izigame.me

An excellent game and a worthy culmination of the cult classic Dark Forces-Jedi Knight series.

Approaching its 20th anniversary, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy remains one of the best Star Wars games ever made, TPP action titles (not only of its era), and one of the most beloved games that came from under LucasArts' wings during its golden age. Relict of better, more hopeful, and playful times, times before the Disney Empire.

It was, is, and considering the current trajectory of the IP most likely will remain one of the top classic Star Wars titles that have managed to hold up surprisingly well. Build on improved and finely-tuned id Tech 3 engine, JK:JA boast one of the most complex melee combat systems of its time, that to this day provides surprisingly robust and deep lightsaber combat and unrestricted fast, varied and snappy movement, both being foundations on which the entire experience relies on.
Mixed with good level and sound design, great and familiar score, forward-thinking systems and twist on the usual single-player format like creation and customization of the player character, weapons, and fighting style, non-linear elements of the construction of the campaign, Jedi Academy's ~10-12 hour single-player offering astonishingly appears quite modern and very much approachable despite its relatively ancient origins. Both as an interactive experience and a product - it works without issues on the most current version of Windows and modern hardware.
Elements that would make me suggest newcomers skipping it are exclusively story-related. It's simply highly advised to start the journey with JA's slightly younger predecessor- Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast, if not going all the way back the origin in a form of 1995 LucasArts hit- STAR WARS - Dark Forces, and continuing the journey from there on.
Knowledge of the previous installments by no means is required, but it certainly will help in appreciating it as it follows and expands many characters, themes and events introduced earlier in the series.
Summarizing two decades of JK:JA's existence, with all its nuances and facades, glorious multiplayer and modding scenes, community dramas and community triumphs, good years, and its graceful vanishing from the main stage and broader public awareness would require both much more space than this review format provides, and more knowledge and experience I could offer and this gem deserves. And at this point, there is not much point in attempting to provide it here.
But for people that would like to hear and watch more, remember old times or simply learn about this game, I highly recommend one of my favorite analyses of this series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMAYCB3b7rY
It is pretty much exclusively focused on the single-player experience, but to be frank this will be the major if not sole way many new players will experience this game. For better or worse. Highly enjoyable and well-put-together retrospective!
With most of the people involved in creating and publishing this game gone or retired, with Expanded Universe slaughtered, with Star Wars license in hands of Disney Company, with the storyline of Kyle Katarn arguably exhausted, it's borderline improbable we'll ever see a new entry in this series.
But, with fairly recent releases on Nintendo Switch, and some publishing interest of other 'Jedi' single-plyer experiences, maybe there's at least a chance for some kind of a remaster, probably bundled with Jedi Outcast, for obvious reason. The game does hold up really well, but it's undeniably aged (and the engine has its quirks and peculiar technical debts) and even surface remastering would dramatically improve UX. Things like more rendering and display options, alt-tabbing, basic support for more modern resolution and controllers or proper GUI scaling.
Oh, speaking of those things, don't forget to set your desired resolution manually before starting your new adventure!
https://www.wsgf.org/dr/star-wars-jedi-knight-jedi-academy
Besides that, nothing else really stands in the way of fully enjoying everything that Jedi Academy has to offer. But for willing and interested- there are fixes, workarounds and utility tools that help overcoming other minor issues.
With its focus on core mythologies and themes of Star Wars- Jedi and Sith orders, force powers, lightsaber combat, adventuring while traveling across the galaxy uncovering its secrets, and interacting with well known and loved characters, in eyes of many players it might be THE Star Wars game. One to experience before others as an encouragement to further plunge into this universe and discover all goodies it has to offer.
I might not make such a claim myself, but I'm 100% certain I wouldn't oppose anyone doing that.

PS- R.I.P. to all clans, great servers, and communities formed around this game. All modder groups and individuals that sacrificed their time and poured passion into creating content for the rest of the fans to enjoy. And all official and fan-made community HUBs uniting all players, starting from various forums to outlets of player creativity, like jk3files.com, that kept this title alive for so many years. Even past its developer, publisher, and arguably IP fell into ruination and infamy.
PPS- screw you, Rosh. Nobody likes you, you'll never be a Jedi.