You read the headline right: there’s a sneaky Xenoblade Chronicles reference in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.
Star Wars fans have always loved a sneaky, in-canon nod. George Lucas famously included nods to films he loved in both the Original and Prequel Trilogies. Did you know Watto’s junkshop in Episode 1 contains a pod from 2001, a Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet, and a whole ass Terminator? It bloody does.
So it makes sense that the tradition would continue in the post-Lucas era.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga contains many references to other movies, but its reference to the beloved Japanese RPG series Xenoblade Chronicles might rank among the most surprising.
In the game’s Return of the Jedi level, players can find an NPC inside Jabba’s Palace performing a dance that looks pretty similar to the one from Saturday Night Fever. When spoken to, the character, which Lego Star Wars dubbed Disco Director, says “Now this is a party! I’m really feeling it!”
THERE IS NO WAY they really did this Xenoblade reference in the new Lego Star Wars game lmaooo 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/H0OhE5I8Lt
— XENOBLADE PORTUGAL | XENOBLADE 3 REAL (@XenobladePT) April 5, 2022
The line “I’m really feeling it!” is a reference to the Xenoblade Chronicles character Shulk. The character first uttered it in his reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros for 3DS/Wii U, after which it became something of a meme. The line might have slipped by if it weren’t for the fact that Lego Star Wars has finally moved to fully voicing its characters and NPCs. The Disco Director character is voiced by English actor Adam Howden, the long-time voice of Shulk.
As if this weren’t enough, a developer responsible for the reference took to the Xenoblade subreddit to confirm that Adam was indeed asked to record the line as a direct Xenoblade reference.
Finally, Howden himself shared a clip to his Twitter account for final confirmation.
Shulk meets Star Wars https://t.co/zo9joL7Jkl
— Adam Howden (@A_HOWDZ) April 5, 2022
So there you go. Xenoblade Chronicles would have to be the last franchise I expected to turn up in Lego Star Wars. That developer saw a golden opportunity, went for it, and helped create a small but special moment in a pretty special game.
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