EA and Respawn Entertainment recently pulled back the curtain on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order when they finally revealed what the game will look and play like in action, and it told us plenty that we didn’t know about it. That said, even more information has come up through a cover story done on the game by Game Informer (and summarized over at ResetEra).
There’s a lot to dive into here, but the most interesting aspect that’s come to light is the design philosophy that Respawn have adapted for the game’s levels. In pure and simple terms, Fallen Order is a Metroidvania title (or at least one with Metroidvania elements), with the development team citing Metroid Prime in particular as a game they looked at for inspiration, while also mentioning other similarly designed games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
That, of course, means exploration will factor in quite heavily. While exploring, players can find chests that can contain anything from items to upgrade your overall health and stamina meters, to skill points that you can use to upgrade your current moves and abilities, or learn new ones entirely. Players can also chance upon cosmetic upgrades while exploring, which can be used to alter the appearance of Cal (the protagonist), BD (Cal’s droid companion), and The Stinger Mantis (Cal’s ship). Cosmetic options for lightsabers can also be found (but you can’t go making your lightsaber red- this is a Jedi game, after all). Exploration is also encouraged by not having any waypoints to tell players where to go at all- using the in-game holographic 3D map is described as being crucial to progress.
Speaking of your ship- The Stinger Mantis will act as your hub of sorts, and will be used to transport you from one planet to the other. There’s going to be multiple planets that players can explore in Fallen Order (though Respawn have refused to give out a number, unsurprisingly), while players can also go back to each planet whenever they want and explore it even further to access previously inaccessible areas using new or upgraded abilities.
While you’re transporting from one planet to the other, the game won’t skip to a cutscene- instead, that journey will happen in real time, allowing you to move about the ship and interact with your companions. As per the developers, the ratio of new planets introduced in the game and those that we’ve already seen in previous Star Wars media is roughly 50/50. Each planet also has a hub location of its own, where you can rest up, save, speak with other characters, and learn more about the lore and the story.
There’s plenty of new details on combat too, which, as the recent gameplay reveal demonstrated, looks like a Star Wars take on Sekiro’s combat- focused on parries, blocks, and dodges, while managing meters for your health, Force abilities, and your stamina. While using your lightsaber and Force powers in conjunction, you will also have to look for openings and cause your enemies to stagger, allowing you to finish them off. Enemies, once killed, can also be scanned by BD to get more information about them (everyone loves a good lore dump). Though the combat sounds a lot like Sekiro, you don’t have to worry about the game being too difficult- Respawn says the game isn’t a very punishing one.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is out on November 15 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. There’s bound to be more information coming on the game very soon- it’s also going to be shown off during Microsoft’s press event. Stay tuned.
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