Jedi: Fallen Order Should Become an Anthology Series

In a time where Star Wars media is under constant reveal and development, more and more characters are being brought back into the spotlight. Ahsoka, Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi have all been confirmed to have shows in the works on Disney+ with the third season of The Mandalorian set to release soon as well. And honestly, it works with these characters as they all have mildly unexplored middle points that haven’t reached much of the fan base without reading the novels or comics. However, with all of these seemingly incredible titles, we aren’t receiving a lot of new work to add to the canon Star Wars universe. Flashback to 2019 and the release of Jedi: Fallen Order, a game that received critical praise and woke up Star Wars fans to the first interesting game for the franchise in years. With this praise and admiration came fans of the new Jedi Knight, Cal Kestis, as well as the desire for a sequel, and an ending that leaves the player with the curious question of “What’s next for Cal and his crew?” However, I think that delving further into Fallen Order’s main cast would be a weak choice for a potential sequel — rather, I feel like EA and Lucasfilm Games should turn Fallen Order into an anthology series, telling the stories of different Jedi and their experiences through Order 66.

Now, this doesn’t mean getting rid of Cal and never touching him or any of the characters from Fallen Order, but rather that this is the perfect opportunity to keep adding new characters and stories to the Star Wars universe. The gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope is one that has been worked on in shows like Star Wars: Rebels and The Bad Batch and still has a chance to keep growing because of the limitless stories that can fit into the 19-year gap. This could also be a chance to bring back and revamp narratives from Legends that could make their way back into the SW mainstream.

With the amount of time between Vader’s rise and the destruction of the first Death Star, plenty of new and interesting stories can develop for players to witness. We could see a master and padawan duo working together to escape a planet during Order 66 as it takes place right after their successful battle with clones, with God of War-style combat where the padawan acts as an extra hand. This would let the player experience the dynamic enemy layouts of Fallen Order combat with a little extra congestion to add. We could see a Jedi on the run from the inquisitors, only to end up being captured and turned into one with a stronger focus on dueling and character boss fights. This game would focus on hunting down Jedi around the galaxy a la The Force Unleashed. We could see a group of Jedi the player rotates through, each one with different force and combat skills working together to survive the Jedi purge. It’s even possible to take the mantle of a clone on a mission to hunt Jedi during the purge. The flexibility of the Action/Adventure genre of games allows these to hold similar combat styles or branch out entirely from the Souls-like nature of the original.

Overall, I feel like Jedi: Fallen Order has the potential to be a franchise that really spreads its wings and covers a lot of bases, and not just the story of Cal Kestis. I’m not entirely sure what the direction of the next game will be and how current Star Wars media might affect it, but I’m hoping that the future of SW games is bright following their recent successes, and that we see an evolution in Fallen Order’s gameplay.