Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has officially announced itself to the world, finally giving patient fans an early glimpse at the single-player title’s story and setting, but what about combat? Developer Respawn’s initial reveal at Star Wars Celebration earlier this month teased the sorts of Force powers Cal Kestis would have access to, but with only cinematic footage so-far shown, audiences have since been left to their own imaginations in regards to how everything will translate to a gameplay setting.
Various details concerning that core component have since surfaced online through official channels, however, including via one interview conducted by Press Start. Fallen Order director Sitg Asmussen sat down with the site for a lengthy chat recently, with one of the many hot topics discussed being combat gameplay. In response to a question concerning Respawn’s overall desire to paint the title as accessible but tough to master as a means of downplaying its potential Dark Souls inspirations, Asmussen said:
Look, I love the Souls games. You’re not going to be able to make a melee action game without having a little bit of influence from the other games. DMC is really cool. God of War’s awesome, but… What was your question again? I want to make sure I’m not —
Asmussen later follows up by reaffirming that Respawn doesn’t want the game to be “super punishing,” adding that, due to Star Wars‘ mass appeal, a certain level of hand-holding is necessary. Despite that, he promises that there will be a “layer of depth” within the combat, that’ll encourage players to experiment with Cal’s various Force powers as well as learn enemy attack patterns.
All in all, Asmussen’s thinking behind Fallen Order‘s difficulty is a totally fair and justifiable approach to take. Unlike FromSoftware’s rock-hard RPG series, Star Wars has an established fanbase consisting of all ages and tastes and Respawn restricting its appeal to solely hardcore gamers would be less than ideal. That being said, Cal’s adventure will by no means be a walk in the park and clearly, judging by Asmussen’s words alone, Fallen Order will take inspiration from its contemporaries. Whatever the final product, expect official gameplay to arrive sometime in June to coincide with E3.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is out November 15th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
