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Should You Be Excited About Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order?

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has barely had time to cool off from its announcement and the complaints are already rolling in for the game. It seems the devs are listening and the first complaint, about the brightness of the lightsaber itself, is being addressed. But the larger question is whether or not gamers should be excited by another Star Wars game from EA… you know, the folks that pioneered “Surprise Mechanics” as a phrase referring to loot boxes.

Early footage of the game shows something that many are comparing to a Souls game but with toned down mechanics. Think an action-platformer set in the Star Wars universe with a protagonist that is a Jedi. That about sums up what is going on here. In many ways, it looks like stuff we’ve done before but with better graphics.

That’s not a bad thing but it’s no reason to get terribly excited about the game and it seems like a lot of the vocal people out there aren’t terribly excited about it. Still, for Star Wars fans there might be something here. One thing that is confusing, at the onset, is whether or not this title is going to pursue a “gritty” atmosphere or one more in line with traditional Star Wars but with a darker plot. You are a runaway Jedi after all, fleeing for his life from the Empire. It could go either way and some people are kind of wanting a story that’s a bit darker with a world equally as grim.

There are a myriad of reasons why that is unlikely to happen but it does underscore a sentiment among many people that they want to see growth in the franchise and something different when it comes to the games. For example, the demo reel shows the traditional lightsaber mechanics that we’ve seen in games for years. Yet, as many point out, the lightsaber is capable of dismembering opponents and causing pretty gruesome ends to the recipients of its violence. This doesn’t make an appearance in the game with the lightsaber acting somewhat as a glorified glowing baton used to beat foes into submission.

All of this makes being excited about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order a matter of personal taste. Gamers who are diehard Star Wars fans will probably pick this up day one but there is reason enough for the rest of us to be skeptical. Some of us have been burnt in the past and this franchise isn’t known for innovation or consistency when it comes to its games. Plus there is the whole thing about the future of the film franchise as well as the current state of the present trilogy.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will probably sell really well but even that is not guaranteed. Hopefully, more is shown about it in the coming months that calms fears that it is going to be yet another disappointing use of the Star Wars franchise.

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