A long time ago in a Lego galaxy far, far away, but now available in a galaxy near you…
Nearly six years after the release of the last “Lego Star Wars” video game, Traveller’s Tales and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have teamed up with Disney to release the long-anticipated “Lego Stars Wars: The Skywalker Saga.” Featuring all nine episodic films as playable stories, the saga is complete with bucketloads of bricktastic gameplay, traditional Lego mischief and plenty of unlockable characters.
Though it does not reinvigorate the Lego game genre, “The Skywalker Saga” serves as a immersive, fun departure from previous Lego games by incorporating a third-person over-the-shoulder point of view that resembles the likes of “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” or even “The Last of Us” as opposed to the typical zoomed out gameplay of past entires. By putting the player right into the action, the game is exhilarating and feels like you are actually playing out the stories of “Star Wars.”
Every episode consists of five main story missions that, while sometimes quite brief and underwhelming, nail all the little moments and scale of the film series. The levels provide a ton of variety from ship battles and boss fights to puzzle-based missions, but there is a ton of side content where players can solve puzzles or platform the planet hub areas to obtain Kyber Bricks. Unless you are a perfectionist for gaming, the brick-collecting can be quite tedious and excessive, especially since the player does not have the ability to unlock certain characters yet. For example, you might need a bounty hunter to blow up a door, but there is not one you have unlocked yet. Thankfully, there is a full galaxy free roam version where you can travel freely without having to follow a main story mission. It takes off the burden of having to do everything all at once.
In addition to level varieties, the character selection offers an assortment of ways to play the game. By using Jedi’s Force abilities or their lightsaber as a boomerang, the player can break every movable object or enemy in their way to progress the story. If you are controlling a blaster-wielding character, the player can use the cover of walls and barriers to pick off enemies at point blank range or from far away. 
Still, the most thrilling gameplay of “The Skywalker Saga” stems from the white-knuckle space battles. From destroying Trade Federation ships in “The Phantom Menace” to attempting the Trench Run as an X-Wing in “A New Hope,” the dogfights in the game are a ton of fun to fly through and one of the highlights of the game. There is a huge variety of starships you can choose to fly the galaxy in from the Millennium Falcon to the Razor Crest.
Aside from its excessive side content (and no character creator), the game has a couple of technical issues and glitches. There were a few times where I was playing, and the screen would just be white with the game’s audio still playing in the background. Another time saw my character being glitched halfway into the floor, which urged me to restart the game. One ridiculous glitch that has become viral on TikTok shows that anytime you hit a kid a with a lightsaber, you can travel across the level as long as you keep tapping Square or X.
Overall, “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” does not reinvent the saga, but for fans of Lego and “Star Wars,” there is a ton of fun to be had with the game. While sometimes short, the campaign for each episodic story offers brisk interplanetary fun with a plethora of action, puzzles, and humor. The empire strikes brick in this fun and engaging entry of the “Lego Star Wars” saga.