Lego Dimensions is another entry to the ever so popular LEGO series and the 1st to feature its new mechanic- Actual lego pieces that players must build on the featured Gamepad that is included with the game's Starter pack. Clearly, this is LEGO's response to Disney's (now currently shut down) Infinity games that had similar assets such as figures that required players to interact with in person. So how does it work? Does it live up to the high price tag attached to it and is it worth of a purchase? In my opinion it does, for the most part.
I'll start out with the basic rundown of the game and its features. The game comes with a starter pack which features a Gamepad which basically is the controller at points in the game and will require interaction as you progress, an assortment of LEGO pieces that will have you build certain items needed to progress in the Story mode, and a set of LEGO characters which ususally consists of Gandalf the Wizard, Wyldstyle from the LEGO Movie & Batman. While the initial lineup seems rather small, there is still lots of stuff that can be done and levels and worlds to visit. The Gamepad is one of the best features and the way the game utilizes it. It tasks players with building LEGO items such as vehicles and characters (all with instructions on how to of course.) Another neat feature is the way it has players interact with it in the Story and during quests. The game may throw a puzzle at you in the form of a color diagram that is identical to the Gamepad you must interact with. The one on the screen however, will have different colors on different areas highlighted on it. You will use the pad to correspond with whatever the puzzle requires, for instance you may need to create the color purple. Well the colors on the pad only show red, blue, and yellow. By moving your Lego character from Red spot to the blue spot (indicating you want to combine the 2 colors) the colors will mix and you have created your color. It is a very neat and innovative way to take the redundant feeling away. The Gamepad creates many new and cool opportunities that were until now impossible. There are many more uses for the pad and all are easy to understand and accessible for all ages.
The gameplay is familiar to all who have played any of the past LEGO games. The classic break it and build it element returns. The fighting is simple and only takes a couple button mashes to defeat foes. The boss fights are trickier as they require some thinking at times, some may require young children to get assistance from their parents, but for the most part a breeze. The feature to go to any world you want is somewhat present in Dimensions. To go to a world, a player must purchase the level pack or a character pack from that world. For instance, to go to Oz world, you must purchase either the Wicked Witch fun pack and then access it while controlling the Witch. The same goes for the characters. No longer can players swap between any character on the roster as they see fit, a purchase of some form of content must be made. Most of the Fun Packs can be found for around 7-10$ and feature a character and a vehicle (or the pieces to make them at least). This can be very frustrating and pricy. Especially to players who feel they must collect every Gold brick and also to those who want to have every playable character. This will be an expensive experience for those people. The packs are overpriced and do not have enough content in them for such a high tag. Whats more, while visiting the worlds of Scooby Doo & Superman are fun and rather big, there really isn't anything going on at these places and nothing ever will. Unless you count the point at which you visit these realms in the Story which will be the only real encounter with anything happening worth mentioning. Considering the Level Packs can range from 10-20 bucks, I feel that these worlds should not be as empty and void of contact with anything going on. With the price of admission kind of high for most of these packs, it can feel like you paid 20 bucks for a flashy, beautiful world completely empty and with naught much activity.
Another thing I find noteworthy of a mention is that I purchased and played this for my nephew. He loves all the best LEGO games of the past such as LEGO Marvel Superheroes and LEGO Batman 3. His favorite thing about them is the ability to swap characters on the fly and to be able to change at the drop of a dime. So, with Dimensions, he feels quite differently. In fact, he straight up dislikes it. The ability to change your controllable character is gone and replaced with the requirement that you buy each character and then placing them on the Gamepad. So, there is a very limited amount of choice compared to other LEGO games. Sure, there are many good ones out there available for purchase, but lets face it, the fact that you not only must buy the best ones but then are only limited to controlling the remaining few seems to be unfair. Especially considering the massive roster the other LEGO games offers. One of the best features of the other games was this ability to swap characters at the drop of a hat and I tend to agree with my nephew on this. So, a tip to anyone who is thinking of buying this for a little one who loves these games for that very reason may want to reconsider and instead purchase the newer releases such as LEGO Star Wars or LEGO Avengers.
That being said, there are lots of packs and characters that you can purchase and several will come in handy while playing LEGO Dimensions. If you purchase Emmet, you will be able to drill in certain areas revealing goodies and special hidden objects. But if you don't have him, you only have 3 options. Forget about it, cough up the money for him or you can use the complete rip-off of a mechanic Dimesions offers in Rent A Hero. You give away a set amount of collected coins and tokens to get to play as whatever character you are needing FOR 60 SECONDS!! You rarely have enough time to finish this task and the cost of this minute will drain all your hard earned coins and tokens just to get access to a characters abilities for a second. Its a complete waste considering you will be working hard for the amount of coins it takes.
The story is ok and predictable. Lord Vortek, the evil antagonist, has found a Keystone which is a sacred relic that contains the power to warp people and objects and teleport them from one dimension to another. He concocts a scheme to throw all these different worlds and dimensions in array by scattering their residents and creating chaos among its people. He basically teleports certain characters from their normal place to a completely different world, and mixes inhabitants with those from another dimension. Its not a new idea, but it works and plays out as expected. Its easy to predict and is average. It should be noted that the story mode and main quests contain many levels though, and is rather lengthy considering most the other LEGO games were lacking in the length of Story.
All in all, LEGO Dimensions is a step up from Disney Infinity, and offers a fun journey to different worlds while introducing the Gamepad and other new features to the series. It is just going to require a chunk of change out of your wallet if you would prefer the REAL Dimensions experience or if you are simply a perfectionist. The ideas and creativity that Dimensions throws your way during gameplay is a nice break from the norm of breaking and building and I recommend this to any who have even slightly enjoyed past LEGO games. Hopefully, LEGO producers will continue to release more characters and content in support of Dimensions and all those who have forked over the 100+ bucks needed to get started. So yeah I think most people will enjoy this. Just get your check book out and have it ready because it could get expensive!!!!!