@m4a5: Yes, I agree. The movie tried to do too many things, and did none of them particularly well. It gave us space battles, but nothing as exciting as those in "A New Hope" or "Empire." It gave us Jedi-Sith conflict, but far inferior to that offered in "Empire" and "Revenge of the Sith." It gave us new worlds, but none as special as Cloud City, Hoth, or even Endor. The special effects were fine, but nothing that we haven't seen over the past decade or so in many other movies. The movie was at least 20 minutes too long with far too many throwaway scenes and characters that made absolutely no difference to the story.
@Louis: I completely agree on the issue of Snoke and his potential value to the story. Sure, he was a taller, slicker reboot of Emperor Palpatine, but Snoke had that Sith-villain vibe that, if developed further, could really have strengthened this movie and made me genuinely excited about Episode IX. When Snoke was killed, I had the same question that I had when Darth Maul was killed in Episode I: That is, why the rush to kill off a perfectly fiendish, charismatic, and convincing villain? Doing this only makes you have to start from scratch in the next movie.
Anyhow, JJ Abrams will have his work cut out for him for the next episode if the series is to end on a grand note. I don't really see how any of the remaining characters can carry the story to a satisfying conclusion. In my opinion, none of them, including Rey and Kylo, have much heft so far.
The Gamespot review, while a bit too generous, mostly gets it right. This is a good movie overall, but only an average Star Wars movie. In terms of quality, it sits right in the middle with "Return of the Jedi" and "Rogue One." It uses original characters like Luke and Leia to good effect, but it still doesn't seem to know quite what to do with new characters like Finn, Po, and Rose, none of whom seem indispensable to the story arc.
Unfortunately, the movie falls into the same trap as "Return of the Jedi" and "Phantom Menace"--in trying to attract a new generation of Star Wars fans, it awkwardly juxtaposes childish themes and characters with some very serious, dark subject matter. This approach didn't work in earlier movies with Ewoks or 9-year-old Anakin, and it doesn't quite work here with Porgs, an over-abundance of immature humor, or conspicuous appearances of children from the middle of the movie onward.
If you are a Star Wars fan, this is worth seeing, but don't wait in a long line for a ticket. If you are new to the Star War movies, go back and look at Episodes 4-6, and then make an informed decision about seeing 7 & 8. "The Last Jedi" does, nominally, what it needed to do; it largely resolves the Luke Skywalker question and sets up Episode 9. However, it leaves a lot of heavy lifting for the next movie in terms of wrapping up narrative loose-ends and living up to the Star Wars brand.
If this game allowed all of the modes to be played by a single player and local split-screen, I could look over the stale campaign and would give it a serious look. But this just seems to be yet another multiplayer game with a really short campaign tacked on as an afterthought. In this day and age, is it asking too much to expect game developers to offer solid, plentiful single-player content for a $60 game?
@DarthLod: Amen to that. I almost never play games online. I would be all over this if it had a full suite of single-player modes (campaign, galactic conquest, skirmish, etc.). But if the campaign (and "arcade" mode) is the only real single-player content, I'll either pass or wait for a deep discount.
Definitely gruesome enough--and I hope that there are 30 more finishers just as nasty so that these don't get stale too quickly. Too bad there isn't a single-player campaign.
For those who think that the kills are over the top--yes, they indeed are. But Mortal Kombat has been doing this stuff for 25 years, though not quite as darkly (MK's finishers always seemed to have almost a comical feel to them; I didn't find myself wanting to laugh about what Jason is dishing out).
Too bad about the ugly PC launch. I like the exploration theme of the game, but I'll wait for this to get patched up and deeply discounted (<$20) at gog.com before taking another look.
While I like the exploration/discovery/survival theme of the game, many of the initial reactions and reviews highlight my original concerns about the game becoming boring and tedious overtime. Anyhow, I hope that the developer does release enough future content to fill in some of the blanks. I'll probably get this for PC after it is steeply discounted and thoroughly patched. Hopefully by then there might even be some enterprising modders working on some customized content and gameplay enhancements.
I'm intrigued and look forward to learning more about the gameplay. I hope that there is enough randomization and possibilities to stave off the kind of monotony and routine that could easily plague a game like this.
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