Review - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I took a look at The Clone Wars the other day, and now, I'd like to venture into a different territory today, that of a Star Wars video game. This is my review of the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order released on Playstation 4 and Xbox One. 

      So, the story of the game is set several years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, and focuses on former Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis, who has spent the last number of years working as a scrapper on the planet Bracca. One day, after saving his friend Prauf from falling to his death, two Imperial Inquisitors arrive: the Second Sister and the Ninth Sister. Inquisitors are dark side Force wielders who are tasked by both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader to hunt down any surviving Jedi. Cal is confronted by the Second Sister and the Ninth Sister, and enters a saber duel with the Second Sister. Cal is saved, however, by the Stinger Mantis, which is piloted by a Latero named Greez Dritus. The other passenger is former Jedi Knight Cere Junda, who takes Cal to the peaceful planet Bogano. It is here where Cal meets a Droid named BD-1, who leads Cal to an ancient vault, which was built by a long-extinct race of Force wielders called the Zeffo. It is in the Zeffo vault where Jedi Master Eno Cordova hid a holocron that has the name of every Force-sensitive child listed on it. Clues to open the vault, according to Cordova, can be found on three planets: Zeffo, Kashyyyk, and Dathomir. 

      So, Cal and the crew of the Mantis head on the journey to locate Zeffo tombs and any possible clues to opening the vault on Bogano. On their first trip to Zeffo, Cal learns of a defunct Imperial project called Project Auger, which was used to search for any significant artifacts. It is here that Cal also learns that a Wookiee named Tarful may have a clue to a Zeffo artifact. So, the crew heads to Kashyyyk, where Cal joins with a rebellious group of partisans led by Saw Gerrera in freeing enslaved Wookiees from the clutches of the Empire. Along his journey, Cal continues to restore his connection to the Force, and learns that Cere lost her own Padawan, Trilla, to the Empire. 

        On a return trip to Zeffo, upon locating a second tomb, Cal is confronted by the Second Sister, who reveals that she is Cere's former Padawan Trilla. Trilla reveals that Cere betrayed her to the Empire, and now she has a deep hatred towards Cere, and warns Cal not to trust Cere, or risk similar betrayal. In the Zeffo tomb, Cal learns that a Zeffo artifact called an Astrium is the key to opening the vault on Bogano. Cal, upon his return trip to the Mantis, is confronted by a bounty hunter working for criminal syndicate Haxion Brood. The bounty hunter takes Cal to the headquarters of Haxion Brood, to whom Greez owes a lot of money in gambling debts. It is here where Cal is forced to fight in a gladatorial arena against several creatures that Cal faced on Bogano, Zeffo, and Kashyyyk. Cal is rescued by the Mantis, and Haxion Brood bounty hunters continue to chase Cal all across the galaxy.

       Cal returns to Kashyyyk, where he meets with Tarful in the Shadowlands, and is instructed to climb the Origin Tree for the answers he seeks. During the climb, Cal is confronted by the Ninth Sister, and befriends the mythical Shyyyo bird, the guardian of the tree. Upon reaching the top, Cal learns of an Astrium in a Zeffo tomb on Dathomir, and he finishes off the Ninth Sister. Cal heads back to the Mantis, and sets off for their next destination: Dathomir. 

       On Dathomir, Cal is confronted by Merrin, who is among the last of the Nightsisters, a group of Force-wielding sorceresses who were nearly slaughtered during the Clone Wars by General Grievous. Cal also meets former Jedi Master Taron Malicos, who has fallen to the dark side due to his obsession with power. Throughout the game, Cal had had flashbacks to his time as a child, training in the ways of the Jedi with his master, Jaro Topal, who sacrificed himself to save Cal when Order 66 was initiated. During a confrontation with Topal, Cal accidentally crushes his former master's lightsaber, and is forced to flee. Cere comforts Cal, explaining what happened to her, and the reason she cut herself off from the Force. It turns out that at the Fortress Inquisitorius on the oceanic moon of Nur in the Mustafar system, Jedi are taken to be tortured in the most cruel ways imaginable. Cere did her best to resist, buy eventually cracked and tapped into the dark side. Cere then takes Cal to the frigid world of Ilum, which is home to a Jedi temple, and a cave of Kyber crystals. Cal finds a new crystal, and uses it to rebuild the lightsaber. Cal also learns of a mining operation on Ilum being perpetrated by the Empire, which includes an industrial trench, which would later become a major part of a superweapon when the planet is converted into Starkiller Base. 

          Cal returns to Dathomir, confronts his past, and gains Merrin's trust, to the point where she helps him defeat Malicos, retrieve the Astrium, and joins the crew of the Mantis. The crew then returns to Bogano, where Cal uses the Astrium to open the vault, sees a Force vision of what may happen if he finds the children listed in the holocron, which eventually ends with him and his potential Padawan being taken by the Empire and becoming a new wave of Inquisitors. Cal awakens from this vision, only to be confronted by Trilla, who takes the holocron, leaving her lightsaber behind. Cal then finally sees the truth: Cere left Trilla and a group of younglings behind to draw off their attackers, is tortured into giving up their location, only for Trilla to be tortured into becoming the Second Sister, and the sight of her Padawan as an Inquisitor caused Cere to lose control and escape, tapping into the dark side to do so. Cal returns to the Mantis, where he and Cere decide to confront Trilla together, with Cere making Cal a full Jedi Knight. 

      At the Fortress Inquisitorius, Cal fights his way through Stormtroopers, Scout Troopers, and Purge Troopers, all before one last confrontation with Trilla. Upon defeating Trilla, Cere arrives and accepts responsibility for everything Trilla went through, and apologizes. Just as it appears that Trilla might rejoin Cere, Darth Vader emerges and kills Trilla, disappointed in her failure. Cal then escapes from Vader, only to have to face him during the escape attempt. Cere then arrives, and fights with Vader, only for Cal to break through a glass window and swimming to the ocean's surface will Cere in tow. The two are saved by Merrin, and are taken back to the Mantis. A few days pass, and Cal wakes up, and he decides that the fate of the children listed in the holocron should be left to the Force, destroying the holocron in the process. The game ends with Cal asking, "So, where to now?" 

       The story of this game is probably the best written for a Star Wars game since Knights of the Old Republic. The variety of planets, both new and familiar, is pretty awesome, the various creatures that you have to defend yourself against really adds some variety from just fighting Imperials. Cal is a very neat protagonist, and his various abilities really enhance the gameplay, which has been heavily compared to the Dark Souls series. The cast of this game, which includes Cameron Monaghan as Cal, Debra Wilson as Cere, Tina Ivlev as Merrin, Daniel Roebuck as Greez, Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, Elizabeth Grullon as Trilla/the Second Sister, Tony Amendola as Eno Cordova, and Scott Lawrence as Darth Vader, are all excellent here, and I enjoyed every one of their performances thoroughly. 

       I absolutely loved the game, and not only would I like to see a sequel to this game, I wouldn't mind seeing Cal and the crew of the Stinger Mantis jump into another Star Wars project on Disney+. Overall, I definitely recommend checking out Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It's definitely a game worth picking up. Easy 5/5 for me. This is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys next time.