Remember when you got hyped seeing the iconic headline “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away,” followed by the legendary boom of John William’s score that promised adventure, new worlds, and the unforgettable yet simple clash of good vs evil? Depressed yet? I went back to the good old days to experience a classic (before the dark times, before the real Empire came) for the first time.
We play as Jaden, one of many young force sensitives on our way to Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy. As an upcoming Jedi, we go across the galaxy in various missions fighting the last remnants of the Empire as well as the looming threat of a Sith cult trying to revive a ancient god-level, forging our own path as either a Guardian of peace or weapon of the dark side. What will you choose?
I’ve lost lost count how many people have told me either Academy or Jedi Outcast were their favorite Star Wars games and honestly, I can see why. The game is peak Star Wars in so many ways, full of the characters, weapons, locations and music we love. The story isn’t too complicated but effective with diverging paths I appreciated for some replayability. Most of the gameplay holds up remarkably well in places. The FPS features hold up very well and combining guns with force powers can be a blast at time. The saber combat definitely takes some getting used to but it does become intoxicating once you do. Academy and Outcast walked so Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order could run. I do also appreciate you getting to customize not only your lightsaber but your style, whether single, dual wield, or double bladed (I went green and orange dual wield).
Unfortunately, this game does show its age in many ways. The game has some really unpredictable difficulty spikes. There’s moments towards the end that pissed me off because dirty enemy placement, obtuse pathfinding, or bullshit environmental deaths. You’d better get used to manually saving because their are checkpoints, but they’re sporadic and sometimes dying means a hell of a fall back and a long stretch of progress gone. Younger gamers will also hate that there’s no map, waypoints, autosaves, tutorials, and a loose reminder of your current objective. There’s one mission though that absolutely killed the entire game for me- the damn speeder bike mission. It’s nearly unplayable. The bike is nearly uncontrollable, the game clips out between speed and slow- mo, there’s a jump that killed me too many times. I almost rage-quit the whole game because of that one level alone.
In the end, Jedi Academy is a fun blast from the past for Star Wars fans. A nice reminder of better times, before the era of the Mouse set in. It definitely has it’s faults and shows its 20+ year age but with patience, a little help from Youtube, and your favorite booze for that damn speeder bike level, you’ll get through. I recommend picking it up for a good time overall. May the Force be with you and the gaming gods bring you glory.
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Savior Gaming 