A coherent Star Wars narrative unfolded over a dispersed, open cosmos.
Kylo Ren, who spoke of letting the past die, most likely did not mean the old Lego Star Wars games that had previously adapted the original trilogy, prequels, and a significant portion of the Clone Wars. However, the Skywalker Saga does act somewhat similarly, akin to a recently adjusted George Lucas special edition re-release.
To be true, TT Games’ back catalog of games includes some of the most technologically antiquated titles. The Skywalker Saga has evolved over time, along with console hardware and game design, and is now a completely distinct animal. TT Games’ nine-film compilation has finally been finished after a protracted and occasionally problematic creation process, but that is just half the tale. You may lose yourself for as much time exploring the game’s vast planet assortment as you would immersing yourself in the primary cinematic stories of the game, embarking on the biggest collection hunt in the series’ history.
You may play through the three Star Wars film trilogies in any sequence, providing you with three different starting and finishing locations to explore the game’s galaxy. As before, you may revisit completed stages (each movie has five) to find more mysteries, and visiting planets will unlock on your galactic map. With so much content to modify, it’s not surprise that they skim some of the saga’s less important parts, using the warm humor that has come to define the series’ darkest times. The degree to which the game depends on its open environment inside the missions itself is unexpected, though.
In one of the game’s open world locations, missions usually begin and conclude with a quick job to do before the level officially starts. Action will occasionally take place in a specially designed, scripted setting, as the Tantive IV in Episode 4, or under control of a Lego spacecraft, such in the Coruscant pursuit scene in Episode 2, or during the bombing run in Episode 8. However, a lot of other levels are worse off for crossing over the open world sections of the game.
These open world regions feel less engaging overall than the classic linear stages. Isn’t it the whole purpose of Lego, that there’s less to construct, less to adjust, and less to see change? Additionally, there is frequently a lot of walking between locations in an open space. Consider the Ahch-To level from Episode 8 of the game, where Rey receives Jedi instruction. The Sith grotto on the Porg-infested planet offers some interesting gameplay thanks to her mirror-like Force vision, but getting there and back needs you to carefully follow Luke around the cliffs of the planet to go from point A to point B, where he parked his X-Wing, to complete the task.
Playability has always been a feature of Lego games, and Lego Star Wars is no exception. If you’ve ever played the Lego video games, you’ll know what to anticipate: many paths through each story episode using various character powers to uncover every mystery, as you gradually get access to stud multipliers and earn money to purchase further improvements and characters. Characters are given a noticeable boost throughout the game, with walking speeds and spacecraft laser power being upgradeable, as well as some lovely class-specific benefits for particular character groupings.
The game’s boundless galaxy is a bit of a mixed bag outside of its stages. It is on par with some of TT Games’ most ambitious digital productions as a sightseeing trip, ranging from the meticulously assembled Hogwarts in Lego Harry Potter Years 5–9 to the huge and varied worlds of Doctor Who and Portal in Lego Dimensions. It’s important to note how gorgeous the game can appear in the appropriate environments, such as Tatooine at beautiful sunset, the filth of a Death Star trash compactor, or even just in close-ups of the faces of the characters, where you can see the seams of their Lego minifigures. Never before has digital Lego looked so realistic.
You may tour almost every planet in the nine-film series, but the tasks you discover there are frequently simply that—chores. With 300 characters to unlock and over 1100 collection bricks, there is a noticeable amount of repetition in many sidequest kinds. While there are moments of humor to get you through (yes, Dominic Monaghan’s character in Episode 9 gets a joke about Hobbits), the majority of these puzzles are too same and too ambiguous, with their answers coming from random NPCs that might appear in any open-world game. One common and laborious task type has you searching a region for a certain NPC, sorting among groups of like minifigures until you find the one.
If you’re interested in collecting items in the game, there are a few decent solutions available to monitor your completionist endeavors. The game’s large menus list level minikits and missable sub-objectives in addition to the side missions and treasures found in each open world region and an additional set of tasks (such as finding imprisoned Porgs!) that are scattered across the whole game. It will take some time to discover everything that the Lego Star Wars galaxy has to offer.
I had a good time watching all three of the Lego Star Wars trilogies, but I still can’t finish that collection of movies because of a glitch that prevented me from moving forward in Episode 2. (TT Games has informed me that a patch will address this; nonetheless, if you are reading this, do include the ability to restart a level that has already completed!) The film retellings of the game are mostly humorous, if easy fun; nothing here is too hard to button mash or Lego brick smash through. I really liked Rise of Skywalker, since the film’s sometimes absurd writing is cleverly parodied. The game’s wide worlds, however, lost some of their appeal after a brief tour. If TT Games wants to adapt The Mandalorian, perhaps they could go back to those linear stages instead of destroying the past.