Merritt Lentz

Im going to try to be fair here instead of just bagging on the game and blasting it with one star...this game would be really fun if they didn't make the actions horribly delayed and clunky. If you want to jump over a gap, you press the jump button about 3/4 of a second before Cal actually jumps. Human beings don't take that long to change their mind and decide to jump, sprint, dodge, etc. That creates a lot of disconnect between the player and the character, pulling you out of the game. Saber fights seem to have a lot of inconsistencies...you frequently get hit while blocking with no obvious reason why and frequently hit non-blocking enemies and watch your saber go right through them without registering a hit. One misread in either blocking or striking can be the death of you. The game is also designed to complete whole animations that cannot be interrupted if your timing is off, making it feel more RPG, less action. But that seems to be a one way street as enemies will parry you in the middle of them performing other animations. The camera management in tight areas is terrible, you can quickly end up with neither Cal or his enemies visible, the camera pointing at nothing, while you lose half your life pinned in a corner. The difference between how badass your character feels in action sequences in Shadow of War (for example) versus how vulnerable your character always feels in Fallen Order is a good example of how a perpetually weak character can take a ton of fun out of the game. And Shadow of War can be hard as hell...its just fun when your character can take out standard fodder versus the tedious nature of having to play in survival mode with each encounter. I'm bummed because I really wanted to enjoy this game but being a Jedi that can, and frequently does, get taken out by basic storm troopers just sucks. I give this game a solid "A" on the story line, A+ acting/characters, D- action mechanics, C for creativity of the skill tree (really...force push, pull and slow are the only force moves?). Lastly...why the hell doesn't Cal have a sidearm? Are we really supposed to believe that he doesn't ever pick up and use a blaster? Jedi use them all the time...just not for situations that call for a saber. I hope the sequel improves in those areas, but people obviously love the game as-is, so I doubt they do anything other than create...content.

Edit: my hope has been that Gearbox would prioritize fixing these frustrating bugs and I could update my review. Sadly, they have focused resources on content development and nerfing builds instead. It's too bad that the state of development is such that a Halloween themed event is more important than making it so that your users can read, use menus, and play without having to constantly work around technical issues. Figure it out Gearbox. Some of these issues would likely take one dev less than a half day to fix. I picked up this game primarily to play the splitscreen component (PS4 Pro set on the lowest visual settings). I have to say, this is the most disappointed I have ever been with a launch title. Part of that is my high expectations as a longtime BL fan, but the vast majority of it is due to major issues with the game that make it difficult to play much less enjoy: 1. Frame rates constantly plunge into the 30-15 fps range. 2. Game freezes when ECHO menus are accessed or screens are changed. 3. Loot popups from the bottom screen cover up the entire gun on the top screen rather than stay within the bottom screen. 4. Text is so absurdly small that you have to play > 6 feet from a giant TV and basically have to have 20/20 vision. I had to read out everything for my partner who just flat out had no hope of reading text that small. Think 12px font from 12 feet away... 5. Sometimes the text on loot popups has line-height issues and literally layers lines of text on top of other lines of text. I really hope they come out with a hotfix ASAP. Issue #1 and #2 in particular...there's no excuse for putting out a game that is this unplayable.

I loved this movie. I have no idea why the reviews are so bad...the acting is great, the script is great, and it stays close to what I have heard about Tolkien's life. Here's the truth: Tolkien flat out said that his books are not a narrative about world events, they are pure fantasy and should be enjoyed as such. I think the negative reviews come from people who missed the point and said the Hobbit was "fun." Enjoy this film for what it is and not what it isnt.