Available since April 5, 2022 on many platforms, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga revisits the nine canonical films of the famous saga with bricks. Cute, but too scattered.
In 1999, we discovered Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace At the movie theater. A real event, since this feature film allows you to dive back into the cult saga under a new prism. To accompany the launch, the merchandising – pillar of the Star Wars empire – is appropriate. The same year, the famous Danish company Lego marketed its very first Star Wars boxes. It has never stopped since, whether with reissues or adaptations of new films.
Yet founded in the early 90s, the Traveller’s Tales studio waited a little longer to in turn embark on this virtuous circle. In 2005 will therefore appear LEGO Star Warsa video game that revisits The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, with bricks. It will be followed, the following year, by LEGO Star Wars II, which this time focuses on the original trilogy. Thanks to its quickly acquired know-how, Traveller’s Tales has specialized in video games with LEGO sauce, multiplying cult licenses (Marvel, DC Comics, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings). Which brings us to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagathe sixth installment of its kind.
The incredible charm of LEGO, cult scenes from Star Wars
Traveller’s Tales hadn’t tackled the Star Wars monument since its re-reading of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, released shortly after the film (in 2016). As indicated by his name, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga picks up the events of the three Skywalker family-related trilogies, allowing the developers to cover two never-before-seen films (The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker) and fans to (re)discover them.
More concretely, the video game cuts each feature film into five levels summarizing the main lines with humor and a few liberties. It is not uncommon to appreciate a redesigned sequence for a younger audience, thanks to a few good-natured gags (often situation comedy). Be careful, the game will not make you like the movies you hated more (especially the latest ones…).
Authenticity and shimmering artistic direction
It must be admitted that LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is aimed, first of all, at less adult people. After all, we embody toys that we can buy in real life, in the likeness of characters that we recognize at first sight. In terms of animations, Traveller’s Tales masters its subject like no other: simple bricks literally come to life on the screen. There is necessarily an air of deja vu since the very first LEGO Star Wars but the charm continues to operate despite everything. We love the face of Palpatine, yet so frightening in the cinema with his disfigured face. We just love facial expressions, simplistic, but effective.
As a bonus, on a recent console like the PlayStation 5, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga does what it takes to shine brightly. For example, the light emitted by lightsabers stands out ideally while the reflections on metallic surfaces immediately catch the eye. These pretty visual effects contrast with the coarser textures (the decorations that are not made of bricks) and the few slowdowns observed here and there. Without being a technical jewel, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga combines authenticity and shimmering artistic direction, which offers a very successful marriage.
A little too catch-all in the structure
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is based on a gameplay accessible, mixing action and adventure in a cocktail that will not be a problem for anyone (not even children). Above all, it strives to transcribe everything that constitutes Star Wars as well as possible: spaceship battles, lightsaber duels, intense firefights with a blaster, powers of the Force… All sprinkled with a few construction phases. Ultimately, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga offers a bit of everything, but does not excel in anything. Without being unpleasant, the gameplay seeks above all to be functional.
Nevertheless, we can blame Traveller’s Tales for its tendency to scatter a little too much. Between the passable mini-games that could be replaced in order to make the epic more fluid or the few RPG elements that do not serve much, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga fall into zeal. We also see this problem in the overall structure, which integrates the levels into small open worlds filled with more or less forgettable secondary tasks.
Thus, Traveller’s Tales would undoubtedly have benefited from disconnecting the nine films from all the ancillary content, too immense to make room for narrative continuity. Between each level, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga sometimes asks to take a side step which breaks the rhythm or forces to go back and forth between the different planets that it is possible to explore. In quantity, the studio is very, very generous and fans will not count their hours wandering through the Star Wars universe, in search of the many more or less hidden references.
After going around the three trilogies (you can start with episode 1, 4 or 7 depending on your preferences), the more adventurous will have plenty of time to go in search of all the things to pick up. And God knows there are. In particular, there are more than 1,000 special bricks to be obtained, among other tests which guarantee an excellent lifespan. Nine films to revisit is a lot.
The verdict
We liked
Cute and authentic
Content to resell
Super accessible gameplay…
We liked less
… but quickly limited
Structure too catch-all
A few technical hiccups
Cute all the way, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a humorous, rich and authentic adaptation of the famous saga. With copious content, articulated around nine different films, this game developed by Traveller’s Tales plays the card of quiet strength and relies on school and accessible gameplay. Can’t resist stepping into a LEGO Store when you pass by? LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will inevitably catch your eye, if only for the irremediable charm that emanates from it.
Nevertheless, the studio probably wanted to put too much in its production thought of as a compilation. The marriage between narrative levels and open-world portions results in a disjointed experience. Not to mention that the gameplay does not provide any exhilarating feeling. In short, if you like LEGO and/or Star Wars, go for it. Otherwise, watch the movies instead.
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