Video Game Blog 016: Lego Space Epic

It’s finally time to talk about Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga! As indicated in my Lego Batman post, I’ve been waiting for this game for years. I love the Lego games based on licensed properties. And the first Lego Star Wars game (based on the three prequel films) was the first one of the series that I played. Yes, I’ve been with the Lego games from the start! I’m still playing through them, mostly going in order, although I jumped out of sequence for the first Lego Marvel game and for this one. I just couldn’t wait to get through several more games before playing this one. (I still have eight more of the Lego games to play that came out before this one.)

I love this title screen. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was released in 2022 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. I played the PS5 version. I got the deluxe edition which included codes for the DLC and a cute mini figure of Luke Skywalker with his blue milk. (Which I immediately gave to Cocoashade because I believe in sharing the loot.)

I won’t spend much time going over the whole concept and objectives of Lego games. Basically you work your way through a hub world (or worlds) and levels to collect Lego studs and other objects. Collection is the basis of the Lego games, with many collectibles hidden in the levels and hub world(s), and lots of mini figures and vehicles to unlock.

Lego Star Wars has several hub worlds and different planets you can travel to, tons of side quests, and levels based on all nine core movies in the Skywalker Saga.

Mace Windu vs Jango Fett! (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)

Gameplay-wise, it’s familiar to everyone who’s played a Lego game before. Each Episode contains five levels for a total of 45 story levels. There is plenty to do in between the levels, exploring the hub worlds, solving puzzles, searching out collectibles, and completing side quests.

There are a whopping 380 playable characters in the game covering iconic characters from all throughout the saga, not just the nine main movies. There are so many characters, in fact, that they had to overhaul the character selection system, categorizing them by class.

They did a great job balancing the character classes. In previous games you always needed certain types of characters to access different things— blaster characters could grapple objects and reach high areas, droids could access control panels, dark side users could move black Lego Bricks, and so on. This is expanded on in this game and every character has multiple uses. A good example: shortly into my play I could appreciate how vital the protocol droids were— they can translate alien language, talk to machines, get past hostile enemies, get into small spaces… so useful. I couldn’t unlock Threepio fast enough.

I honestly loved the part of Episode 2 where we got to see Yoda in action. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)

This game adds many new features and tweaks to the traditional mechanics of the Lego games. The combat system has been vastly improved, with many new options for force powers and lightsaber battles. Blaster battling goes into a first person mode. Space battles have been improved as well, allowing for better maneuverability and fighting options. Instead of red bricks to unlock “cheats” there are Data Cards. Instead of Gold Bricks, there are Kyber Bricks. Health is no longer represented by the four red hearts like it always was before. Now there is a Health Bar.

As for exclusions, the only thing this game leaves out when compared to the others is the Character Customization mode, which is not something I used anyway. (Except to earn trophies.)

And most surprising of all, there’s an upgrade system! The Kyber Bricks and studs can be traded to level up certain abilities. There are abilities that affect everyone, and those that only affect classes of characters— Jedi, Bounty Hunter, Astromech, etc. These abilities include more health, bonus studs when accomplishing certain things, the ability to attract studs at increasing distances, and more.

Now we know what’s really in Jedi Holocrons. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)

Another huge improvement are the side quests. There are many objectives you can complete in the game to get collectibles. These run the gamut from puzzles, to fetch quests, to bounties, to scavenger hunts. There are clues hidden throughout the galaxy pointing to how to unlock characters and vehicles. (You can also buy these clues with studs if you don’t want to hunt them down.)

High five! (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)

The story is familiar to anyone who’s seen the movies. You can take on the episodes in any order you choose, and the game follows the basic plot of the episode. Since it’s a Lego game, there are a lot of silly moments and jokes to lighten the mood. A couple of examples I liked: if you encounter something Anakin can’t do (like blow up a silver Lego object) he whines “Why can’t I do that?” And if Padme is killed, when she respawns she gleefully shouts “I’ve been voted back in!” One side quest I came across was all about recovering Jedi Holocrons (which are a form of data storage in the Star Wars universe) and the Holocrons apparently had data in the form of internet clickbait lists.

Duel time! (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)

Pros: This game is fantastic, so this’ll be a long list. They’ve improved the force powers— I love being able to control where I put objects when I move them with my Space Magic. The combat system, especially light saber battles, has been fine tuned. The flying is much more smooth and easy to control. I love the upgrade feature. That’s always a satisfying mechanic for me in a game. Powering up your character, managing the resources to increase their powers or stats… it’s not a mechanic I expected to see in a Lego game. There is great balance in the character classes making everyone feel useful. (Yes, even Jar Jar.) The side quests are fun and keep the game fresh. The characters and humor are cute, but not childish. The graphics are incredible. Above all, the main draw for the Lego games has been the collection aspect. There’s so many characters, vehicles, bricks, minikits and things to find and collect, adding to your percentage of completion. It’s nice to locate something new, to see that percentage go up towards 100. This game has more of everything to collect, including abilities that you can upgrade and missions you can complete.

Cons: The controls are a little clumsy, but nowhere near as bad as previous games. (I’m still annoyed about Superman’s flying controls in Lego Batman 2.) I do kind of miss seeing all the minifigures on one screen like they were in previous games, but I understand how that would be unwieldy with the massive number of characters there are in this game. The main issue I had was the locking up. The game has a tendency to lock up in between areas. In the short time I’ve played, I’ve had to force shut down three times. Maybe they’ve patched that by now? We’ll see. (I’ve been distracted from the game for a couple of weeks as I try to wrap up a few posts.)

There is a great variety in the gameplay with the story levels, the free exploration and the side quests. The story is told with an abundance of humor, at times parodying the source material while still holding the deepest respect for it.

Although the first two games covered the first six movies, and Lego Force Awakens covered the seventh, revisiting them here isn’t a retread or tedious. It’s done in a fresh way, focusing on different plot elements, and laying out the levels and objectives differently. It just goes to show what a wealth of content and possibilities are contained within the Star Wars franchise.

I couldn’t stop laughing at this. (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)

The latest edition in the Lego Star Wars games is, at this point, the best Lego game I’ve played hands down. (And I’m only maybe 20% into it.) It takes everything that was great about the series and improves upon it. This game is a celebration of all things Star Wars and all things Lego. The licensed games have slowed down in recent years and I’ve long suspected this may turn out to be the last offering in the series. If that’s the case, I could be satisfied with that. They have certainly gone big at the end and put a perfect endcap to the series. It would make sense for them to end up where they began, but much, much further along in gameplay, story, and graphics. A lot of work and care went into this game and I applaud the developers.

This game was worth the wait and I highly recommend it for fans of the Star Wars series and the Lego games. You will not be disappointed by this game.

And that’s my thoughts on Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. I hope you enjoyed this little review. I’ll be back soon, probably to talk about EarthBound. I appreciate you all, and I’ll see you soon!

Two down, seven to go! (Credit: Traveller’s Tales, Disney)