The gameplay, surprisingly enough, took the form of a melee-centric action adventure with mild Metroidvania elements. It seems that the design team looked to both God of War and FromSoftware’s various Souls games for design inspiration, as the game is often thought of as a fairly competent Souls-like. Aside from the obvious similarities between Jedi’s meditation circles and Dark Souls’ bonfires, the games have a few other similarities like Stims serving as an Estus Flask, and how XP is lost on death and must be recovered before dying again. However, these Souls-like elements are not so prominent that they couldn’t be scaled back even further in the sequel.
RELATED: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 - Is It Actually In Development?
Jedi: Fallen Order 2 as More God of War
One path that Fallen Order’s sequel could follow is the same as that of its predecessor, The Force Unleashed: becoming a more direct God of War homage. Generally speaking, this means reformatting areas into more linear, level-based affairs, with a greater focus on moving forward instead of the current emphasis on finding shortcuts like in Dark Souls. Levels would still contain many combat encounters, puzzle rooms, and cinematic movement sequences, like they do now. Really, just scaling back the more explorative Dark Souls elements would already bring Fallen Order pretty close to God of War, given its small roster of different weapons with more situational Force powers on the side.
If the designers wanted, they could make Jedi: Fallen Order 2 unfold a lot like the 2018 God of War. There would still be linear “levels” that will have to be completed in their entirety once initiated, but there can also be some sort of centralized hub. Whether that means Fallen Order 2 chiefly takes place on one planet or the player is given a miniature solar system to explore between major story beats is up to Respawn, but it would nicely mirror the lake segments and optional side-quests in God of War. It would also give the protagonists more time to converse like the main duo (and later trio) of God of War, which fans would greatly appreciate.
RELATED: 13 Hidden Secrets Many Still Haven’t Found In Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Jedi: Fallen Order 2 as More Metroidvania
Alternatively, Jedi: Fallen Order 2 could be made to feel like a true adventure, and the exploratory Metroidvania elements could be dialed up. While Dark Souls 1 has often been spoken of like a true 3D Metroidvania, its criss-crossing routes are often accessible through simple keys, tricky jumps, or just finding a door, ladder, or elevator that allows the player to shorten travel time. Fallen Order 2 could fully embrace its Metroidvania inspiration, with plenty of collectables are hidden in nooks around the map, and Cal gradually acquiring Force abilities and equipment that lets him access more of the world.
While it wouldn’t be quite as immersive as a single giant map, Fallen Order 2 could take the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption approach and have multiple smaller planets. Such an approach to the design will essentially be a refinement to the first Fallen Order’s decision to include several planets. This is often not as well-received as a single map, and doesn’t allow for as many of the interconnected paths that players enjoy. Still, it might work better for a Star Wars game, given that the franchise is known for taking its protagonists on an epic quest throughout the galaxy. It also wouldn’t abandon what the first game was working towards. Making a Star Wars game involves balancing what Star Wars is with the realities of game design, so either one major planet or several minor ones could work if committed to.
Becoming the Dark Souls of Star Wars Games
Of course, there is one other path available. Jedi: Fallen Order contains many design elements from Dark Souls and FromSoftware’s other works, and it has the perfect opportunity to build on them. As Respawn is a different studio working with a different engine on a very different property, it has the opportunity to re-evaluate the decisions that went into the Souls games and make its own unique take. Fallen Order 1 already stands out from the pack by including much weaker enemies like Stormtroopers that can be killed with one good projectile parry. They are meant to fight players en masse and have an advantage in numbers, rather than relying on their low health and damage. Tuning the AI and abilities of these weaker foes, as well as choosing what other enemies and environments are present, could lead to some fascinating combat rarely seen in the duel-focused Souls series.
Fallen Order 2 would be well-served working some of Dark Souls’ usual plot considerations in as well. While joining the Sith wouldn’t really fit with what Cal is trying to do, embracing the Dark Side could be a part of a future game. Like in the Souls series, players could gain great power through side-quests, and possibly also unlock some darker endings. This may be the closest a Star Wars game could get to becoming a “Sith game” under Disney. Regardless, becoming more of a Souls-like is still a valid move for the Fallen Order series, even if it could be better served by refining its gameplay, story, or environments. Above all else, a design goal for Jedi: Fallen Order 2 should be to choose a gameplay style and commit to it. With any luck, the talent that brought out a good first game will develop an even better second.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 is rumored to be in development.
MORE: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2’s Cal Kestis May Need to Be Tweaked
