Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has been the talk of the town ever since it was first announced. Respawn stunned crowds at last year’s E3 with confirmation that it had secured itself the opportunity to create a single-player affair set in George Lucas’ universe, but it wouldn’t be for another year that fans finally got their first glimpse of the ambitious project. To coincide with the annual event’s return in 2019, the studio finally lifted the curtain on its adventure set in a galaxy far, far away, stunning audiences with a gorgeous visual display and tantalizing gameplay to boot.
Even before the long-awaited gameplay reveal, however, the developer has been detailing how Lightsaber combat will function in-game, describing protagonist Cal Kestis’ various encounters with the Empire as tactical affairs that reward a considered approach to each battle. In light of this month’s gameplay reveal, earlier leaks suggesting that Fallen Order‘s combat has taken inspiration from FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series appear accurate, though fans needn’t worry about the former having a similar difficulty level.
That’s one half of a Jedi’s repertoire well documented, then, but what of the other, more mystical side?
Respawn has intentionally remained tight-lipped when discussing the various Force powers that Cal will have access to during his travels, though new details revealed recently help to shed light on how they’ll affect the flow of battle and the avenues players can pursue in order to obtain and upgrade them.
As per the interview with Fallen Order narrative lead Aaron Contreras over on StarWars.com:
I’d say your primary tool and the primary weapon of the Jedi is the lightsaber, but you have an array of Force powers that you can deploy in combat. And you have to use the right power at the right time. Against some of the opponents, you can sort of knock them around with any ability. But if you’re watching closely, you’ll see in the purge trooper fight [demo], the player attempts to use Force pull, and the trooper plants his staff into the ground to block it; he then goes with the momentum and flies at the hero, and actually gets a hit on him because of that.
So there are some abilities that will counter certain Force moves. It’s all about using the right ability at the right time. And then of course, as our hero goes through the game and his connection to the Force deepens, he’ll develop more powers and have more of an arsenal of abilities to play.
Sadly, when pressed for further details regarding progression and skill systems, Contreras wasn’t so forthcoming.
We don’t want to talk too much about progression or the skill system at this point, other than saying we do have one. I will say we have some Force powers that you can make better, and that’s driven by the experiences Cal has throughout the game. And then you’ll learn whole new Force powers at various points throughout the game.
It certainly sounds as if Cal’s access to new Force abilities will be tied directly to story progression, but we’ll just have to wait and see what Respawn has planned. Expect a whole lot more information to drop in the run-up to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order‘s launch this November.