LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagahas rightly earned itself a lot of excitement due to its major changes to theLEGOgame formula. Combat is much more complicated in the upcoming game, with both melee and ranged characters getting new playstyles while enemies behave more diversely than ever. Exploration also promises to reach new heights because of the map’s sheer size.LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagaplayers can expect to spend many hours looking for collectibles across theStar Warsgalaxy. However, there’s not a lot of signs that another major facet ofLEGOgames has changed: building things.
Although Traveller’s Tales might just be saving some surprises forThe Skywalker Saga’s release, it seems odd that there’s no sign of changes to theLEGOgame building system. Everything else is changing so much that the building mechanic is at risk of feeling out of date by comparison. There are certainly ways thattheLEGO Star Warsseriescould innovate on the mechanic, either throughStar Wars' special traits or with more general skill tests, any of which could go a long way to make the games more engaging.LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagareally ought to jump on the opportunity to change how building works inLEGOgames.
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The Skywalker Saga’s Impact on the Franchise
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagaisn’t just setting out to be different from otherLEGOgames from Traveller’s Tales; it’s setting a new standard for the franchise. That’s a good thing, considering how the game’s changes target gameplay facets that could get criticism previously. For instance, there’s a case to be made thatLEGOgames had pretty weak combat before now, with enemies running mindlessly at the player and all attacking in the same way.The Skywalker Saga’s more complex combat, as well as its rich overworld and a long, slow development that will hopefully smooth out the bugs thatLEGOgames are known for, could makeThe Skywalker Sagaa strikingly good game.
The changes seem meant to improveThe Skywalker Sagaacross the board, which is great, but it doesn’t seem like Traveller’s Tales is actually intent on changing everything that makes aLEGOgame. Namely, there’s no clear sign that building—a core mechanic that setsLEGOgames apart from competitors—is getting freshened up in any major way in the new game. Trailers forThe Skywalker Sagahave put such a heavy emphasis onthe game’sStar Warsaspects, namely exploration and combat, that theLEGOaspects seem to be taking a backseat.
For a long time, building things inLEGOgames has amounted to breaking objects in search of parts, then assembling those parts by holding the right button for a few seconds. It’s a simple mechanic that does its job well, but it’s not always rewarding or engaging. If Traveller’s Tales wants to change this status quo, then there’s no better opportunity to do so thanThe Skywalker Saga.The upcomingLEGO Star Warsgame will likely be the standard thatmany futureLEGOgamesare held to in all departments, including building, so Traveller’s Tales had better have something up its sleeve for this side of the franchise.
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How LEGO Star Wars Can Improve Building
PreviousLEGOgames have tried new angles on building with bricks before. For instance,The LEGO Movie Videogamemade some characters require instructions on how to build objects, while Master Builders could simply pull components out of their environments to effortlessly build something new.The Skywalker Sagawould be wise to borrow that approach and try it from a few different angles. After all,Star Warsis full of unique skillsetsthat could impact building, andLEGOgames in general are no stranger to giving each character a unique function.
The Force is a valuable power that has obvious potential in theLEGO Star Warsbuilding system. Force-sensitive characters might have a special knack for building things out of bricks that are charged with or connected to the Force somehow. Traveller’s Tales could take that concept further by tainting some bricks withthe Dark Side of the Force, requiring a Sith’s skills to assemble. Aside from these supernatural abilities,Star Warscharacters with engineering knowledge like Han Solo and Anakin Skywalker might have a special talent for assembling machines that help solve puzzles.
The Skywalker Sagadoesn’t have torely onStar Warsstaplesto make building things more interesting. For instance, it could introduce a simple skill test that goes further to capture a player’s attention better than holding a button. A simple quicktime event where players push a few prompted buttons in quick succession would go a long way to make building more engaging without making building things take longer. Traveller’s Tales doesn’t have to go far to push this mechanic’s boundaries.
Making a Well-Rounded LEGO Game
There’s definitely still hope that building things inThe Skywalker Sagais more complicated than usual.The Skywalker Saga’s long journey to releasemeans that there’s been plenty of time for Traveller’s Tales to contemplate this crucial mechanic and figure out what it can do differently this time. Fans will just have to wait and see what Traveller’s Tales came up with if anything. One hopes that news aboutThe Skywalker Sagais only a few months away, considering the game’s fast-approaching release window. It’d be great to get some detailed gameplay trailers around the start of 2022, setting more concrete expectations for the game. There’s still a lot to learn about this revolutionaryLEGOtitle.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagareleases in early 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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