Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a love letter to the series – Review

The Star Wars universe has been explored and retold through so many mediums, going through those adventures so many times can easily feel like a chore. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga does a fantastic job of making it a joyous adventure, while also ensuring the side content and galaxy exploration of the game remain the primary highlight.

Typically, a Star Wars game needs to tell a new story, ones we haven’t already heard dozens of times, but The Skywalker Saga embraces all of the movies in each of their respective trilogies. The good, the bad, the funny, and the heartbreaking. Although TT Games’ Lego humor breaks through one too many times during these struggles, it never takes away from what made the Star Wars stories so beloved.

You’ve taken your first step into a larger world

The adventure begins with you having the choice to start with the first episode in any of the three Star Wars trilogies. You’ll need to work your way through the traditional stories, and you’ll slowly unlock content as you progress through the game, acquiring new characters, starships, missions, and planets to explore. The cinematics, heroics, and voice acting are superb throughout each Episode. To the delight of many Clone Wars fans, many actors are reprising their roles, such as James Arnold Taylor and Matt Lanter as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, respectively.

The graphics throughout the game are always gorgeous, and they’re given even further highlights when paired with beautiful cinematic shots. While it is a game primarily about Lego bricks, those bricks shine with an unusually perfect sheen, and the background and environments are exquisitely rendered, making it hard to believe we didn’t get a photo mode. Thankfully, these story scenes are repeatable, and they don’t require too much time.

TT Games does well to cut parts of the Star Wars story out here and there, quickening the overall storytelling to ensure the narratives are never going for too long. The stories are told at a much faster, enjoyable pace, leaving the audience with an adequate amount of energy to stretch their legs to explore and bite into the real meat of this game, which is all of the collectibles and unlocking hidden secrets.

This is where the fun begins

After the main stories are said and done, the galaxy exploration steals the show throughout The Skywalker Saga. Each planet becomes a massive playground for you to take many of your favorite characters out for a spin, complete side quests, acquire collectible Kyber Bricks, or even take on random encounters in space.

It’s easy for the first steps onto a planet to feel overwhelming, but the challenges and puzzles become bite-sized checks for you to complete. The unlockable content varies from the many iconic ships flown throughout the game, or characters who are fan favorites. None of the challenges are too difficult for most younger audiences to figure out, but you may find yourself scratching your head for a second or two before watching it all click together. 

Many of these puzzles and challenges are not rewashed ideas, either. Most of them feel fresh each time you take on a new challenge. Confused players can spend studs on a rumor, thereby learning the exact mission or challenge to unlock a particular character, streamlining the exploration progress. While these rumors can feel pricey, the way to earn studs and acquire more through the story mission only takes a few minutes, ensuring the collectibles feel more enjoyable than a standard checklist.

Your overconfidence is your weakness

Although the side exploration and collectibles are the most enjoyable part of The Skywalker Saga, it’s quite easy for the initial sight of them all to become too much.

It’s a weakness and a strength of the game. Staring at all of them even after having worked through the entire saga feels like I hadn’t spent enough time exploring the game. I need to retrace my steps, starting over with Episode I to begin this large grind. For those who enjoy collectibles and fun challenges from TT Games, you’ll have your hands full. For those who want to fly around the galaxy in their favorite ship, playing as Darth Maul and General Grievous, you can eventually do that. You’ll just need to jump through multiple hoops before reaching that point. 

What is also disappointing is not being able to jump into the game with a friend in online games. The Skywalker Saga only has couch co-op, and in 2022, I would have liked the chance to boot it up with friends who are also planning to play this on launch day across the country.

Despite the polished gameplay, graphics, and overall large amount of galaxy collectibles, it’s hard not to forget that TT Games pushed Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga through multiple delays. Even though there were several delays throughout the five years of development, TT Games employees went through rigorous crunch to deliver a finished product.

The verdict

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is everything any Star Wars fan would want in a Lego game. The humor might lean a bit too much into the childish side during your favorite moments of the franchise, but the gameplay, galaxy exploration, and pile of challenges never leave you wanting more things to do. Even if the challenges and multiple unlocks can feel overwhelming for anyone at first glance, taking the game in stride is the best way to combat those worries. The challenges and puzzles never become dull. TT Games have outdone themselves in creating an iconic Star Wars experience in Lego brick form.

Gamepur team received a PC code for the purpose of this review.