Why Is the Most Expansive Lego Video Game Actually the Worst?

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LEGO games possess a unique blend: enchantment, ease, unrestrained whimsy, and an abundance of building blocks, of course. A top-notch LEGO game doesn’t aim to be like Elden Ring; instead, it offers the joy of revisiting cherished tales with colorful, plastic bricks and comedy that’s as physical as it is funny.

You’re placed in vibrant, breakable settings, gather studs as if you were a hyperactive squirrel on coffee, tackle engaging yet simple puzzles, and perhaps even chuckle when your beloved character stumbles over their chunky feet. It offers stress-free, enjoyable gaming at its finest.

This leads us to the LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, a game that left everyone, from Jedi and Sith to casual brick enthusiasts, incredibly excited.

Launched in April 2022 at a price point of $59.99 (with additional cost for DLC), this game was marketed as the ultimate LEGO Star Wars adventure – a reimagining of all nine main movies with enhanced visuals, novel gameplay features, and an expansive galaxy to traverse. On paper, it seemed like everything fans had long anticipated and more.

It’s intriguing how the largest LEGO game ever produced ended up being one of the least favorite, isn’t it? However, let me clarify something—it’s not a poor quality game. It’s well-crafted. It’s vast. It’s overflowing with content. But that’s the very issue: in its quest to be everything, The Skywalker Saga overlooked what made LEGO games so enjoyable initially.

Instead of maintaining the straightforward cooperative mechanics and level-focused designs, there’s now a vast, disorderly open world filled with incomplete tasks, numerous guidance points, and occasionally puzzling side missions that might leave one pondering the purpose of LEGO (or at least the purpose of LEGO games).

Instead of the conventional hub worlds, they’ve opted for an entire galaxy filled with planets. It sounds intriguing on paper, but it can be quite overwhelming in reality. You may visit Tatooine, but you might get lost navigating through the menu, puzzled as to why your quest marker is obscured among numerous side missions and a character whose only dialogue seems repetitive and unhelpful like “Ugh, go fetch me this.

A common issue players have with this game is when characters around you deliver lengthy explanations or backstory, which can feel like an unexpected part of a “Space Simulator: Let’s Talk” experience.

Additionally, the magnitude is another point to consider. With hundreds of characters, vessels, and planets, it’s undeniably grandiose, yet it can also be overwhelming. When everything is enormous, there’s a lack of uniqueness or distinction.

Rather than taking time to appreciate cherished scenes from films, you frequently rush through them in search of more collectibles that will remain elusive to gather.

It’s akin to having an array of your beloved dishes set before you, yet only given a brief span of time, just five minutes, to savor and indulge.

Let’s discuss the technical aspects. The battle system, while more complex, lacks the simple fun of earlier versions. I’m not impressed with the upgrade options. The RPG-light elements? Not memorable. It seems like the LEGO team was given a list of popular modern gaming features and told, “Include all of these now.

Ultimately, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga fell short not due to being subpar, but rather by neglecting to deliver the classic LEGO brand of enjoyment.

The project prioritized breadth over simplicity, humor over refinement, and emotion over top-notch production. However, we’re still optimistic about the future, as if the team can recall what initially made LEGO games shine, then perhaps, just perhaps, the next one will piece together the magic brick by brick once again.

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2025-04-13 16:12