T w e n t y S i d e d

Earlier in this series I pointed out how Fallen Order didn’t make us endure one or two chapters of the story before allowing us to have a lightsaber. But here we are nearing the endgame and suddenly the writer feels the need to slam on the brakes and have us spend a couple of hours working to re-acquire a lightsaber.

To a certain extent, I can understand the need for this sequence within the story. Cal has just reached his crisis point and confronted his inner demons. The skeletons are out of his closet, and he’s finally unleashed the emotional outburst he’s been bottling up for the last five years. Having him construct a new lightsaber is a really good way to symbolize his internal struggle. His old self is broken, and to get over his emotional baggage he needs to build something new. Star Wars has always been great at literalizing internal struggles like this.

On the other hand, this timing is a little weird. We’ve now been rejected at the doorstep of the Dathomir temple for the third time. Cal’s breakdown feels like something that should happen at the end of a temple. What I’d expect is that the “treasure” inside the temple is some kind of knowledge that transforms him. The way this is structured, it feels like he has his personal crisis on his way to something else.

This isn’t inherently wrong or anything, it’s just a little odd. I can’t escape the notion that we’re looking at some seams left behind by cut content or last-minute rewrites. I’ll come back and pull on this thread of cut content later in the series, but for now let’s just head for the Jedi world of…

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Jedi Fallen Order Part 13: The Lightsaber Tease”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

After a lot of distractions, mishaps, and Gorgara’s multi-stage boss fight / chase scene / action sequence / second boss fight, Cal finally crawls back out of the hole and approaches the temple of Dathomir for the third time. Spoiler: He’s still not going to get in.

This time he reaches the front door and finds it can’t be opened.

As the player turns around, they see a meditation circle on the floor. Instead of simply saving the game, interacting with this particular circle will actually launch a flashback. Every single time I go through the game, I automatically click on the circle and get sucked into the next huge block of cutscenes. When it happens, I make a mental note to NOT use the circle in the next game, and instead see how the game responds if you try to leave the temple without meditating.

This was my third trip through the game, and I still forgot. My save reflex is too strong.

Anyway, before we join Cal in his flashback, we need to back up a bit and talk about Jaro Tapal.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Jedi Fallen Order Part 12: Heart of Dark Side”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

So we’re at the top of the World Tree™ on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. We just collected the next plot coupon of Master Cordova’s Galactic Tomb Tour. It’s time to leave, but first we have to fight the Ninth Sister. She was in the group of inquisitors at the start of the game, and is sort of the Nelson Muntz of the Sith. Her smack talk is clumsy and dumb, but Cal is still no match for her. He loses the verbal sparring, but then wins the ensuing glowstick fightI mean, assuming YOU win.. 

She’s a simple, straightforward character and works well as a mid-game boss when we need to duel someone quasi-important who isn’t the main antagonist.

Way back in 2006 – back when this site was in its infancy – I wrote an article talking about how to portray sword fights in the context of a video game. The article is a bit short and undercooked by today’s standards, but I’d like to come back to that idea and talk about it some more.

So let’s talk about… Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Jedi Fallen Order Part 11: Duel of the Flakes”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.