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Order: Fallen Jedi

So EA loved to say that single player games are dead heh? And then they release a quality single player game which is enjoyable from start to finish? EA just make up your mind please. Start being that EA you were before please.
So this is a soulslike Star Wars game and it's good, it really is. While the story isn't anything special the game shines in other areas.
You play as Cal, a jedi who forgot all his training blah blah blah. On your way you relive some memories and regain your skills. Of course you'll meet other character, have some conversations with them in cut-scenes and when you're around them.
Don't expect deep story but obviously it isn't bad and the game is full of Star Wars lore, enemies and characters.
Lets just speak about gameplay. This is the best part. The game feels like a mix of Uncharted/Tomb Raider and Dark Souls and it's a perfect match. The pacing is insanely good which is similar to Uncharted which means you do some platforming and climbing, puzzles and fighting. None of the gameplay mechanics becomes boring because there's a good balance between action and puzzles or platforming. You might be stuck on fighting some enemies for some time and then you just run along and spend 30 minutes on a puzzle. And every puzzle or climbing/platforming section feels different, there's no copy-pasta crap. Even combat mostly feels different each time due to great enemy variety and bosses.
At times it reminds me of Tomb Raider because some sections feel like tombs with secrets to find and even gameplay is similar.
Now why I say soulslike? Because it has very similar feature – when you die you lose your XP and to get it back you need to go back all the way from your last resting point and hit the enemy which killed you to get everything back. Sounds familiar eh? Yep. There still are checkpoints but they work only in case you die from other causes than enemy attacks.
But Respawn were smart and they gave player a choice – four difficulty levels. I chose the third one and the journey was extremely challenging and satisfying. Don't worry about difficulty – on easiest setting the game is ridiculously easy so everyone can enjoy it. But I will base my review on Jedi Master difficulty.
Enemies range from troopers to various animals and monsters. The difficulty is real and it's punishing, it's very easy to die, especially when you're surrounded by enemies and don't even have the time to use your stim (it restores health). You get more stims by exploring and can have up to 10 of them if you find where they are hidden.
Combat is extremely satisfying. Controls are pretty responsive, you need to evade, block and parry. You also have skills and force. Skills are usually either powerful attacks or force powers like slowing down time or pulling/pushing the enemies. Your force meter fills when you block enemy attacks and when you hit them. To compare it to other games lets say it's similar to stamina. Different enemies also require different tactics. Some of them might be vulnerable to force powers some are best to parry. Diversity of combat is great.
There are some glitches and bugs which occur sometimes like glitched animation or you being stuck somewhere with no way to roll to freedom or you just can't catch that rope. But in general everything is smooth and works great.
Puzzles are not too hard and not too easy. You will need to think a bit which is a nice change from all the action and sweating. Puzzles are well thought and designed with completely different solutions.
And of course the platforming and climbing parts of the game. You will do that a lot. You'll need to jump from one platform to another, sometimes slowing other objects by making a path for yourself. You'll be using ropes to swing, wall running and sliding. It just works and is fun.
By the way at times you'll notice that it's a Respawn game.
Now another excellent part of the game is map design. There are several planets to explore. Some of them are huge and map design is amazingly well done. It's extremely confusing but well thought. You'll be exploring huge maps in various locations. Nature, snow, facilities, water, sand, tombs, caves – you have everything. Location variety is great and the game doesn't feel boring because environments are constantly changing even being on the same map since maps have sections. On your way you will unlock shortcuts which will make traveling back and forth a bit easier but still you will feel like in a maze and need time to understand how to get from point A to point B. Only when you learn the maps you realize how well they are made.
The biggest downside is no fast travel. I mean even Dark Souls has fast travel. What in the world was going on in developer heads? Why, just why? So prepare to run everywhere. While shortcuts help a little you still will spend lots of time running from one section to the other. And don't forget that enemies respawn after you rest.
Graphically the game looks pretty good. Character models are very well done and facial animations are great. Animations in general are great too. Same applies for both – main character and enemy animations.
Performance isn't perfect. The game runs at 80-100 fps just fine on highest settings but it stutters sometimes when the new area is loading. So when transitioning from one section to another you will experience stuttering. Sometimes it will be hidden by some action like squeezing yourself between the walls and waiting until Cal comes out. This is done to reduce the stutters I assume. But at open maps like the first planet you will experience stutter.
Played on 5800x, rtx3080, 32gb @3440x1440.
Sadly no native ultrawide support for cut-scenes. Community fix works fine. There are some artifacts sometimes but nothing too bad.
Sound is awesome as you might expect. It's a AAA game with SW license so obviously sound is top notch, especially the music. Voice acting is great and all the effects are also nice. Being there and having those lightsaber sounds blasting feels so nice.
Overall a very good game for adventure fans. It can be challenging, it can be accessible, nice cast, pretty graphics and great sound makes a good game. Definite buy. Kosmo recommends.
Pros

Satisfying combat
Difficulty settings
Good graphics
Excellent map design
Good balance between action and exploration

Cons

No fast travel
Various minor bugs
There could be fewer collectibles


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