If players are unwilling to explore every inch of a planet in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, its Metroidvania level designs are inconsequential and will likely only be used to determine which direction the critical path is. But for players who enjoy exploration, collectibles, and finding secrets, this Metroidvania level design is perfect. Because Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has now been revealed, it would be great to see Fallen Order’s Metroidvania level design return.
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Metroidvania Level Designs Make Fallen Order’s Planets Dynamic
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s Metroidvania mechanics are unique, and offer helpful assistance to players when traditional Souls-like games would purposefully leave them in the dark. Once players find and befriend the adorable BD-1 droid on Bogano, they will have access to the holomap: a holographic 3D map that players can rotate, recenter, and zoom in-or-out of while in-game.
What makes this map in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order better fit a Metroidvania design is its colorful legend and associable areas that are highlighted. Players can see clearly which areas are unexplored in yellow, which areas are available to progress through in green, which areas are blocked in red, and where meditation save points are via a blue ring. Players can also cycle between floors if an area has more than one.
This is helpful for progression, but it is also a necessary mechanic for how many locked doors and areas exist where a Force ability not learned until later in the game is needed to progress. This is a significant part of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order that makes each planet dynamic and fun to explore, and there is no reason why its Metroidvania level designs should not be reprised in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
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Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Needs More Planets to Explore
Once Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order opens up following its tutorial on Bracca, a junkyard planet where basic combat and traversal is learned, players explore Bogano and get a comprehensive glimpse at what they can expect the duration of the game to be like in each subsequent planet. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order boasts many locations for players to travel to, but not all of them are explorable to the extent that the available holotable planets are: Bogano, Zeffo, Kashyyyk, Dathomir, and Ilum. Ordo Eris, for example, is not an explorable locale, only offering an optional, scripted area players are stuck with until they get through the plot. Still, some of these planets can be extensive and hold secrets beyond what players may be able to perceive on their initial visit.
If Respawn hopes to surpass how satisfying the planet-hopping experience is in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor may need a few more planets for players to travel to. This could include deep-cut moons and star systems from other media, or it could include iconic planets that have yet to be featured, so long as there is a decent enough reason for Cal and his cohorts to journey there.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023.
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