Just finished the game and I stand by what I've said - Fallen Order is the best Star Wars game since KOTOR 2. Such a shame it won't be considered for the GOTY. I really like and love mostly everything Respawn did in this game and now that we know they're most likely will make a sequel (which is pretty much guaranteed after such a successful launch), I've a few complaints / criticism / suggestions etc. that should be addressed / fixed / improved / implemented in the next game.
1) Combat, although functional and even pretty good when you'll get all the powers and new force abilities, is far from Ideal and just not responsive, fast and fluid enough for what you're facing in the game, especially on a higher difficulty levels (I've beaten the game on Jedi Master). You need to react and move fast on Jedi Master, but more often than not you just can't do it cuz main character can't move fast enough, can't close the gap between enemies fast enough, can't move away fast and far enough from attacks, can't activate his abilities fast enough and can't even heal fast and sometimes at all, cuz BD-1 refuces to heal you for some reason if you don't ask him two times. There was far to many times (and I can't even count them at this point) I've died not cuz I'm not good enough, but cuz of everything I've said above. The games just don't let you do what you want fast enough, cuz responsiveness is not there and some of the things which could help you in combat is also not there. Don't get me wrong, I've nothing against this kind of combat and I'm freaking love Sekiro and its combat, but Fallen Order unfortunately and as of right now is just miles away from such a perfection and excelent execution (except dash forward move which I really don't like cuz you should't dash forward without pushing forward, I've died / got hit far to many times cuz of this move). They need to make this combat just as perfect, as fast, as functional, as fluid and as responsive as in Sekiro, no goddamn excuses, just do it even if it'll take a lot of time.
2) Ironout all UE4 issues you have and hire better lighting people who can light the game properly, cuz at times it looks like a game without any post and visual effect whatsoever or just doesn't look as good as in other areas (which don't have such issues and problems), like a movie in pre-post production phase - no SSAO, no shadows of any kind, very bad lighting, zero depth and all sorts of other GFX issues I wont even bother to mention cuz there's many. All these issues should not be in a SW game, especially in as good SW game as Fallen Order. Do what you must for as long as it takes, but post production phase should be looked at as a very serious and important thing and should be consideres as a movie post production phase - make the game look as good as it can be (and better) and make your amazing concept artists, art people in general and level designers be proud of what you did with their amazing work. It's not like Fallen Order looks bad all the time, far from it, but I just can't help but notice issues I've mentioned above cuz you very clearly see them and they're not even masked or hidden, quite the opposite - very visible and always in the view.
3) Having finished the game, I do think that even though and as a huge Metroid fan I simply adore and love to death what Respawn did in Fallen Order - they've basically made a Metroid Prime game in Star Wars universce with lightsabers and 3rd person Sekiro-like combat; maybe don't fallow this formula that much and to a such extend next time? Now, before anyone jump to a wrong conclusions I'll say this - It just feels great to explore such extremely well designed, amazing looking and huge interconnected levels (Zeffo alone just blows my mind cuz of how freaking ginormous it is), but for the love of god just make something up to explain fast travel between resting points. I know Metroid Prime (or any Metroid game for that matter) games don't have fast travel to make exploration faster, but Fallen Order (and next game) needs it badly, as well as showing on the map all missed chests, echoes etc. which you can't get early in the game. I mean, you can't expect me to remember every missing chest, echo etc. after 30+ hours since I've seen them the first time, not to mention that some of them extremely well hidden. 2D Metrod games did it right - you're getting a map of different locations on which you can see inaccessable areas with dots (items, upgrades etc.) and you know where you need to go to aquire upgrades, items etc. but no one is telling you how to get there you just see the room with a dot and that's it, all you have to do is figure out how to get there and the way is not always clear. Fast travel is a must in a game with such huge levels to make exploration easier and don't make you feel like it's been forever since you've done something story related and didn't wasted 4-5 hours by just looking for secrets, chests, echoes and data bank entrees. Figure out how to do it right, don't make it feel so tiresome and time consuming next time, especially if all you're gonna get is meaningless but cool looking cosmetic items (most of which don't looks so cool tbh - ugly lightsaber parts, poncho and skins) and there's just not enough of them. Also, give as an option to change the whole outfit, not just poncho and paint it in a different way. Same goes for lightsaber switch - lest us change every switch on the lighsaber and not only one of them.
4) Don't make us learn everything from the first game all over again - all we've learned in Fallen Order is very basic and should be available at the start of the next game - unlike Samus, Jedi can't forget what he've learned and no one can took away all of this knowlage at the beginning of the game, especially considering the fact that it is not a physical thing you can easily take away like all of the Samus's powers / gadgets etc. in each new Metroid game. Do an in-depth study of different lightsaber techniques / styles (not the Sith ones obviously... or why not?) and implement them into the game with different skill trees for each one and make us choose the path which we want to follow over the course of the game cuz as I've said, in Fallen Order there's only some pretty basic stuff every Padawan can learn from his master, but there's no Jedi Knight / Master / Grandmaster stuff which is a lot more powerfull. This alone can change the combat and what you can do with it drasticaly, not to mention that you can play the game multiple times and choose other techniques and styles to play with. If the game is really good and combat as fantastic as in Sekiro, no one will complain that you'll have to beat the game multiple times just to get access to new playstyles and you can't make Terminator-like Jedi, who'll rip & tear everything on his path, not to mention that Disney and Lucasfilm will never let you do that anyway. All of this should be also tied-in to progression, story and exploration in a meaningfull way with as little gamy stuff as possible.
5) Don't throw away and don't give up on a formula and design philosophy of Metroid and Metroid Prime games cuz it works great in Fallen Order, you can do wonders with it and you can make it work and feel even better than it is now in your next game. Just take the time and figure out how to do it without hurting the flow of the main story and maybe look at Hollow Knight for inspiration - this game has a crap ton of stuff for you to discover, meet huge number of characters along the way, complete their side quests etc. Just don't make it feel gamy and fetch-ish, put some real effort to make it as memorable as the main story or at least very close to it.
6) Look at Mass Effect 2 / KOTOR 1-2 for inspiration, give as an option to have companions on the ship, let us explore their past (not literally of course) / present in dedicated series of missions aside from / over the course of the main story. Give as an option to know these characters better, bond with them over the course of the game and maybe use their knowlage / experiense during missions etc. Like, I really want to know Merrin and Greez better, to see their part of the story, what it's like for them to live their lives as they do, expirience the world and.. again, get to know them better. It doesn't have to be just always about the main plot, characters who's with you all the time and during the course of the game matter too, they should not be left out and they should not be allowed to speak their mind only in very brief conversations and story cut-scenes. You don't have to make a full-on RPG to make all of this happen cuz really good story telling, writing, well thoughtout / designed and memorable missions can do that just fine, just make it feel like ungoing and evolving story, instead of just one thing you need to do for each of the character and then forget about it for the sake of the main plot, make it as integral to the main plot as the main missions. I know I make it sound so easy and that in reality it is one hell of a thing to pull off and do right in first try, but it can be done and it will make the game better and overall story / journey / adventure richer and more memorable. You're already and sort of half way there by making Fallen Order, now all that is left is to do the next part and take as much time as you need to make it happen.
7) Stay away from open world, RPG mechanics (stats / perks / armor protection & weapon damage numbers), RNJesus, loot, damage sponginess, multiplayer, crafting, survival and just overall don't make a game about a crap tone of systems to please everyone. In other words - don't make a game about everything and a master of none. Focus on what you did in Fallen Order and make the next game even better in every way possible without drastically changing your original vision, but don't forget about the combat part which as I've said not as good as in Sekiro and it should be, cuz it'll make the game better.
8) Don't rely on the same exact traversal and climbing stuff (which works, yes, but it'll become a rutine after a while, especially with all this hunt for chests, secrets etc.) on different planets, make each planet and location unique to explore in a different ways you couldn't do before, maybe mix it up a bit more and just overall make us do different and unique things gameplay-wise while exploring planets / locations. And it doesn't always have to be planets btw
9) Rip-off Shadow of the Tomb Raider underwater exploration, gameplay, animations and visual stuff - litterally rip it off and don't be ashamed, it works and looks great and SW game could use this stuff too cuz Fallen Order in terms of this stuff is a bit meh to say the least and it is certainly not the best part of the game (underwater exploration, gameplay, animations and visual stuff).
And... yeah, I think that's about it for now.
I can't tell you enough how much I thankful to Respawn for making one of the best SW game possible, but there's still quite a lot of room for improvements, I believe Respawn can make it work, can improve upon what they've built and may the force be with them, always.
P.S. I don't have time to fix all grammar errors (if there is any left), so please excuse me for my not perfect English and I hope you'll understand what I'm trying to say.
