A game first announced in 2019,LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagahas received delay after delay. With an initial rumored release date of October 2020, the game has now finally been given a release date of June 21, 2025, alongside a new trailer that showcases a whole host of gameplay mechanics and features.
It seems like all those delays were worth it, because the latest trailer points toLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagabeing not only the most ambitious LEGO game ever made, but perhaps the most ambitiousStar Warsgame entirely. With over 20 fully explorable planets, over 300 unlockable characters, and all nine films being fully playable,LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagalooks as though it’s going to be a true celebration of all thingsStar Wars.
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A Definitive Star Wars Collection
The LEGO games have had quite a few attempts at theStar Warslicense, with the first game collecting the prequel trilogy, the second entry using the original trilogy, and the third game focusing on theClone Warsspinoff TV show. Currently, if a player wanted to play through the saga in cutesy LEGO form, then they’d have to pick upLEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which combined the first two games into one, giving a few extra bonus levels and refining some gameplay elements to make one smoothStar Warsvideo game experience.
But times have changed, andThe Complete Sagais no longer complete. With Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, it was only a matter a time before new movies started to release. Flash forward 10 years and audiences have now seen an entire sequel trilogy, along with a few spin-off titles and a handful of shows to boot. Like it or not,Disney has added a lot to theStar Warscanon, and any contemporaryStar Warsvideo game can’t just forget that.
Thankfully,LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagais embracing every aspect ofStar Wars, including everything Disney has made. Allnine mainlineStar Warsmovies are going to be playablein theSkywalker Saga, with each movie having quite a few missions that re-tell the story of the episode using LEGO’s unique brand of charm and humor.
Also, confirmed in the new trailer, players who purchasethe Deluxe Edition ofThe Skywalker Sagawill receive six character packs, each one relating to aStar Warsspin-off such as theBad Batch,The Mandalorian, andRogue One.LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagalooks as though it’s going to be a definitive collection of allStar Warscontent, and with the possibility of future DLC updates, it might stay that way for quite some time.
Exploring a Beautiful, Bustling Galaxy
One of the most exciting aspects of the new trailer, which has been teased before but is now finally confirmed, is the game’s open-world focus - or, more accurately, open-worlds.LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagais shown tofeature at least 24 planets, unlocking one-by-one as players progress through the main narrative of eachStar Warsepisode. It’s only shown for a minute or two in the trailer, but the scale of each of these planets looks pretty substantial, with vehicles being needed to traverse the large open areas.
Each of the iconic planets inThe Skywalker Sagacan be found on the in-game map, with fan-favorites like Hoth, Tatooine, and Naboo all being shown in the trailer. Within just a press of button, players will be able to hyperspace to the planet of their choosing, explore the space surrounding the planet,get into some quick space dogfights, and land on the planet - a feature that fans have wanted in aStar Warsgame sinceBattlefront 2.
Once on the planet, players will be able to roam freely on the surface. Side quests were shown briefly in the trailer, and, as is always the case in a LEGO game, exploration seems to be a core focus of each planets' overworld. While the trailer didn’t spend too long showcasing these open-world environments, they look as though they’re going to really deliver anauthenticStar Warsexperience, from the vibrant and accurate visuals of each planet and environment to the amount of NPCs dotted around the open-world.
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Fan-Service With Actual Substance
If there’s one franchise that’s known for its often absurd levels of fan-service, it’sStar Wars. The sequel trilogy is often cited by even the most die-hard fans as having too much blatant or unearned fan-service moments, whether it’s unnecessarycameos from belovedStar Warscharactersor iconic objects that linger on the screen for a little too long.
Fortunately,LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagalooks like it may just offer the perfect level of fan-service, giving a hefty amount of substance with each reference or inside joke it makes. For instance, it’s said that there areover 300 unlockable charactersin the game. This number is pretty staggering, but Traveller’s Tales has plenty of experience in this field, and with each new LEGO game, it learns a little more about how to make each one feel unique.
The new trailer showcases thecombat inThe Skywalker Saga, depicting it as having almostDevil May Cry-like combo-centric gameplay, where characters can juggle their opponents in the air and perform a number of special, character-themed moves. For instance, Poe Dameron is shown to use his blaster rifle to shoot his Stormtrooper opponent into the sky, and then use a grapple gun to bring himself back down to the ground. This decent level of character variation, where each character has different combos depending on their specific skills and weapons, is shown a few times in the trailer. Hopefully, it will help to make each character feel unique and more fleshed out than in previous LEGO games.
Another area in whichThe Skywalker Sagais providing fan-service but with depth is its seemingly large selection of iconic vehicles. The trailer showed even less on vehicle gameplay than it did the open-world sections, but if the character variations are anything to go by,The Skywalker Saga’s land and space vehiclesare sure to be heaped in nostalgia while also providing unique gameplay elements. An example of this shows the speeder bike controlling fairly differently from Luke’s landspeeder. Hopefully,The Skywalker Sagacan deliver upon that perfect balance between fan-service and substance that the trailer seems to showcase.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagalaunches April 5 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
