One of the criticisms leveled at Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is that it played it a little too safe when it came to choosing its hero and plotline, and with more action-oriented Star Wars games on the horizon, there is a worry that Lucasfilm isn't making full use of Star Wars in the gaming medium. There is no doubt that Fallen Order is a fantastic game with a solid story and cast. However, future Star Wars games absolutely need to branch out in order to do justice to the franchise. With such a vast universe to play in, it is disappointing for game after game to follow the same types of protagonists and tell the same stories, especially given the breadth of genres LucasArts focused on in the 90s and 2000s.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s problem lies in its dependability and predictability. Cal Kestis is yet another white Jedi male with a blue lightsaber - despite some Fallen Order developers wanting a black lead or female protagonist - and in a galaxy filled with multiple races and factions, this runs the risk of becoming boring. New Star Wars games need to shake things up or run the risk of fans becoming tired of the same genres and heroes.
New Star Wars Games Need To Capture The Galaxy Far, Far Away More Fully
Jedi are fun to play as, and it's hard to imagine there's someone out there who doesn’t love leaping around the environment in Fallen Order, running on walls, and using the Force. However, there are many other stories and genres that Star Wars games developers could be tapping into. Taking a look back at past Star Wars games will show there are many that developers could use as inspiration.
Star Wars: Squadrons was hugely successful and a breath of fresh air from the typical Jedi stories so heavily relied upon. The plot was engaging, while the gameplay was a wonderful throwback to the days of one of the best space flight sims, Star Wars: TIE fighter, as players could take part in dogfights and missions. Squadrons proved that there was space for flight-combat combat and simulation games rather than the same action adventure over and over again.
Future Star Wars Games Shouldn't Rely On The Jedi
A new updated version of a podracing game similar to Star Wars Episode I: Racer would be tons of fun. The remasters for Racer were well received, and a brand-new version of Racer could work as a podracing sim set on Tatooine but would also be thrilling as a speeder bike race through the skies above planets like Nar Shaddaa. Franchises like Forza, DiRT, and Need for Speed provide a blueprint for how Star Wars could once again tap into the racing genre.
Developers need to rely less on Jedi stories for new Star Wars games as there is a whole galaxy to choose from. With the massive success of The Mandalorian series on Disney+, it would make sense to have one of the new Star Wars games be about Mandalorians, as they lend themselves to multiple gaming genres. Open-world RPG, FPS, and real-time strategy could all focus on Mandalorian characters opening the gaming side of the franchise up to some much-needed diversity in terms of factions.
Star Wars has such a vast galaxy to explore, but this hasn't been reflected by the franchise's current gaming era. There are multiple Star Wars games currently in development, and going forward, hopefully, at least one of them will break away from what is becoming a tiresome mold. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is a great game, but the galaxy far, far away needs to do more.