The first time I played Jedi: Fallen Order was in 2020 during lockdown. I only played through a small portion of the game before moving on to something else. Whenever I wanted to pick up where I left off, I felt like I couldn’t. I kept being reminded of 2020 and I thought more time needed to pass before I could restart Jedi: Fallen Order. It’s interesting how strong memories can tie us to periods of our lives. This year, I was determined to play Jedi: Fallen Order from start to finish as I felt enough time had passed since 2020. I’m so glad that I gave Jedi: Fallen Order another chance. Jedi: Fallen Order is an essential game to Star Wars lore.

Jedi: Fallen Order takes place five years after Order 66 when the Republic turned into the Empire. Former Padawan, Cal Kestis, is in hiding as he knows if he reveals his connection to The Force, he will be hunted. On a job site, Cal saves his friend Prauf by using the force. Inquisitors show up, and kill Prauf, forcing Cal to retreat. Cal is saved by former Jedi Knight, Cere Junda and pilot Greez Dritus and stows away on their ship. Cal learns that there is a Holocron that entails all the children who are force-sensitive. It becomes a race against time to find the list before the Inquisitors do.

Slight Spoilers Below:

I love the time period that Jedi: Fallen Order takes place in. The Inquisitors are a force to be reckoned with. I finished Clone Wars before playing Fallen Order and that helped me love the game even more. I liked seeing Cal go to Dathomir and meet Merrin, one of the only remaining Nightsisters. I love that Merrin became a part of their crew. Additionally, I loved the final battle with Cal and Cere going after the list. I wasn’t expecting Darth Vader to make an appearance as that wasn’t spoiled for me before playing.

I loved the mechanics of the game. I liked how as Cal gained skills, he did get stronger. I would return to some of the previous planets to collect items and some of the enemies I used to fight, now were a lot easier. It was rewarding to see Cal become more skilled and how those skills benefitted him. Also, it’s worth going back to the planets and gathering the collectibles before doing some of the final story sequences. Some of the planets carry additional stims or health packs for BD1 to carry along with “secrets” which can increase Cal’s force meter and health meter. It’s worth it to spend time going back to previous planets to gather these items before proceeding through the story.

One thing about Jedi: Fallen Order that threw me for a loop the first time I played was the difficulty. In my opinion, Jedi: Fallen Order is a difficult game. I played on the “Jedi Knight” difficulty and I found that was challenging. I ended up dropping the difficulty of certain boss fights. I normally avoid games like Dark Souls as I want to enjoy playing video games, not hate them. For those who do like Dark Souls, Jedi: Fallen Order is probably up your alley.

Another challenging portion of the game is traveling around the planets. There were times when I found it difficult to make it back to the Mantis, or the ship that Cal was traveling on. It’s almost like I had to memorize where I had gone in order to make it back. There were times when I felt I was traveling in circles before I was able to make my way back. In one instance, I ended up using a walkthrough simply to navigate back to the Mantis which was a little aggravating.

I’m glad that I gave Jedi: Fallen Order another shot. While it’s a challenging game experience, it’s satisfying to have finished the game. I can’t wait to play Jedi: Survivor, the sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order which was released this year. Jedi: Fallen Order can be played on Xbox Game Pass, Playstation 4 & Playstation 5, and Windows.