Oh here they go again, writing another piece about Dark Souls and this time they’ve managed to tie it into Star Wars! What a pair of twonks. But I’m sure you’ve heard that there are at least elements of Dark Souls in the Fallen Order, and history tells us that games that try to duplicate Dark Souls often fail… Arguably even some of the Souls games themselves don’t manage to repeat the perfection of the first game. Let’s see what Javier and Luke have to say regarding this!
Javier
Ok, so firstly let’s break down what has been revealed that hints at Dark Souls gameplay – I’ve read that there is a flash light equipped to Cal (the game’s protagonist) which is more than just a way to light up the darkness, it also acts as a parry tool (much like the gun in Bloodborne). The reasoning behind this is that Cal is only a Padawan, so won’t be slicing down enemies like they’re Swiss cheese, he’s going to need some help! Additionally you can obviously parry, but that’s not a trait unique to Souls game – Just one that Souls couldn’t be without. There are also save points at which you can level up and refill your stimpack counter as there’s no auto heal nor health pickups, and using these checkpoints will cause the enemies to respawn.
These are all central Souls mechanics that are necessary to call them Soulsbourne games, so it seems we’re getting Dark Souls X Star Wars. Additionally it would appear that the bosses require patience instead of “block ranged attack, go in, block ranged attack” and more carefully measured time-based combat. Wearing the enemy down to eventually destroy them, not knocking big chunks of health off at a time like many classic 3rd person action games.
What is interesting is that there will reportedly be no stamina bar in Fallen Order, which is the only other element they’d need to put in to make it Dark Souls in space. I think this is the part that worries me, in my mind it should be go all in or don’t. What they’re essentially is throwing in a lot of the Souls elements but taking out the tricky glue that makes everything else work, stamina management. Without this element, the game becomes the same as every other action game, which is absolutely fine, but why bother with these other Souls elements which they’ve borrowed? The reason this worries me is that it seems they’ve gone “ah loads of people really love the combat in Dark Souls, let’s put some of that in” and then someone has replied “but don’t forget, kids will buy this and they can’t play Souls games!”, so took out a core difficulty mechanic, meaning that the combat COULD be a bit pieced together and not a fully fledged, deep, combat system that warrants the tough-as-balls combat. To me it should have every element that makes it work. I’ve played games that have just taken elements of the Souls formula, and their formula didn’t work.
And I guess this backs onto another worry, EA. Now it’s easy to bash EA, but I’m not one of those people… Just look at how much I love FIFA! What I don’t like, though, is what they did with the Battlefront games; in my mind they took one of the most fun Star Wars games and made it a COD clone, a generic online shooter with a Star Wars skin. I know not everyone shares this opinion, but I detested these new games and felt like they pretty much shat on amazing experiences I had as a kid; extreme, I know. Really what it told me was that EA didn’t know how to make a Star Wars game, how to keep that child-like element that is cleverly weaved into everything they do. Yes, I do want a challenging and rewarding Padawan-to-Jedi story/game, but it still has to have fun and some goofiness.
I don’t think a true Star Wars Dark Souls game could actually be made because the thing that works so well about Souls is this suffocating, dank atmosphere and well… That ain’t Star Wars. Obviously I hope this game is solid and fun, and just bloody amazing, but I really hope it’s enough of it’s own game and doesn’t try to borrow too heavily from other games… But hey, we shall see very soon!
Here’s a brief word from our Souls expert Luke…
Luke
I am quite worried about the Dark Souls elements bleeding into Jedi: Fallen Order because… Well…
…I don’t want them there.
Dark Souls and other Soulsbornes work because it’s what they are, it’s ALL they are and I really don’t want these elements shoehorned into my Star Wars game. I want to be a force wielding god that can take down Stormtroopers by the legion.
Also the fact that there is a difficulty meter does make me anxious because Dark Souls combat style simply doesn’t work unless the combat is hard. Hell, even God of War, which borrowed so heavily from the Soulsborne franchises, had some bits which were tough as hell and these were the best the game had to offer.
Hopfully I am wrong and Dark Souls and Star Wars goes together like PB and J, but I can’t help feeling like all my fears will come true and they’ll blend together like PB and turds.
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