In celebration of May the 4th, the annual day for all things Star Wars, Respawn has released a free content update for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The update is a thank you to the community for reacting to the game so positively from the screenshots, fan art, cosplay, live stream reactions, and more. In the official announcement, Respawn wrote: “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being such a supportive community! It means the galaxy to us. Your passion has moved us so much that we felt we just had to do something extra as a thank you, and that’s where this update comes in.”
The update comes with new modes, new cosmetics for Cal and BD-1, and additional tweaks and fixes that make things more enjoyable for all players. The biggest part of the update is called Meditation Training. It’s a game hub mode that can be accessed from the Meditation points found throughout the game which are spots that you can use to level up, heal, and act as checkpoints that save your progress. Meditation Points are to this game as Bonfires are to Dark Souls. Within Meditation Training, there will be two game modes that you can play.
The first game mode, Combat Challenges pits Cal against waves of enemies. Each unique location that you pick from will have their own set of unique challenges that you can complete. This mode was meant for when Cal is at his strongest and experienced towards the end of the game and whatever abilities Cal knows when you access the Combat Challenges are the ones that Cal will bring into. Completing all of the challenges will reward you with three new BD-1 appearances.
The other game mode is called Battle Grid and allows players to create their own encounters. You can choose a location, how many enemies Cal will face, choose from different difficulty modifiers, and set an overall difficulty level.
The update also includes a new game plus mode. This is where players can access Meditation Training and the two game modes. You will not be able to play them in a fresh playthrough, it’s exclusive to New Journey +. You’ll keep every collectible that you’ve found in your first playthrough but abilities will have to be relearned because that was a big part of the story and Cal’s evolution as a character. New Journey + also adds the Inquisitor Uniform for Cal and adds a red kyber crystal to match. Two new lightsaber sets are also added.
After listening to feedback from the community, Respawn has also added several accessibility options to the game. These include:
- Option for button-mashing quick-time events can be skipped
- Needing to hold the Climb button can now be disabled
- Holding a button to confirm/interact with something can be changed to a button press
- Text size scaling options have been added
In other related news, EA and Google have announced a partnership that will see five EA games coming to Stadia over the next two years. The first game will be Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order followed by Madden and FIFA. The additional games will be announced at a later date.
Today, EA also announced their plans for EA Play, the event that the company does during E3 will be back in a digital format. It is set for June 11, 2020.