I’ve played a lot Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga in the last few weeks. Part of this comes from a love of trophy hunting, but the rest comes from the design of the game itself. It has a huge and meticulously detailed open galaxy to explore. With as many as 24 planets to plunder, it’s understandable that some may feel overwhelmed or apathetic about everything beyond history, especially given how inflated some games are. But exploring the galaxy here is worth every second as you get away from the game with a new love for the various settings of Star wars as a whole. Star Wars fans will get the most out of this, but the galaxy that TT Games has created is worth ticking off for a host of reasons that go beyond unlocking the enticing platinum trophy or final achievement.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga‘s open world is strong enough to change how I felt about certain planets from the movies. Canto Bight from The last Jedi often perceived as a bit of a blow; it’s one of the few things people on both sides of the film can agree on. Still in here Lego Star Wars form, the Cantonica-based city is given new life and is really worth messing around with. The scenic villa is filled with objects, puzzles and silly characters to talk to, giving the planet much more personality than a movie could ever. Solving a puzzle in a lavish casino, to be immediately attacked by a gang of thugs in an alley when they left said all there is to know about Canto Bight: it presents itself as a classic place, but has a dangerous lower abdomen, which is the quality world-building it was needed.
This ideology also extends to other worlds, even those not previously denounced. Though Star wars prequels were controversial, they have some pretty unique options. From the scenic town of Theed on Naboo to the volcanic waste of Mustafar, you can venture through familiar and unprecedented areas from new perspectives. Since the movies rarely have time to dive into each locality, you get a real sense of identity from every place here. You can see for yourself how damaged and desperate the base of Crait is, or how big Jakkus deserts are. I got a new appreciation of quite a few planets thanks to Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga as the interactivity lets players get into these sets and the scope of them expands them in compelling ways.
RELATED: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Switch is an Mysterious Gateway to a Bad Game
Even the little things make it more fun to travel to each world, and players will only find them if they look around. On Dagobah you can find Yoda’s E3 standard spaceship lifeboat, in which he used to go into exile Sithens revenge. At Lars’ Farm on Tatooine, you can find Luke’s T-16 Skyhopper, which he used to push rats into Beggar’s Canyon before 6 p.m. A new hope. There are NPCs everywhere on the various planets making meta-jokes and wildly deep cuts that even go so far as to refer to things like the Ewok-Dulok wars of the ancients Ewoks cartoon. Only by exploring in this game can you find prequels memes along with references to Ewoks and these jokes and Easter eggs fill every area.
There is also a real sense of accomplishment in completing a planet. Finding all the Cyber bricks, characters, ships, and data cards is like touring an entire scene with intricate layers, as that skill level requires a level of familiarity that just running through (or watching them in a movie) does not offer. Places like Ajan Kloss and Coruscant’s Uscru district are far more memorable now. Walking through patches of Ajan Kloss’ dense jungle to find Cyber bricks and venture into the neon-lit corners of the Uscru district is like experiencing a new layer of Star wars. These are likely to remain the most detailed versions of some of these planets in any video game for quite some time, so collecting the collectibles is a great way to experience these painstakingly recreated worlds.
RELATED: Report: Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order Sequel Current-Gen Only, Coming Next Year
TT Games knew what it was doing when it did Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga‘s open galaxy and filled it with a lot of content, as said content acts as a way to link them closer to the worlds seen only in the movies. Outside of history, there are dozens of hours of things to be found by exploring the brilliantly detailed planetary hubs. It’s enough of a well-designed game to be satisfying for those who empty down the critical path. But chasing around the many corners for doodads and absorbing its wealth of detail is worth the time. Star wars fan, as there has never been a way to interact with planets from the series on this large scale.