The best thing about the Force Awakens? More than a few of my friends who previously had no interest in Star Wars are suddenly very excited about the franchise. They loved the new cast and so do I.

I never think about on-screen chemistry, but these guys had it.

That does seem to be the case with a lot of people that previously had little to no interest in Star Wars. And perhaps there's enough gamers in that crowd that will be willing to check out and support FFG's Star Wars RPG efforts.

As for how a film can be negatively impacted by lack of on-screen chemistry, look no further than the "romance" scenes between Anakin and Padme. By contrast, Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan had pretty good on-screen chemistry with pretty much anyone he spoke with, but that's probably due to Ewan McGregor being a pretty solid actor in general no matter who's directing him.

Actually, one of my favorite scenes was the escape from the star destroyer in the TIE. Mainly because both Poe and Finn were arguing at the top of their lungs while trying to fly.....and doing a pretty good job until they started arguing about going back to Jakku.

Finn's skill with a blaster is just training, but I still think it's possible he could be Force sensitive. I'm pretty sure Poe isn't, however, and is just an excellent pilot.

Yes, Poe doesn't appear to be force sensitive at all. I suspect if he was he would have been able to resist Kylo Ren better than he did.

Talos, we don't know anything about the knights of Ren yet (as far as i know) so where do you get the idea that Kylo's the only survivor? Form the way Snoke call him (master of the knights of Ren) it seems there are more knights than just him

Which kinda seems the opposite situation from the PT: instead of 2 Siths against a lot of Jedi, no we have a couple of Jedi against the Knights of Ren (which however could be a smaller group, we don't have an idea of how many there are).

Seeing as how Ren is kind of a poser, if he's the boss, I don't think we have much to worry about.

That's pretty much what I was thinking! Not sure if that's exactly what disney intended....

Kallabecca,

The whole "you need to have the Force to use a lightsaber" has been around for quite a while, possibly even before the WEG system was first published. I know a few folks that clung to that belief yet had never once looked at a Star Wars RPG of any edition, so I don't think it's an RPG thing.

I do agree that it's nice to see that belief put to rest, even if Han already shot holes in it by using Luke's lightsaber to carve open that tauntaun in ESB.

I'm not even sure why it appeared in the first place given the Tauntaun scene happened.

I think its true that, unless you are force sensitive and have some training, a lightsabre is a difficult, and possibly dangerous, weapon to use. Finn did ok considering he had no experience, and he was helped out by Ren being severely wounded and emotionally unstable, but I don't think what he did could be considered "**** well".

I've always seen it more as, you need the force to actually parry blaster bolts and other inhuman feats with a weapon. Otherwise it's really just another sword (that you shouldn't cut yourself with).

Kallabecca,

The whole "you need to have the Force to use a lightsaber" has been around for quite a while, possibly even before the WEG system was first published. I know a few folks that clung to that belief yet had never once looked at a Star Wars RPG of any edition, so I don't think it's an RPG thing.

I do agree that it's nice to see that belief put to rest, even if Han already shot holes in it by using Luke's lightsaber to carve open that tauntaun in ESB.

I'm not even sure why it appeared in the first place given the Tauntaun scene happened.

I think its true that, unless you are force sensitive and have some training, a lightsabre is a difficult, and possibly dangerous, weapon to use. Finn did ok considering he had no experience, and he was helped out by Ren being severely wounded and emotionally unstable, but I don't think what he did could be considered "**** well".

He went toe to toe with a darksider that had been trained by Luke freaking Skywalker and Supreme Leader Snoak, and not only wounded the moron, but actually survived the experience, albeit gravely wounded in turn.

I'd call that **** well by any metric, especially since he kept all four of his limbs.

I've always seen it more as, you need the force to actually parry blaster bolts and other inhuman feats with a weapon. Otherwise it's really just another sword (that you shouldn't cut yourself with).

That's always been my view, but you tend to get dogpiled for it and told you're somehow doing it wrong.

The biggest reason Kylo didn't take out both Finn and Rey is because he had been injured by Chewie's bowcaster. Earlier we saw the bowcaster obliterate enemies in a single shot. Not to mention take out more than one enemy at a time. And Kylo took a direct hit. The simple fact that he was able to walk, nevermind pursue, after Finn and Rey speaks to his ability in the Force. Both Finn and Rey have some melee training, although I think Rey had more practical knowledge than Finn. Finn's area of expertise lies more in blasters as was evident once he picked up a blaster after using the lightsaber.

I came across a web article where the author viewed the game in terms of the D6 system, in which there was a Force power called "control pain" that allowed the user to ignore the skill check penalties from being injured as long as the effect is maintained. He figured that the only reason Kylo was still going was because he was using the Force to do so. As mouthymerc noted, everybody else that even got close to a bolt from Chewie's bowcaster was taken completely out, and yet Kylo kept going like the main antagonist of a slasher movie, even after taking another hit from Finn (who got his spine sliced not long after). I suspect that if Rey was going up against a fresh and injured Kylo, the fight's outcome would have been very different. Heck, even after Rey finally took him down, Kylo kept trying to get back up to continue the fight. Vader lost his hand in RotJ was pretty much down for the count until he'd gotten a chance to take a breather.

Kylo still being able to stand at all was clearly supernatural and kind of made him scary, even if it was clear he was going to lose (I did not see him taking out Finn, though. I figured it'd be a classic team-up vs. a weaker villain and was pleasantly surprised it wasn't for a change). I mean, this is a guy you can shoot the guts out of, and he'll still keep coming like a maniac. That gave me the chills.

The biggest reason Kylo didn't take out both Finn and Rey is because he had been injured by Chewie's bowcaster. Earlier we saw the bowcaster obliterate enemies in a single shot. Not to mention take out more than one enemy at a time. And Kylo took a direct hit. The simple fact that he was able to walk, nevermind pursue, after Finn and Rey speaks to his ability in the Force. Both Finn and Rey have some melee training, although I think Rey had more practical knowledge than Finn. Finn's area of expertise lies more in blasters as was evident once he picked up a blaster after using the lightsaber.

Exactly. And remember when Kylo kept thumping himself because he was bleeding all over the place?

Plus, his training was obviously incomplete. It seems that he didn't learn much in the way of sabre construction given the shoddy design of his sabre, which infers Luke didn't teach him much sword-play either. And Snoke says his training was incomplete.

Really Kylo seems like an undertrained villian, not super impressive in terms of force users. He's only gotten to where he is through brute force and lack of competition, not any real skill. Its also obvious the First Order's commanders are aware of his weakness and insecurities, and treat him accordingly. He's only there because he's the only force user they've got, and not a very good one either.

Kylo's saber acts as it does because it contains a cracked crystal. That is also why the design has the side vents. It may be that he was only able to get his hands on a cracked crystal in the first place. Whether or not this changes remains to be seen.

The side vents/crossguard isn't a bad idea per se. I'm hoping that the new lightsabers we see will have their own bent to them, too. Kylo is a broken personality and is using a kind of broken sword. I'm curious what Rey's will look like.

Tangentially related, btw, and quite interesting.

Okay, I just rewatched it, with my brother, extensively focusing on some subjects that were mentioned around here:

1. Finn and his Lightsaber Skill: Finn... is actually as good at lightsabering as I would probably be. I am a Swordsman in Renaissance Broadsword and in medieval Bidenhänder (2-handed sword similar to a scottish Claymore, but german) so yeah I can tell a wee bit about such stuff. He get's 1 (ONE) lucky kill with it at Maz Kanata's temple thing, then pretty much loses against the Stormtrooper with the elektro-tonfa, a weapon he might be more familiar with. Against Kylo Ren he tries to use it again like a 2-handed sword, but shows that he does not have the training or idea how to use it most effectively. Rey on the other hand is trusting on the force and lets her hands be gueided by it, especially after they come to that Standstill. This still represents the lack of Lightsaber training and how it works inside the game properly. You woul use only the brawn dice you have. And when you meet an Inquisitor, those just won't cut it (pun intended).
2. The Starkiller Base is actually quite different from the Death Star in prninciple. I don't know the english original yet, but I will as soon as possible. In the german dub, they called it a "Hyper-light-mortar" beware the retranslation. That actually would explain how the beams are steered. They are guided through some sort of Hyperspace "channel". I like that. I don't really like, that it's yet another superweapon, but at least it's more unique than Death Star II
3. The Map thing: we have discussed this heavily on this forum, but again by seeing it a second time I am assured, that hyperspace travel follows routes. There is a route in a bright color (I have Deuteranopia) across the map, showing the path to Ahch-Toh, the planet where Luke resides. If it is the origin place of the Jedi and everything about them was wiped out by the emperor, than this is a nice way of covering your tracks, Luke! Snip out a big chunk of the galaxy so they have more trouble finding the correct place, because of all the stars. Without R2's second half they are pretty much stumped. It really is similar to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade there, with the whole map being basically of no use without the starting point. And Hyperspace travel was ALWAYS condensed in the films, but we KNOW from the first film, that it takes some time. When they travel to Aldeeran Han tells us a time. In Fact if you think about the scenes happening on the Death Star and everything it probably took several days. But Movies can't be that long.
4. Is there a grave next to Luke? There's this stone and there seems to be something encarved on it, which I can't really make out. The ground around it also looks like it was disturbed. Has Luke created a memorial for his friend?
5. Han's death hurts, but I actually am glad that he dies for his girl's wish to be a family again. He died for a good purpose. He did not believe it, but he did it for the woman he loves. You can see his conflict before he confronts Kylo Ren. He does it for Leia... That is so sweet.
6. Chewbacca really kicks ass in this film. And judging by the end of it, he will continue to kick ass in Episode 8! And we have a worthy successor for Peter Mayhew, at least in size. I hope that Peter will stay as a consultant for Chewbacca and still play the Wookiee in some quiter scenes in the future films.

But don't you dare kill Chewie! Or else I will personally come for you Disney! I will break into your bunker under Main Street and I will steal Walt's frozen head if I must!

Well, JJ Abrams has said that the movie's title can be applied to both Rey, in that she is "awakening" to her powers and to Kylo, who is in a sense "awakening" to the true nature of the dark side, having made a somewhat final commitment by murdering his own father.

He was quite cognizant that any villain following in Darth Vader's footsteps was going to have a tough act to follow, so the conscious decision was made to have a villain that is growing into their full potential just as the hero is doing. Avatar: The Last Airbender did a very good job with this concept by having multiple parallels between lead protagonist Aang and Zuko, whose role evolved as the series went on; for many, it was Zuko's progression from villain to hero that really made the series in terms of the plot.