Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order...Needs some work.

I agree that it needs a lot of work, but I don't agree on any of your points except maybe the fourth. 

The first three are game design decisions.

The save points are inspired by the Souls games - not to everyone's liking, but that doesn't make it wrong or bad. The game was designed around it, it's part of its appeal and challenge, so I don't see them changing that - nor do I want them to.

A direction indicator on the HUD is too much help for me. You have the map pretty much always accessible to you, showing you where you were and where you haven't been yet. Again, a design decisions and very much in tune with the Star Wars feeling.

And the levels offer many shortcuts found by exploring. Also, at a certain point in the game, you get some new and unexpected encounters in the game, so the backtracking makes sense. If you had fast travel, you would miss out on stuff. 

The last one is here and there. Fallen Order is, unfortunately, a far way from being the most precise and responsive when it gets to player movement and actions, and combat. It doesn't reach the highs of games like Sekiro or Nioh. I do hope they can do something about that. As someone else wrote, "you can't have a Soulslike game without the Soulslike precision and control of your character and their actions." It took me a long time to go from Sekiro and Nioh to this rather sluggish combat, but you get used to it. It has definitely limitations, though.

I'm way more worried and frustrated by technical stuff (like enemies being "trapped" in a certain area, unable to go through a door or past some invisible line), collision issues, and bugs.

The game needed another six months of polish before release.

Be wary, there is an autosave feature at certain points, but its not intuitive at all. Ibe lost data from my databank from the main quest because of a crash due to this. Primarily chapter 3 entry 4. Now the save cannot be 100%'d.

@zippythepinheadI do agree with number 3 the most... alot of people say we'd complain the game is shorter, but let's face it... beelining from point A to point B is actually boring and makes the game feel longer in a bad way.

For example if you miss something in Kashyyyk in the Tree of Life... but have 100% everything else, you're forced to spend 15 min to walk there... and then 15 min walking back to the Mantis and that just ain't fun.  Those 15 min both ways are just a huge waste of time where you do nothing. 

I propose that once you 100% a segment of the map, you can travel to meditation points in it - after all, you already explored that area so what's the use of having to walk through it again?

At the very least a "Return to Mantis" option would do wonders.  

Exploration and walking through maps shouldn't be a mandatory or enforced thing unless its your first time through the area. 

First things first: I'm a 42 years old Nerd and my reflexes are nowhere near the performance of my 16 year old son...

Fallen Order is also more about timing than actually reflexes. 

1. Console games gave us those stupid checkpoint and save-point systems because back then they weren't up to the task of saving everywhere... Why this is still in use is actually beyond me. In my opinion, repetition never made any game more exciting or fun. That said, I think the meditation points are well place and rarely too far apart. 

2. I love the hud exactly as it is. For me mini maps and objective markers are clutter that ruins my immersion. For me even the highlighted objects for using the force are a bit annoying... Never had trouble finding my way actually. 

3. I actually think it's great that there is no fast travel. The feeling of being far away from the drop point and out of reach is a good thing in my opinion and I don't mind going the long way back at all (and I'm currently in the middle of my third play-through.)

4. The wall run in Kashyyyk needed two or three tries, but really wasn't hard using the force jump, otherwise the only annoying parts for me was those where you have to slide down and then exactly target that one rope in mid-air you need to grab... Had to do that one situation on Zeffo over and over. Also doesn't help that I don't have camera control in this situation for whatever reason. 

These deficiencies you mention are really just a matter of practice. On my first play-through the game was hard for me, sometimes frustrating, even on Jedi Knight setting, while I now play on Jedi Master with ease. My aforementioned son started on Jedi Master and was fine with that... Young people... :D  

Well, I finally managed to slog my way through to the anticlimactic end of the game, and it was a slog. Even on "Story" difficulty the game mechanics are such that the frustration level in accomplishing some of the tasks and stupidly tedious puzzles left me, not with a feeling of satisfaction, but simply glad to have the crap behind me. 

And my criticisms remain unchanged...no ability to save and restart a level, no HUD/map markers/compass...no fast travel, even limited to end-of-mission...and game mechanics that simply frustrate rather than challenge. 

Additionally there is no indication or explanation of just what, or how, light sabre characteristics are modified through the elements used to customize it. A little detail like that is something some players would appreciate.

There's simply nothing here that would lead me to undertake another play-through. And that is the crowning disappointment in this disappointing game. 

Agree this game is the definition of frustration, also stuck on the wall run in the origin tree, even thought if you look up those branches are big enough to walk on!  Just seems like no way to get by it.  Playing on story mode and the game is still a big pain.  I too like the Star Wars saga and looking forward to playing this.  I have two grand kids that are gamers and play several different games with ease on harder modes, but they have given up on this one out of frustration.  The map hologram is almost useless.  Rely on a walk through to even play most of the time with the complicated puzzles and paths through areas.  Save mode is ok except if you use REST then all the enemies you have gone through respawn, who dreamed up that sorry idea?  This game has real potential but EA has chosen to take it down from the start.  I guess the engine that drives the game is really true the Unreal engine.  For the elite gamers, great! Glad you got through this but some of us would like to also.  You would think that if we play on a really easy mode that would be possible and with that training could then move up to harder modes.  I also play other games and on harder modes so this really highlights the gaffs in this game.  A little slow, but learning maybe the thing to do is avoid EA games all together.

@zippythepinhead

1. I thought the Meditation circles were plentiful. That said, save wise, if you're unlucky enough to get a save corrupted, which thankfully never happened to me in 3 play throughs, you have no choice but to restart the game. Being able to have an auto save in addition to the Med Circle saves, like every time you land on a planet, would have helped avoid this.

2. My only nit pick about the map system is the holomap often doesn't clearly show how to connect from one area to another. Other than that, I saw no need to clutter the screen with a minimap or other HUD elements.

3. While it DOES take a fair bit of exploring to get to know the maps, they are plentiful with quick access routes, especially when you unlock the many shortcuts. I also feel the forced exploration fits with you playing a Padawan on the run.

4. As with the exploration, I think having some trepidation in the platforming is essential to reinforcing the character you play as. I also feel once you get the hang of it, the wall running is easy, even the one on the Origin Tree where you're forced to do several wall run/double jump combos. I am also 62, and don't feel it's so hard that it requires the reflexes and dexterity of a teenage. That would be fighter games and any games that have a lot of boss fights that require quick combo attacks instead.