Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order — Review

Synopsis: A galaxy-spanning adventure awaits in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a third-person action-adventure from Respawn. An abandoned Padawan must complete his training, develop powerful Force abilities, and master the lightsaber — all while staying one step ahead of the Empire.

Publisher: EA
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Directors: Stig Asmussen (Lead), Jiesang Song (Technical), Nick Laviers (Audio)
Writers: Aaron Contreras, Manny Hagopian, Matt Michnovetz, Megan Fausti
Reviewed on: PS4 (PS4 Pro unit)
Also available on: Xbox One, PC
Cast: Cameron Monaghan, Elizabeth Grullon, JB Blanc, Debra Wilson, Daniel Roebuck, Travis Willingham, Ben Burtt, Tony Amendola, Forest Whitaker, Luke Cook, Misty Lee

Since acquiring the Star Wars license in 2013, EA has only published a handful of games, with Battlefront and Battlefront II the heavy hitters. Both drew mixed reactions, and now, with Respawn’s single-player adventure Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, there was hope balance would be returned to the Force. Unfortunately, it’s a mixed bag that looks like Star Wars but falls short of truly making you feel like a Jedi.

What Fallen Order absolutely nails are the look and sound of Star Wars — something even the Battlefront games did well. Visually it impresses (when bugs don’t get in the way), and the opening level on Bracca grabs you fast. The detail and atmosphere of this new ship-scrapping world are striking: a stunning, haunting graveyard of Clone Wars vessels — a war Cal Kestis lived through — now being torn apart.

Cal has cut himself off from the Force to hide from the Empire, but saving a friend exposes him. Not Vader or the Emperor — instead, the Inquisitorius: Imperial Jedi hunters first introduced in Star Wars Rebels. Highly skilled with sabers and the Force, they’re no joke. Their arrival sparks Cal’s escape from Bracca — a slick, set-piece-heavy opening hour that clearly owes a debt to Uncharted (director Stig Asmussen also helmed God of War III).

Bluntly: Cal is a very boring protagonist. I never connected with him; his dialogue is often dull and his arc is familiar. We’ve seen this archetype before in Star Wars, and he feels like the croutons in my salad — some may like them, but I find them unnecessary.

Other characters fare better. Cere Junda (and her pilot Greez Dritus) rescue Cal; Greez is the quippy sidekick, while Cere’s darker past is genuinely intriguing. A Nightsister named Merrin on Dathomir is compelling but underused. The standout is the Second Sister, the relentless Inquisitor hunting Cal; unraveling her story made me wish we were playing from her perspective.

Cere sets Cal on a quest for a Jedi Holocron containing a list of Force-sensitive children who could rebuild the Order. Cue planet-hopping — including Kashyyyk — following clues old and new. It’s serviceable, but the ending is predictable.

I didn’t love Battlefront II’s campaign — it felt like a tutorial for multiplayer — but I did love its characters, who’ve stuck in canon. Here, I don’t care if I see anyone again, which is disappointing.

The bombastic opening is unrepresentative of the next 10–20 hours. Fallen Order is a patchwork of borrowed ideas — a little Uncharted, some Zelda/Metroid, and a heavy dose of FromSoftware’s Soulsborne (Dark Souls, Bloodborne) — but the execution rarely sings.

Respawn calls it “thoughtful combat.” You’ve got light attacks and Force-draining heavy attacks, plus abilities you regain over time (slow, pull, push). On lower difficulties, dueling melee enemies can feel like a friendly Souls on-ramp. I started on Jedi Master (challenging), but recommend Jedi Knight for newcomers — which I swapped to for technical reasons I’ll get to.

Combat most closely resembles Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice: enemies have posture/stamina bars you break to land finishers. Button-mashing won’t cut it; parries rule. Deflecting blaster bolts into stormtroopers feels great. But when the game throws multiple melee foes, a shock baton trooper trained to fight Jedi, and ranged units at once, it often feels cheap.

Damage tuning is odd: small critters can chunk you like hulking trolls or shock troopers. The game rarely feeds you “gimme” enemies to let you feel like a badass Jedi. My most common killer? A goat. It would blindside charge me or knock me off ledges. A damn goat.

There’s also a design mismatch: the “thoughtful” system and the power fantasy rarely meet. Limited flashy finishers/specials would’ve helped. Tying heavy attacks (key for breaking guard) to the Force meter means boss fights devolve into waiting for Force to recharge so you can heavy again; these should have been tied to stamina instead.

If you’re borrowing any combat for a Jedi game, the Batman: Arkham series might’ve been the better fit.

Bonfire equivalents are here as Meditation points: spend skill points, save, and heal. Healing respawns enemies (not bosses). If you die, your killer holds your XP — but uniquely, you only need to land one hit on that enemy to reclaim XP and instantly refill health and Force, which smartly eases boss runbacks. You also have a limited number of heals unless you meditate.

Level design is solidly Metroidvania: looping paths and unlockable shortcuts. But there’s no fast travel at all — surprising, given even Dark Souls lets you warp between bonfires and these maps are big.

Cal’s Force abilities are “relearned” as gated progression. Sure, he’s cut himself off — but playing half the game to remember how to Force pull a lever had me wanting to Han Solo-yell, “That’s not how the Force works!” If Respawn wanted Metroidvania gating, I wish it were mostly gear-based, not core Force basics.

The puzzle-centric “dungeons” where you (re)gain abilities are highlights — fewer enemies, smarter environmental brainteasers — even if it means rediscovering push so you can… push puzzle balls.

My biggest issue is technical: I got stuck in a wall, textures failed to load (or loaded in muddy), and the load times were Yoda-level patience tests. After every death I was staring at 20–30 seconds of loading — and I died a lot. Roughly three-quarters in, I dropped to Jedi Knight purely because I calculated how much of my life was vanishing into load screens.

As a huge Star Wars fan, the lore bits and cameos are fun — like Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera, pre-Rogue One — but I wanted more. The worlds are stuffed with chests that mostly hold cosmetics (ponchos, paint, saber bits). Cool… but where are the juicy lore pickups? Holocrons with readable/listenable history? If any audience will devour that, it’s Star Wars fans. As is, the cosmetic-only collectathon isn’t compelling unless you’re trophy-hunting.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order feels like Rey and Finn debating who Han Solo really is — clashing stories and vibes. It’s a mixed bag of ideas from a team with different visions of what makes a great Jedi game, and it never quite coalesces into one.