This game perfectly encapsulates why I’m getting more into retro games and shy away from most modern AAA releases.

It looks beautiful and gives the illusion of many hours of good content. The reality is the game is all about quantity over quality and even though the presentation is sublime, the level design is extremely unispired and the game practically plays itself.

The content in open world is basically mario odyssey without the precise platforming. Oh, and you also can’t interact with a huge chunk of the world initially because you don’t have acess to the most useful character classess. It just feels like busy work.

This is sad because there is a great game here somewhere and it is apparent that lots of love and care went into the presentation but unless you are a huge star wars fan or into simple collect-a-thon’s I cannot recommend this game.

*100% COMPLETED*

HOURS: 140.5
ACHIEVEMENTS: 45/45
PLAYED ON: PC (STEAM)
COMPLETION ENJOYMENT - EXHAUSTING
COMPLETION DIFFICULTY - TEDIOUS
DAY COMPLETED - 3/25/23
DAY REVIEWED - 2/18/25
Comprehensive Review:

VISUALS - 17.2/20
Artistry: 9.7/12
Technical Merit: 7.5/8

SOUND DESIGN - 19/20
Music:11/12
Sound Effects & Vocals: 8/8

INTERACTION - 16/20
Control & Interface: 7/8
Player Agency: 6/8
Accessibility: 3/4

MECHANICS - 19.8/20
Feedback & Fun: 10/10
Depth: 4.8/5
Variety: 5/5

CHARACTER - 16.5/20
Theme, Realization & Narrative: 8/8
Heart: 5.5/6
Originality: 3/6

OVERALL SCORE - 88.5/100

SUMMARY -
LEGO Star Wars: TSS was in my opinion, one of the most anticipated LEGO game to ever release. The traction afterward holds up to it as well, it seemed as if all the big streamers and content creators were creating "Let's Plays" during the peak of its popularity. Traction aside, the games vast open-world mechanics connected to each planet having their own adventure is something I've never really seen before in a LEGO game. It is almost similar to No Man's Sky, as you can travel to the many planets from Coruscant to Dagobah, it is truly impressive. The completion grind was very, and I mean VERY, tedious trying to collect all 1266 kyber bricks or so and collecting all of the characters. I will also say, the reward for 100%ing the game is lackluster, as the reward is basically an infinite amount of studs given to you which in turn have no use because you've already bought everything. It would've been cool to have an exclusive character like they have done in past games, or even exclusive bonus missions. Either way, the grind to full completion will be a tedious one if you decide to do it, but it is, in general, one of the best LEGO games of the franchise... (NOTHING WILL BEAT LEGO CITY: UNDERCOVER). (B+ Tier)

Terrible game, an absolute shadow of its former self in the older Lego Star Wars game (The Complete Saga), due to switching to an open world theme over the actual levels. Don't get me wrong, open world is great and all, but it should never overshadow the rightful place of the levels being the main theme in the game.
My issue with this game is: The levels are FAR too short! 5-10 minutes each, seriously???????? And the worst part is, the levels don't even take you through the whole story line, like the Complete Saga did, instead, these tiny levels only happen at certain parts in the story, with the majority of the story playing out in cut-scenes. When it was doing a cut-scene of Amidala and her troops storming the city, I was sitting there, thinking, "Come on, let me in, I want to play as them now, doing this, when can I participate, already?!" :D But, nah...instead, it rudely held me captive in the cut-scene, only letting me play when Darth Maul stepped in. Grrrrr.....boooo :P

Rather than actually being able to play the game in the story-line, I spent the majority of the time travelling great distances in the open world to get to the location to start the levels, only to find, it just lasted a tiny 5-10 minutes....then, after that tiny window, had to run a marathon to get the next level location again. Nope, sorry, didn't even finish the Star Wars 2 chapter, and already threw in the towel in this game. Because, if the rest of the game is clearly gonna be like this, favouring open world over the levels, then count me out. I'm going back to the classic older games, like Star Wars the Complete Saga, or really any of the older Lego games that don't neglect the levels in a way that would make it be unequal with the amount of open world exploration.

The problem with making open world the main theme of the game, over the levels, is: So, you finish the game, got all collectibles in the open world, and the levels. Then what? What does the open world now have to offer? Nothing, just scenery, with no objectives, giving no incentive to keep playing. Whereas, with the levels, when you have the opportunity to play them again and again in free play mode as many times as you want - playing as the characters yourself, I would specifically add, not be pulled or sped through in cut-scenes - that provides the appeal that makes you want to come back for more.
Except, since the levels in this game are in such as a poor state, by being too short for you to actually enjoy the game, or process what is going on in the game, because it skips the majority of important events, it's not even worth playing again, in free play mode. No one wants to sit through the majority of the game watching cut-scenes, when you could otherwise spend it playing.

If you want to have an enjoyable experience in Lego games, I strongly advise not to get any Lego games like this, that focus so much on an open world experience, that they neglect the importance of the levels. The levels in any lego game should always remain the top priority of the Lego games, because at the end of the day, that's what you will have left to engage in, at the end of the game, when everything is done. The levels should, at minimum, be 20 minutes long, and happen at all points in the story-line, otherwise, it feels like things are going too fast. The cut-scenes should only take up a small fraction of this game, only triggering at the conclusion of the levels, not playing through the majority of it....I want to take the wheel myself, and be able to play as these characters, don't need the cut scenes to skip ahead and automatically do the job for me, thank you :D

I'd strongly recommend the older Lego games, such as Star Wars the Complete Saga, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Marvel Superheroes 1, because these all provide a far more enjoyable experiences. Especially the Superheroes one, because it offers just as much fun in the levels as it does with the open world. Something's gone very wrong with this one, sheesh.....too much open world, not enough time for levels.
This game seriously reminds me of 'strike rushers' in Destiny 2....people who just rush past all the enemies in a multiplayer mode called Strikes, speeding through all the story and fun, to complete the game as soon as possible. Just like that ruins their teammates' experience, who want to take the time to actually enjoy the game, this game achieves the same result: Speeding through the story-line in the form of automatic cut-scenes is not just fair or fun to the people out there who actually want to take the time to enjoy the game, in the levels. But this game does not allow that, unfortunately.

My advice to the devs of any future Lego games: Just move back to the classics, please. Include open world, if you will, because that in itself is a great change, but don't focus on it so much that it completely discards the levels. To provide the best experience in any Lego game, the amount of time levels and open world take up in the game should always be equal with each other, otherwise, it just feels too unbalanced on either side.