Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga Review

'A Surprise, Sure, But A Welcome One'

So many games right now are striving to be "realistic," "gritty," and just plain old stressful. But those three words are not the ones I'd associate with Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Not even close. TT Games' latest romp through all nine mainline Star Wars films was just fun, and it's something that I never realized I missed for a long time.

This game does a lot of things really well. But visuals are what stood out to me the most. Overall, the graphics both unique and impressive at the same time. As I played through the game, in my mind, I'm a young kid who has a massive Lego Star Wars set to play with, and I am re-enacting the movies' storylines using my minifigs. That's how it felt. And it felt good.

The obvious Lego components of the world notwithstanding, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga's environments do not look out of place in a more realistic-looking game. All of the most iconic locations in the entire film franchise are rendered in excellent detail - far more than what I could expect for a game like this.

Now, the stories presented in these games are far from now. One might even say they're "outdated." But Lego's signature weird humor playing out for the entirety of the collection is a refreshing take on these stories. I found myself laughing more times than I could admit too. But I was probably not ready for just how much of a blast I'd have seeing all of these impressive Lego setpieces blow up into their tiny brick components.

I remember seeing the Trade Federation Battleship explode after a heated dogfight, and I was just... in awe. And I thought to myself: how is this a Lego game? The sheer spectacle is out of this world, and would rival other AAA games-bar none.

Either way, my only problem with how the story was presented in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga's has something to do with the cutscenes. They are way, way too short. I understand TT Games' desire to cater both to older players (and Star Wars nerds) like myself and kids with short attention spans, though. But take note that this is a nitpick and is no way indicative of the game's overall quality.

Wide As An Ocean, But Not As Shallow As A Puddle

Back in the day, Watch Dogs Legiontried to differentiate itself by making you play as anyone, no questions asked? It was a new thing that may or may not have worked for Ubisoft's hacking game, but Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga's version of it is a little more robust. There's a sheer amount of unlockable player characters in this game, each with their own unique skillset that actually feels different from anybody else's. To be able to do that without making things feel stale is an amazing feat.

TT Games did just enough to ensure that each character, whether it's a Jedi, a Bounty Hunter, or even a Protocol Droid, will have their own unique skillset. I often played as Jedi (because, duh) and I can easily separate the playstyle of Anakin Skywalker to that of Obi-Wan's, Master Yoda's to Mace Windu's, and more.

As for the overall gameplay, I find that it is once again more robust than I was expecting. The boss fights are a great example. It was so easy to make players just button-mash their entire way through everything. But Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga doesn't allow you to do that. You had to employ strategy. Most of the time, you're not alone during a major fight: you'll han AI-controlled companion character helping you make your way through the level. Their job is to do things like open doors, solve puzzles, and take down enemies. The main problem? Their AI is basically brain-dead.

All of this was enough to give me a much-needed break from all the lightsaber combat (which is exceptional for a freaking Lego game) and helped keep the entire sequence interesting. If it was all just me bashing lightsabers against somebody or shooting them in the face, things would've gotten boring far quicker.

To cap things off, let's discuss puzzles. I am not a fan of puzzles in games mainly because Uncharted gave me PTSD. I'm getting too old to "git gud" at these puzzles and I just don't have time to really think through them. With Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, the puzzles offer a great balance between challenge and fun, and is one thing that once again stood out for me.

For now, the only major drawback is the repetitive nature. If you played through all nine films, even more so.. I understand that TT Games can only do so much with this aspect of the game, but it's a small blot in an otherwise brilliant design.

Witness The Power

TT Games really did their technical homework on this one. The game runs at a relatively stable 30 FPS on the base PS4, at a native 1080p resolution. Sometimes, the frame rate does tank when things get a bit too heavy. There were also instances when the resolution looked a tad too low (maybe going below 720p in some situations), but overall it is a crisp and smooth-performing game.

I might've been expecting far more than that though, but maybe I'm just underestimating how demanding the game's engine is on hardware. As for loading times, they were surprisingly snappy even on a mechanical HDD. There were times when I thought the game loaded quickenough to rival an SSD, but I wouldn't know.

Final Verdict

When too many games try to be stressful, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga swoops in to save the day. It might not really reinvent the wheel, but still brings its own excellent spin on an already-established IP.

SCORE: 9 out of 10

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Written by RJ Pierce