Best Action-Adventure Games 2019
Second Runner Up: Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
Senior Editor Hayes Madsen: It’s been years since we’ve had a true single-player Star Wars game, and boy does Jedi Fallen Order do its best to make up for that. Taking inspiration from a wide array of other games, like Dark Souls and Metroid, Jedi Fallen Order lets you explore planets new and old in the Star Wars universe.
Exploration is a surprisingly huge part of the game, and the various Force abilities you unlock let you return to previous planets to find new secrets and stories. On the action side of things, Lightsaber combat is the bread-and-butter of Jedi Fallen Order, and it’s oh so good.
The game takes cues from Dark Souls and Sekiro with a methodical combat system based around timing and parrying. There are a wealth of basic enemies, but the combat really shines in boss battles, which truly feel like epic Lightsaber duels. Bosses can be brutal and unpredictable, and there’s a rhythm to each one as you go back and forth trading blows with them.
While combat and exploration are great, Jedi Fallen Order also delivers a memorable Star Wars story about a Padawan rebuilding their connection to the Force.
Fallen Order may not do anything entirely original, but it does everything well. It’s an amalgamation of ideas and mechanics that makes for one of the best Star Wars games ever.
