Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
I seem to have a knack for putting down games for months right before the end. Turns out I only had a single level of this left, and relearning a fairly tricky combat system by playing the final boss fight was perhaps not the best way to go about experiencing the ending.
Still, I thought it was a pretty good title, and I don't agree with some of the criticism it garnered. I think the Dark Souls model is a good fit for a Star Wars game; sure, a lightsaber should cut through pretty much anything so it doesn't make sense that some enemies can take a lot of hits, but there's a fair bit of skill involved and you can explain away the respawn-reclaim-your-XP with some sort of force... thing. Either way it's a decent third-person hack-and-slash game. The Metroidvania elements can be a little tedious as there's no fast-travel system whatsoever, but it does at least highlight areas you're both capable and incapable of passing based on your current move set. The story isn't exactly going to make you gasp with excitement, but it takes you to interesting places, Cal has a fairly respectable arc (even if he's as plain a protagonist as you'd expect for Star Wars) and has the odd twist or two. It's pretty lavish, visually (with the exception of some fairly ropey facial animations) and aurally, with one of the better Star Wars soundtracks that doesn't involve ripping off John Williams' original score. I can't help but geek out a little at the variety of lightsaber parts, which allow you to build quite varied designs.
It's on Gamepass at the moment, I'd say it's a no-brainer if you're a subscriber, but it's worth your attention regardless if you're a Star Wars fan. I do hope it gets a sequel.
