I have this peeve regarding incredibly elaborate stories, with pages of stories and detailed made-up artifacts making up 80% of the story. Like, I have this rule for myself when it comes to reading, I am not going to read a story with more than two books to lay out the whole thing. Well, I have a bit of leniency when it comes to a few franchises, especially when it doesn’t come with mere words. The point is that there are simply too many stories out there and I want to indulge in every single one. Fixing on one or two just doesn’t cut it.

That also applies to Star Wars. Sure, I only followed Star Wars because of Daisy Ridley at first, but I found a tapestry of allegory of galactic power struggle opera with magic in the center of it. The Force as the supernatural phenomenon is just a very convenient plot device. And apparently, very convenient game mechanics too!

Look, I am not going to dwell on the ethics and realities of war as the core message of Star Wars—which misses many fans’ heads, because they see entertainment instead of literary works—because I think there are just as many think pieces out there as Star Wars side and main stories. Nor I will offer my thoughts on what’s canon and what’s not because it is tiring and again, I am not a fan of lengthy stories with too many worldbuilding efforts to justify plotholes that always come around.

I just want to talk about The Force and its usage in the exploration, quick-time event, and puzzle within the game—which makes up around 90% of it!

Many games already do puzzle shit with their own particular and esoteric mechanic and/or magic system. The wraith of Celebrimbor in the Middle Earth^™ game franchise, Kratos and his found item/spell in the God of War franchise, and Isu-issued mechanism in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, all those things help crack their own game’s puzzles. The Force in Jedi: Fallen Order is nothing special. Except, you are going to do puzzles half the time instead of encountering worthy enemies.

I am not particularly complaining though, I surprisingly enjoyed the puzzle as much as hackin’ and slashin’. The frustration level is just on par since I am new to this scene and I am just gaming for fun. Even then, the game put my skills on trial. Aside from the story, the exploration of the open world with force-sensitive puzzles is truly a breath of fresh air.

Like, all the force’s skills are slowly being opened according to the story, enhanced by quick-time events. As it slowly unlocks the skill, it also slowly unlocks paths that haven’t been discovered while exploring the main story. Although the reward is not much, the satisfaction that comes from solving the puzzle is only matched with defeating a difficult boss.

Alright, that’s might a bit much, but I’d love to try a bunch of games going forward, I like the dopamine rush when a path is unlocked anyway. And I love how The Force is intricately woven with game mechanics as actual game mechanics instead of a mere weapon. I like that. And a story far from Skywalker drama, of course.

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Name	: STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™
Year	: 2019
Publisher	: Electronic Arts
Verdict	: Recommended