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askmerriauthor · 3 years

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Jedi: Fallen Order thoughts 1/?

So, having just finished what is apparently a canon entry into the current Star Wars lore, I'm left with some feelings about the story itself and some choices it made as a game. Spoilers after the jump.

I mean, it's a really impressive tech demo?

The game's developers are clearly trying to flaunt a lot of really impressive visuals and dynamic elements within the game. Some work, some don't. They're seemingly very proud of their lighting engine, the main character's hair rendering, the "no loading screen" transition between zones. All of which are commendable and fairly impressive on a technical matter. The problem shows up when they actually manage to interfere with the story, or when the game gets too big for its own britches. Some graphics-heavy areas looked amazing while others - the Wookie planet of Kashyyyk in particular - choked my XBone to the point that it rendered out a stuttering slide show and actually hard crashed my entire system.

So, like, presentation first. We'll discuss the story after that.

The game is very pretty, no doubt there. Excellent visuals and a number of specific scenes - done in mid-gameplay rather than as cutscenes - were genuinely impressive cinematic beats. There's two particular dream/hallucination scenes where our main character, Cal, has the entire setting around him transition smoothly into a different scenario as the player sweeps the camera around back into view and they both were used to great impact. There's a handful of moments where the game itself takes camera control away from the player to help tell the story as the player controls Cal's movements as well, and those are each stand-out beats. It's obvious there's a lot of intention behind this game to make something evocative, and I really appreciate that.

The story is the stumbling point, however, as well as how the presentation gets in the way of the narrative.

Ostensibly, "Fallen Order" tries to tell a found family tale where a group of misfits full of their own hang-ups and trauma come together to defy the odds and achieve something greater. Solid base right from the get-go. Love the trope, love the stories it can tell. The trouble is that "Fallen Order"'s dynamic loading system directly contradicts that story. Throughout ambient dialogue chatter given off by Cal throughout gameplay, the impression is given that he's spending time with the cast and developing that found family relationship. Idly talking about how he questions the cooking skill of the ship's pilot, or downtime spent alongside his fellow former Jedi on the ship. The issue is that the game's presentation never gives any opportunity for that to happen at all. The game's camera is perpetually set just over Cal's shoulder and never leaves his immediate presence. There's no point where the audience's view slips away in a "fade to black" transition where time passes unseen, or where we hop over to a completely different part of the story to see what another character or villain is up to. The only time the camera ever directly leaves Cal is to show the establishing shot of the ship or room he's currently inside and about to step out of.

There's no point of time where we're not directly observing Cal, so it becomes really obvious that, no, you sure as hell didn't question the pilot's cooking or spend time with your fellow Jedi because we've been here with you the entire time. Hell, Cal doesn't ever actually eat at all during the game and because there's no day/night cycle or transitionary period in the narrative, it makes it seem like the entire story takes place over a single day. The narration and dialogue wants to tell us that this is all taking place over a long period of time, and that these characters have off-screen interactions. But the actual presentation of the game itself completely defies that.

Like, for instance, something Star Wars itself does in its other forms of media is give moments where the scene wipes away, often when characters are traveling into Hyperspace. It's assumed by we the audience that the characters are doing stuff in the meantime of travel, like Obi-wan training Luke with a targeting droid or Chewie losing a board game. "Fallen Order" wants to show off its seamless loading times and has the entire process of choosing a destination, traveling to it, and arriving done completely on-screen in real time with no cuts. So the game itself unintentionally yet actively prevents us from having any reasonable point where we could assume the characters are having downtime moments together.

It just ends up being a really wonky choice as far as direction is concerned and, in the end, I suppose it can be overlooked. Anyone who really wanted to speculate on the found family dynamic of the characters could very easily just set aside the actual gameplay, after all.

As for the actual story itself, it's... I don't know. Meh? It's there, it happens, it's apparently canon. But the problem is that it's 100% pointless because the events of the story are entirely self-enclosed, do absolutely nothing to progress the setting, and firmly entrench the status quo at the end. Basically if Disney wanted to use any of these characters or events in the future, fans who played this game could go "Ooh, I know who that is!" for a bit of a continuity nod. But, at the same time, Disney could completely ignore "Fallen Order" entirely from here on out and it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to the setting. If you're going to make a canon contribution to a larger pre-existing lore, it should always expand the canon. It should always move things forward or open up different pathways to explore. "Fallen Order" doesn't do that at all. Its story renders itself pointless by the end and basically all the characters spend the entire time getting up to a point where they can have forward momentum... right as the credits roll.

This post is already running very long, so I think I'll save the actual narrative discussion for a follow-up post. I've got a particular bone to pick with the "illusion of choice" method this game uses and I know I can ramble a long while on that alone. I'll link back to this one after it goes up.

#star wars #jedi fallen order

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sights-on-the-scifi · 4 years

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THE COMPLETE SIGHTS OF SCIFI STAR WARS REVIEW PART 2.

BRIDGES TO A NEW HOPE.

https://sights-on-the-scifi.tumblr.com/post/189186099956/the-complete-sights-of-scifi-star-wars-review-part PART 1.

These next four pieces of STAR WARS media have exactly the kind of things i’m looking for in STAR WARS prequels, they fully understand what made the original trilogy so great. All of these titles meaningfully expand the universe not just with words, but also through engaging cinematic techniques and fun characters all wrapped up in an entertaining adventure general audiences can enjoy!

Action, drama, politics and effective score. Its all here in full force.

JEDI FALLEN ORDER 2019.

Years after the fall of the galactic republic and the destruction of the jedi order. The newly formed galactic empire has begun its conquest of the galaxy, seizing complete military enforced control of the means of production and industry, invading disobedient planets, taking control of natural resources through force then assimilating all species and their cultures under the emperors one rule.

Oppression can be felt everywhere.

The burnt out husks of the republic, separatists and the clone wars are being brought down to shipwrecking planets like Bracca to be stripped for valuable parts, melted down and recycled into materials that will construct the empires growing imperial war machine fuelling this transition.This is all carried out by overworked and underpaid engineers turned scrappers... This location also serves as a fantastic opening to the game! Giving us a believable insight into how the aesthetics and technology of this galaxy changed so drastically into the one we are all familiar with.

All of this world building is organic and we get to experience the emotional and political impact of this new reality at the same time the character we play as does. Cal Kestis is a jedi padawan who has gone into hiding after the events of order 66, and it is here he has spent most of his young life dismantling the world he had once known to blend in, waiting for any sign of other surviving members of the jedi council to hopefully tell him what to do next and its fantastic juxtaposition. We see him and his friend Prauf running through and scaling the dangerous work environments of this planet talking about their hopes and dreams for a future outside of this depressing place.

The heroes journey is an essential part of STAR WARS storytelling.

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Prauf being the oldest wants Cal Kestis to someday find his destiny and tries to motivate him to do so. As you can see there, the performance capture on this character even Cal is incredible and you really feel the emotion in the dialogue. Layered within this endearing narrative is great foreshadowing of events to come, political commentary and emotional content, this is stuff that I wish the Lucas directed star wars prequels were better at. But regardless its amazing to finally see it done so well here.

Jedi fallen order is not just an exciting star wars action adventure game with sleek mechanics, its also an intriguing narrative that shows us how survivors of a gone away world cope with the loss of that civilisation and their role within it. The game is full of great characters who assist and motivate Cal on his journey to discover hope for the future! I dont want to spoil too much of it because its really something you gotta experience for yourself to fully appreciate.

These qualities will also be expressed in the next three pieces of bridge media ill review.

SOLO A STAR WARS STORY 2018.

This is the second movie to be released in the STAR WARS anthology movie series. In it we are shown the backstory to one the original trilogy’s most recognisable characters Han Solo! While it is not a perfect production (What star wars movie is?...) its still a fun and exciting adventure full of style.

Like with Fallen order we get a detailed look at the ways in which the empire is taking control of the galaxy not just in terms of society and culture but also on the economic level, and it all has some interesting real world parallels. On the planet Corellia Han and his girlfriend Qi’ra are trapped in a life of crime for the local gangsters who use orphaned children as a means to carry out scams and steal expensive vehicles from rival gangs and even the wealthy elite. Discovering a rare resource on a job which is used by the empire to power their enormous starfleet, Han steals this along with a lighting fast speeder to outrun their masters and hopefully bribe the imperial guards at the immigration port checkpoint to then escape off world for good.

Its through this impressive opening sequence that we get an insight into the class divide of this universe and how the empire oppress and exploit populations of the worlds they control, we are even shown how they collude with the gangs to funnel desperate youths into recruitment offices for the empire’s vast military. Again its all organic, interwoven with the narrative of the character we follow. We experience it as they do! With shots of the newly constructed empire star destroyers that we saw were built with the re purposed scrap seen in Fallen order for an example.

This is what STAR WARS excels at, wrapping interesting social commentary and scifi themes around a fairly simple heroes journey. There is even more of this stuff too throughout the rest of the film, like we see in vivid detail how the empire sends the poorest of these worlds to fight in off world conflicts across the entire galaxy to eliminate native resistance and install a regime loyal to the emperor. It is fascinating way to show how oppressive and brutal this fascist empire is... When Han’s escape plan fails and he is separated for Qi’ra, he is then forced to escape from the gangs and imperial authorities by posing as a civilian looking to become a soldier in the empires army, though he does not get to be a pilot like he imagined for long. Han is thrust into a survival situation, as he and many others like him are forced to fight in a world war 1 inspired hellhole.

We see thats its not just elite storm troopers that compose the empires forces, but also these scarcely equipped mud troopers comprised of the working poor. After these amazing sequences the film settles into a more predictable heist narrative with a ragtag criminal crew, seeing Solo develop into the character we all know and love from those original films. Finding Chewie, getting the Falcon, his iconic Blaster, meeting Lando you name it and its all here!

Solid stuff.

STAR WARS THE FORCE UNLEASHED 2008.

Originally intended to be the official bridge between REVENGE OF THE SITH and the 1977 CLASSIC STAR WARS. This game tells the tale of Darth Vader's secret apprentice Starkiller, who is tasked in eliminating the emperors enemies and former Jedi.

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The game received very mixed reviews upon release as it was criticised for being perhaps a little rushed and a very bland button masher in terms of gameplay mechanics. Though the way in which you could use the force was pretty impressive, especially when combined with very impressive physics systems. What ultimately makes this game so interesting is its story, showing us how Darth Vader desires to escape the control of his master even while he still serves him... He uses Starkiller (Who was a child he stole from his original father/former jedi he was sent to kill), as a means to find the emperors enemies covertly, who just so happen to be rallying together to fight against the sith lord. In so doing Starkiller becomes a double agent, encouraging the formation of this resistance while at the same time killing Jedi to appease Lord Vader and aid his secret plan to assert control of the empire from within.

Over the course of this journey Starkiller will eventually grow to be sympathetic to the rebel cause and fight for the freedom of the galaxy, though I wont spoil the specifics here.

Like with the previous media shown in this review we get even more glimpses into the ways in which this galaxy operates, and also how the empire operates. We see junkyard planets filled with the remnants of the clone wars, a deathstar in a very early stage of construction, and small insurrections formed by a surviving Jedi striking at the hearts of the imperial war machine. Its pretty similar to how Fallen order does it, but I feel that Fallen order does a much better job at this while at the same time being a phenomenal gameplay experience.

Despite its flaws though FORCE UNLEASHED is still a fun adventure that fits surprisingly well in the overall narrative i’m experiencing here chronologically! :D

ROGUE ONE A STAR WARS STORY 2016.

The first movie in the STAR WARS anthology film series, ROGUE ONE does everything that SOLO did right perhaps even more so! This movie takes place directly before the events of the 1977 classic, showing us the daring mission to secure the Deathstar plans that Luke then stumbles upon. What is so clever about this narrative is how it wraps a human story around such a small annoying detail in a new hope relating to the Deathstar’s ultimate weakness we are all aware of. The thermal exhaust port...

ROGUE ONE shows us how the empire exploits the minds and talents of the galaxy’s brightest individuals to construct its oppressive technology and weapons, destroying livelihoods and families in the process as we see in the opening. Galen Erso, a former lead scientist for the Deathstar super weapon project has gone into hiding to avoid aiding in the empires efforts to construct it, becoming a moisture farmer on a remote world. Much to his dismay, Director Orson Krennic a high ranking imperial officer he was once associated with has discovered the location of this farm and intends to bring him back to finish the research on the weapon.

Foreseeing this eventuality that he will become a hostage to the program, he devises a plan to hide his wife and daughter from the empire while he attempts to avoid being taken away, something that unfortunately is unlikely to happen... The plan does ultimately fail and his wife is killed, while only his daughter manages to escape Krennic’s elite bodyguards. Its a very emotional and impactful opening sequence that has real world relevancy, the history of WMD’s are full of personal tragic complexities like this for example.

Jyn Erso, Galen’s daughter is orphaned by this event, growing up to become a member of local rebel groups until becoming disgruntled and solitary. When broken out of imperial prison she will soon realise once tasked by the Alliance to retrieve information on the Deathstar that her Father is still alive, and while forced to work on the weapon placed a weakness in the design of the station the rebels can exploit. The groundwork for his revenge. The scene where she views the message made for her is amazing, see for yourself.

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Its very well executed and the emotional impact of the scene really makes it heartfelt while also expanding the universe in a really unique way! The climax of the film expertly shows us the bravery and sacrifice involved in a mission like this aswell, but I wont spoil it go watch the movie yourself to see :D. Again like with the other media shown, it sprinkles in lots of social and political commentary in its visual world building.

This is what a STAR WARS prequel should do!

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I hope you enjoyed these reviews and are encouraged to add these films to your viewing list :). I’m now going to be rewatching the 4k restored theatrical cuts of the original trilogy then playing battlefronts 2′s singleplayer so stay tuned for those reviews once they release!

#star wars #Review #star wars prequels

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noviceassassin · 7 years

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Ok so I read the review, and sadly I didn’t catch arno in the movie (sadly) and maybe when I re-watch it I might be able to see them. And I guess it can be an ok movie for people not familiar with Assassins Creed. Really thats the only vibe I see through out this whole movie. @swimsthroughstars

yes! I 100% agree the action scenes were amazing in this movie. When I say hear Assassins Creed I think of the skilled assassins who work in the dark and have mad skills and this movie did not disappoint. As for the character...yea it was kinda like..soo anything else about Aguilar? like why is he so good? is he highly trusted among his fellow assassins? what motives does he have, thoughts? feelings? @skibblepasta

NOW FOR MY THOUGHTS HMMM

ok so spoilers ahead

firstly Michael Fassbender is always fun to watch, having such a good actor is what I think gave this movie a little more personality. In a way he reminds me of Desmond from Assassins creed 1 (considering he was basically confused as to what the fuck is going on lol)

The side characters were a lot of fun to watch (of what little scenes they had). though if the assassins knew who they were and are being forced hostage there (im guessing) how come wait till now ? cause the apple? Idk found it a tad confusing, but that can just be me.

I’m sorry, but as a individual who wants to study in character development, and loves the story/characters in the games. I am a little salty why obisoft didn’t start the movie franchise with Altair or their most popular assassin Ezio. One part of me says of course if they didn’t use them, they already have a high pedestal to portray the already loved characters, and another part of me is like, well they have the money and resources..but *shrugs* I don’t know.

It just confuses me sometimes when they bring in this character who ancestor was trusted at one point with the apple, which strikes a big comparison to Desmond. Then theres Sophia, which is giving me a big Lucy vibe if it’s ok to say that. (I didn’t really hear what she said at the very end lol so I don’t know where she’s going to go from here)

I think the biggest complaint I have is that, we don’t know our assassins? of the past I mean. We are focused A LOT on the modern day assassins and our main lead. The whole point of many game series is that we actually don’t spend a great deal of time with the modern as we do with the past. It really shows in this movie because really I only got how bad ass Aguilar was as a fighter but other than maybe a few words about not betraying the creed I know nothing.

some good things. Again the fighting, this is just a massive load of awesome shots assassin’s climbing and using their surroundings to escape the enemy as well to fight. The first scene you see them in action is like woah...I want to see more of that, I especially love it how the woman (maria I believe) was able to handle herself when she was taking the prince away.

The animus is...different. I like the idea the one being sent back in time actually physically moving as their ancestor has back then. I was thrown off when I saw it before and still now, since before it just been like “here lay down”. That begs the question tho, when (if ever) they do another movie, would it be the same giant thing stationed for such movement or are they going to go back using the table/ bed style?

Also with the animus I love the projectors showing us the memory as well, the movement it gives the people when they fight. On this note however I think there was one scene where I strongly wanted it to be Desmond and Altair, where Fassbender’s character is first confronted with Aguilar in his room and begins fighting him. That was really good, but that small fangirl in me thought, wow what if that was Desmond instead? What if that was Altair basically training his latest descendant how to fight or practicing of what he’s learned through the memories like in AC2. I don’t know just thinking that got my hopes up for no reason.

Another thing. I might be seeing thing but when Cals in the room full of artifacts and paper on class walls talking to Sophia. There was this one scene where they stopped on this assassin drawing where their face was erased out. I don’t know if its just me being me but didn’t the outfit strikingly look like connors? lol

All in all i give this movie 7/10, good action, good acting, good character interaction between the modern assassins and really great cinematic shots. but lacks in knowing Aguilar of much of the past for that matter, the templars never saying their motto which is odd?? and somewhatwishingitwasusingthecharacterswelove

#rant #Assassin's Creed

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