**Spoilers** Battlefront II Campaign Thoughts

[Raydo]

So I just finished the Campaign and wanted to get other's thoughts on their experience with it. I actually really enjoyed it, though I will admit i'm not super picky about games or movies. With the level of cutscenes, I am not surprised at the game length. Between playing on hard and being bad at shooters, I got 4-5 hours out of the campaign which is enough for me to feel like I got something out of it.

I really enjoyed inferno squad and loved that the campaign let you play as a good number of heroes which all felt different enough to be really enjoyable. Iden was badass and I would have been perfectly happy if the entire campaign was her going on stealthy missions similar to the first (We need a Star Wars Splinter Cell please). The space combat was fun and made me realize how much I need another Rogue Squadron game in my life (but that Iden vs. Hask starfighter fight on hard can go straight to hell...took me forever)

I made the mistake of looking up some reviews of others because I didn't understand some things in the last part of the story and people pretty much hated it from what I read (but that's the internet for you.) but what did you guys think? I know a lot of you were getting the game for console but if anyone has it for PC and wants to play, let me know!

 

[Loco]

I think it was a bit rushed, but that's to be expected with the span of time they were trying to cover, and you also have to take in consideration that this is really only the first installment- more campaign levels have already been confirmed for December release.

Like I said on discord- I think it's classic star wars. The morality is very black and white, and the Empire was classic pinky to mouth cheesy evil. Not a lot of nuance, which outside of a few select individuals is not something we typically see in the bad guy side of star wars anyway. It was fitting.

I think the level with Luke could have made a bit more sense. It's very Easter egg, rather than an actual missing link or explanation, but I can live with it.

And yeah, the space combat gives me hope for a new rogue squadron series.

 

[Raydo]

I did not know they were releasing more campaign! That makes the cliffhanger ending a bit more bearable...

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The mission with Luke was my favorite. You need to know a bit about canon for it to really resonate, particularly that the Emperor used these observatories for, but I think there was a very strong implication that this compass plays a part in how Luke discovers Ahch-To.

That to me is made even clearer by the fact that Del ends up knowing Lor San Tekka and where he took the map to Ahch-To.

I also think Luke himself was incredibly well written.

 

[Nor'baal]

I would recommend to anyone getting the game, read the Book first - as it's a very good scene setter.

 

[Raydo]

The mission with Luke was my favorite. You need to know a bit about canon for it to really resonate, particularly that the Emperor used these observatories for, but I think there was a very strong implication that this compass plays a part in how Luke discovers Ahch-To.

That to me is made even clearer by the fact that Del ends up knowing Lor San Tekka and where he took the map to Ahch-To.

I also think Luke himself was incredibly well written.

Im assuming there is more info on the abkve details in the novels? If so, which ones? I agree Luke was done well, I just felt like some of the info went over my head (and im assumkng thats the same for a large majority of the playerbase)

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Im assuming there is more info on the abkve details in the novels? If so, which ones? I agree Luke was done well, I just felt like some of the info went over my head (and im assumkng thats the same for a large majority of the playerbase)

There's nothing about Luke in the novels (he's been barely used in the novels between Episode VI and Episode VII), but the Emperor's observatories come from the Aftermath trilogy. Basically, Palpatine sensed some sort of dark power from beyond the galactic rim and was fascinated by the Unknown Regions. That's one of the reasons he kept Thrawn so close, because Thrawn had a working knowledge of the Unknown Regions and could help him map it. The novel Thrawn shows Thrawn talking about threats from the Unknown Regions, ones that could threaten Csilla and the Empire, and Palpatine had already sensed things like this. He believed that the source of the dark side itself could be found somewhere beyond known space.

There are several observatories, like the one on Pillio, throughout the galaxy. Some stored weapons. Some stored Sith artifacts. Some held prisoners and stored their life force. But each one also pointed in a different direction beyond the galactic rim, to study the unknown.

One of those observatories was on Jakku. Gallius Rax's Contingency (which Operation: Cinder was part of) had a very simple idea, from Palpatine himself: the war was a game of chess. In chess, if the king falls, it doesn't matter how many other pieces are on the board. All pieces are made to lose, because they couldn't protect their king. He believed the Empire was the same. He told Rax that an Empire unable to protect its Emperor didn't deserve to survive, and had to be destroyed along with the rebellion.

Rax tweaked the Contingency a bit and decided to lead only a select few into the Unknown Regions, but first he had to destroy the Empire and the Republic. That's why he brought all Imperial forces to Jakku and lured the Republic there. The Battle of Jakku was meant to destroy everyone. But the Republic got the upper hand, and Grand Admiral Rae Sloane killed Rax and was able to salvage more of the Imperial forces. She used the coordinates from the Jakku observatory, which had a lot of the knowledge collected by Palpatine and given to the Empire by Thrawn, to lead the surviving Imperial forces into the Unknown Regions.

Once they were in the Unknown Regions, Sloane said that their "first order of business" was to build a better empire. That led to the rise of the First Order, and there is a strong implication that Snoke is the dark presence or is somehow involved with the dark presence that Palpatine was studying.

So how would that relate to Luke? The compass is one of the many artifacts that Palpatine collected while doing all of this studying, and it may be what led him to finding Ahch-To.

Long story short: this game is another piece in a big transmedia storyline about the rise of the First Order and the disappearance of Luke Skywalker.

 

[Loco]

Damn. I really need to read more aftermath books.

 

[Gamov]

Overall, the campaign left me feeling more confused and disheartened than anything.

After reading the above comments and knowing that the scope of the story extends well beyond the game, it helps to shed some light on why the story felt so fragmented. But at the same time it frustrates me to no end that the campaign doesn't (either by design or choice) exist as its own story in the wider Star Wars saga. Why did the story of Inferno Squad need to tie in with Luke or Leia or Han? Was it absolutely necessary? I don't think so, and within that light I feel we were somewhat led astray by the initial billing for the campaign.

Since day one, we were led to believe the campaign would focus on Iden and the exploits of Inferno Squad. Now, to be perfectly honest, I had no delusions whatsoever that that story wouldn't inevitably evolve with Iden and co. turning turncoat on the Empire and joining the Alliance. That much was predictable from the outset. What wasn't as predictable, however, was how quickly (and frankly, shoddily) it was done. As I stated on the Discord, the Empire's plan for "continuity of government" after the Emperor's death utterly baffled me, and only seemed to serve as a means to shoehorn in a convenient excuse for Iden to turn traitor. Operation Cinder was never clearly explained, and was essentially evil for the sake of being evil.

What truly disappointed me about the campaign though was the fact that Iden, and in effect the story of Inferno Squad altogether, effectively comes to an end roughly 4 missions in. After that point, you spend more time following Luke, Han, Leia and Lando as they do various things to battle the Empire (and provide little lead ins to TFA) while Iden and Del essentially become secondary characters.

Now, I did my absolute best to avoid reviews focused on the campaign prior to the game's release simply because I didn't want my opinion of that particular aspect of the game to be colored before I could have my own crack at it. Having had time to play it though, I really can't help but parrot what several reviewers have said. The campaign seems less invested in telling one continuous story about a particular character (Iden), and more interested in hop-scotching between vignettes starring everyone's favorite heroes for the sake of fan service. And given that the mission with Luke doesn't exactly make much sense unless one is privy to a few scant details concerning his mention in a loosely related novel, this only reinforces my point.

It is good to know that they do plan to expand the story further with additional content. But I'm of a mind that if they had invested more time into crafting a deeper, more engaging story from the outset, we wouldn't necessarily need additional content to fill in the gaps. I'm a quality over quantity kind of guy, and I wold have been perfectly happy tacking another 6 months to a year onto the development process for BF2 if it would have meant a deeper, more enriched campaign.

Sadly, money speaks louder, and it's no surprise the campaign suffered for the sake of polishing the MP (sans loot crate controversy) to hit that magical holiday release.

 

[Gamov]

Figured I would drop this here since it involves the campaign. But...

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1729420/star-wars-battlefront-2-might-answer-a-major-rey-mystery

Now, I actually had an argument with my brother about the possibility of Iden being Rey's mother. He contends that since BF2 is canon, that it is possible. I maintain that a video game would be about the dumbest place in the world to reveal such a crucial detail about a central character in the new trilogy. Revealing Rey's parents through a video game (which people may or may not play due to the negative reviews swirling about BF2) would be like if we found out Vader was Luke's father through some ancillary novel written in between ANH and ESB.

Something that critical to the story of a character, I feel, would (and should) exist entirely within the framework of the films. Personally, I'll be even more disappointed with BF2 than I already am if it comes out in the wash that Iden is Rey's mother. Thankfully, I highly doubt we have to worry about that.

I hope...

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Why can't it exist in both? Why not have the revelation be in the film, and then the video game is there as the story of who those characters are?

Not that I'm a proponent, but it's obvious that - assuming the parents aren't people we already know - if there is any sort of story for Rey's parents beyond "this is who they are and what that means for Rey" then it will be told in non-film material.

Plus, nothing in The Force Awakens suggests that Rey's parents are a crucial bit of information. There's just an assumption that in Star Wars if you seem like a nobody then you must have important parents.

The more important information about Rey isn't who are her parents but who is she? What's her role in this story? Where do her powers come from? Etc. Those questions can all be answered without needing to know who her parents are.

 

[Jinan B]

Kylo: Han never told you what happened to your father.
Rey: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!
Kylo: No... Well I mean, kind of. It was actually one of my officers.