be the perfect game -- there are some bugs, and my PS4 Pro didn't always run smoothly even when playing on Performance Mode (maybe I'll play the sequel on PC?) -- but it's a perfect Star Wars game, at least to me.

Reviewed on Aug 30, 2020


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