Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a rewarding experience for Star Wars fans through and through. The game’s campaign handled the lore of the Star Wars universe in ways that movies have not been able to do in-depth. At the same time, the gameplay was fun and rewarding and moved players through diverse environments. This is largely due to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s expansive levels which made each location feel fleshed out and open without pulling away from the linear nature of the game’s story.
While Jedi: Fallen Order did not have a major impact on the franchise’s canon, it was doomed to such a fate from the start. Star Wars has shown over the decades that a lot of its most important material is going to be covered and discussed in the movies. This does not mean that the other forms of Star Wars media are unimportant, but rather that they do not carry as much weight as theatrical releases. Despite this, Star Wars has still released fantastic canon material in its games, TV shows, and comics, but ultimately the movies continue to dictate the overall future of the franchise.
Darth Vader and Cal Kestis
Because of the aforementioned movie approach, the games sometimes find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. While Jedi: Fallen Order was an enjoyable game, the climatic interaction with Darth Vader came off a little predictable. The atmosphere was fantastic, but the finale itself was one of the few areas where gameplay felt lacking. Darth Vader’s canon importance and his fate is something that fans have known for decades. As a result, there were only a couple of ways for the interaction to end: either Darth Vader kills Cal Kestis and Cere Junda, or they escape.
Thankfully, the latter happened, but it painted a clear picture of what Jedi: Fallen Order should do in the future. New installments in the series will need to break away from the main Star Wars Canon if they want to avoid the missteps that the initial Jedi: Fallen Order experienced. While it was cool to see characters like Saw Gerrera and Darth Vader, the knowledge of their fates greatly limits the impact that their appearance has on the story.
This does not mean that Jedi: Fallen Order needs to completely move away from major characters in the Star Wars series. It does, however, need to carefully choose which ones are included as its focus should be on diversifying the Star Wars cast more. Major canonical characters should be avoided as much as possible in favor of others. There are tons of Star Wars Legends characters waiting to be tapped into and more that still need to be fleshed out.
Darth Bane
The recent reports of a possible Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake has hyped fans about the return of Darth Revan. While the character has sat in a Star Wars limbo for some time, where some aspects of them are canon while others are not, it is an opportunity to revisit a great story. With the game rumored, it is unlikely that Darth Revan would make an appearance in a Jedi: Fallen Order title, but there is another Sith that could appear, Darth Bane.
Darth Bane is a solidified part of the Star Wars Canon thanks to an episode of the animated Clone Wars TV show. Since that episode though, he has gone rather unmentioned. The powerful Sith Lord is responsible for introducing the Rule of Two and the change from the Sith’s role as a dominating force in the galaxy to a secretive organization of Dark Side users. He is one of many Star Wars characters that should get their own game, and while he could benefit from a solo title, Cal’s ability to use Force Echoes could help incorporate the shadowy Sith.
Even though it would be fantastic to see Darth Bane’s story played out in a Star Wars Sith: Fallen Order title, he could be expertly placed in a Jedi: Fallen Order sequel as well. Merrin’s affinity for the Dark Side of the Force could be tangled with how Cal uses Force Echoes as they uncover dark secrets in the galaxy. The first game used this ability well and it is an aspect that could be great for telling the story of Star Wars' long-forgotten past. There is still a lot of history in the galaxy that can be uncovered and explored, and the Sith are a part of that whether the Jedi like it or not.
The Unkown Regions
Jedi: Fallen Order could also be a perfect time to begin the firsthand exploration of the Unknown Regions. While Ahsoka will most likely take its titular character into the section of space and The Rise of Skywalker made a short visit there, the former is yet to happen and the latter felt very much after the fact. The movie offers little in its exploration of the Unknown Regions, despite it being home to deep mysteries and whole civilizations.
While the hyperspace routes are almost completely unmapped due to the Unknown Regions’ hostile environment, it is something that Cal’s Force Echo ability could handle. Relics and devices could be interacted with as a means for Cal to gain the knowledge of which ways to go. The openness of the Unknown Regions and what planets are reached could be entirely up to the game. Sure, there are Star Wars Legends materials and available canon information, but so far, the Unknown Regions are the final frontier.
If the remote area of space is used, it would still be important to keep Cal and the Mantis crew away from canon events, but it would be easier than in the more populated parts of the galaxy. With the films not reaching the Unknown Regions until well after the fall of the Empire, there are decades of possible exploration. It would provide both minimal risk or necessity to meet other major characters and incredibly unique environments for players to explore.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2
There is still plenty of time before a new Jedi: Fallen Order game is released, seeing as no official public announcement has been made, but it would be nice to see more of the galaxy. How a future game will look is up in the air, but hopefully, it will keep more than it abandons and builds where it can. Doing so away from the major characters of the series would give the game space to breathe and could still provide a great experience in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2.
Star Wars has developed fantastic foundations, but it has become time for those foundations to be built on instead of expanded more. Characters like Princess Leia and Han Solo have become iconic for fans, but others should be allowed to step into their place. The most recent round of Star Wars shows have done this successfully and the games can do it too.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.