Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will only allow for lightsaber dismemberment "in select cases"

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order won't let you lop limbs off stormtroopers but droids are fair game

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order won't fully embrace Star Wars' love for dismemberment. I'm not saying it's a fetish or anything (though whatever happens between two consenting adults in a galaxy far, far away is their business), it just comes up a lot when half the main characters fight with swords made out of laser beams. Despite that, impromptu lightsaber limb removal procedures will not be a regular occurrence in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Cal Kestis' lightsaber leaves glowing scorch marks on enemies when he slices them, but even if it's a killing blow, they remain in one piece. I bet Darth Maul, Anakin Skywalker, and Luke wish that's how their lightsaber injuries worked out! Senior designer Justin Perez told IGN that it was an intentional choice by Respawn Entertainment to only allow for dismemberment "in select cases".

Perez said that means you'll be able to strike limbs off of beasts like the giant spiders of Kashyyyk and inorganic foes like Imperial droids, but not humanoid characters like stormtroopers. At first blush this decision could seem like an attempt to simply aim for lower age ratings, keeping the demographics consistent with Star Wars' reputation as a (mostly) family-friendly franchise.

As a kid I played the hell out of Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, both of which let you hack bits off your enemies. I thought it was rad, but even then leaving a grisly trail of stormtrooper arms in my wake felt inconsistent with Star Wars' sci-fi swashbuckling. In the films each dismemberment is a dramatic moment and a turning point in the victim's story. Well, except for when Obi-Wan cuts off some guy's arm in a bar. Anyway, it loses all impact if a video game has you dismembering faceless enemies over and over again.

I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order would be the first game to let you just end any given enemy if you give them a solid hit with a lightsaber because - again - it's literally a sword made out of laser beams. I get how that would be a tough thing to design satisfying, varied combat for though, and I'm still excited to play Fallen Order when it comes out on November 15.

Check out our big list of E3 2019 games for more picks from the show to get excited about. 

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
Former GamesRadar+ News Writer

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.