‘LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’: The essential game for ‘Star Wars’ fans

In the age of nostalgia, reminiscing about our childhood is at an all time high. And for Star Wars fans, nothing brings them pure joy & happiness than reminiscing about some of the greatest Star Wars video games. For those who grew up in the early 2000s, LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game was king. Sixteen years later, we will get the full story in one game: Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

LEGO Star Wars was the perfect blend of story adaptation & comedy that entertained a generation of young video game fanatics. It honestly belongs in the Video Game Hall of Fame. (Side note if you want to see it in the Video Game Hall of Fame, you can nominate it at worldvideogamehalloffame.org.)

Who doesn’t remember popping in LEGO Star Wars on their PlayStation or GameCube and pulling all-nighters trying to find all ten canisters in each chapter and unlocking all the playable characters?

After fifteen years, you can finally own the complete Skywalker Saga in one game. This year, LEGO, Traveller’s Tale, Disney, and LucasFilm Games are releasing a remastered version of the original games with a brand-new game for The Last Jedi & The Rise of Skywalker in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. 

The comeback after the sequel trilogy

There was a LEGO Star Wars video game for The Force Awakens, but there hasn’t been one since. The final two films in the sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi & The Rise of Skywalker, will be included in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. The last collection of LEGO Star Wars games was the merger between the original and sequel trilogies in 2007. 

You better believe we owned the LEGO Star Wars I & II and The Complete Saga.

While Rogue One won’t see its LEGO video game debut, it has DLC character packs along with The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, and other future projects. However, there are over 500 playable characters, and the popular character creator feature. Fans can create the unholy abomination of Darth Jar Jar or any other wacky & memorable creations. 

Going Big

“As fans, we were always going to go big! With the conclusion of the Skywalker saga in Episode IX, and 15 years since the first LEGO Star Wars, it really felt like the right time to aim as high as possible; to create a LEGO landmark,” Jonathan Smith, head of production and strategic director at TT Games told StarWars.com in 2020. 

After looking at the gameplay trailer for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, the gameplay is something we haven’t seen from a LEGO game. There are some huge departures from previous LEGO Star Wars video games. 

The first notable change is force abilities. In a scene from Attack of the Clones, it appears Anakin Skywalker used a force push on enemies. In previous games, players could only use the force to move objects to help solve puzzles. It seems it will now have attack uses just like a real Jedi. 

The full force abilities are still unknown, but we know of some other combat moves in the game. There will be light & heavy attacks with lightsabers, and an aim down sight option for blasters. There’s also a new combo air launch attack for lightsaber users. There are also barricades for blaster users throughout the game to hide behind and a red laser sight graphic to know where an enemy is targeting from. 

Another difference is it’s more three dimensional. In previous games, players were stuck in an almost flat environment. It’s set up like a three-camera sitcom – you can see everything except what’s behind the camera. It appears in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will allow players to move the camera similar to other Star Wars games like Battlefront & Jedi Fallen Order. 

Free roam & dynamic events

The biggest departure from other LEGO video games is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is an open world game. Other games like Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones feature an expansive “home area,” which is a singular map where players access things like the character creator and the game’s chapters – but you’re either in the “home area” or playing the game. 

In LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, players will have an open world experience throughout the game. Players will have to move throughout different planets to get from chapter to chapter. Say you’re playing Phantom Menace, and you win the podrace and leave Tatooine, then go to Naboo to fight the separatists. Instead of going straight to the mission, you’ll have to fly in a ship from Tatooine to Naboo. 

It also brings up the next part: dynamic events. These events are where Separatists or Imperial forces, depending on the era, can attack you as you move to the next chapter. Here you’ll also have to take the opposing capital ship. The free roam is also where you’ll pick up side quests. 

DLC packs

Lucasfilm Games and Traveller’s Tale announced there are a total of eight DLCs coming to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. We currently only know of six, and they’re all character packs. There are two for The Mandalorian, packs for Rogue One, Solo, and The Bad Batch, and finally, a classic characters pack. The remaining two have not been announced and could include levels. 

Release date

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga initially targeted an October 2020 release date, but it has since been pushed back. There hasn’t been any explanation for the daily, but it is either to get the game on next-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S or COVID-19 related delays. It is now targeting a Spring 2021 release date. 

The game will be playable on all current and next-gen consoles and PCs. It comes in two versions: standard and deluxe. The standard version is only the base game, while the deluxe version will include all the upcoming DLC packs and an exclusive minifigure for anyone who buys a physical copy. 

The game is currently available for preorder at GameStop, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Amazon. The official release date is spring 2021, however, the purchase page says “get it by release day: Mon. May 31.” This could just be a filer date or the actual release date.

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We’re super excited for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. We think the best option is pre-ordering the Deluxe version on the Nintendo Switch for its portability and console option. But what do you think? What will be included in the DLC pack, and are you excited as we are? Let us know in the comments.