Hear me out: I would actually recommend this game if it’s on sale for under $15 and/or you only want to play through the 9 movies while enjoying the typical, great LEGO humor. But that’s pretty much it.
Before we come to all the negativity i also have some positive things to say about the game.
-- The graphics are great compared to the old games.
-- The open world is filled with stuff to immerse in the world, collect or interact with stuff. they did a great job filling it so it doesnt feel empty at any point.
-- the new combo based combat system is a massive upgrade over the old button mashing, and new features like the different terminals are genuinely cool at first.
I do NOT recommend this game to anyone going for 100% completion or looking for a nostalgia trip based on The Complete Saga or LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. The Skywalker Saga is literally worse in almost every single way compared to the classics, aside from graphics and the inclusion of the sequel trilogy.
Here are the main negative points, which are simply too much for a $50 game:
1. Level Design,
-- Short & Fragmented: About 95% of the story levels are tiny 2–3 minute segments flooded with aircraft missions or boss fights. Both are cool in moderation, but not in this insane amount.
-- Chapter 1 Breakdown: It is literally: Aircraft -> Aircraft -> Boss Fight -> Mini-Level -> Aircraft. Where is the actual normal gameplay? (in my opinion the aircraft and bossfight lvls are a great addition to the game, but they are just way too much compared to the amount of "normal" lvls like back then in the complete saga)
-- The Level Split: Out of the 45 story levels, there are 13 aircraft missions, 15 boss fights, and only 17 "normal" levels (which are still super short.(i hope i didnt misscount anything lol))
2. Open World: Quantity Over Quality,
-- Repetitive Grind: Exploring 24 planets sounds awesome, but collecting ~1,000 Kyber Bricks in the open world gets insanely boring after Planet 3. It’s the exact same 4-5 mechanics over and over and over again.
-- Pointless Rewards: All those bricks just go into class upgrades that barely impact gameplay.
-- Annoying Space Encounters: Smuggling missions tear you out of hyperspace up to 3 times per trip just to destroy 8–12 weak enemy ships. A cool gimmick at first, but incredibly tedious very quickly.
3. Disappointing Upgrades & Extras,
-- Useless Class Upgrades: Out of 36 class upgrades, around 22 feel completely pointless and don't change how you play at all. (not including the general upgrades which are all really good)
-- Missing Quality-of-Life: Besides Stud Multipliers and the Universal Translator, the Datacard extras are mostly just visual jokes (Baguette lightsabers, Gonk NPCs or Retro Look).
-- Where are the Real Cheats? Classics like Invincibility are missing. Worst of all: where is an "Auto-Hack" extra? Doing the exact same terminal mini games hundreds of times calls for an endgame upgrade to skip the mini-game and replace it with a quick 1-2 second animation.
4. Wasted Potential & Missing Content,
-- No "Buy All" Button: With 380 characters and 69 ships, forcing players to buy every single item individually is a huge QoL oversight.
-- Zero Bonus Levels: This is my personal biggest missed opportunity. I LOVED the bonus levels back in The Complete Saga or Clone Wars 3. Why isn't there a single one? Why not add one bonus level per chapter, or special planet levels—like a Mandalorian-inspired level for Tatooine, a Clone Wars 3 PvP mode for Geonosis, or a Tower Defense mode after 100%-ing Chapter 1? Imagine the Battle of Naboo from a top-down view, building Gungan catapults, shields, and deploying troops against waves of droids. I missed stuff like that so much.
5. Bugs & Broken Triggers,
-- I had to restart my game multiple times because collectibles for missions failed to register.
-- Capital ships spawned half outside the map boundaries, making them impossible to board or destroy.
-- Level challenges regularly bugged out, requiring 3+ identical playthroughs before the game finally awarded the Kyber Brick.
Conclusion:
It is a great game if you buy it on sale for under $15 just to enjoy the 9 movies with the classic LEGO humor. But if you are here to enjoy the story AND grind it to 100% like I did, this game is just soul-crushing. All the issues above turn the endgame into a massive chore. I am relieved to finally have my 100%, but I will never ever touch this game again.
And I'm saying this as someone who played The Complete Saga a dozen times, enjoying every single 100% playthrough from start to finish. The Skywalker Saga completely failed my expectations and is simply not worth $50. If this game was $20, I wouldn't complain as much but for $50, it's just a huge disappointment. Cannot recommend.
