Early reviews are in for LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga are in, and critics are raving about Traveler’s Tales’ plastic take on the nine main Star Wars films. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was originally meant to coincide with 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, but several delays would push the highly anticipated family-friendly collect-a-thon game back until April 5. The Skywalker Saga retells all nine movies in the main Star Wars timeline, featuring reworked versions of the original films, the prequels, and The Force Awakens on top of completely new adaptations of The Last Jedi and The Rise Of Skywalker.
With nine films worth of material to cover and a roster of about 300 playable characters, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga promises to be Traveler’s Tales’ biggest and most ambitious LEGO game to date. Pre-release trailers for The Skywalker Saga showed off a large free-roaming galaxy of planets for players to explore, along with revamped combat that will allow fans to cut loose whether they wish to stick to a trusty blaster or embrace a more civilized age by using a lightsaber. For fans of older LEGO games, The Skywalker Saga will include a special Mumble Mode that lets players replace all dialogue with sighs and mutterings - though fans of modern animated Star Wars games might prefer to stick with the full cast comprised of actors from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga seems to have something for every shade of Star Wars fan, and pre-release reviews for the game have been quite positive so far. Critics are praising The Skywalker Saga for its vast range of content, from a large number of playable characters from all three major Star Wars time periods to plenty of levels, worlds, and side activities that allow players to smash up every LEGO model in sight and collect a limitless amount of LEGO studs. The game’s charming retelling of the Star Wars movies has been noted as well, with critics smiling along with The Skywalker Saga’s humor and affection for the mythos of the franchise. Finally, The Skywalker Saga’s technical polish and gameplay have been met with high marks, with some calling it Traveler’s Tales’ best LEGO game to date.
Jamie Russo – 4.5/5 – Screen Rant
“The Skywalker Saga offers a new way to experience all nine of the core Star Wars movies as well as content outside of the films. The ability to access every area on free play with hundreds of characters gives players the chance to have their own unique Star Wars adventures as they complete side activities or just run around breaking things and causing chaos.”
Anthony Taormina – 4/5 – GameRant
“LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is easily the best compilation that TT Games has put together. Visually stunning, mechanically evolved, and endlessly entertaining, the game puts its foot on the gas and never lets off.”
Tristan Ogilvie – 8/10 – IGN
“LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga provides some rollicking reimaginings of Star Wars’ most iconic moments and seats them inside a series of interplanetary playgrounds that are dense with discovery and entertaining diversions.”
Jordan Middler – 5/5 – VGC
“Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga treats Star Wars as well, if not better, than any iteration of the franchise in history. It’s incredibly devoted to fans from all generations, it’s genuinely hilarious and the gameplay changes elevate what would have already been an excellent tribute to the biggest Sci-Fi franchise ever into an excellent game.”
PJ O’Reilly – 9/10 – Nintendo Life
“LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a fantastic experience on Switch, a great big celebration of everything Star Wars that’s made the jump to Nintendo’s console in surprisingly fine form. The upgrades to the series’ core gameplay here — the combo-focused combat, flashy space battles, boss encounters, over-the-shoulder shooting action and cover system — all combine to make this the best LEGO Star Wars has ever felt to play.”
Andrew Reiner – 8/10 – Game Informer
“Despite being periodically uneventful, the Skywalker Saga is a thorough and fun examination of all three Star Wars movie trilogies. It delivers the same sensation of being overwhelmed as opening a Blu-Ray collection of films and not knowing which one you should start with.”
Stephen Tailby – 8/10 – Push Square
“LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a meaningful step forward, smartly evolving the gameplay without losing that fun-loving core. Kids will love the slapstick humour and colourful sights and sounds, grown-ups will appreciate all the elbow-in-ribs jokes, and both will enjoy just how much there is to do.”
While most of the feedback surrounding LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has been positive, some critics note that the game lacks content from the expanded Star Wars universe at launch. Luckily, Traveler’s Tales already has plans to rectify this in the form of the upcoming DLC for The Skywalker Saga that will add characters and levels from spin-off films like Rogue One and Solo: A Star Wars Story alongside TV shows like The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch.
A few fans have already gotten a chance to experience LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga thanks to some physical copies being shipped out early, and it looks like the game is well worth the wait considering some of the reviews it's received so far. Everyone else will finally be able to dive into the Star Wars universe once more when LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga hits stores later this week.