Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is an action-adventure game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 15, 2019. The story, set in the Star Wars universe five years after Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, follows Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis, who becomes a target of the Galactic Empire and is hunted throughout the galaxy by two Inquisitors while attempting to complete his training, escape his troubled past, and rebuild the fallen Jedi Order.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Developer(s)Respawn Entertainment
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Director(s)Stig Asmussen
Programmer(s)Jiesang Song
Artist(s)
  • Ken Feldman
  • Chris Sutton
Writer(s)
  • Aaron Contreras
  • Manny Hagopian
  • Matt Michnovetz
  • Megan Fausti
Composer(s)
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows, PS4, Xbox One
  • November 15, 2019
  • Stadia
  • November 24, 2020
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The game was announced during E3 2018, with a more detailed reveal during the Star Wars Celebration in April 2019. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics and sold more than ten million copies by the end of March 2020.

Gameplay

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is an action-adventure video game played from a third-person perspective. It was inspired heavily by Batman: Arkham Asylum with regards to the combat system and the "Metroidvania" style of exploration and progression.[1] Players control Cal Kestis and have access to a lightsaber and the Force, which are used in both combat and puzzle scenarios. Enemy types range from Imperial stormtroopers, droids, and Purge Troopers, who have been trained specifically to battle Jedi, to wild beasts and skilled Zabrak warriors that are native to each planet Cal explores. The game's bosses include Inquisitors, who also wield lightsabers and the Force, bounty hunters hired to hunt down Cal, large vehicles such as AT-STs, and wild beasts like the Oggdo Bogdo and the Gorgara. The options menu documents the story as well as characters the player meets, along with a guide of how to defeat enemies.

The player acquires abilities at certain points in the story, and each ability allows access to previously inaccessible areas. Once these abilities are unlocked, the player can upgrade them through a skill tree. The game can only be saved at checkpoints, which appear as "meditation circles". At these meditation circles, the player can "rest", which replenishes his health, Force energy, and healing items, but causes all enemies to respawn. The game's collectibles include different outfits for Cal to wear, lightsaber pieces that can be used to customize the player's lightsaber, and alternate color schemes for Cal's ship, the Stinger Mantis (which is used to travel between planets), and droid companion BD-1 (who is used to access these collectibles, as well as complete certain puzzles), with all of these items being cosmetic and not affecting gameplay.

With the addition of a May 2020 update, players can access the Meditation Arena through the meditation circles. Here, they can complete combat challenges, where they fight multiple waves of enemies, set in arenas based on certain locations from the story mode; completing these challenges awards the player with one to five stars, depending on how well they performed, which can be used to unlock additional skins for BD-1. The Meditation Arena also includes a battle grid, where the player can face off against their own custom enemy wave, while being able to grant themselves invincibility, unlimited Force, and other cheats.[2]

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order takes place five years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. The game follows Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan) as he is being hunted by the Second Sister (Elizabeth Grullon) and her partner, the Ninth Sister (Misty Lee), both trained by the Sith Lord Darth Vader (Scott Lawrence) as part of the Imperial Inquisitors program. Supporting characters include: Cal's friend and scrapping partner Prauf (JB Blanc); former Jedi Knight-turned-mercenary Cere Junda (Debra Wilson); Greez Dritus (Daniel Roebuck), owner and pilot of the Stinger Mantis and Cere's friend; BD-1 (Ben Burtt), a small droid which befriends and accompanies Cal; Jedi Master Eno Cordova (Tony Amendola), who appears in hologram messages; Partisan leader Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker); Merrin (Tina Ivlev), one of the last surviving members of the Nightsister clan of Dathomir; and Dark Jedi Taron Malicos (Liam McIntyre). Cal's former Jedi Master, Jaro Tapal (Travis Willingham), and numerous clone troopers (Dee Bradley Baker) appear in flashbacks.

Plot

Five years after the Great Jedi Purge and the Galactic Republic's conversion into the Galactic Empire, former Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis is hiding on the planet Bracca, where he works as a scrapper salvaging ships from the Clone Wars, and is hiding his Force abilities. After Cal is recorded by an Imperial Probe droid while using the Force to save his friend Prauf, two Inquisitors known as the Second Sister and the Ninth Sister are sent to investigate. After the Second Sister kills Prauf for speaking up against the Empire, Cal makes his escape, briefly engaging in a duel with the Second Sister before he is rescued by former Jedi Knight Cere Junda and her partner pilot Greez Dritus in their ship, the Stinger Mantis.

Cere takes Cal to the planet Bogano in the hopes he can access an ancient vault. En route to the vault, Cal befriends a small droid named BD-1, who shows him a message from former Jedi Master Eno Cordova, revealing that the vault was built by an ancient civilization called the Zeffo and that a Jedi Holocron containing a list of Force-sensitive children has been hidden inside by Cordova. Cere believes the list could help rebuild the Jedi Order, but the only way to access the vault is by following Cordova's path. Cal heads to the Zeffo homeworld and explores an ancient temple, finding a clue pointing to Cordova's friend, the Wookiee chieftain Tarfful. On the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, Cal encounters notorious insurgent Saw Gerrera, whom he helps free several Wookiees enslaved by the Empire.

Unable to find Tarfful, Cal returns to Zeffo to find more clues regarding the vault but is ambushed by the Second Sister, who reveals herself as Trilla Suduri, Cere's former Padawan. She explains that she was captured by the Empire after Cere betrayed her hidden location under torture, and warns Cal that Cere will inevitably betray him once they find the Holocron. Eventually, Cal learns he requires a Zeffo artifact called Astrium to unlock the vault, before being captured by a Haxion Brood bounty hunter and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena owned by Haxion boss Sorc Tormo. After Cere and Greez rescue him, Cal returns to Kashyyyk to meet with Tarfful, who instructs him to investigate the top of the Origin Tree. At the top of the tree, he finds another recording of Cordova saying that an Astrium can be found in a Zeffo tomb on Dathomir before being attacked by the Ninth Sister, whom he defeats.

On Dathomir, Cal's progress is impeded by Nightsister Merrin, who blames the Jedi for the massacre of her people during the Clone Wars, and attempts to keep him away using an army of revenants. After experiencing a flashback of his former master, Jaro Tapal, sacrificing himself to protect him during Order 66, the kyber crystal of Cal's lightsaber is destroyed. He meets former Jedi Taron Malicos, who crash-landed on Dathomir during the Purge and has been seeking to learn the magic of the Nightsisters, over time growing insane and succumbing to the dark side of the Force. Cal refuses Malicos's offer to teach him this dark power and flees after Merrin attacks them both. Aboard the Stinger Mantis, Cere admits she cut her connection to the Force after briefly falling to the dark side upon learning Trilla became an Inquisitor. After traveling to Ilum to rebuild his lightsaber, Cal returns to Dathomir, where he retrieves the Astrium and overcomes his guilt for his part in Jaro's death. He defeats Malicos with the unexpected aid of Merrin, who agrees to join the Stinger Mantis crew.

Back on Bogano, Cal unlocks the vault, but Trilla attacks him and steals the Holocron. After Cere reassumes her status as a Jedi and grants Cal the rank of Jedi Knight, the pair infiltrate the Fortress Inquisitorius on Mustafar's oceanic moon Nur. After battling his way through the fortress, Cal defeats Trilla and retrieves the Holocron. Cere then attempts to reconcile with her former student, but Darth Vader appears and kills Trilla for her failure, nearly killing Cere and BD-1. Unable to defeat Vader, the three barely escape from his grasp with help from Merrin. Back on the Stinger Mantis, Cal, having realized that gathering the children would make it easier for the Empire to target them, destroys the Holocron, believing it to be better for those children to discover their own destinies. Their mission complete, Cal asks his crew where they should head next.

Development

Following his exit from Santa Monica Studio, Stig Asmussen joined Respawn Entertainment in 2014 as the studio's game director, leading the studio's second development team.[3] The project was later revealed to be a third-person action-adventure game set in the Star Wars universe in May 2016.[4] Aaron Contreras, a narrative designer on Mafia III, led the game's narrative team, which included Chris Avellone and four other writers.[5] The studio collaborated with Lucasfilm to create new characters and locations.[6]

The game was created with Unreal Engine 4.[7] Drawing inspiration from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and the Dark Souls series, Asmussen has said the team's goals for the game design include creating a deep combat system and incorporating aspects of Metroidvania map design.[8] Lightsaber combat does not feature dismemberment of human enemies; this was attributed to guidelines imposed by Disney/Lucasfilm.[9]

On June 8, 2019, it was announced that Gordy Haab and Stephen Barton would be composing the score for the game.[10] The former had previously composed the scores to Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Wars: Battlefront while the latter had collaborated with the studio on the Titanfall series and Apex Legends. The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Bach Choir of London.[11] Mongolian folk metal band The Hu wrote and recorded a song, "Sugaan Essena", which featured prominently in the game. The song lyrics were written in Mongolian, then translated into a fictional Star Wars language.[12]

Release

Publisher Electronic Arts announced the game at E3 2018.[13] At E3 2019, Electronic Arts showcased a 15-minute demo of the game.[14] Around two weeks after this on June 25, 2019, the studio showed an extended 25-minute version of the original demo.[15] It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 15, 2019, a month before the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.[16] A Stadia version was released November 24, 2020 to positive reception in regards to performance over cloud gaming.[17] The game was released in two editions; a Standard Edition, and a Deluxe Edition. The latter of which featured exclusive skins for BD-1 and the Mantis, a Digital Artbook and a "Director's Cut" behind the scenes videos.[18] Exclusive cosmetics were also available by pre-ordering the game, and by having an active EA Access membership. One of these cosmetics that were available through pre-ordering the game, the orange lightsaber crystal, was later made available through an update to all players.[19] A free update was released on May 4, 2020, to coincide with Star Wars Day. It introduces combat challenges named "meditation training", New Game Plus, and new cosmetics for BD-1 and Cal.[20] On January 12, 2021, a free update was released that improved performance when running the game with backwards compatibility on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.[21]

Tie-in media and merchandise

A tie-in comic series published by Marvel Comics, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Dark Temple, was announced on June 11, 2019 for release in September 2019.[22] Dark Horse Comics also published a reference book, The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on November 20, 2019.[23]

Hasbro also produced three figures in the Star Wars: The Black Series range for Cal Kestis (and BD-1), the Second Sister and the Purge Stormtrooper, with this selection of designs also being adapted by Funko into Funko Pop! figures.[24]

Reception

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic.[25][26][27] IGN's Dan Stapleton gave the game 9/10, saying "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order makes up for a lot of lost time with a fantastic single-player action-adventure that marks the return of the playable Jedi."[33]

Sales

The PlayStation 4 version of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sold 26,761 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, which made it the fifth bestselling retail game of the week.[34] In the UK, it was the second bestselling retail game during its first week on sale, with 66% of sales being for the PlayStation 4 version and the remaining 34% for the Xbox One version.[35] It was also the fourth biggest physical release of 2019.[36]

Publisher Electronic Arts confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order had the fastest-selling digital launch for any Star Wars game within its first two weeks on sale.[37] The game sold more than 8 million copies by the end of January 2020, exceeding EA's expectations.[38] More than 10 million units were sold by March 31, 2020.[39]

Awards
YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2019 Game Critics Awards Best of Show Nominated [40]
Best Console Game Nominated
Best Action/Adventure Game Nominated
Titanium Awards Game of the Year Won [41][42]
Best Game Design Won
Best Adventure Game Won
2020 New York Game Awards Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game (Debra Wilson) Nominated [43]
Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Best Music Supervision in a Video Game Nominated [44]
23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement in Character (Greez) Nominated [45][46]
Adventure Game of the Year Won
NAVGTR Awards Art Direction, Fantasy Nominated [47][48]
Direction in a Game Cinema Nominated
Game, Franchise Action Won
Performance in a Drama, Lead (Cameron Monaghan) Nominated
Performance in a Drama, Supporting (Debra Wilson) Nominated
Sound Editing in a Game Cinema Nominated
Sound Effects Won
Pégases Awards 2020 Best International Game Nominated [49]
SXSW Gaming Awards Video Game of the Year Nominated [50][51]
Excellence in Gameplay Nominated
Excellence in SFX Won
Excellence in Visual Achievement Nominated
16th British Academy Games Awards Audio Achievement Nominated [52]
Narrative Nominated
18th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards Audio of the Year Nominated [53][54]
Music of the Year Won
Sound Design of the Year Nominated
Best Cinematic Cutscene Audio Nominated
Best Dialogue Nominated
Best Original Instrumental Nominated
Best Original Choral Composition ("Cordova's Theme") Won
Best Audio Mix Nominated
ASCAP Composers' Choice Awards Video Game Score of the Year Won [55][56]
The Game Awards 2020 Best Action/Adventure Game Nominated [57]

See also

References
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