Of all modern games that adopt a fast travel system in order to cut down on dreaded backtracking, you’d think Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order would more than justify its use. After all, Respawn’s single-player adventure set in a Galaxy Far, Far Away doesn’t just span multiple different locations of a single planet, but an entire galaxy. With Cal’s journey already confirmed to span multiple celestial bodies, the ability to flit between every previously unlocked location at the drop of a hat would surely be an integral feature, would it not?
According to Fallen Order‘s developer, not at all. As per a recent interview with USgamer, Respawn’s Blair Brown revealed to the site that no, players won’t be able to have Cal teleport at a moment’s notice and, depending on how much you value the element of exploration, that news will either be the best you’ve received all day, or simply prompt the utterance of a frustrated sigh.
“A lot of the game is traversal, re-traversal, and exploration,” starts Brown, adding, “Not having fast travel encourages the player to go off the beaten path; find quick routes, and master the level. Also as you play through you’ll see some stuff that you wouldn’t if you fast travelled through the critical path every time.”
It’s worth noting, of course, that the absence of fast travel doesn’t mean players will have no choice but to watch Cal’s ship sail through space in real-time whenever he moves between planets, but once boots are on the ground? Well, you’ll want to spend time familiarizing yourself with central landmarks and other environmental signposts. Comparisons between the two have obviously been drawn in the past, but Respawn’s description certainly evokes memories of Dark Souls‘ restrictions on fast travel.
With how visually stunning and enjoyable the feeling of traversal in Fallen Order appears to be, the hope is clearly that players would simply decide against the use of fast travel even if it were present. We’ll ultimately have to wait until release day to pass a final judgment on the matter but until then, we have faith that the studio knows exactly what it’s doing.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is out November 15th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
