The LEGO franchise has spent over fifteen years cultivating a reputation for accessible games that follow a familiar formula with each new entry. Whether the games are tackling the wide world of Marvel Comics or the Jurassic Park films, they've all abided by a similar structure in terms of gameplay and level design. As gaming has evolved, the LEGO games have introduced modern elements such as open-world exploration and full voice acting, but the series' next installment, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, is about to introduce the most drastic changes to the LEGO formula yet.
Through its long development cycle, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has been touted as the culmination of all the work that TT Games has done with the LEGO franchise so far. The game's many delays have kept fans from seeing the full scope of that work for some time, but a recent trailer has finally awarded the patient with a comprehensive overview of everything The Skywalker Saga will have to offer. There was enough information in the trailer to easily maintain excitement until the game's release, but the most prominent feature of The Skywalker Saga looks to be its unprecedented level of freedom for a LEGO game.
LEGO's Previous Lack Of Player Choice
When the LEGO games first started out, their main intention was to serve as a playful recreation of popular films. Starting with LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, the experience was rather linear for gamers. Each of the prequel films was given a set of levels that guided players from point A to point B with a number of puzzles to solve in between, each objective crafted to be completed in a specific order with specific characters. It wasn't until a level was beaten that players had the choice to replay them with whatever characters they wanted, and even then, the purpose of replaying levels would just be to grab any previously inaccessible collectibles.
As LEGO games began to evolve and spread to more and more properties, the biggest shakeup to the franchise formula came when LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes gave players an open Gotham City overworld to explore. This allowed for exploration that hadn't been seen in LEGO games before, but there was still the slight issue of levels following the same linear structure as previous entries. This isn't to say the story being told through these levels wasn't still entertaining, but once all the collectibles in each level have been collected, there's hardly any reason to go for another playthrough.
How LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Allows More Player Choice
When it comes to LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, its contributions to a greater player agency are extensive. The one aspect of the game that fans have known about for some time is how The Skywalker Saga will allow players to go through the films in order of whatever trilogy they want to start with. The recent overview trailer went into this feature in more detail, and it already looks to be a big change from the franchise's usually linear format. Not only will it give gamers of all kinds the ability to play how they wish, but dedicated Star Wars fans will be able to experience the films in the order they think is most appropriate.
The most significant change to the LEGO formula that The Skywalker Saga is demonstrating is its approach to level design. For the first time in franchise history, players will have opportunities to approach levels stealthily or with a more aggressive style. This introduces a layer of strategy and choice that has the potential to make The Skywalker Saga one of the most replayable LEGO games yet. When combined with The Skywalker Saga's massive overworld of multiple planets that can be explored at will without having to fully complete certain story missions, TT Games is proving its commitment to a truly open LEGO experience.
How Future LEGO Games Can Allow More Agency
With how ambitious LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is shaping up to be, it opens up questions on how TT Games could possibly expand the franchise in the future. It's far too soon to theorize on the next property the franchise might take on, but the smartest idea for future design philosophies would likely be to maintain what's been created with The Skywalker Saga. The most recent overview trailer has demonstrated a clear vision that blends classic LEGO trappings with much more modern mechanics, and if TT Games' goal is to blend nostalgia with innovation, then it appears to already be on the right track.
If TT Games really wants to get ambitious, however, there are various courses it could take to turn the LEGO franchise into something akin to the biggest AAA games of today. In terms of level design, the developer could make the decision to fully marry its open worlds with its structured missions by fully incorporating the latter into the former, instead of bringing players into an independent location for every level like the games often do. This could open up countless opportunities for gamers to approach each objective however they want, and possibly turn the LEGO franchise into a great way for younger gamers to get more acquainted with the open-world genre.
The ambition of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is hard to overstate, and the final product will likely prove to be a sign of things to come for the LEGO franchise as a whole. There are still a lot of properties that can get the LEGO treatment after The Skywalker Saga, and with the new design philosophy that TT Games is taking on, the sky is truly the limit. For now, Star Wars is most definitely in the spotlight, and The Skywalker Saga looks to be one of the biggest celebrations of Star Wars to come out of a video game. Fans will only have to wait a couple more months before they can dive into what TT Games has worked so hard on.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga releases April 5, 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
