3.5/5 ★ – joeylikesmovies's review of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

The biggest compliment I can pay Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is it is a sincere, big-hearted love letter to ALL of Star Wars. With so much cynicism in the fandom online, it's nice to have a piece of Star Wars media that respects all three trilogies equally. I'm someone who grew up with the prequels, and I appreciated them more as a kid because of the existence of the original Lego Star Wars games. Knowing that today's kids will grow up with this game, which will serve a similar role in helping them become bigger fans, fills a Star Wars fan like myself (who likes at least one movie from each trilogy, if not more) with a lot of joy. And make no mistake, despite some of the changes to the gameplay mechanics and structure, this feels very much like a classic Lego Star Wars game. It's an accessible, often exhilarating collect-a-thon that allows players to play through some of Star Wars' most iconic moments while partaking in clever puzzles and simple combat. Although it's simple enough for younger players to pick up, some mechanical improvements add welcome depth. I particularly like the new lightsaber and blaster combat mechanics. At the same time, Traveler's Tales is unafraid to shake up the formula somewhat. Though, some changes are better than others. While the new changes to the camera and combat are welcome, they result in an inferior cooperative mode since the game has to be played in a limited, awkward split-screen mode. TT Games' refusal to add online co-op makes this flaw even more substantial. Then, there are the changes to the design. While The Skywalker Saga still includes the more linear puzzle/set piece levels from the previous Lego Star Wars games, it's also far more open. Nearly every planet you visit is an explorable hub, filled to the brim with side quests, collectibles, and lots of things to smash. The change is a bit of a double-edged sword, though. On the one hand, the game better fulfills the fantasy of being in the Star Wars galaxy, and being able to explore each planet is a dream come true. Yet, the game is undeniably bloated, filled with an insane amount of content, but much of the content is uninspired and repetitive. Worse, this greater focus on the open world means that the linear story-driven levels suffer. Some are still great, several are boring (The Phantom Menace's levels consist almost exclusively of set pieces), and all are much shorter than in the previous Lego Star Wars titles. These issues prevent The Skywalker Saga from being the definitive Star Wars experience it could have been. But for younger audiences who are newer to the series or for older fans who want to feel good about the franchise again, it's absolutely worth playing. Hell, let's embrace any piece of media that won't divide the Star Wars fandom even further.