Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is better when it’s creative

Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga a nostalgia adventure that draws inspiration from the Lego Star Wars movies. There are levels that look exactly like the films, but there is also fun twists and turns on smaller Star Wars sets. The game’s greatest strengths are when it isn’t too concerned about replicating the movies perfectly but instead focuses on providing new experiences for fans.

In The Skywalker Saga each Star Wars episode has only five linear levels and is a small slice of the overall movie story. The rest of each episode consists of open-world adventuring where players fly through space or roam around the planets solving puzzles, riding vehicles, visiting iconic locations, and getting the lowdown on the area’s wider lore.

This can often lead to fun Lego vignettes. It’s a nostalgic experience to walk through Luke, Owen and Beru’s Tatooine home, complete with its iconic maintenance room for droids. It feels natural to walk outside the home of Luke, Owen and Beru and find bonus upgrades points through chasing Womp Rats.

But these huge levels can be used to move the story along just like it happens in movies. I’ll fly down to Ahch-To just to follow Luke from The Last Jedi around for a bit, and then leave. Instead of launching exciting levels, some mission objectives will just continue the story, showing a movie scene rebuilt with Lego bricks. Much of the game’s dialogue is even taken verbatim from the films — even if there are some comical Lego background goofs.

Image: TT Games/WB Games/Disney/Lucasfilm Games

While I enjoy the films’ science fiction and fantasy setting, playing the game gives me the chance to explore the world. It’s in this area that Lego Star Wars is truly useful. It’s amazing that TT Games created every Star Wars meaningful planet in the movie and I have access to all of them. Do I really need to run another Death Star trench race? What is that really about pod racing? I know the Gungans’ side of the battle against the droid army is important, but is it a fun level to play? Lego Star Wars excels when it departs meaningfully from its cinematic source material.

I have the most fun with The Skywalker Saga when it finds the fun in the unsung scenarios of the films and offers me the chance to explore areas that the numbered saga never did. I enjoyed defending the Millennium Falcon A New Hope ,, where I put the pieces back together with Stormtroopers. Because the movie focuses mainly on the Shield Generator sequence, I enjoyed a more extended battle of Endor. Even Rise Skywalker ,, the worst series film by a parsec gets an amazing level of difficulty in the fight/puzzle hybrid between Rey & Kylo at the demolished Death Star on Kef Bir.

Lego Star Wars – The Skywalker Saga ‘s levels selections are inconsistent. TT Games is known for straying from the beaten track to show a different angle on a Star Wars event. However, it can also fall apart under the stress of creating some of the greatest moments in film history. It works great as a Star Wars simulation, but the game is even more enjoyable as an exploration of new things. When I think back on The Skywalker Saga‘s grand journey, I know I’ll remember the weird puzzle-filled adventure through the Geonosis droid factory more than I will the iconic battle against Count Dooku himself.