Here are our thoughts on LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and its fresh take on a galaxy far, far away.

I have fond memories of the original LEGO Star Wars games. Back in my childhood, I used to regularly rent the first title from my local library, obsessively checking it out each week so that I could hang onto it for a little longer.

I bought LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy back on its release day in September 2006, and my obsession with the series continued. However, over the years, I drifted away from the LEGO franchise as the series began to feel just a little stale.

Now, for the first time in 16 years, I’m back playing a brand-new LEGO Star Wars game with ‘The Skywalker Saga’. An epic story that spans 9 movies, this is the biggest Star Wars undertaking that TT Games has ever attempted.

But how does the latest LEGO Star Wars title manage to keep the series feeling fresh after all these years?

Key Features:

• Game: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
• Price: $59.99
• Platforms: PS5/PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch
• Disclaimer: A Review Code Was Provided – Find Our Review Policy Here.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Full Review

This Is Where the Fun Begins

When starting up LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga for the first time, players can choose the trilogy that they would most like to begin their journey.

In this way, no matter what your favorite Star Wars era was, or where you began your journey with the franchise, you can leap right into the action.

That’s one of the strengths of the newest LEGO Star Wars experience, in my opinion. It’s made for everyone.

Whether you’re a fan of the Prequels, Original Trilogy, or Sequels, there’s plenty of content to enjoy from a team that clearly loves the universe. TT Games has crafted some of the most beautiful Star Wars environments we’ve even seen in a video game, while infusing the world with LEGO.

And not only are these environments stunning, but they’re also fully explorable, full of hidden secrets, missions, and even enemy encounters. Whether you’re in Free Play, exploring the galaxy’s planets at your leisure or simply wandering around between missions in your chosen saga, you’ll constantly be rewarded for exploration.

A Galaxy Far, Far Away

It’s amazing to see the level of detail put into these living, breathing LEGO Star Wars worlds, and it’s a far cry from the Cantina hub world of the original titles. It’s lucky that the game’s 24 planets and the space surrounding each one are so fun to traverse, because you’ll be doing a lot of travel on your journey through each film.

An open-world Star Wars universe is a welcome addition to the LEGO game formula, but I soon tired of getting kicked out of my latest mission, only to have to travel somewhere else in the system. It wasn’t long before I found myself bringing up the menu and hitting fast travel whenever the game threw me back into free roam.

Sometimes players will have to make their way to a certain location on the map in order to hit ‘Continue Story’ a little too much, to the point where it gets a little annoying. And when playing the game’s multiplayer, both players need to stop and hold confirm to continue every few minutes.

Player Two Will Be With You, Always

Speaking of multiplayer, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga brings back the iconic drop-in, drop-out co-op that LEGO games are known for. It’s an excellent way to involve a second player, and some moments feel like a perfect fit for the multiplayer experience.

One notable moment in Episode 7 had Fin and Rey battling against the Eravana’s escaping Rathtars while Han and Chewie attempt to hold off rival gangs and make their way to the Millennium Falcon. Here, both players have equal roles to play and can share in the experience to its fullest.

On the other hand, there are a few moments where only one character is the focus of the movie, such as when Rey is on Jakku at the start of that same episode. Here, player two is often relegated to being a side character such as BB-8, or even a character that wasn’t actually present.

It’s these moments that make boss fights a little jarring, while playing co-op. Yes, having a second player works well in fights such as Obi-Wan and Anakin vs Count Dooku, but perhaps not quite as well as in Episode 3’s climactic battle.

In this instance, player one will take part in the iconic Battle of the Heroes, fighting as Obi-Wan against his fallen apprentice. Meanwhile, the second player will take control of C-3PO and R2-D2 who must occasionally interact with their environment in order to help the fight progress.

It’s these breaks from the action where even single-player gameplay suffers slightly, due to boss encounters being periodically interrupted by a platforming section, just so that there’s a reason for Commander Cody to be present in the General Grevious fight.

And although boss fights were often enjoyable levels (with an epic soundtrack) in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, it’s not hard to see that many of them follow the exact same pattern. Every villain in the game seems to enjoy charging up and then rushing forward, or leaping into the air in order to deliver a slam attack.

In fact, the moment that Anakin turns to the Dark Side, it appears that he discovers these moves for himself. I’d have liked boss fights to be a little more varied, but each still managed to be both entertaining and at least somewhat unique.

An Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age

Combat, in general, has had a full overhaul in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Players now have a light, heavy, or jump attack which they’re encouraged to use in varied combos for extra points. Button mash the lightsaber button a little too much and enemies will start to block until you switch things up.

This new take on LEGO combat certainly took some getting used to. At the beginning of my playthrough, I would often find myself a little too far from an enemy, or perhaps just off on my timing. The result: my LEGO character would just jump in place, or use a large force push, rather than target the enemy I originally intended.

I’m happy to report that the new LEGO Star Wars combat definitely grew on me over time, however. And when dealing with large groups of enemies, or boss fights, pulling off a styling combo felt amazing.

The Skywalker Saga also gives players an over-the-shoulder view, for those characters that utilize blasters or other long-range weaponry. And although there’s a new cover system to help make the game into a third-person shooter for those who wish it, there’s little substance to the gunplay.

It was always infinitely more fun for me to charge the enemy and engage in melee combat than it was to pull out Han’s blaster and chip away at enemy health bars. Stormtroopers will now react based on where they’re shot, and you can even knock their helmets off – but when even C-3PO can juggle combo an enemy across the stage, I didn’t find myself particularly inclined to battle from afar.

I’ve Got a Good Feeling About This

One thing that LEGO games have always been known for is their sense of humor, and on that front, The Skywalker Saga certainly doesn’t disappoint. The game features excellent injections of comedy while retelling the Star Wars story, in all 3 of its trilogies.

Personally, I think this iteration of LEGO Star Wars made me laugh more than the others, and indeed more than any other LEGO game previously. It’s likely that the writing team at TT Games contains more than a few fans of Star Wars memes, and clearly some folks familiar with the fanbases’ opinions.

If you weren’t a fan of the recent sequel trilogy, for instance, the game pokes fun at many story choices that I’ve seen fans criticize. Rey and Kylo even have a whole interaction about why the latter of the two had his shirt off in their Force phone call.

Much of this humor takes place during active gameplay, but the cutscenes are also an enjoyable watch. That said, I’d suggest being familiar with the plots of all the Star Wars films, rather than learning about them for the first time in this game.

Certainly few gamers will be going into LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga having not seen any of the movies, but those who do may find themselves confused. With how fast the game seems to want to get you back into the action, the story sometimes gets skimmed over, with developers likely assuming that everyone knows what’s going on at all times.

Every Voice You Have Ever Heard Inside Your Head

What surprised me was just how well LEGO Star Wars works with voice acting. Those who played The Force Awakens’ will already have seen it in action, but The Skywalker Saga really proves that LEGO games are better with voices than without.

However, for those who want to return to the classic LEGO Star Wars experience, it’s possible to turn on Mumble Mode right from the start. Do so, and all characters will communicate through grunts and murmurs just like the good old days.

However, as much as I wanted to like this optional mode, I found it disappointing. Characters are still clearly moving their mouths through strangely silent cutscenes, and mumbling only really commences in gameplay. There, subtitles still let you know what’s being said, but with characters grunting and sighing their lines instead of speaking them.

Playing in Mumble Mode only really serves to make me miss the voice acting I came to love while playing through the story. And while the mode doesn’t hold a candle to the non-verbal communication that the previous games were built on, it’s a nice touch to include it.

Never Tell Me The Odds

For the completionists among you, prepare to spend the rest of 2022 playing LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. The game features 380 playable characters, 45 levels, and seemingly endless collectables to discover.

Each level is hiding a selection of Minikits, as usual, but there are also 1166 Kyber Bricks hiding across the galaxy for you to discover. Finding them will allow you to unlock upgrades for your characters, such as additional Dark Side powers, or enhancements to your health pool, but you could easily play through the game without touching the upgrade menu.

If you are one of those gamers who can’t help but 100% a game once you’ve started, make sure you haven’t got any plans for the foreseeable future.

Having now seen all that LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has to offer, I’m comfortable saying that the game is a must-play for those who either love Star Wars or love LEGO, and especially for those who love the LEGO Star Wars franchise.

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga manages to overcome all that came before it to be quite possibly the best LEGO game yet. In the eyes of some gamers, it could also be the best Star Wars game – a claim I’d find it hard to argue against.

The passion for the franchise which The Skywalker Saga so proudly displays makes this game shine, whether you’re a die-hard fan or a casual moviegoer. And it’s a title that I can see myself returning to time and time again.

Check out our newest LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga articles here!