LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Review

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Fast Facts

LEGO games have been a much-loved series for many years now, with numerous franchises available to play in block forms such as Jurassic Park, Batman, and even Lord of the Rings. They are seemingly getting bigger and better over time, and with LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga now released, does this analogy still stand? Let’s find out.

Return of the Jedi

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga allows players to experience all nine Star Wars films in hilarious, exciting and silly LEGO fashion. I know what you’re thinking, “there’s already been multiple LEGO Star Wars games released, how is this different?” and you’d be right, there have been. There has been LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which consisted of the six films that existed at the time, as well as LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, to go along with the film release. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga includes all these previously released titles with redesigned levels, combat and added extras as well as giving the final two films their spot in the LEGO limelight.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga offers players a little bit of freedom with how you decide to play the game. Instead of forcing you to play through each ‘film’ in order of their release, the game allows you to choose which trilogy you would like to begin with, and even then, you can still choose which order you play them. For example, I chose to play through the original trilogy first, but I could have played in the order of two, then three, then one, if I had wanted to.

The Clone Wars

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga doesn’t defer too much from its usual formula; simple linear missions to complete, collect as many Studs as possible, break and build as many LEGO pieces as you can find and kick some LEGO butt! Of course, there are many secrets, side quests and missions to discover along the way, one of which being Kyber Bricks which are hidden throughout the game’s levels. These bricks offer an interesting premise; they allow you to perform upgrades to your characters. Yes, a little bit of RPG goodness for us to dive into!

All characters, of which there are 380 different ones, by the way, are divided into 10 different classes; Jedi, Hero, Scavenger, Scoundrel, Bounty Hunter, Villain, Dark Side, Astromech Droid, Protocol Droid and Extra. Extra being for characters that don’t particularly fit into a category like Jabba the Hut. All of these classes have their own abilities and upgrades. For example, Scavenger characters have the ability to create a Glider to get to new areas or a Jedi character has the ability to use the force.

All characters have what is known as ‘Core Upgrades’ which focus on basic aspects such as health and sprint speed. These will be upgradable via a combination of Studs and Kyber Bricks. These upgrades are vital to your progress in the game, and so are extremely important. Kyber Bricks can also be rewarded for completing missions, so don’t worry if you’re struggling to find the hidden ones as you will still be able to upgrade your characters.

Revenge of the Sith

Combat in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is set out into various aspects; Melee, Ranged, Machine and Space combat, and they’re all very in-depth which was surprising. Use your fists to pummel someone into the ground, or use your lightsaber to launch an enemy into the air and follow it up with an almighty combo. The majority of the lower-level enemies you come up against will be destroyed (literally, poof LEGO) fairly quickly, but the game’s boss fights are where you get to see most of what the combat is hiding.

There are many boss battles in the game that really showcase just how fun LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is. The bosses will vary in just about every way from the style to how to defeat them. A particular battle with Darth Maul will see you facing off using some awesome lightsaber attacks, followed by quick-time button presses and button bashing events. Another battle sees you fighting off Boba Fett on a turret. The game does a very good job of mixing the gameplay up so things don’t get too stale.

Flying around and exploring space comes with its risks, that’s why I’m pleased to say that The Skywalker Saga features space and aerial combat, and although it takes a little bit of getting used to, it’s a ton of fun. And being able to explore and battle at your own pace between missions is great; it gives you a little freedom and breaks up the gameplay for you.

A New Hope

One thing that I’ve always enjoyed most about LEGO games is the fact that they are drop in couch co-op and The Skywalker Saga is no different. Simply connect a second controller and you’re set. It’s so easy. Your player 2 takes control of one of your secondary characters which is great for if you have children or for when you have some friends around. Although, online co-op is much needed and would’ve been nice here. I feel like couch co-op is a bit outdated now as we live in a world where people use gaming as a way to communicate with people all over the globe, so being able to do that with LEGO Star Wars would have been neat.

Aside from this, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga looks and feels great. I encountered no gameplay issues within my playthrough and in a world made of LEGO, everything looks great. That being said, not everything you come across is made out of bricks, and seeing some of the classic areas from the films is breath-taking.

Summary

Overall, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a great addition to the LEGO library, and doesn’t disappoint. What better way to relive the films (or experience them for the first time) in a silly and whacky recreation in LEGO form, because who doesn’t love LEGO? I would have liked there to have been some form of online co-op, but you can’t win ’em all. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, or just LEGO in general then you will love this.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4.5 out of 5

4.5