Lego Star Wars – The Skywalker Saga review

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The fans of the Lego series had to wait three years for a new game. Now the time has come, and the combination of Danish building blocks and Star Wars surprisingly does a lot of things right.

All screenshots and video scenes are from GamersGlobal

I haven’t played with real Lego bricks in over 20 years. However, I can still remember very well that my brother and I used it to recreate the Red Fury Turbo Racer from Fireball quite adequately, among other things. This is a figure from Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, in case the name doesn’t mean anything to you spontaneously. How ingenious and multi-compatible the Danish building blocks are is generally known anyway, and not only through my childhood experiences. Another proof of this fact is the Lego-Games from British developer TT Games. Whether related to Indiana Jones, Harry Potter or newer hype brands like that avengershardly any pop culture phenomenon is safe from a virtual building block implementation.

with Lego Star Wars – The Skywalker Saga the studio and the Lego series are back after an incredible three years of absence. Unbelievable because at times up to three major Lego games were released each year. This may be due to the mere fact that the Skywalker Saga contains all nine episodes of the Starwars-Core row depicts. Whether action-adventure can inspire me as much as in the presentation on the E3 2019you can find out in the following text and the 4K60 test video embedded above.

One of the things I liked best was the flight passages, some of which were in free flight and some in rail-like sequences. But which Star Wars fan wouldn’t actually enjoy taking TIE fighters out of the sky in the Millennium Falcon?

Familiar and yet improved

With the Skywalker saga, TT Games in no way breaks with the core virtues of the series. So there is a lot of slapstick-heavy humor, especially in the numerous cutscenes, which I at least can amuse myself with in most cases. I could now give concrete examples that would not have the same effect if retold. Imagine a parody of the Star Wars films, which is also a homage and can only inspire film and series fans. Those who know the predecessors know what to expect and will smile as often as I do, if not burst out laughing.

In terms of play, the Skywalker saga also remains true to the series tradition. However, there are a number of innovations and refinements that make a positive difference. This is less true for the overall flawless technical implementation, in which the developers are far from getting everything out of what is in the new generation of consoles. Incidentally, a remote hands-on of the PC version a few weeks ago indicated that this also applies to users of the potentially strongest gaming platform.

But as already mentioned, TT Games is not standing still. The melee system is more sophisticated and grippy, allows combos and even sometimes spectacular finishers, which makes the action feel much more satisfying. The ranged combat relies on a relatively classic cover shooter mechanic (which you don’t have to use) and introduces hit zones. If you don’t fire blindly at it, but specifically attack the weak points (or shoot down the opponent’s helmets to create another one), you have clear advantages. None of this is decisive for the game, because you can’t possibly fail, regardless of whether it’s in normal fights or boss fights. But the innovations are a clear enrichment. And if you ever got stuck with the environmental puzzles in earlier Lego games: Thanks to the drastically improved player guidance, this can no longer happen to you, at least within the story missions.

The fights on foot aren’t exactly demanding either. In particular, the combos in close combat are a lot of fun.

Open world on demand

In The Skywalker Saga, at the beginning of your adventure, you must decide which of the three trilogies you want to start with. It’s up to you whether you choose the original trilogy, like me, or whether you prefer Jar Jar Binks and Co. to the prequel three-part series. You can also switch to any of the already unlocked episodes in the middle and continue the one you started from where you left off. You only have to make the following episodes, i.e. episodes 5 and 6 in the original trilogy, selectable by playing through the previous ones. By the way, that doesn’t take very long. If you follow the story missions strictly, it takes about 90 minutes per episode.

However, you can drastically expand your gaming experience. Because you can visit and freely explore every location you have already visited and thus globally unlocked at any time between the story missions and in the “free play” activated after the end of the first episode (not Episode 1). Chatting with NPCs and getting hints about bonus items, further exploring areas that are not obligatory within the story, or visiting the danger zones in the ether of the individual planets are options. The most productive and least generic are the ground locations. There are additional puzzles, platformer passages and other minigames in which you can unlock additional rewards and extras.

Since almost all other well-known studios do it differently in their games and that’s exactly a thorn in my side, I have to expressly praise TT Games. Because here the open world, if you want to call it that, is optional and not a chore. But it’s worth going on a discovery tour, which is much more motivating for me without the pressure I mentioned. I’m simply not, let’s call it by its name, forced to do extra stuff here.

The rebel camp on Hoth is under attack, but the defenders still have time to joke. You certainly don’t have to like the humor of the Lego series. But if you had fun with it in previous installments, you will also have a lot of laughs in The Skywalker Saga.

Technically just nice with a bad bug

Apart from small things, I really can’t say anything bad about the technical condition of the Skywalker Saga. Yes, sometimes the camera bitches and for my taste TT Games could certainly have gotten more out of the version I played on Xbox Series X. A higher native resolution, a high, stable frame rate and regular, but very short loading times compared to Lastgen are nice, but nothing more.

However, I encountered a nasty bug. While I don’t think it will appear on too many other players, it doesn’t affect the rating negatively. Specifically, however, the error prevented me from completing Episode 2, so currently I cannot unlock Episode 3 in the prequel trilogy. So at a certain point I can no longer continue the story in said episode, but I can still play the free game. The advances that have already been made globally apart from history are therefore not affected. I was able to start and end all other episodes without any problems, even after the error occurred. The problem is still annoying, which is why I don’t want to hide it.

Otherwise everything worked smoothly and I hope that my saved game will be usable again without restrictions with an update. The fact that there is currently no option to start the episode from scratch should help.

Author: Benjamin Braun, Editor: Dennis Hilla (GamersGlobal)

Opinion: Benjamin Brown

I’ve always loved the Lego games, but with Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga I got a little bit more of a feeling that Star Wars and the Danish blocks come together as something that just belongs together. The style is nice, the gameplay improvements make the fights in flight and on foot much more satisfying. Above all, I really like the kind of humor. Here I get nostalgia spurts and at the same time always have something to laugh about.

That’s exactly why it doesn’t bother me that the playful demands are low. In fact, it even drops in the mandatory area, since TT Games also increases comfort in some points. Because where in earlier Lego games you could sometimes be unnecessarily on the hose, this only happens with the tasks in The Skywalker Saga if you believe one of the puzzles to be more complex than it actually is.

I also really like the often very creative range of bonus tasks and the countless activation options that make Star Wars enthusiasts hearts beat faster. What is particularly commendable for me is that all of this is just a worthwhile offer and that I can simply follow the plot of the films stringently if I wish. Other developers would certainly have arranged this differently. All in all, it’s one of the best Lego games to date, and one that I’d heartily recommend to both Lego fans and Star Wars fans alike.

Lego SW – The Skywalker Saga Xbox X