'Jedi Fallen Order' Lightsaber Customization Copies the Best Star Wars Game

Few fans would dispute Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) as the best Star Wars video game of all time, and the upcoming Jedi: Fallen Order will adopt one of the game’s best features.

On Saturday, executive editor of Game Informer Andrew Reiner fielded questions about Jedi: Fallen Order via Twitter. Having learned more about the game from developers and getting hands-on with it at E3 2019, he was in a unique position to offer details about the upcoming game from EA and Respawn Entertainment, which puts you in the role of a Jedi in hiding after the prequel trilogy but before the original movie. The male human protagonist, Cal Kestis, was a Padawan before the execution of Order 66 wiped out almost all the Jedi.

Cal retains a basic blue lightsaber, but after some curious fans asked about lightsabers on Twitter, Reiner confirmed that “blade color, design, and more” would be customizable in Fallen Order.

He elaborated in other tweets, saying the “hilt, blade and more” were customizable “with items found.” By finding a new Kyber Crystal and other lightsaber materials, Cal can probably make a new blade or modify his original. Green? Purple? Yellow? Orange? All of these lightsaber colors are probably possible, but it’s less likely that we’ll see see Cal dual-wield blades or have a double-sided saber like Darth Maul. That might change combat mechanics too much.

This feature could indicate that you get more narrative freedom in Jedi: Fallen Order than most of us previously thought, and it’s an exciting feature that made Knights of the Old Republic so enticing more than 15 years ago.

In KOTOR, you play as a fully customizable Force-sensitive individual who turns out to be an amnesiac Darth Revan, a former Jedi turned Sith Lord who becomes a blank slate through which the player can become a powerful force for good or evil. You can wield one lightsaber, two, or even a double-sided blade. You can also select the color of every blade.

The freedom to define your Jedi or Sith in any way you want is the entire point of KOTOR. And what defines a Jedi or Sith more clearly than their lightsaber?

Jedi: Fallen Order won’t have a morality system like in KOTOR, meaning that no matter how much players might want to make Cal evil, that won’t be possible. (That probably also means no red lightsabers). The game is definitely not open-world, but Reiner describes it as “not linear,” allowing players the freedom to travel and explore where they want.

Developers say inspiration came from Dark Souls and Metroid, but Reiner says it feels closer to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in terms of combat mechanics. You spend most of Sekiro using the same katana to pull off progressively more complex attacks.

Fallen Order will probably work similarly, except you’ll be able to change every cosmetic aspect of the lightsaber you’re wielding, even Cal’s costume. What will your rogue Jedi look like when the game comes out this fall?

Jedi: Fallen Order will be released November 19, 2019.