It's no secret that LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is filled to the brim with new features. Traveller's Tales' new installation in the LEGO Star Wars franchise innovates on its predecessors in a ton of ways, including a far more detailed combat system than ever and a system of branching levels that let players choose new ways to approach each Star Wars story. All of this creative design makes LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga looks great for the franchise's future, but all of these new ideas do threaten to get in the way of LEGO Star Wars' usual identity as a simple, approachable franchise.
Newly leaked Skywalker Saga screenshots may prove that Traveller's Tales already has a plan to address this issue. According to these images, The Skywalker Saga has a much more detailed HUD than most LEGO Star Wars games. Players will have all kinds of valuable information made directly available to them, which should streamline the Skywalker Saga experience for players who aren't used to such a complicated game world. LEGO games have always been fun for all ages, and while The Skywalker Saga has a lot of complexity to offer older fans, its HUD seems well-designed to support younger fans too.
The Skywalker Saga's Display
In most LEGO Star Wars games, levels don't offer a lot in the way of information. Pop-ups might describe certain mechanics and obstacles for players, but in general, players are left to figure out the level in front of them. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga takes a very different approach. According to the leaked screenshots, players can expect to see RPG-like quest guides on their HUD, telling them what to do next when completing a level or a side quest. There will also be detailed hint bubbles that explain certain mechanics, as well as a minimap that'll help players orient themselves when using The Skywalker Saga's new third-person camera.
These various sources of information sound extremely helpful for LEGO Star Wars' young fans, as well as those simply looking for a casual play experience. Longtime players might prefer to figure out all the Skywalker Saga's new mechanics and objectives on their own, but other players will undoubtedly enjoy having a little help from Traveller's Tales when exploring this new game. After all, in a galaxy-sized overworld, odds are that some of The Skywalker Saga's missions and mechanics won't be self-explanatory to players at a glance. A HUD update is just the right feature to add alongside The Skywalker Saga's more dramatic innovations.
A New Look for LEGO Star Wars
Overall, the new LEGO Star Wars HUD could send a message about Traveller's Tales' long-term plans. Keeping this HUD would allow Traveller's Tales to craft more complicated levels and mechanics in the future, since there'll be plenty of informational tools to help explain these other features. With that system in place, LEGO Star Wars and other LEGO franchises could get a little more challenging over time without entirely straying away from the family-friendly design that made the series famous.
A balance between higher difficulty and traditional ease sounds like the perfect direction for Traveller's Tales' LEGO games. As the franchise's original fanbase gets older, it'll expect more of a challenge from the franchise, but young fans newly interested in LEGO Star Wars would still benefit from approachable gameplay.
Strong informational systems can keep confusion to a minimum and help LEGO Star Wars players pick up The Skywalker Saga's new features quickly, which will help all kinds of players settle into their preferred pace of gameplay. Hopefully The Skywalker Saga's HUD is here to stay; it could offer a ton of utility to whatever innovative LEGO games come out of Traveller's Tales next.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga releases April 5, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.