YES we have news this week! (The news last week was “idk there’s no news I think it’s just Galaxy’s Edge opening?????” which is plenty of news for my delicate heart.)

Folks got their first in-depth look of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order this week at EA Play so—VIDEO GAAAMES!!!

First, we have the Official Release from Star Wars Dot Com: some stuff we already know–the main character is named Cal and he’s a Jedi in hiding after Order 66. In this “TOTALLY CANON” (emphasis mine, obviously) story, we see Cal on Kashyyyk to help the wookiee natives. We also know he’s got a buddy named BD-1 (VERY CUTE DROID), and we’re seeing Saw Gerrera again, voiced by Forest Whitaker (!!!).

The game looks beautiful. This is not surprising. Using the Force, though, and what that will look like is kind of a surprise: new abilities like running on walls, Force push/pull, lightsaber throws, and more. We also got our first in-game look at Purge troopers, which basically sound like specially trained Jedi-hunters. AT-ATs are back and we get to see Inquisitors–count me in.

Over at Game Informer, we get an exploration of what sets Jedi: Fallen Order apart from some of the Star Wars games that came before it. (Though, I’d argue, since Lucasfilm decided to move forward with an integrated story-telling approach, they’ve included the gaming properties and talked about continuing that approach moving forward.) Read the piece if you want more info on the choice to go with Respawn for this particular game, game play (lots of lightsaber talk), story (plus the author’s ideas about how this may tie into the larger canon), music, effects, and lots in between. Disappointingly, there isn’t anything about how the game/game play might translate to the accessibility controller(s) for various consoles. As people are having more and more discussions around accessibility and ableism, we would love to see this highlighted in future reviews!

Over in other media, my tardiness on the news today is your gain because we’ve got some bonus lit content! SyFy Wire got an exclusive excerpt (text and audiobook, woo!) from the upcoming Alphabet Squadron  “standalone prose novel and also a dynamic crossover title with Marvel’s Star Wars: TIE Fighter comic miniseries!” There’s also an exclusive interview with Alexander Freed (WHOM WE LOVE). Go read/listen. Right meow.

And that’s the news! Talk to y’all again soon.