Thanks to EA for bringing the world a Star Wars game that is more than just a bitty, online-only punch-up. As a fan of old titles like 'Knight of the Old Republic', a single-player, immersive adventure like this was just the ticket for me. That said, the game is not without its problems. If EA is planning more like this, I'd like to offer some constructive criticism.
First - combat difficulty levels. I'm an old fart and my gamer reflexes are very mid-table by some standards. That said, I'm generally far above the easy-peasy modes, which is where I spend a lot of my Fallen Order time. It's just too difficult to time parries and use force powers - particularly against animals - without getting killed, a lot. I learned the game's ways eventually but I'm still mostly limited to 'Jedi Knight' level. Even on my second run-through, I can't nail a boss scene without taking it all the way down to kindergarten level. An unfortunate effect of all this is that a cagey, defensive combat style which avoids frequent death and tedious back-tracking also stops you generating and using the force powers which are really the key appeal of the game.
Second - interminable cut-scenes that go on and on and on and can't be skipped. Please give the gamer the choice about whether they want to watch the cinematic links. They don't always enrich and can simply frustrate.
Third - puzzles. As an Assassin's Creed aficionado, I quickly learned that the third-person mayhem of Fallen Order is only superficially similar to AC Odyssey, et al. Not only is the combat trickier and less intuitive, but there is far more head-scratching and problem-solving to be tackled simply to get from A to B. I learned to enjoy this aspect - apart from one or two scenes I simply couldn't crack without YouTube. I'd ask EA to make the cutesier problems a bit less obstuse. Examining one room for twenty minutes isn't my idea of a good time, nor is repeatedly failing an impossible jump because I'm new to the game and don't realise I'll be coming back to the location later with more powers.
That's it. This game comes pretty close to classic, but the frustration needs to be dialled down.
