In celebration with Star Wars' beloved May 4th ("May The 4th Be With You"), EA and developer Respawn Entertainment announced a free update to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order that fans are sure to love. This update adds New Journey+, Meditation Training game modes, and some appreciated quality-of-life improvements. When considering how adored Fallen Order was by Gaming Nexus' own Nicholas Leon, it's safe to say critics and fans alike are excited to find an excuse to face off against The Empire again.
Here's a short video to enjoy that goes over the basic information included:
There's something about The Hu's "Suugan Essena" playing in the background that gets me going. If you're interested to see the full details including with this update, click below to see more.
General
New Journey+ added.
Unlocked after beating the game.
All cosmetic unlocks are carried over.
All lightsaber colors are available from the start.
Exclusive dark side-themed cosmetics available in New Journey+.
Inquisitor uniform.
Protection and Defence I & II lightsaber parts.
Red kyber crystal.
Meditation Training game modes added as part of New Journey+.
Combat Challenges.
Wave-based game modes to fight against preset enemies.
Battle Grid.
Sandbox-style game mode for players to make their own encounters.
Cosmetic rewards for BD-1.
AccessibilityButton-mashing quick-time events can now 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.
Bug Fixes and TweaksImproved transitions between parry and block animations.
The Bog Rats on Bogano were sometimes floating. They should now be more grounded.
Improved the transitions into and out of jumping and double jumping.
Fixed the issue where Cal could get stuck in an endless falling loop during air attacks.
Fixed the issue that would prevent Cal from progressing his journey when a Bounty Hunter would show up.
Improved overall responsiveness of gameplay and the reliability of actions based on player feedback.
Meditation TrainingMeditation Training is the biggest part of this update and is a new game mode hub that can be accessed from the Meditation points found throughout the game (further details on that below). In it, you’ll be able to face off against all enemies, including bosses, in two different modes: Combat Challenges and the Battle Grid.
Combat Challenges will pit Cal against waves of enemies across multiple planetary backdrops from across the galaxy, including the Imperial stronghold Fortress Inquisitorius. Each unique location will feature its own unique challenges, too, allowing for tailor-made experiences that draw from each environment. Different challenges will have different numbers of waves and each will have a three-star completion rating.
What makes these challenges especially unique is that they’ve all been designed for veteran players. They’re designed to be tackled when Cal is at his strongest and most experienced towards the end of the game, so be wary if you decide to take on challenges early in a playthrough. The abilities Cal knows at the time of entering his meditation will be the ones you take into a challenge.
There are 12 challenges in total and each challenge has three stars. Unlocking twelve stars in total, regardless of how many you get per challenge, will give you three new BD-1 appearances.
Star 1: Complete the challenge
Star 2: Complete the challenge without healing
Star 3: Complete the challenge without taking damage
If you consider yourself a master of the Jedi ways, try getting all three stars! However, if you’re looking for a wholly unique challenge, this next mode is for you.The second mode in Meditation Training is called the Battle Grid. This mode is a sandbox for players to create their own encounters. In it, players will be able to select a location, the size of the encounter they want to face, tinker with various difficulty modifiers, and set the overall combat difficulty to one of the four difficulty levels.
There’s a lot of room for creativity within this mode and you’ll also be able to save your grid creations to play later. As an added bonus, this mode will also feature unique enemies Cal saw during the dark visions of his past and future: his fallen Master Jaro Tapal as well as the dark side version of himself, Inquisitor Cal Kestis!
We can’t wait to see the encounters you create and hope you’ll share screenshots and video clips of your punishing creations for the community to replicate!
New Journey+
A common request we got was for a way to replay the game while carrying some things over. The core experience of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order revolves around Cal’s growth and learning (and relearning) his abilities as he restores his connection to the Force and overcomes his traumas. For this mode, we think we’ve found a good balance between what to carry over while still allowing Cal to discover abilities on his journey.
With this update also comes the New Journey+ mode. This new feature gives those of you who’ve beaten the game a menu option to start from the beginning, gaining access to Meditation Training game modes (exclusively available in New Journey+). You’ll also keep all of their collectibles from a previous playthrough while abilities will have to be relearned. This includes lightsaber parts, kyber crystal colors, and other aesthetic items. And yes, that means you get to keep every poncho. Any chests you’ve opened in your previous playthrough will stay empty, meaning you won’t need to check every chest or open empty ones by accident. Any chests you haven’t opened, though, will remain in place for you and your best droid buddy to find.
As an added bonus, NJ+ will unlock an additional appearance for Cal: the Inquisitor uniform, as seen during a vision he has during the story. Naturally, you’ll need a lightsaber to match, so we’re also adding the iconic red kyber crystal along with two new lightsaber sets: Protection and Defense I & II. What’s especially exciting about these new hilts is that we’ve once again worked with our friends at Lucasfilm and Disney to make sure they match the ones you’d find in Batuu at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort!
All of these are exclusive to New Journey+ and cannot be used during a fresh playthrough of the game.
Accessibility Improvements
Accessibility is something we really care about. After the launch of the game, we got some great feedback on how we could make the game even more accessible. At the core of every Respawn game, we want them to feel good to play, and we want them to feel good for every kind of gamer. To better meet that goal, we’ve added some additional accessibility options that we hope can help more players enjoy Cal’s story.
Option for button-mashing quick-time events to 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
