Jedi: Fallen Order takes inspiration from Dark Souls and Metroid | E3 2019
Cale Michael
After learning so many new details about Respawn Entertainment’s Jedi: Fallen Order during EA Play, more information about the development, inspiration, and more was revealed soon after thanks to a Game Informer cover article about the game.
The article that went live following the event will be included in July’s issue of Game Informer Magazine and featured several deep cuts into how the idea for the game was formed, including the little tidbit that devs were inspired by both From Software’s Dark Souls series and Nintendo’s Metroid franchise.
Dark Souls and Metroid were referenced often.
— Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) June 8, 2019
“We looked at the structure of Metroid Prime closely,” game director at Respawn, Stig Asmussen said. “It’s not exactly like Metroidvania. We also looked at games like Bloodborne and Dark Souls that have the same types of methodology. We studied those games and they inspired us to find an experience that works well for our game.”
In a summary of the article on Reset Era, one of the first lines says that “the combat dance is reminiscent of From Software’s Souls games, but not in a punishing way.” This likely means the detailed blade work, extreme focus on character movement and positioning, and focus on creating intense and rewarding action sequences was one of Respawn’s main goals for Fallen Order.
From what was shown, there is a good mix of group battles with the main character, Cal, taking on small squads of Storm Troopers and various wildlife that pops up based on the surroundings of the area. But that didn’t stop them from showing a one-on-one showdown with an elite Storm Trooper that was much tenser.
Balancing out when players will get to be a masterful Jedi warrior, cutting down groups of weaker enemies and when they are forced into smaller confrontations with more powerful opponents is something to watch for in future reveals. Though the clear lack of Soul’s extremely punishing gameplay also seems to show that the combat will be free-flowing and rather forgiving on base difficulties.
It was also stated that Respawn’s vision for the game “has classic gaming roots and is inspired heavily by the Metroid series.” The deep dive mentioned wanting to push players to explore the world while using abilities gained, later on, to come back and reach new areas that were previously unavailable.
Even without the lightsaber out and ready to defend the player against the Empire, Respawn has clearly tried to create a world where players can spend hours exploring Star Wars like they never have before. They have implemented branching paths and multiple ways for players to tackle scenarios so that each adventure feels like a uniquely tailored experience.
There will, of course, be options for players to streamline the game and focus on the main story, but part of being placed into a vast world like Fallen Order’s is taking the time to see what each planet has to offer. The dangers of the Empire is constantly looming as the player treks through a largely unknown part of the Star Wars timeline.
Respawn is implementing lightsaber combat, unique force abilities, and a wide variety of enemy types into their combat system, which will lead to players outfitting their fighting style to their preferred methods. All of this will be expanded upon as the release draws closer.
Jedi: Fallen Order is due to be released on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 15.
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