Welp. Just finished it. And I'm happy to say I enjoyed my time with it. It's the most fun I've had playing a Jedi in a Star Wars game since Jedi Outcast and Academy. I certainly liked this better than The Force Unleashed, which I thought was terrible.
And I wouldn't be insane to say this felt more like a Star Wars property than any of the sequel trilogy, no? I can't be alone in thinking this, am I right? It nails the high adventure plus all the drama and pathos that one can expect from a Star Wars story. I'd rank Cal Kestis and crew alongside Mando and Baby Yoda as some of the best characters to come out of this Disney era of Star Wars.
If they plan to make a sequel (which looks likely, given the game's success), I'd like to see:
- Better polished combat. I'll admit I struggled with it at times. I thought after playing Sekiro the combat here would be a breeze. But it wasn't as responsive as I would like and it frustrated me. Respawn did an admirable job but they have a long way to go before they can match From Software's best efforts.
- More rpg options. I agree with everyone here saying the game should have had more rpg progession. They should allow us to customize our character with different builds and all that. Also, can we have meaningful loot rather than just cosmetic shit? It was disappointing to see most of those chests were just different ponchos and paint jobs. How about some freaking lightsaber upgrades that help in combat? Is that too much to ask?
- Less Uncharted platforming bits. I'm really not a big fan of all the cinematic parkour, and there was way much too much of that.
- Ability to use ranged weapons. Come on Respawn. Using a lightsaber is cool and all, but I'd like to be able to 'pew' 'pew' a bunch of stormtroopers once in awhile.
- A logical continuation of Cal's story. In the end, Cal chooses to destroy the Holocron rather than endanger the lives of all the Force sensitive children of the galaxy. That was a wise decision from him and felt like a good end to his character arc. But where does he and the rest of the Mantis crew go from here? They're still bound to the laws of canon since we never see Cal join up with the rebellion and it's Luke Skywalker who finally defeats Vader and the Emperor. It makes me think that Cal and company may die before Luke ever leaves Tatooine. I just hope their exit from the timeline is a story worth telling.
All in all, I'm pleasantly surprised this game turned out really good. Electronic Arts is a garbage company to waste the Star Wars license on, but I'll grudgingly admit they did good here. If they were smart they'd see that this game has the potential to be a new series. But then again they'd probably ruin it like they did Dead Space.
Ah well. I guess we don't know what the future holds for this. All we can really do is follow the game's tagline: Trust only in the Force.
www.vg247.com
