Developer Traveller's Tales Games and publisher Warner Brothers Interactive Entertament deliver a massive world in included in The Skywalker Saga.
Traveller's Tales sticks to its practiced story-telling formula by presenting each Star Wars episode with some comedic twists that change the feel of the story while still maintaining the core narrative. Experiencing classic Star Wars scenes with quirky comedy elements, like Chancellor Palpatine very obviously carrying around his Sith paraphernalia, creates a fun and light atmosphere. Even in some of the more serious Star Wars moments, The Skywalker Saga adds in a few whacky changes, which makes the game more accessible for younger gamers.
The gameplay mechanics are similar to previous LEGO games, but there are some new features and collectibles that set The Skywalker Saga apart. The new camera angle focuses more closely on the character, and anyone with a ranged weapon has an over-the-shoulder aiming view for more accurate shots. The characters in The Skywalker Saga are broken up into classes like Jedi, Villain, Dark Side, or Scoundrel. However, most characters in each class feel the same while controlling them, with a few exceptions like Darth Maul or Yoda who move more acrobatically than others in their category.
The Skywalker Saga also introduces Kyber Bricks, which are glowing blue bricks found in every mission and hub area throughout the game. Kyber Bricks are used to upgrade overall character skills as well as specific abilities for each character class. Some Kyber Bricks are out in the open and easily collected while others are tied to side missions or require a puzzle to be solved. The addition of over 1,000 Kyber Brick collectibles allows for a wider range of difficulty in finding them which caters to a larger playerbase.
Along with Kyber Bricks, The Skywalker Saga also includes the familiar Minikit collectibles as well as characters and ships to unlock and purchase. Any unlocked ship can be used to explore the immediate area around a planet or complete races and combat encounters. The side missions usually require some traveling, so many of them encourage exploration on each planet as well as open parts of space. Luckily, players don't need to find a port or taxi service to travel because the Galaxy Map can be pulled up at any time, and then it's as simple as choosing a destination. The collectibles and side activities add a massive amount of content to play through while completing each episode. The inability to collect everything in the first playthrough of a mission also increases replayability for completionists.
Although most of The Skywalker Saga feels smooth, there are a few control mechanics that can be frustrating. Any Kyber Brick or story objective that requires climbing can be an unnecessary challenge because the jump prompts take a while to pop up, and characters in The Skywalker Saga will often jump in the wrong direction or miss the handholds. This can lead to several minutes of backtracking depending on which climbing section of the game is being attempted. There are also some instances where quick-time sequences during boss fights take a while to trigger after the boss's life bar is depleted far enough.
The Skywalker Saga offers a new way to experience all nine of the core Star Wars movies as well as content outside of the films. The ability to access every area on free play with hundreds of characters gives players the chance to have their own unique Star Wars adventures as they complete side activities or just run around breaking things and causing chaos. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is extremely fun, and with only a few wonky mechanics, it delivers a genuinely enjoyable and distinctive Star Wars experience.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be available on April 5, 2022, for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, macOS, and PC. Screen Rant was provided with an Xbox Series X/S code for the purpose of this review.
