From the momentLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagawas announced, it looked like an exciting undertaking. TheStar Warssequel trilogy only wrapped up a couple of years ago, meaning the nextLEGO Star Warsgame will be one of the very first games to combine the events of all threeStar Warsmovie trilogies.LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagadid get revealed mere days afterStar Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalkercame to theaters. It’s great to think thatStar Warsfans will soon have a way to appreciate all nine of these movies at the same time.
Of all the movies that are going intoThe Skywalker Saga,though, the sequel trilogy raises the most questions. OnlyThe Force Awakenshas had aLEGO Star Warsadaptation before, so there are two whole movies of uncharted territory for Traveller’s Tales to consider. Although trailers forLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagashowcase the length and breadth of theStar Warsmovies, there are lots of important clues about how Traveller’s Tales plans toadapt the newestStar Warsmovies. So far, its plans look solid, if a little surprising. While there’s plenty of classicLEGO Star Warshumor coming to the sequel trilogy, there also seems to be an appreciation for the trilogy’s memorable moments.
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Adding More Levity to the Star Wars Sequels
Star Warshistorically has a good sense of humor, but one could argue that theStar Warssequel trilogy had a little less room for jokes, saddling many of its characters with very serious, emotionally intense character arcs.The Skywalker Sagaseems poised to lighten that up a little. For instance,Luke Skywalker has a pretty grim dispositioninThe Last Jedi,butThe Skywalker Sagaseems ready to poke fun at him. Between Porgs stealing his cloak and Chewbacca interfering with his attempts to train Rey, the game looks eager to frame Luke as a grumpy old man and make some jokes at his expense.
Beyond major characters like Luke, there are also more minor sources of humor that look obvious. For instance, while R2-D2 is often a source of physical humor in otherLEGO Star Warsgames, it looks like BB-8 will fill his role inThe Skywalker Saga’s sequel trilogy adaptation. There’s a clip of Poe Dameron scratching BB-8, making the astromech open and close a compartment like a happy dog getting an itch scratched in the right place. Porgs will probably also serve as a recurring source of slapstick aside from antagonizing Luke, based on one Porg getting knocked out of the way by Finn inthe Millenium Falcon’s cockpit.
These kinds of jokes are pretty standard forLEGO Star Wars,as well as theLEGOgame series in general, which is famously good at lightening up even the most serious franchises. It’s good to see theStar Warssequel trilogy get this treatment too. A little extra nonverbal humor will go a long way to set a tone that’s closer totheLEGO Star Warsstatus quo, especially considering how heavy these movies could be sometimes. In spite of their original tone, these movies look like they’ll fit intoThe Skywalker Sagajust fine.
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A More Serious Angle on LEGO Star Wars
However, some clips suggest thatLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagaisn’t totally abandoning some of the serious elements that defined the sequel trilogy. For instance, it seems to preserve a certain appreciation forRey’s journey as a Jedi. Trailers forThe Skywalker Sagaemphasize some of her biggest moments. Aside from a general shot of Rey training on Ahch-To duringThe Last Jedi, fans can see the iconic shot of Rey backflipping over Kylo Ren’s TIE Fighter inThe Rise of Skywalker,showing howThe Skywalker Sagapreserve this meaningful display of Rey’s building mastery of the Force. There’s also aLEGOversion of the last scene inThe Rise of Skywalkerthat looks just as heartfelt as the original scene.
It’s not just Rey’s journey that seems to be preserved pretty accurately. There’s also some major appreciation forKylo Ren’s most dramatic momentsin theStar Warssequels. OneSkywalker Sagashows a scowling Kylo Ren preparing to face off with Luke Skywalker on Crait, preserving the palpable tension that filled that scene duringThe Last Jedi.Similarly, when Kylo Ren and Rey battle on the ruins of the Death Star, the intensity of the scene looks largely intact, even though Traveller’s Tales had ample opportunity to add some wackyLEGO Star Warsantics to the fight.
TheStar Warssequels aren’t the only ones getting this treatment, notably. There’s clear evidence that lots of the tense moments fromthe otherStar Warstrilogiesare getting more thrillingLEGO Star Warsadaptations than ever. Traveller’s Tales seems to be experimenting with the tone ofLEGOgames a little bit, striking a balance between humor and drama.Star Warshas always blended those two tones, but for highly dramatic stories like theStar Warssequel trilogy, it seems like a particularly valuable strategy.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’s New Voice
Traveller’s Tales might have developed this new tone thanks in part to the sequel trilogy. It’s possible that, when considering how to adapt the explosive last twoStar Warsmovies into aLEGO Star Warsstory, Traveller’s Tales decided to let all nine of the franchise’s movies keep some of their intensity, rather than painting over the whole franchise with a generous brush of humor. The result is a more balanced tone forThe Skywalker Sagathat preservesLEGO Star Wars' family-friendly identitywhile accurately reflecting some of the most memorableStar Warsmoments.
Not only does this seem like a great way to approach theStar Warssequel trilogy and its peers, but it could be a great direction to take all futureLEGOgames in. It seems unlikely that Traveller’s Tales will developa truly dark or wholly seriousLEGOgameanytime soon, but it could use the experience gained makingThe Skywalker Sagato produce moreLEGOgames with nuanced tones. It’s a new look forLEGOgames, but it’s a good one.The Skywalker Sagais already reaping the benefits.
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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