I have finally reached the end of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. This is tied with Dark Forces II as my favorite of the series.

The story of Jedi Academy is very simple, but provides the player with the opportunity to create their own Jedi OC. The options are fairly limited, but there is some variety in species and clothing, which is unexpected for a game of this type. Of course you get to create your own lightsaber as well. The game does away with the following Kyle Katarn from level to level in favor of giving the player the role of a Jedi student. The overall plot is actually quite fun involving a Sith/Dark Jedi cult attempting to revive a Sith to take over the galaxy. It can be very cheesy, but that only adds to the space adventure romp.

Gameplay has been changed quite dramatically. For the moment to moment gameplay, things feel much more refined than in Jedi Outcast: aiming is less wonky and hit detection feels better. Now you start with a lightsaber, so there are really only a handful of moments in which you will pull out a blaster or explosives. The saber combat has been expanded, with more moves and different saber types. I can confidently say that I understand why this game's lightsaber combat is so revered, and with the lightsaber enemies becoming extremely common (multiple per level), you get ample opportunity to get into intense duels. That being said, where Jedi Outcast ended up being quite challenging even on the Jedi/Normal difficulty, Jedi Outcast seems to have had its difficulty reduced. I found myself very rarely dying or even being worried about my health, whereas previous games had me constantly on edge or even stuck at points.

The structure is quite interesting, gone are the long sequential levels of the previous four games. Instead you are given batches of missions that can be completed in any order, each being 10-15 minutes in length on average. From the galaxy map you get to pick a location and get a small text description and briefing from other characters. Mission objectives have great variety from a short item collection mission, to deactivating bombs, to a prison escape. All of this reinforces the idea of being a Jedi asked to solve the problems of local governments and the New Republic. The shortening of the missions also means that there are more or less no puzzles and no down-time, you are always moving forward. This can also contribute to the game feeling a bit easy and even mindless at times. In some ways I liked not getting stuck looking for a tiny hole to progress through, but in other ways it lead to a bit of monotony.

If you have to play one Dark Forces/Jedi Knight game, I would probably recommend this one. The saber combat has not been matched by any other star wars game to date.

Jedi Outcast is a huge leap forward for the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series, as it is the game that introduces the iconic lightsaber combat system. It also continues the story of Kyle Katarn and further explores the post-ROTJ era. It is great to see the new Jedi Academy (no pun intended).

The game almost feels like it is intended to be another entry point to the series, because at the start Kyle has given up his lightsaber and force powers. The player starts with just blasters and will likely not use the third person camera until around halfway through the game.

Combat is very strange, it feels like shots are programmed to miss half the time. I would use the full-auto on the E-11 point-blank on stormtroopers and only like 1/4 of the shots would hit, in spite of my crosshair being red the whole time and the gun essentially in the enemy's face. It leads to a lot of frustrating encounters where you swear you're dead on target and doing no damage. The combat does improve dramatically once a lightsaber and improved force powers are acquired, but the lightsaber has its own set of frustrations. The range of the lightsaber is shorter than it appears, oftentimes you will need to be touching an enemy to actually hit them, and even then you will watch your lightsaber go through someone only for no damage to occur. I'm not sure if it is due to hitboxes or hit detection or range, etc. That being said, when saber combat is firing on all cylinders against other lightsaber users, it is thrilling.

Puzzles can remain a bit cryptic and frustrating, particularly the navigational challenges where a hidden grate or ledge is the path forward, or you need to destroy a piece of scenery with no indication that it is even destructible. I needed to use a guide at times to progress.

In terms of story, it feels like a EU side story, with cameos from some movie characters and locations most fans will know of. I would have liked more variety in terms of enemies, the Imperial Remnant only have 3-4 varieties of stormtrooper and officers. There are a handful of alien thugs as well, but that's it. Thankfully lightsaber enemies shake things up quite a bit. Locations also feel a bit samey toward the end, you spend a lot of time in various grey Imperial ships and installations, it can feel monotonous.

Overall I would put either this game or Jedi Knight I as my favorite so far. I enjoyed the story of Jedi Knight I more, but the lightsaber combat in this game is so strong it is difficult to decide.

Mysteries of the Sith is tedious to say the least. The game is much more obtuse than Dark Forces and Jedi Knight I ever were, I spent a lot of time wandering around looking for progression that turned out to be a random hole in the ceiling or a grate obscured under a platform. I really would not have beaten the game if not for two things: walkthroughs and cheats.

The game is quite a bit more difficult than the previous one, leaving the player fighting for every scrap of health and shields they can find, spending most of the time with low health and no shields. The beginning and end of the games are the worst parts in my opinion, with the middle levels being quite fun.

Story-wise there is not much to say, most of the story is just random Mara Jade adventures, which is pretty fun. This is the only game that stars Mara, and so it is great to see her personality. Kyle Katarn takes a back seat, only appearing at the beginning and end of the game. It does feel a bit irrelevant to the overall Dark Forces/Jedi Knight story, and you can really tell it is more of an expansion than a full-fledged sequel.

I don't know if I'd recommend playing it. I did not enjoy my time overall, I would say to just watch a compilation of the cutscenes and move on to Jedi Outcast if you are playing through the whole series like I am.