I love the LEGO games, although, in my opinion, nothing has ever quite beaten the original LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (with all six episodes). I’ve played through the storyline of all nine episodes of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and so far, I’d put the two almost equal, with the new one falling marginally behind. In some ways, the new game trumps the old – but it doesn’t quite match it in others.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the latest instalment of LEGO: Star Wars. I’ll tell you about the game mechanics, themes, and what it’s like to play.
Overall, I really like the game – it’s a solid 9 out of 10. The open-world concept works well, and it’s great to be able to play as so many characters (nothing new there). The employees at TT certainly poured their hearts and souls into it, and that comes through in the endless Easter eggs and references. A game by fans, for fans.
But it also feels like it’s missing something. The steps taken to push the game forward – such as the more advanced third-person open world system – grate against my LEGO game traditionalism. Maybe you’ll agree with me. Perhaps you won’t. Here are my thoughts either way.
In most game reviews, I’d quickly run you through the story. But this is Star Wars. And that might take a little while. Plus, you probably know it pretty well already. Instead, I’ll tell you about what it feels like to play the game as best as I can, along with a few tips I’ve learned along the way.
The spirit of LEGO Star Wars
The essence of the LEGO game has undoubtedly been captured. That creative freedom and ridiculous take on the films’ serious events can’t fail to make even the most intense fan chuckle. Watching Grievous and Obi-Wan have a dance-off or Luke drinking milk out of a blue carton is something that everyone can share a laugh over.
I also feel that the game does a beautiful job of capturing the spirit of genuine Star Wars fans. It highlights and expands on certain moments while mocking points that the vast majority of fans universally hate (I point you to the blue milk incident referenced above). The developers undoubtedly knew the saga and lore inside out. They put a lot of effort into it, and this comes across while you’re playing.
There are more unique aspects that add to the experience. For example, if you don’t move as any character for a few moments, they’ll start doing their own thing. These are known as idle animations. The Magnaguard will start dancing. Ki-Adi-Mundi demonstrates his love of the Wookiees (“What about the droid attack on them?”). Grogu eats a baby frog thing and giggles. Qui-Gon kneels and falls asleep, referencing that Boss Nass scene in Phantom Menace. And Luke Skywalker brings out his blue milk.
These are all tiny little moments, but each shows attention to detail – not just to what the films wanted to portray, but how the fans felt when watching them. It gets the balance of fan service, awesomeness, and mockery precisely right.
It's a bit overcomplicated
My feeling of slight unease comes from the new third-person perspective. It’s a little clunky and challenging to aim with any kind of accuracy. As a result, I tend to depend more on the automatic aim centering and randomly firing in any and all directions. To me, while the new layout presents all kinds of new options, like improved two-player modes and open-world play, it’s just a bit… not LEGO-y? Part of the experience was that clunky single-camera, slightly perspective-less approach to puzzles and enemies. It feels overcomplicated for what should be a basic LEGO game. Perhaps that’s the Luddite in me, though. I’m sure this is what all LEGO games will look like from now on.
This overcomplication isn’t limited to the combat and movement systems, either. The menus and character selection options are fantastically mind-boggling. This is more of an issue for me. There’s just too much going on.
Again, this is somewhere that the old games never struggled. For example, when you went into Free Play, it automatically selected one character from each category. That way, you’d never get stuck. I don’t ever remember thinking, ‘I wish I could have used literally any Star Wars character for this level.’ It was more about completing the level than using any particular minifigure. I think that’s a trick they’ve missed, here.
Does the open world really work?
I enjoy the open-world concept of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. It’s different for LEGO Star Wars, but it works pretty well. So far, the vast majority of gamers seem to enjoy it, too.
It’s in stark contrast to the LEGO Lord of the Rings game. That game is no longer in development, and while it was still widely enjoyed, the open world left many gamers frustrated. It simply took too long to collect everything.
I can see that becoming an issue as you reach the point of having collected most things. However, once you’ve completed the story, it’s pretty easy to sweep over planets one by one as you look for everything.
LEGO Star Wars is a game for children - that adults enjoy
In contrast to what I’ve just said, I find that the puzzles are a little too simple and almost uninteresting in many cases. There are a few difficult ones spread out here and there, but they’re the exception, not the rule. Of course, LEGO games are – when it comes down to it – for children. And I am not a child. (At least, that’s what I’m constantly having to tell myself.) I’ll have to remember that as I go through this review, and you should, too. I still enjoy playing it – but it’s definitely a game for young children.
Many of the puzzles aren’t too tricky, but a few are time-consuming. There’s nothing to do other than wait for a pattern to be shown or move blocks around. That’s kind of irritating for a grown-up. But then, I am a grown-up playing a child’s game. Despite this, I can’t help but feel that TT has set the bar somewhat low regarding how intelligent they expect kids to be. You really don’t need to use much brain power, if any.
Collectibles
Minikit collection was one of the best things about LEGO Star Wars. It still is, but it’s not quite the same, unfortunately. For a start, there were always 10 to find on each level. Now, there are only five. This makes things almost too easy and, in many cases, a little anticlimactic.
You still can’t get most of them until you go back on Free Play. I like that – it encourages puzzle-solving and outside-of-the-box thinking. In general, though, I miss the old days when it comes to collectibles.
DLC Character Packs
Ah, downloadable content. DLC is the best way for developers to continue adding quality content to games, making for all-around improved experiences. Haha. Well, yes, but that’s their sales pitch. In reality: DLCisawaytokeeponmakingTTlotsofmoney.
So far, the DLC available for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga isn’t too bad. It’s only character packs and doesn’t come with any additional storylines or plots. I was initially upset about that, but now I’ve come to my senses. You can’t ask people to pay more money to play the game they’ve already bought – especially when the primary market is kids. I know, I say “you can’t” when we all know that most game developers do it all the time and specifically target kids. But I’m glad they haven’t gone that way for this game. Yet.
I bought the character packs for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. There isn’t too much to say about them, to be honest. You get some fun extras – The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda (Din Djarin and Grogu) spring to mind. You play as the Mandalorian, with Grogu following you around in his little space stroller. It automatically closes if anyone aims at him. Aww. Ahsoka, Bo-Katan, and the Bad Batch clones are also fun. None of them make playing the story any easier or more difficult. They’re just a “fine addition to your collection” (I don’t need to tell you who says that, right?).
If you want to buy the character packs, they’re on sale for $14.99 for the whole lot. The “whole lot” includes characters from:
- The Mandalorian Season 1
- The Mandalorian Season 2
- Rogue One
- Classic Characters
- Solo
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch
- Trooper Pack
I’d expect more characters to be added as more shows come out on Disney+. That’s usually the way things go.
Is it worth buying? Realistically, no. But it’s a fun gimmick, and if you have $15 to spare, why not?
My experience playing the game
I’ve got LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on the Nintendo Switch. The family-friendly console, if you like. We found no trouble with playing the game… most of the time.
In the 20 hours or so we’ve probably spent going through the game so far, it’s totally crashed six or seven times. We needed to restart the game from scratch. I’m not sure whether this is a problem with the Switch or the game itself. But it’s something to be aware of. When you spend $60 on a game, you don’t expect it to crash mid-level (usually losing all your progress, too)!
It’s a bit disappointing, considering how well our version of The Complete Saga ran on the Wii. So far, I’ve only experienced crashes playing in two-player mode. They usually happen when we’re both wreaking havoc on LEGO blocks. For instance, one of us might be a droideka while the other throws thermal detonators everywhere. It doesn’t seem to like that.
It doesn’t run too smoothly in some other areas, too. For example, the loading screens between planets place you (and the other player) in ships, traveling through hyperspace. The frame rate on the Switch is terrible here. This lag randomly appears for a short time now and then.
If you’re playing on the latest PlayStation or Xbox, I doubt you’ll experience the same problems. However, this section might be relevant if you own a Nintendo Switch.
Tips for playing LEGO Star Wars
I don’t think anyone needs anything too in-depth when it comes to LEGO Star Wars. I mean, it’s not too complicated. Just go where you’re told and button mash to defeat enemies. Simple!
Having said that, you sometimes need to run around quite a lot. It can get pretty dull, so my friend and I turned to shooting each other in the head for a laugh. This makes your little LEGO character explode, and it’s all the more satisfying if you can get them from some distance as they’re zig-zagging, running away.
There’s my number 1 tip – play with someone else! I can’t imagine a LEGO game being much fun by yourself. It makes all those virtual long-distance trips much more exhilarating.
We’ve spent coins on upgrades. The health bonuses are particularly beneficial and mean you can finish levels without dying so much. Not that we ever died much anyway, apart from killing each other. We found it more helpful to spend those hard-earned coins on coin multipliers. We’ve just saved up enough for the 5x multiplier, having already bought the 2x one. When you have loads of coins, everything’s easy. I’m not saying money’s the most important thing in the world, but, well… it is in LEGO Star Wars!
Perhaps the most relevant piece of advice I can give is to get used to the new engine. As I mentioned, the manual aiming system is a bit sticky. It’s hard to hit anything. For example, my friend and I tried A Wrestle With Wesell (the first chapter in Attack of the Clones) without aim-assist. It was impossible. We quite literally couldn’t hit the target (Zam Wesell’s ship). After we turned aim assist back on, we progressed much (much!) faster.
You’ll also need to get used to the mini-map. I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but I really struggle to get a feel for the perspective and which way I’m facing.
LEGO Skywalker Saga: two-player gaming
I’m convinced that you have to play with two people to fully enjoy a LEGO game. They’re far less engaging when you’re alone.
For better or worse, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is easier with two people. That wasn’t the case with the older games when the computer-controlled characters always did exactly what they were supposed to do. Now, though, with more freedom of movement, shooting, and Force use, you can do everything in a much simpler way.
For example, certain blocks and minikits are often supposed to be out of reach. But if you have a friend to play with, you can stand on a block and get them to Force it into position. It’s like cheating the system, but I’m pretty sure they designed it to be cheated.
As mentioned previously, watch out for game crashes in two-player mode.
What did I think of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga?
As I said, I’d give LEGO Star Wars a 9 out of 10. It’s a fun game with plenty to explore and collect. It’s one you can play with friends too – actually, I think it loses something of the fun if you’re playing alone.
The only reason it’s not a 10 out of 10 is I find it a bit too complicated. There’s a bit too much going on. The developers seem to have gotten a little lost in what they were going for in this regard. It’s ended up with a complicated playing system and easy-to-solve puzzles. Personally, I preferred it when the playing system was simpler and the puzzles were more complex.
I also wish it was easier to go through the storyline clips. In the old games, you could view the cutscenes from a menu. This saves a lot of time and means you don’t have to go through each chapter one at a time when looking for something! Bonus clips and levels would also be great, beyond what already exists.
It’s still a fun LEGO game, though, and you’ll have many (many) hours to kill completing it. As usual, it’s great for people of all ages. So long as they’re a Star Wars fan, a LEGO fan, a child, or a child at heart, anyone will love wasting the hours away, immersed in the fictional version of an imaginary universe – a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.