Star Wars games have always been a mixed bag...
And in most cases it has been an issue of jank either in the writing, the game play, or bugs. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order hits those expectations dead on, even a year after launch. I played on a PS4 slim and I don't have an SSD in it, and I do wonder if several of the issues I ran into wouldn't be resolved with beefier hardware. Constant texture pop-in, random freezing for area loading when I'd try and get somewhere quickly, and annoyingly long respawn times plague the game throughout, and in more than one cutscene was basically unwatchable due to constant pausing and cutting into the scene.
The game decides to mix a little Dark/Demons Souls style game play into a Star Wars dressed game and while I played it on Jedi Master difficulty (no longer having the reflexes necessary to make playing on the most difficult Jedi Grandmaster difficulty worthwhile) my first run through I definitely felt it. As I'm now about 75% of the way through New Game+, a mode added for free a few months back now, which just gives you your unlocked skins from the beginning and an inquisitor outfit, I can definitely say it's easier after you've learned the patterns needed and where the upgrades are. I'll probably 100% it this time through, again, I like the game, but it has some major issues. Seriously a game that punishes you as much as this does for failing to hit a button in the right fraction of a second shouldn't freeze on you for for greater than that in the middle of fights, seeing enemies teleport or yo-yo around (which is rare, but happens frequently enough to bring it up, especially in the larger late game fights), or manifest themselves 20 seconds after you've respawned (here's looking at you, Dathomir).
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy with an interesting person for about every 217.48 quadrillion
Fallen Order puts a heavy emphasis on the story, as it should given it's a Star Wars game. I end up wishing the story was less predictable, the cast to be a bit larger, and more time spent with the final addition to your crew. Merrin's story seems rushed (as was most of planet Dathomir) and was the character with the most potential, especially for someone who is a fan of the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon.
The actors do a great job with the material their given though, and there is the appropriate amount of overactive gravitas for a Star Wars property throughout. I found myself most interested in the primary villain, whose name I won't reveal for fear of spoilers, and Greezt, captain and owner of your ship hopping vessel the Mantis and a grey dwarf like four-armed alien with a gambling problem. I end up wishing as much depth was given to Cal, your avatar, and Cere, who is the actual primary character of the game and the catalyst for the story. Cal ends up being a means to an end for other Cere's goals, with very little agency for himself, and it ends up making me wish I'd played as Cere instead.
Edit: Totally forgot to mention the stupid sliding sections, which litter the game. Controlling them is horrible and often you will die because the physics goes wonky and not because of anything you've done. Sometimes they start without warning, and once you've fallen off the edge you get put right back on there so you'd better figure it out before you run out of hit points (and hope to god there's a save point near the end). You get kinda good at a few of them that are required to use in order to get to locations, at least if you want to save yourself 20 minutes of travel time. They never become fun though, and hopefully in the inevitable sequel they're cut entirely. /Edit.
I will probably never get tired of playing as a Jedi though. I'm a fairly big Star Wars fan even if I really don't like the Disney trilogy. It seems their best stuff has been in games and TV shows since the 90's anyways. From Super Star Wars, to Dark Forces II, to Shadow of the Empire, to Knights of the Old Republic, and Force Unleased. These games run the gammit when it comes to quality, but I seem to find myself always enjoying them anyways. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order fits right in line with the average Star Wars game, and while it ends up with an extra point just for the set dressing for me I cannot up and recommend this for anyone who doesn't have similar tastes. There are better Star Wars games, better Souls like games, prettier games, and less buggy ones. If you happen to have a high tolerance for jank though, you can definitely find yourself having fun with this one.
