It’s easy to watch this glorious, six-minute-long gameplay video of TT Games’ much-anticipated game Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and think, “This is definitely worth the wait.” Hell, we said the same thing back in August of 2021, when the second trailer arrived. Unfortunately, things regarding the game have gotten a bit more… complicated.
Let’s focus on the good stuff first, which is to say, let’s watch this giant new trailer:
We knew some of the new mechanics, but the gameplay video shows them off a lot better. The new combo-focused melee combat is a major change, although how satisfying it will feel compared to the simplicity of previous Lego games remains to be discovered. The third-person, over-the-shoulder view during blaster fights is a welcome feature, as are the new counters and targeted shots, however. Being able to use the Force to influence the minds of NPCs is a major surprise, as is the “tower defence” gameplay that will be used to recreate the Battle of Naboo at the very least.
The most astounding part of the trailer, however, is just how much is in there. Obviously, we knew it was going to include all nine Skywalker Saga movies, including the first Lego game adaptations of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. But knowing that is very different from seeing it all on screen. It’s frankly incredible to really see the massive scope of this game, even beyond all the extra stuff available to do. Alternate routes! Free-roam planets! Side missions! Skill trees! Multiple character classes! More than 300 Star Wars characters to play as!
Unfortunately, there’s a price to pay to mind-bogglingly expansive scope, and I don’t mean the retail price. The publisher, WB Games, released this new trailer on the same day (quelle coïncidence!) that Polygon released a giant exposé about the working conditions as TT Games in general and those working on the Lego Skywalker Saga specifically, and they sound pretty horrendous — features that would constantly be added and dropped over the game’s multiple delays, 80-100 work weeks, not being able to check your phone, management that would harass employees for leaving, and more.
The whole report is well worth reading, if only so you’ll have a much better appreciation of the pain and suffering required to make the game this expansive and detailed. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will be out on April 5, but I would happily have waited longer if it meant all the people responsible for this incredible game could have had better working conditions. Much longer — even if sometimes those delays don’t necessarily avoid bad labour practices like crunch.