As is the case with the Star Wars films, though, the ability to experience all these adventures at once also raises questions about the “best” order to experience them in. The Skywalker Saga lets you choose to start your session in The Phantom Menace, A New Hope, or The Force Awakens (the first entries in each sub-trilogy). Once you beat one of those games, you’re able to move on to the next entry in that trilogy. That means that you can bounce between the games in whatever order adheres to that unlock pattern (meaning you can bounce between different trilogies if you so desire), many players will likely choose to beat one trilogy before moving on to the next. That being the case, we’re going to take a look at some of the trilogy playthrough options available to you in this game in order to give you a little better idea of some of the better advantages and disadvantages each offer. Of course, the LEGO Star Wars games aren’t the movies. We’ll dive into this point a bit deeper as we talk about other play order recommendations, but the biggest argument against playing the LEGO Star Wars games in this order is that it doesn’t adhere to the release order of the previous LEGO Star Wars games nor does it allow you to experience the Skywalker Saga narrative chronologically. As someone who usually argues for watching the Star Wars movies in the order they were released in, I actually think this game collection offers an interesting opportunity to experience other arrangments in a different way. Still, the biggest argument for playing the games in this order remains the fact that both the prequel and sequel trilogies rely heavily on the events of the original trilogy. As such, this order is still a great way to experience the LEGO Star Wars games that also lets you play through some of the Skywalker Saga‘s best gameplay moments first.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – The “Chronological” Order
The interesting thing about the “Chronological” order in the case of the LEGO Star Wars games is that it not only allows you to experience the Skywalker Saga chronologically from a narrative standpoint but also lets you experience the LEGO Star Wars games in the order they were originally released in. Indeed, I imagine there will be more than a few LEGO Star Wars fans who will be interested in playing through the Skywalker Saga in this order simply because it allows them to experience the LEGO Star Wars games in the order they may have originally played them. The fact that it also allows them to experience that saga in the correct chronological narrative order happens to be an added benefit. That said, those who treat the original trilogy as the narrative core of the saga may still wish to experience that first. Anyone who isn’t into the prequel and sequel trilogies will probably also feel a little strange bookending their Skywalker Saga session with those experiences. This may be the most logical way to play through the games, but it isn’t so definitive that it’s not worth considering other options. After all, while we did get a LEGO Star Wars game based on The Force Awakens, The Skywalker Saga is our first chance to experience The Last Jedi and Revenge of the Sith in all their LEGO gaming glory. That being the case, I can easily see some longtime LEGO Star Wars fans justifying this strange order simply to get to those entirely new experiences as quickly as possible. Having said that…this is still a pretty odd way to experience these adventures regardless of the medium. Furthermore, those who have played the previous LEGO Star Wars games may find that enough new content has been added to the original trilogy and prequel trilogy entries to more than justify playing through those stories again before getting to the entirely new stuff.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – The “Where it All Started” Order
I’ll be the first to admit that this order is a pretty strange way to play through The Skywalker Saga. However, it’s really not quite as crazy as it may initially seem. The biggest advantage to playing through The Skywalker Saga in this order is that it allows you to really put the prequel trilogy in a different context. Indeed, if the first Star Wars films were released later than they were (and in a different context), Hollywood logic may have dictated that the original films be followed by sequels and that a series of prequel films be released years down the line. Honestly, the transition from The Rise of Skywalker‘s ending and the beginning of The Phantom Menace isn’t as jarring as you might think, and Revenge of The Sith‘s ending has always been more poignant when you know what’s coming next. Of course, those who simply hate the prequels may still feel odd ending their Skywalker Saga session on them. From a gameplay standpoint, I’ll also say that the prequel trilogy games honestly feel like they may have been structured as more of a tutorial-based “jumping off” point for a lot of people, which means that it can be a little jarring to go from the levels featured in the other games back to The Phantom Menace‘s slow start. For what it’s worth, though, things do pick up. These two orders are lumped together simply because they accomplish the same basic goal of trying to justify playing through the original trilogy last. Of those two options, I’ll say the sequel, prequel, and original trilogy order is the better option. After all, that’s the order that lets you get to the newest LEGO Star Wars adaptations first and then experience the prequel and original games in their chronological order. Honestly, it’s not that crazy of a way to play through these games if you’re mostly interested in getting to The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker as soon as possible. As for the other order…well, that’s a tough sell. Jumping straight from the Prequel Trilogy to the Sequel Trilogy is kind of jarring no matter how you do it. Still, anyone who is either saving the original trilogy games for last or actually prefers the prequels and sequels for whatever reason (gameplay, narrative, characters, etc.) can always find reasons to justify sticking to that play order.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – What is the Best Order to Play the Games In?
It’s really worth emphasizing that there is no wrong way to play through The Skywalker Saga. Since the games are ultimately elaborate parodies of the movies (though they’re clearly parodies made with a lot of love for the source material), it’s not like you’re going to lose the thread simply because you’ve chosen to play them in a strange order. I also doubt there are many people coming into this game who don’t have any experience with the prior LEGO Star Wars games or the movies, so that probably won’t be a huge concern.
In fact, as mentioned in the opening of this article, you can skip around the individual entries in the available trilogies in ways we didn’t even really talk about. You’ll need to start with the first entry into each trilogy, but once you’ve unlocked subsequent levels, how you choose to experience them is entirely up to you. Honestly, this might be the best excuse ever to play around with some truly bizarre orders that see you bounce between the trilogies whenever you get the urge to do so.
For everyone else, the “Chronological” order might be your safest bet. It follows the release order of the LEGO Star Wars games as closely as possible, it allows you to experience the adventures in their natural narrative order, and it even lets you save the newest content for last. I’d also argue that those trying to really learn these games may find that The Phantom Menace is the best starting point as it’s structured in a way that really lets you experience a lot of the new ideas found in this collection in a pretty logical way.
If you’re looking to try something a bit different, I actually found the “Where it All Started” order to be a surprisingly solid way to play through these games. As someone who finds The Rise of Skywalker to be the worst Star Wars film, I enjoyed not having to end my time with this game by playing through that adventure. Granted, the LEGO version of The Rise of Skywalker fares slightly better than the movie, but it’s still not a highlight.
Finally, if you’re interested in getting to the “best” gameplay sequences first, I found that the original trilogy featured the most enjoyable sections followed by the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Whether that’s an argument for playing the games in the “Movie Release” order or saving the best for last is again up to you.
