Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 needs these 5 things to rule on PS5 and Xbox Series X

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has been one of the better Star Wars games released over the past few years, and after getting a performance patch on PS5 and Xbox Series X earlier in the year, is now due to get a proper next-gen overhaul this summer.

But that has got me thinking as to just what I would like to see from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2, the long-rumored sequel that whispers currently state is going to hit Xbox Series X and PS5 in 2022. I definitely enjoyed the original Fallen Order, however, there were definitely things that I fee the series could improve.

Here's 5 things Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 should introduce to rule the next-gen galaxy:

1. Dark side powers

All the way through Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order I was waiting for the moment when I would get to tap into dark force powers. Classic Star Wars games of old like Knights of the Old Republic gave you access to the full gamut of force powers, both light, dark and neutral, so the fact that protagonist Cal Kestis only gets to push and pull things, as well as do a bit of time slowing, ended up very disappointing.

In Fallen Order 2 let's get some of the classics like grip, lightning, scream, manipulation and plague in business, so we can turn to the dark side in style.

2. Proper dual-wielding lightsaber combat

And, talking of disappointments, when you finally get two lightsabers in Fallen Order you are then restricted to just using them in one, pre-set special move. This special move, while powerful, is nowhere near as cool as it should be, and the fact that the game has single and double-bladed lightstaber combat communicates to you that, yes, when you get two sabers you'll be able to switch to two-saber combat mode.

This wasn't the case, though, so it would be awesome if Fallen Order 2 could introduce it, and especially so if it also introduced the following feature as well.

3. A variety of lightsaber stances

Cal is far from the most elegant wielder of a lightsaber and seems to share a lot of the self-taught inelegance of Rey and Kylo Ren. That made sense to a degree in the first game as he never got trained properly and is quite young, but in a second game return we need to seem him get more skilful in wielding the saber. And that plays perfectly into the idea that Fallen Order 2 on PS5 and Xbox Series X could introduce different lightsaber stances.

Just look at how Ghost of Tsushima's combat system works, which is very similar to Fallen Order actually, to see how stances could be introduced, each with its own strenghts and weaknesses and specialisms against certain enemy types. Even if the stances are tied to single-blade, double-blade or dual wielding, that would look better and give gamers more control to play the game as they wish.

4. Better lightsaber customisation

Look, I think the lightsaber customisation was pretty good in Fallen Order. You could change the style of multiple components of Cal's saber, as well as its color, but really that was it and the options certainly weren't exhaustive. They were purely cosmetic, too.

In Fallen Order 2, though, more colors and styles would be great, but also the ability to customise things like energy blade appearance (smooth, rough like Kylo Ren's saber, tapered etc) as well as physical attributes. As Fallen Order rewarded good play and smart exploration with improved health and force pool, Fallen Order 2 could let players find and unlock stat-boosting upgrades for the sabers, too.

5. Enhanced scope and graphics that tap into PS5/Xbox Series X power

The PS5 and Xbox Series X are orders of magnitude more powerful than the consoles that Fallen Order was created for, so it would be great if the sequel could tap into that power to deliver a larger and more impressive-looking world.

Many of the locations in Fallen Order felt like flat and dead monster boxes, through which Cal had to cut himself through, and there was lots of repetition in terms of progressing through levels as well thanks to a loose Metroidvania game design.

The scope of each world you visited was also quite restrictive, so it would be good if we could have larger worlds in Fallen Order 2, and that we get enhanced particle effects, real time ray tracing and a rock-solid 4K 60fps.

• SecretLab MAGNUS Metal Desk review