I have played the Star Wars game, and I have this to say: Oggdo Bogdo can get stuffed.
I’ve travelled half the galaxy, repaired my bond with the force, and sent more stormtroopers hurtling off conveniently placed gantries than I’m entirely proud of. But that goddamn frog from what’s basically the tutorial world is still the worst thing I’ve come across.
I had heard tell of Oggdo Bogdo before arriving on Bogano. I knew there was an optional boss lurking at the beginning of the game that was giving players trouble, and I also knew that the best way to tackle him was to approach Jedi: Fallen Order as the Metroidvania it was always intended to be. I knew that I was supposed to get my ass handed to me a few times, then wander off across the galaxy to get a few more powers before coming back to dispatch that stupid frog a few hours later. I knew all that, but in my hubris, I decided to ignore it all and hunt down the monster straight away.
Actually, that’s not quite what happened – I initially stumbled upon Oggdo Bogdo by complete accident, at which point the bane of Bogano chewed me up and spat me back out. I decided to accept his challenge. As a result, I spent more of the next hour than I’m proud of making the trek back to his lair to try and reclaim my lost experience points.
I’d like to say that, in my Padawan state, Oggdo Bogdo was simply too powerful for me – an apex predator at the top of his game who should scoff at this puny human challenger.
But if I’m honest the biggest problem was that I could never read his bizarre charge attack. I’d block a few attacks, but then he would flash red, indicating an attack that couldn’t be deflected. I’d dodge out of the way, avoiding a lunge that never came. I’d steady myself just in time to see him sat there squatting on his haunches as if frozen in time, sporting an expression that was somehow both smug and irritatingly gormless at the same time. Then, before my puny human synapses could react, he’d launch forward, knock me to the floor, and finish me off.
Eventually, stubbornness paid off. I learned to wait out those pregnant pauses, skirting around the edge of the beast’s lair until he’d over-committed to an attack, then leaping forward to attack and skipping back before he could retaliate. Oggdo Bogdo got a lightsaber up his chute, and I was loving it at One with the Force.
It was as though a great weight had been lifted, and I was finally free to start travelling the galaxy again.
But Oggdo Bogdo turned out to be only the first of my wildlife woes, soon replaced by a horde of other irritating monsters.
On Dathomir I found myself chunked out by the last wild flail of a Nydak prowling around the opening area. On Kashyyyk I fell prey to a sneak attack from the spidery Albino Wyyyschokk, and on Zeffo I had to dodge the surprisingly nimble footwork of an angry troll. If all those weren’t enough, Fallen Order’s fauna also features charging ram-like slugs, exploding and/or venemous insects, and burrowing dog-things that leap out of their holes to send you barrelling off cliff edges.
Those fights are chaotic, defined by the chaotic swipes of animalistic rage, or the need to dodge out of the way of inexplicably volatile insect remains. By contrast fights against humanoid enemies are clean, ordered, and allow me to exercise my mastery of the force on unsuspecting storm troopers. When a band of Night Brothers or squad of Scout Troopers come at me, fights feel balanced and calculated, a test of timing and patience, while skirmishes against my animal foes are all about how quickly I can carve one critter up before moving onto the next.
When I face off against another soldier – blades clashing and force powers flying – I actually feel like a Jedi. But when I’m fighting my way through the overconfident wildlife of Kashyyyk and Zeffo, I feel more like the galaxy’s most specialised and most unfortunate pest-controller.
This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK, bringing you original reporting, game culture and humour from the British isles.
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