I absolutely love Jedi: Fallen Order.
So, while I know it’s been just under a year since the game released, I wanted to go back and rank my favorite planets from the game. For the sake of simplicity that makes it easier to follow and rank, I’ve broken up the worlds into two categories: those you can explore and those that you can’t. In other words, I’ve differentiated between the planets which you can return to over and over to explore as you wish, versus those planets which are more linear and just make one appearance to further the story. I didn’t think it was fair to judge these two groups of planets together, so I’ve broken it up.
Anyway, here’s my ranking!
Explorable Planets:
1. Kashyyyk
This was my favorite planet in the game, for several reasons. The story was great; it included cameos from known characters Saw Gerrera and Tarfful, you got to ride on a giant Shyyyo bird, and there’s an epic boss battle with the Ninth Sister. The enemy variety on the planet is also very good, and it’s cool to play somewhere we’ve actually seen on-screen in the films while exploring it during a new era. The scenery is beautiful but also provides you with a nice variety, as you’ve got an AT-AT, the jungles of Kashyyyk, Imperial compounds/prisons, the shadowlands, swamps, underwater areas, and the Great Tree (upon which you spend a significant amount of time). This variety both in scenery and in enemies, combined with the story and score that go along with it, made Kashyyyk my favorite. Everything except the Wyyyschokks. Those things are terrifying.
2. Dathomir
Though we haven’t seen Dathomir on-screen in a Star Wars film, we have seen it on-screen in animated Star Wars material. And this game certainly pulled in of that material, giving us Nightsister zombies. Like Kashyyyk, the story on Dathomir is absolutely thrilling, and it introduces us to Merrin, to Malicos, and to a vision with Cal and his master. This planet probably features the most challenging combat in the game, but the villains are terrific and the scenery is beautiful – in the dead and barren Dathomir kind of way. There were a few occasions where this map felt a bit tedious and repetitive to me, but by far the majority of it was tremendous.
3. Zeffo
Speaking of tedious, that’s what keeps Zeffo down the list at number three. In all honesty, Zeffo might be the most beautiful of all the planets in the game, and it’s also kind of cool that it’s the most major brand new planet. It’s a windy and rainy world on which the Empire has much excavating business, and we soon learn that it houses ancient tombs and a crashed Venator as well. This gives the planet a ton of variety, as you have the nature on Zeffo, the Imperial facilities, the crashed Venator wreckage, the tombs, etc. It seems to be by far the biggest map in the game, but perhaps it’s that very thing that holds it back. Simply put, I found this map very difficult to navigate, and it doesn’t seem I’m alone in that. The map in-game is normally helpful enough, but it’s not sufficient for Zeffo. It’s easy to get lost or travel in circles here, and that’s the main reason that comes in number three. A better map – or a bit more clarity on where you’re supposed to go – would greatly improve things. But all of that said, this is the most beautiful and the biggest planet in the game, and I loved exploring every part of it… except trying to get back to the Mantis.
4. Ilum
This one’s a bit harder to rank, because you don’t spend a whole lot of time on the planet, and much of the time spent on Ilum isn’t in combat. There are no native enemies, but plenty of Imperial enemies show up as you’re getting ready to leave. But for much of the time, you don’t even have your lightsaber. That means that Ilum is all about the story, and that’s more than good enough. Ilum is a very significant world (seen in The Clone Wars), and it’s a thrill to get to travel to the planet and explore it in this game. It too is beautiful-looking, and the story of you trying to rebuild your lightsaber is a really cool and significant one. There’s not a ton to explore here upon returning, but it’s at least nice to have a functioning lightsaber when you do so. I loved Ilum, but since it wasn’t a huge map nor did it feature a lot of new combat, it comes in here at number four almost by default.
5. Bogano
Bogano is the most basic planet in the game, but it’s that for a reason. This is the first planet you really get to explore (since the sequence on Bracca is just all about you trying to escape), and there’s a wide range of enemy difficulties (just wait until you have to try to face an Oggdo Bogdo…). There’s also a temple on the planet that factors in significantly to the story, and you return a few times – and at one point discover that the Empire has discovered it too. There’s a lot to explore here, and it’s a beautiful planet with great music (just like the rest of the planets) where you can have a bit more of an explorer approach without having to face waves of Imperial troopers. I really enjoyed Bogano, so the ranking here is more about what I love about the other planets rather than something I didn’t like about this one, but the fact that it was more basic simply pushes it down the list a bit.
Non-Explorable Planets:
1. Nur
The home of the Fortress Inquisitorious, this planet was an absolute thrill from start to finish. It’s the planet on which you conclude the story, and it goes out with a huge series of events, as you infiltrate the Fortress on Nur in an attempt to steal the holocron back, confront Trilla, and ultimately confront Darth Vader. It’s an action-packed and fast-paced mission that keeps you on edge the whole time. It’s cool to be able to swim underwater trying to infiltrate the Fortress secretly, and the whole time making your way through the base leading up to the climactic duels is tense and tremendous. I loved everything about the journey on Nur. It’s an exciting new location to play, and how it brings the story to an epic conclusion makes it even better.
2. Bracca
The world that starts it all, Bracca is where we first meet Cal. He’s a scrapper, and it’s awesome to see this new world where old Clone Wars-era ships are scrapped for parts, all while a giant sarlaac lurks below. Much of this planet is designed to teach you how to play the game, but that also means that parts of it are slow enough for you to really take in the impressive scenery. But it also then leads to a riveting escape attempt as Cal is found out, leading to him being rescued after a brief confrontation with the Second Sister.
3. Haxion Brood Headquarters
There’s a brief moment when Cal is captured by the Haxion Brood and taken to their base in an asteroid somewhere, and it’s probably my least-favorite location in the game. It’s filled with prison blocks that Cal must escape, and it’s pretty cool how the prison at this base is obviously put together in the midst of this asteroid… meaning things aren’t always stable and don’t always have a floor. Cal must escape the prison, find BD-1, and then make his way to a giant arena, where he faces off against waves of enemies. These aren’t new enemies, but rather enemies taken from previous encounters. It’s kinda fun to have an arena-style encounter, but with recent updates allowing you to train against waves of enemies of your choosing, this just feels like a detour that doesn’t add anything new. That’s not a problem in and of itself, but it’s what leads to this being the one location that I wasn’t impressed with.
Star Wars Thoughts 