With recent confirmation on the much anticipated Jedi: Fallen Order sequel, I thought now would be a great time to dive into the 5 things I hope to see most from the game, and the future of the franchise.
1. New Characters
With new main characters added to the franchise such as Cal Kestis, Cere Junda, Greez Dritus, Nightsister Merrin, the 2nd Sister, Trilla Sunduri, and most importantly BD-1, it should be no surprise when the sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order naturally introduces more great characters of it’s own. With many hoping for Darth Vader, Maul, or The Grand Inquisitor to be the main villain, I personally hope for something different, possibly a race or group we have never heard of before. With the introductory game being so focused on the Force and the new race so closely related to it, the Zeffo, it would be really interesting to see a possibly rival race to the Zeffo play a major part in the sequel. With the announcement of the Nihil being a major factor in the High Republic times in Project Luminous, I find it likely we will see more groups along those lines, more anarchist and unruly, rather than more Empire-esque villainous groups.
Another small addition that I really hope to see is possible interaction with common folk in a city setting. Similar to how in Spider-Man PS4, where you can interact with the citizens of New York City, I think a mechanic similar to this on one of the planets in Fallen Order 2 could introduce some great world building and give the opportunity for some fun easter eggs. It also makes the world within Fallen Order feel more populated and alive when you can directly interact and talk with those living within that world. That leads us to my next hope.
2. New Planets and Locations
While Fallen Order was vastly populated with tons of animal species, one thing I do feel it was lacking was a sense of civilization. The only one of the 7 playable planets that felt to have some sort of modern civilization was Bracca, and it is only playable for the starting missions. This is not to say that I think the developers should try to shoehorn Cal and co. into a planet like Coruscant or Chandrila, narratively I do not think that makes much sense, as they would likely be found and attacked there within seconds. Some smaller, but no less diverse and alive locations would make much more sense, and be just as interesting to engage with. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, a Spider-Man interaction system on a location like the Ring of Kafrene (which still has its fair share of Imperial presence to keep combat interesting) would really make the world of Fallen Order feel alive.
I also believe they could begin exploring the Unknown Regions, getting themselves far away from the Empire and their desire to destroy all the Jedi. Little is known about deep space in universe, so while the Mantis crew may view it as a safer option than living under the Empire, it could create some interesting and new challenges for them to face together. Since the Unknown Regions have been minimally explored in Star Wars canon, this would leave the narrative team with an endless amount of possibilities moving forward.
3. The Chiss Ascendancy
For anyone who follows me on Twitter (@JakeSoywalker), it should be no surprise seeing the Chiss pop up on this list, especially when the Unknown Regions are in conversation. I personally think that the Chiss Ascendancy is both the most interesting and underutilized aspect in canon at the moment. The idea of a society beyond that even of the Empire only being explored in a less mainstream medium such as books is criminal. Bringing the Chiss Ascendancy into games would be a natural progression before introducing them in other mediums such as shows and movies.
I think it could be a very interesting dynamic to see if the Ascendancy would view the Mantis crew as friend or foe, and the other way around. Could the Ascendancy have artifacts or knowledge that Cal is searching for? Would they be willing to share it? Would Cal decide it would be best if he took it? These are all questions I would love to have answered, plus, seeing Greez interact with the Chiss’s sternness and literalness would be hilarious.
4. The Jedi
I thought I could have mentioned them in the characters paragraph, but I had too much I wanted to talk about here. Having more Jedi survivors introduced in the Fallen Order sequel does two things; first of all, it sets the possibility for one or some of these new characters to become main characters of future games in the Jedi: Fallen Order series that was recently confirmed by EA’s CEO, Andrew Wilson in an earnings call. Second, it could create what I believe to be a fascinating dynamic and dilemma for Cal; does he stick with his found family, the Mantis crew, or does he abandon them for the few remaining members of the Jedi Order?
This could create a tension and possibly mistrust between the crew that could contribute to a darker nature for this sequel installment. While it seems likely there will be more than 3 Fallen Order games, there is always the possibility they will not all be about Cal. As is common with the middle entries in most Star Wars, and stories in general, the middle chapter is always the darkest, and if Cal’s story is to be played out in a trilogy within the Fallen Order series, I do not think it would be any different.
5. Let Cal be Different
Finally, the thing that I want the most is for Cal to not be just another Jedi to join the Rebellion and die fighting before the war is over. Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger’s stories were tragic, beautiful, and for Ezra, shrouded in mystery for what the future holds, but I do not want Cal to follow in their Rebellious footsteps. I think it is incredibly important for the sequel and future installments to take Cal and any other Jedi encountered in a different direction. I thought that Cal’s interaction with Saw Gerrara and his Rebel cell was interesting and gave us my favorite narrative moment in the game with Cal climbing the Origin Tree, but I personally hope his involvement with the Rebels doesn’t go much further than that.
While seeing him possibly interact with the Ghost crew or Cassian Andor down the line would be interesting, it does not feel important to his character. What does feel important to his character though, is letting him live through the events of the original trilogy. I don’t think it would be very smart of them to have another young male character die after the unfortunate decision to kill off Ben Solo, don’t get mad at me, I just think that was a very poor idea. Seeing as the story group at Lucasfilm is willing to bend over backwards to make sure Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Luke are the last of the Jedi at the time of the original trilogy (I am in favor of this mindset), I feel the narrative team would really have to do some interesting story telling to have this make sense though. As mentioned earlier, with my desire to see Cal interact with the Chiss Ascendancy, I think that would be the perfect route, also leaving the door wide open for Cal to play a part in finding Ezra Bridger along side Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren in some post Galactic CIvil War stories.
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