Alrighty. First impressions after two hours.
I like it. Really.
Gameplay - is fun. Locations are open-ish, Metroidvania style (you are free to explore the map, but some locations are "locked" by your missing skills - free to re-visit later. There's a lot of platforming, zip-lining, sweeping of forgotten corners for loot, etc. Multiple paths, mini-bosses, if you played Control, lately, this feels very similar. (in gameplay style, not the game itself, of course).
Saving and progression is actually quite interesting. If you "die" during platforming you respawn right where you fell off the cliff (or where you did something similarly stupid.
) and you lose a small chunk of health. You can die this way quite a few times, actually but when you run out of health, you're whisked back to your last "camp" (which is a meditation place and a save point). If you die in combat, you are respawned at the camp immediately (no second chances).
Now the interesting part - when you die and have to respawn,
you lose all XP you've collected on your way to the next skillpoint. If you want your XP back, you have to go back and take a revenge on the monster/guy who killed you, otherwise you can start leveling from scratch. I love it!
Looting - very basic. Finding chests with pieces of clothing and lightsaber parts which you can use for character (and lightsaber) customization. Just enough to encourage exploration, not enough to keep you from going forward.
RPG elements - just a couple of skill trees to unlock with XP. Similar to previous Jedi games - Force skills, extra moves, etc.
Characters - hit and miss.
Surprisingly, however I didn't really like the main character in the trailers (He seemed kind of like a teenage brat) I'm digging him in game. He's actually not annoying at all.
Robot sidekick is a heap of cute, naturally. Loving their interaction.
Other characters... I'll reserve judgement until I get to know them. Nobody particularly stands out, so far.
I'm digging the antagonist from what little I've seen of her, though. Crush on first sight.
Combat - my biggest fear. It's actually alright! It's... impactful, I'd say. And very satisfying. Aaand not easy at all (which I will probably hate, later on). There's a lot of moves, directed attacks, blocks, parries, counterattacks, evading, rolling and jumping around, running on walls, slicing things in half, stabbing, slashing, throwing and pulling,... When everything goes right, the combat is EPIC. Naturally when you screw up, you die in two seconds and feel like an idiot. And you won't replace skill and reflexes with simple button-mashing. Trust me, I've tried.
TL/DR: It's a mix of Tomb Raider platforming with Metroidvania progression and really fun combat (It's no Dark Souls, but it requires skill and precision... and lots of parrying and evading)
So far the only two things that I see could break this game for me is if the story is stupid (so far it's typical Star Wars cliché) and/or if the game is too short. I can't judge either, right now, for obvious reasons.
But by and large - A singleplayer SW game which plays great, looks awesome and really brings back memories! Woohoo!
edit: On the second planet, now. My GOD this thing is tough as nails. One really has to manage health and XPs.
The thing is - you don't regenerate health and you only have two health packs (half the health bar each). The only way to regenerate the health is by resting at the camp, but the problem is - it also respawns the enemies! So one has to REALLY think - Do I continue with half the health and hope for the new camp and if I die, I lose all progress, or do I return to the previous camp and rest and try again without losing all my health this time?
I'm playing it on one of the easier difficulties, but it still means I am allowed only two mistakes. It's mad. (And also I suck balls, of course)
It's great, though.
