Respawn Entertainment opened EA Play with a 15-minute gameplay demo of Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. Viewers got to watch as protagonist Cal Kestis, a survivor of Order 66, which empowered the Empire to massacre Jedis and their padawans, embarked on a mission to free Wookiees that were fighting for the resistance. On the face of it, what unfolded seemed like pretty standard fare for a Star Wars action game. Cal climbed and parkoured around environments, deflected blaster shots with his lightsaber, and used Force abilities to manhandle Stormtroopers.However, there was much more going on beneath the surface and, it turns out, the demo without an accompanying breakdown didn`t do the game much justice. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order is surprisingly cut from the same cloth as From Software`s Bloodborne and Dark Souls, though it`s perhaps less coarse and rough and irritating. Director Stig Asmussen has used the phrase `thoughtful combat` often when describing how Jedi Fallen Order plays and, thus far, it`s not been apparent what that means.Having seen an extended version of the gameplay demo shown during EA Play, we sat down with Asmussen to discuss the game, its influences, and the particulars of the experience. We also talk about the origins of the project, the pressure of working on a property as beloved as Star Wars, and more.GameSpot: How did you arrive to this format for the game? Star Wars could be anything and, often, it`s an RPG. What was it about like the action genre that made it right for Fallen Order?Stig Asmussen: It`s a good question. Actually, before working on Star Wars we were working on a different game and it had basically the same pillars that we have in this game, which is thoughtful combat, agile exploration--you know, beyond human--and Metroidvania level design. And that`s something that when we were working on this other game and we demoed it, people [at] EA saw it and said, there`s something in there that you could see easily see it turning int ...
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