There's a lot to enjoy in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, but there are also a few clunky mechanics and missing features. Issues like bad climbing controls or missing character abilities take away from an otherwise very enjoyable Star Wars experience. The biggest issues in the game will still only be noticeable in certain sections or when using specific characters. However, exploring large hub areas across the 23 planets included in LEGO Star Wars' Skywalker Saga, players will likely come across some of these problems.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga includes five missions for each of the nine core films as well as a large number of collectibles to search for in free play. There are also side missions and characters, ships, and abilities to unlock. The size and scale of the game, however, means that players will also encounter issues with greater frequency.
Although there are certain unpolished or missing features that can be distracting, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is still very enjoyable. There are over 1,000 collectibles to find and many unique areas to explore both within each episode and while running around in free play mode. Due to its size, however, most of the content will likely be experienced after completing the story, which is also where most of the key issues lie.
Climbing Is Frustrating In LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
There are a few required climbing sections during story missions for the characters of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and many more in the hub areas. Unfortunately, no matter which character is chosen, climbing feels clunky and somewhat unresponsive. Frequently, characters will jump away from the structure they're climbing or miss the handholds they're jumping to. The prompt to jump to the next spot also takes a while to appear, and jumping before it pops up can result in falling back to the bottom.
Some of the climbing challenges are short and trying them more than once isn't too much of a hassle. On the other hand, there are a few tall structures that can take a while to climb up, and having to start over at the bottom again can be incredibly frustrating. It wouldn't be surprising if some players skip collecting a Kyber Brick or two to avoid a climbing challenge. However, there are some climbing spots that are unavoidable if players want to finish all nine episodes.
LEGO Star Wars: Skywalker Saga Is Missing Iconic Character Abilities
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga separates characters into classes such as Jedi, Scoundrel, or Bounty Hunter. Each character in a given class shares the same abilities, which can increase the usefulness of secondary characters. However, some of the more iconic characters are missing their special abilities, possibly to keep the classes uniform. For example, R2-D2 is missing the ability to hover using rocket thrusters, and instead, shares the same abilities as all of the Astromech Droids.
The most notable missing ability is the absence of Force lightning when playing as Darth Sidious and other dark side characters. During the story, Sidious will often use Force lightning against players, and it can be redirected by Jedi characters, so it's strange that the ability is missing from the playable version of dark side characters. Stripping characters of their unique abilities makes choosing them less important. Instead of having a specific character with a special ability, it's more important to choose the right class in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. This can arguably be a good thing because it means players can access certain areas without having to spend Studs on the more expensive characters. More recognizable characters generally cost more, so sharing abilities throughout a class makes it easier to start exploring earlier in the game.
Even if there are positives to uniform character abilities, less distinction between them makes them somewhat boring. Character choice is more or less about personal preference rather than a specific need for completing a section of the game. There are still a lot of fun characters to play as, but it would be much more thrilling to run around shooting lightning instead of using the same moves within a character class in LEGO Star Wars: Skywalker Saga.
Boss Fights Could Be Better In LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
During boss battles in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, players need to drain the boss's health bar multiple times. Bosses have hearts to indicate how many phases a fight has. After draining a boss's health down, there's usually a quick-time event to complete before moving on to the next section. Many of the boss battles throughout the nine episodes have an issue where the boss's life is depleted, but it takes a while for the quick-time event to trigger. The lag isn't the worst thing to deal with, but it can occasionally slow the pace of some of the more intense moments of the Star Wars series.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga's HUD Is Too Crowded
Depending on which skills are unlocked, there are a lot of elements to look at on the HUD in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. In the shared character skills section, players can unlock the ability to detect Minikits, Kyber Bricks, and other collectibles. However, buying the ability will cause the screen, especially in hub areas, to become full of blue circles and arrows indicating where to go. The skill can be disabled, but constantly turning it on and off while hunting for collectibles can be annoying after a while.
Hints will also constantly pop up on the screen while exploring and finding new class-specific puzzles to solve. Hints can also be turned off, but even without these features, the screen can feel crowded. This is especially true whenever players are taking part in one of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga's combat encounters, because the combo counter takes up the right edge of the screen. The minimap and current mission objectives are on the left side of the screen. With the camera focusing more closely on the player character in this game, certain areas of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga can be overwhelming to look at.