At E3 2019 we saw roughly 13 minutes of gameplay footage. It looked linear and highly scripted, but in truth the universe is structured around hubs set on different planets. From these hubs you have a choice of linear spokes to explore. As you collect resources and unlock upgrades for your Jedi Powers and your companion droid, you unlock new spokes and push the story forward.
According to an in-depth Game Informer preview, the game's structure is directly inspired by Metroid Prime, and the devs even mapped Metroid Prime's upgrade structure directly onto Fallen Order. "Ours in Jedi: Fallen Order is nothing like that," game director Stig Asmussen tells GI. "but it was a good exercise to go through.
"I think [Jedi: Fallen Order’s approach] will feel fresh; it’s not exactly like Metroidvania. We also looked at games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls that have the same types of methodology. We studied those games and they inspired us to find an experience that works well for our game.”
Fallen Order borrows much more from Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and even Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Your droid's health canisters behave very much like Dark Souls' Estus Flasks. You only replenish them when you rest on your ship or save points. Over the course of the game you upgrade the number of healing vials you can access between rests. Save points also respawn minor enemies in the area—again, just like Dark Souls.
Practiced Sekiro fans will enjoy the fact that Fallen Order lets you parry with a well-timed press of the left bumper. Enemies have a block meter that you can break with successive attacks, and this opens them up to a lightsaber execution move. This system was very satisfying in Sekiro and is a good fit for high-lethality lightsaber combat.
For more Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order news check out the first gameplay trailer and visit our everything we know about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order page.
