LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Review: ‘Not Quite the Star Wars Game You’re Looking For’

That LEGO video games have proven so popular in the Star Wars space is a feat that is rarely given enough praise. LEGO’s games are all about poking fun at their subject matter; Star Wars is a series where, if you criticize a background character who showed up for 30 seconds in Return of the Jedi, some corner of the internet will start a harassment campaign against you. Many Star Wars fans treat the series with a level of reverence that it perhaps doesn’t deserve, considering some of the nonsense it has thrown up — Jar-Jar Binks, Anakin’s hatred of sand, the entirety of The Rise of Skywalker. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga doesn’t shy away from the series’ low points, making this a celebration of all facets of this disjointed franchise, not just its best bits.

The prequels, the originals, and the sequels

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga takes players through the entire series, from the divisive Episode I to the somehow even more controversial Episode IX. You’ll clash in a Duel of the Fates with Darth Maul, fight Stormtroopers on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back, and watch Kylo Ren struggle with his shirt in The Last Jedi. All is done with LEGO’s familiar blend of slapstick humor and knowing winks to its adult audience, and despite Traveller’s Tales having worked on Star Wars games since 2005, it says a lot about the studio — and the films — that they’re still able to mine them for so much. They’ve been back at the well many times at this point, but The Skywalker Saga’s new additions keep things fresh — even if not all changes are welcome ones.

There have been many, many LEGO games at this point, but their structure has remained largely the same. The aforementioned humor is blended with uncomplicated and accessible action, platforming, and puzzle-solving, with a focus on co-op multiplayer. Players collect studs that can be exchanged for other characters, with there typically being a large library to choose from based on each game’s respective franchise. The Skywalker Saga still follows most of these traditions, though makes a few notable alterations. The most obvious is the switch from the series’ typical fixed camera angle for a new over-the-shoulder perspective.

This new look is more in-line with third-person shooters than it is old LEGO games, and it’s used to provide more options when it comes to action. For Jedi, lightsaber-swinging now follows other action-adventure games, with players able to execute different combos such as juggling enemies into the air or incorporating Force moves. For gunslingers, you get cover-based attacks and the ability to aim down sights. There are also special extra characters who have their own unique controls, such as the Rancor’s untethered rage or Queen Amidala solely being used to have diplomatic conversations with Palpatine. These changes certainly make for a more engaging experience and help to differentiate the classes of characters from one another, though there is one huge trade-off — multiplayer.

I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

Co-op in The Skywalker Saga no longer takes place on the same fixed screen, with it instead permanently being divided into vertical split-screen. This is less accommodating to multiple players than in previous LEGO games, and the lack of an option to even use horizontal split-screen is disappointing. Drop-in and drop-out multiplayer works seamlessly, but this feels like the first LEGO Star Wars game that prioritized the single-player experience at the expense of multiplayer. That’s without even mentioning that online multiplayer is completely absent, a huge oversight considering that playing this with a friend but without split-screen would have been ideal.

This change in camera would be more welcoming if the new perspective dramatically improved gameplay. Unfortunately, while combat is more involved, it’s not necessarily more fun. Combos can be racked up with lightsabers, sure, but the action feels unimpactful and floaty. I’d unfavorably compare it to player-made action games in Dreams, where characters don’t quite connect with one another in the way you’d expect them to. Similarly, shooting is basic and unchallenging, with you holding down the trigger and dispatching swathes of enemies on a whim, while puzzle-solving is still mostly limited to hacking terminals with droids. With no proper difficulty settings to speak of, it’s easy to breeze through each and every encounter.

Putting the Star in Star Wars

However, for solo players, this new perspective does make these iconic worlds feel far more lived-in than in previous LEGO games, which is where The Skywalker Saga excels. From the sands of Tatooine to the galaxy capital Coruscant, there’s plenty to explore here, with a bunch of reasons for the player to get sidetracked across the events of all nine films. There are tons of NPCs wandering through the worlds, side-missions to net yourself valuable collectibles, and fun mini-games that can bag you additional characters. This is probably going to be the only game where you can take on a parkour course with Old Ben Kenobi.

Despite the lighthearted ribbing of its source material, Traveller’s Tales’ respect for the history of the Star Wars franchise is omnipresent. Voice actors are pulled from across the movies and animated series — Billy Dee Williams reprises his role Lando Calrissian, while Clone Wars cast members such as Sam Witwer and James Arnold Taylor also return. And in many respects, LEGO’s looser leash means it can do a better job of getting its point across than the original material; the sequel trilogy’s infinitely more enjoyable in brick form, while Anakin and Padme actually have fun chemistry.

And the scope of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is vastly more ambitious than many Star Wars games that have come before it. You can now freely fly into space with a variety of unlocked ships, engage in dogfights with bounty hunters and other enemies, or even capture opposing space stations. The first time the Trade Federation Battleship came into view, with the objective of taking down Separatist pilots before boarding the ship and capturing it for good, made me take a step back and think: “Am I really doing this in a LEGO game?”

Then there’s the attention-to-detail littered elsewhere, most notably the variety of unique animations spread across its 380 playable characters. Obi-Wan Kenobi swings his lightsaber just like the Kenobi you see in the films, and while Han Solo may lose a bit of his cool factor when portrayed by a bit of plastic rather than Harrison Ford, there’s no mistaking his inimitable swagger.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Review: The final verdict

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga providing such a huge toybox of characters, worlds, vehicles, and more to unlock and play will make it essential for many Star Wars fans. In terms of sheer scale, size, and scope, this is far beyond anything Traveller’s Tales have put out before with the LEGO brand. Unfortunately, some of that ambition is undermined by the lackluster implementation of certain ideas that are supposed to be its big selling points, such as its improved combat and new camera angle. This is arguably not quite the Star Wars game you’re looking for, but it does more than enough right.