Star Wars has always been a large part of my life, be it back in my childhood smacking around my friends and siblings with makeshift Lightsabers like everyone else growing up, or through experiencing the films and various video games, Star Wars remains relevant even to this day, not just in my life, but in many others’ too.
So to hear that EA has given Titanfall and Apex Legends devs Respawn Entertainment the reigns to the Star Wars IP, and permitted them to create a single player story-focused Star Wars game, well, it’s easy to see why the fanbase has been so reinvigorated… Given that today is the legendary day of Star Wars appreciation, and the fact that we really haven’t seen much on this brand new project, I thought it would be the absolutely perfect time to discuss my hopes and expectations for Star Wars: Fallen Order.
Here’s one that I haven’t seen too many people discuss – When are we going to get fully fledged Lightsaber crafting in a proper Star Wars game?! For years I’ve longed for the opportunity to gather our chosen Kyber Crystal/s and various attachments and bases to form a blade worthy of decimating our enemies with… Hell, why not even feature parts from famous Lightsabers from throughout the franchise? Darth Maul’s infamous double-bladed Lightsaber, Luke’s various blades, Count Dooku’s cane-looking Lightsaber, Kylo Ren’s crossguard ‘Saber and hell, why not the Inquisitor’s Lightsaber ring from the Clone Wars series? Man, I just want to make pretty looking laser swords.
Probably a given at this point, but I would hate for Fallen Order to just be restricted to the ongoings of a single planet – Thankfully the announcement trailer for Fallen Order does a great job of showing us the diversity of locales that we’ll be exploring, but what worries me is how we go from planet to planet. Will it just be a loading screen? Teleportation? Will we need to hitch a ride with other space-faring characters? Or will we get our own ship? In my personal opinion, I feel that space combat is such an integral part of the Star Wars ‘magic’, with many of these scenes such as Episode III’s intro sticking with me just based off of how cool space combat is as a concept – I really do hope we get to fly to these planets, and get to take down some Imperial ships in the process…
With games prior (Excluding notable exceptions such as the KOTR games), Star Wars has remained safe by relegating it’s experiences to planets and areas featured in either previous games or films, never stepping outside of it’s comfort zone into the truly unknown or underdeveloped – In Fallen Order I want to learn more about the Imperial effort outside of systems close to Coruscant and Hoth; I want to learn more about the varied cultures of the galaxy and how they intermingle with one-another; I want to learn a whole host of differing opinions on the Jedi and Sith, and I want to care for these discoveries and stories.
Assuming that the combat is going to be great, one thing I want to see in Fallen Order is a decent blend between the larger scale confrontations and the more personal struggles of Jedi vs Sith combat – Gameplay should be able to cater well enough for both types of event to feel fun, meaningful and thrilling, allowing for a degree of skill, mastery and immersion so you feel like you’ve achieved something whenever these trials are overcome and beaten; without this, I fear that Fallen Order will fall flat… But with it, it could very well become ‘God of War, but with Star Wars’.
KOTR did an ample job of setting up a story that gripped you, and, despite it’s shortcomings, Starkiller from The Force Unleashed did at least have a narrative arc that many wanted to see get resolved – Times have changed, however, and to usher in this new age of Star Wars interactive media, we need a protagonist and story that we actively want to follow. They don’t have to be all wacky and zany, but rather just a real person, with real feelings, consequences, victories and struggles that we can sympathise with, using that as a method to communicate the larger narrative and worldbuilding at play – We don’t need some mute canvas to portray ourselves on, or some ridiculous cariacture… Just someone to care about.
So there we have it – My 5 things that I really, really want in Star Wars: Fallen Order… Do you agree with me? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below!