LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Genre: Open-World 3D Action-Platformer / Third-Person Shooter

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)

.

Review:

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a family-friendly Open-World 3D Action-Platformer released in 2022 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This is the yet another entry in Traveller’s Tales’ long-running LEGO crossover franchise of family-friendly 3D Action-Platformers, the first game to see release from the developer in three years, after the disastrous release of The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame. Many had speculated that the developer might release a new LEGO game for the sequels to The Force Awakens, while others thought that it might be better for the company to do a remaster of the first two or three LEGO Star Wars games. Traveller’s Tales instead took a different option, creating an entirely new game comprising the stories of all nine numbered episodic Star Wars films (with DLC covering other films and media).

.

A New Hope

It needs to be emphasized that this is not just a retread of any of the prior games, even if it covers the same movies. Nothing has been reused here, except perhaps character models (these are, after all, still based on the same real-life LEGO toys). Even the segments based on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens are completely different than the relatively recent LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

While previous LEGO Star Wars games all either used pantomime or pulled voice work directly from the films, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga uses mostly voice-alikes, to varying success. The voice-alike for Ewan McGregor’s young Obi-Wan Kenobi is far closer to the real deal than the voice-alike for Alec Guinness’s older Kenobi, for example. The exceptions here seem to be C3PO and Lando Calrisian, both being voiced by their original actors. This is all in addition to the wonderful film score by John Williams.

While some may have preferred LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ use of the original voice actors, having voice-alikes here frees up this game to take some fun liberties with the original stories to make for some of the best humor the LEGO games have seen so far. I couldn’t help but chuckle during the opening to A New Hope as Darth Vader’s voice came over the ship’s speakers claiming to be the old captain and encouraging everyone to give these Empire folks a chance because they’re actually really nice guys, or when in a holo-call with Kylo Ren, General Hux is caught swinging around a broom like the Star Wars Kid from the viral internet videos. After the dreary and humorless LEGO Movie 2 Videogame, to play a LEGO game with such a great sense of humor feels like an absolute breath of fresh air.

The other element of the presentation is just as good here – the visuals. Since as I write this, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is the most recent game in the Traveller’s Tales LEGO franchise, it’s probably no great surprise when I say it’s by far the most visually-stunning, but… well, it is. Gorgeous, detailed, large environments, great lighting and shadows, tons of activity going on at any given time, and some nice subtle visual effects to boot. I’ll note that the Nintendo Switch version of the game does suffer from some distracting texture pop-in at times, but otherwise this game looks phenomenal.

.

The Revenge of the Sith

The gameplay here is no slouch either.

At the start of the game, players can start playing through campaigns based on Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Episode IV: A New Hope, and Episode VII: The Force Awakens, with the completion of these naturally proceeding to unlock the rest of their respective trilogies. This way, players can choose to take on the saga in whatever order seems best – chronological order, release order, whichever.

This game selectively brings back elements from prior entries in the LEGO franchise, as well. We once again have LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ multibuild system, though this time it thankfully feels like it’s used more sparingly and gives players some fun choices when it comes up. We also have the multi-planet exploration of that game, with tons of Open-World space to explore and interesting things to find in-between story missions.

From The LEGO Ninjago Movie Videogame we have skill trees that players can work to gradually unlock, as well as a version of that game’s melee combat system that has been expanded upon here into a really enjoyable combo-crazy system where players can cycle between three buttons to create their own custom combos.

And then brand new to this game is a new over-the-shoulder Third-Person Shooter gameplay that ranged characters use whenever they want to start firing their blasters, and as simple as this may seem, this may well be the most transformative element of the game, making this a far more immersive experience than any of the prior LEGO games. It’s one thing to follow Princess Leia as she’s running around beating up Stormtroopers; it’s another thing entirely when you’re right down in the action with her as she’s dodging blaster fire and shooting down enemies. My one disappointment with this gameplay element is that it doesn’t support gyro aiming. Otherwise, this may be one of the best additions to the LEGO game franchise.

.

The Force Awakens

The result is without question in my mind the best LEGO Star Wars game, and almost certainly the best LEGO game overall (though LEGO City Undercover comes close). Would I go so far as to say LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is the best Star Wars game? Ehhhh… there are a lot of Star Wars games, and some of those would be tough contenders for the title. Suffice it to say that this game is at the very least a contender for the title. And while it is “yet another Traveller’s Tales LEGO game”, this game gets enough things right that it’s worth giving a try if you previously lost interest in the franchise, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan.

tl;dr – LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is yet another game in Traveller’s Tales’ family-friendly franchise of LEGO Open-World 3D Action-Platformers, with this game revisiting all nine numbered Star Wars films with entirely new gameplay. This is the LEGO game that gets everything right – the new Third-Person Shooter gameplay helps to bring players closer to the action, the comedy is as great as it’s ever been, the presentation is gorgeous, and the world provides lots of interesting places to explore. This is not just a great LEGO game, it’s a great Star Wars game, and just a great game overall. If you only ever play one Traveller’s Tales LEGO game, this is the one to play.

Grade: A

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}