Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Is "Very Similar" To Sekiro, Confirms Respawn

Though Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was well into development before the release of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Respawn has confirmed its upcoming game is "very similar" to From Software's title. Fallen Order lead combat designer Jasen de Heras takes comfort in that comparison.

"I thought it was pretty badass, and a little comforting to know that you could make this type of game without a stamina bar," he said in an interview with Edge magazine, according to WCCFTech. "They let you attack, they let you roll, they do all this for free--and then the AI will tell you if you're doing the correct thing. It just confirmed to us that you don't have to limit everything the player does; let them have a little more agency, and then let the AI give them a slap on the wrist or a punch in the face. It was a positive thing for us to know there was a game that was similar to ours. Very similar."

The comparison to From Software's most recent game makes sense, as Respawn turned to the studio's older games as inspiration for Fallen Order. "I've been a huge From Software fan since King's Field," Fallen Order game director Stig Asmussen said. "I mean, King's Field II is one of my favorite games ever. But it's not about you liking a game, and trying to make that game yourself. It's more, 'What can we learn about what's fun about it?'"

In our time with the E3 2019 Fallen Order demo, we saw numerous mechanics and features inspired by From Software's games--including checkpoint idols to upgrade your abilities, the loss of all in-game currency upon death, and challenging but fair combat. However, when it came to traversal mechanics, Fallen Order took most of its inspiration from Metroid Prime, with Force powers and droid upgrades acting as the lock-and-key mechanisms for exploration. "Metroid absolutely served as an inspiration for us," Fallen Order lead level designer Jeff Magers told Game Informer. "What the Metroid-style level design does for us is somewhat [of] a way to give the player guided exploration. A ton of freedom within the world, but at the same time we can deliver really handcrafted moments and really focus on the moment-to-moment."

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is scheduled to release on November 15 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.