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Eurogamer: The sad, slow death of Lego Dimensions
- Thread starter LordOfLore
- Start date
Hero of Legend
Member
One sign IMO was the lack of a Switch version, despite I think every relevant Lego game after getting a Switch port. Even Skylanders Imaginators got a Switch port at launch.
Edit: Ha! Beaten!
Edit: Ha! Beaten!
I'd love to somehow be able to buy a digital version of this game that did away with the toys to life aspect and just had the extra content as regular DLC... or hell ideally a GOTY version with all the stuff packed in. Would gladly pay even $100 for that.
As is I don't have the space for more plastic junk cluttering up my place though. And all the individual addons seemed kinda small and piecemeal for the price.
As is I don't have the space for more plastic junk cluttering up my place though. And all the individual addons seemed kinda small and piecemeal for the price.
I think the price is what hurts the game as I wanted to buy the Sonic pack but I didn't see how it was valued £24.99 and not once has it ever dropped in price.
The toys are just pretty rotting on my local Sainsburys selves and the offer of buying one and get one free hasn't seemed to have helped much.
SunDimension24
Member
Man toys to life seemed like it was gonna be something that was going to last longer than it did. It was big and then just sort of died out in a span of 4-5 years.
It lasted about as long as the Guitar Hero/Rock Band fad.
Yeah this was the issue I found. Even when you buy the extra packs like Gremlins, there is content in them you cannot access without other packs.
Locked content... behind locked content... behind locked content...
I loved the main campaign but by the end the toy switching stuff was a complete headache.
They should re-tool the entire thing to be played without the toys and re-release it digitally. I'd buy it standalone for sure - just to complete all the world's I missed out on.
(And an 80's movie minifigure collection...)
Deft Beck
Member
Lego Dimensions and Disney Infinity are case studies where toys-to-life franchises clearly cannot rely entirely upon the strength of internal or external brands. I would also argue that the mechanical failings of these two franchises are why they fell so hard.
Skylanders sees yearly releases because they established an original franchise that is over five years old by now; kids recognize the characters and enjoy the established universe. There was also a predicable gameplay loop that was built upon with each iteration, adding new gimmicks and new twists on the beat-em-up gameplay.
Dimensions and Infinity tried to reinvent the game with each new level pack, contracting out external studios to add flavor to the game, but failed to communicate this very well and give a compelling case to buy them.
Skylanders sees yearly releases because they established an original franchise that is over five years old by now; kids recognize the characters and enjoy the established universe. There was also a predicable gameplay loop that was built upon with each iteration, adding new gimmicks and new twists on the beat-em-up gameplay.
Dimensions and Infinity tried to reinvent the game with each new level pack, contracting out external studios to add flavor to the game, but failed to communicate this very well and give a compelling case to buy them.
Yeah I really enjoy the Lego games and would love to play through some of these with my son. But even now with it being discontinued if you go on Amazon and grab the starter pack and just a few addons it can quickly add up to near $200. None of the stuff ever got price drops and I don't really trust buying it used in case there was a piece missing or something.
I think Lego is just totally the wrong brand to do this with, given how expensive even simple Lego sets are by themselves without fully licensed game content included.
I think Lego is just totally the wrong brand to do this with, given how expensive even simple Lego sets are by themselves without fully licensed game content included.
PhoenixSFT
Member
My wife and I have generally enjoyed our time with Dimensions, though we did plan and buy only when there were discounts on characters needed to complete the game. I should tally up my total spent some day. The builds are pretty cool, and I'm glad we got a lot of characters and levels we wouldn't have normally been able to use, though the vehicles are absolutely unnecessary. They take up a ton of space and you barely use them in the game, even for challenges to get Gold Bricks.
We'll definitely hold on to them and probably incorporate them into Legos for our kids, but it's a shame it couldn't make it to year 3. I hope they release a final patch to fix up many of the constant bugs, but I'm not holding my breath.
We'll definitely hold on to them and probably incorporate them into Legos for our kids, but it's a shame it couldn't make it to year 3. I hope they release a final patch to fix up many of the constant bugs, but I'm not holding my breath.
I remember the days of hot takes when these predatory toys to life practices were going to consume the industry.
Just another quick trend that kicked the bucket. And for what it's worth, I don't think many of them were bad games. The kids market seems underserved in console markets, and this was an interesting stop-gap. Hard to compete with mobile for attention, though.
Just another quick trend that kicked the bucket. And for what it's worth, I don't think many of them were bad games. The kids market seems underserved in console markets, and this was an interesting stop-gap. Hard to compete with mobile for attention, though.
Deft Beck
Member
Doesn't Ubisoft have a new toys-to-life game that you can use with a mobile device? I remember seeing E3 footage of it.
I've been wanting to jump on board the Dimensions train, but the starter pack is still $65 here...
It came out two years ago and the business model is predicated on getting me to buy many many content packs. That kind of on-boarding cost is ridiculously prohibitive.
When it hits bargain bins, I guess I'll finally be able to get the kids into it. Great business model, guys!
It came out two years ago and the business model is predicated on getting me to buy many many content packs. That kind of on-boarding cost is ridiculously prohibitive.
When it hits bargain bins, I guess I'll finally be able to get the kids into it. Great business model, guys!
bigbaldwolf86
Banned
Not surprising really when the cost of the packs was so high. £25 for a couple of characters, a vehicle and a level. No thanks
family_guy
Member
Am I wrong in thinking this could continue on if they just get rid of the physical toy requirement and make it all digital content you can download?
Deft Beck
Member
Disney Infinity 3.0 tried this on Steam to very mixed reviews.
It also didn't include absolutely everything.
Bog
Junior Ace
If you were the least bit savvy, these never cost you retail price.
Heartskips
Banned
Horsemama1956
Member
Kids(the target for these games) don't seem to mind this.
I bought this, and a LOT of add ons for my kids, 6 / 8, and they got tired of it, it really wasn't a great game at the heart of it, and it was obvious it was designed to make you buy more of them.
So many levels were poorly designed, and we'd get stuck and have to go to youtube to find out what obscure lever to jump on to move one.
Just not a lot of fun. They will still put in Lego Marvel to this day and just free roam the city, but I have a shelf of little lego people I think I'll just pack up and put away.
So many levels were poorly designed, and we'd get stuck and have to go to youtube to find out what obscure lever to jump on to move one.
Just not a lot of fun. They will still put in Lego Marvel to this day and just free roam the city, but I have a shelf of little lego people I think I'll just pack up and put away.
Goonies
Beetlejuice
OG Ghostbusters
Back to the Future
Portal
Gremlins
ET
The A Team
Mission Impossible 90's
Are you sure kids were the target?
SillyEskimo
Member
When a person needed 4-500$ to get all the LAUNCH content, I was like yeah fuck this noise.
The Broken Ska Record
Member
This is a shame, but I felt the writing was on the wall since they didn't announce anything at E3 this year about a Year Three. As it is I have a majority of the packs (thank you Best Buy and Target sales), so I could easily finish the complete collection.
I wonder what the plan was for the 2017/2018 year. What other franchises they were planning on getting.
I wonder what the plan was for the 2017/2018 year. What other franchises they were planning on getting.
Azure Phoenix
Member
That really wasn't the problem, Skylanders got away with it for years and Lego is by far more popular and known for being pricier.
The problem is that Activision and Disney bled the market dry in the space of 4 years, Trap Team in particular with its newer light and dark element figures and traps that were borderline impossible to track down along with a general lack of availability for traps were the nails in the coffin for a lot of fans. Lego Dimensions launched after all that and managed to perform well on its own merits, but the damage to the TTL market was already done, especially with Superchargers bombing hard that year and Disney winding down Infinity at the same time.
Rodney McKay
Member
Loved getting some franchises in LEGO we wouldn't have gotten otherwise (like Portal), but once I finally bought the game I was a little underwhelmed.
I like the regular LEGO games, but this was literally the same those games, just with having to physically swap out the figures on the platform and having to physically pay in order to get through everything.
Some sections and bosses were annoying because you had to swap figures in the middle of action which is much less intuitive than just hitting a button like in the regular LEGO games.
If the platform hadn't been used in gameplay, I'd probably have enjoyed the game more.
I like the regular LEGO games, but this was literally the same those games, just with having to physically swap out the figures on the platform and having to physically pay in order to get through everything.
Some sections and bosses were annoying because you had to swap figures in the middle of action which is much less intuitive than just hitting a button like in the regular LEGO games.
If the platform hadn't been used in gameplay, I'd probably have enjoyed the game more.
Barrel Cannon
Member
Makes me wonder if the writing on the wall is there for Amiibos or if they are somehow impervious to this type of falling. The fact that they are supported in multiple games I guess makes them appeal more
Nintendo has some of the most valuable IP and characters in gaming so you do the math dude. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Mario is probably more popular than the A-Team van in Lego form.
panda-zebra
Member
My son loves the lego games. But Dimensions was just a chore. Constantly faffing around with the real lego stuff was simply not at all fun, whoever thought it would be was an out of touch idiot.
It all got assimilated into his huge vats of lego bricks as yet more over-priced little pieces of plastic and the game long forgotten.
It all got assimilated into his huge vats of lego bricks as yet more over-priced little pieces of plastic and the game long forgotten.
I feel like they do not learn, they have the exact same problem with actual lego sets. I would buy tons of them if I did not feel ripped off every time I did.
That and the fact that they are basically unlock keys for additional content, they are not essential to any game they are part of
El_Cinefilo
Member
I think the price was a major factor. Especially in the UK where we didn't get all the big sales that America always seemed to get. 1 minifigure with two tiny builds and a ten minute story level (like back to the future) is not worth £25, and Who would pay £25 for the Jurassic world team pack (with no levels) when they could get the full Lego Jurassic world game for £10 less.
Messing with the real Legos was charming at first, but became annoying over time. I didn't like all the small character and fun packs. I really was only interested in the level ones, of which there weren't all that many IIRC.
It's funny to me that the toys-to-life I despised the most at first (Amiibo) have become the ones that retain value to me, both as a collector of the ones I like, and their ability to be used across so many games to varying extents. Not being tied to solely one game/franchise helps.
It's funny to me that the toys-to-life I despised the most at first (Amiibo) have become the ones that retain value to me, both as a collector of the ones I like, and their ability to be used across so many games to varying extents. Not being tied to solely one game/franchise helps.
Boy Wander
Member
Toys to life has had it's time. It was Immensely popular for a few years and pushed hard by brick and mortar stores in terms of floor space, but I'm guessing that it became apparent that despite new packs and reskins and characters being introduced, the core gameplay didn't change enough to stay fresh.
Amiibo are high quality little statues of people's favorite characters. Who cares what "use" they have in game.
Similarly, most of the Disney Infinity characters I bought I did so because they are the best looking versions of those characters in that price range. Mediocre game be damned.
The problem with Lego Dimensions is you had to pay the Lego Tax plus whatever arbitrary value was given to the in-game content. So for Lego collectors the sets were grossly overpriced, and gamers just buying them for the content were getting fleeced for plastic they don't even care about.
kunonabi
Member
I care but all the whiners on the internet have relegated them to being mere content unlocks so its a moot point now.
I really enjoyed Dimensions. It seemed to go directly after the major weakness of Infinity which is that you could only use characters from a franchise in the story content from that same franchise. No mixing or matching as you see fit outside of the sandbox mode.
Dimensions embraced the mixing of the franchises and it mad for a very entertaining game. I dare say it was the best lego game released. The biggest downside, as others have mentioned was the constant use of the portal to physically move and change characters in order to solve puzzles in game. I never liked that mechanic in Dimensions.
I'm sad to see it go, I have a complete set for packs for the game so i've gotten my enjoyment out of it but I will miss the concept of mixing franchises like that. I hope they decide to make new lego games in the future, minus the TTL stuff, that continues to embrace this idea of smaller franchises coming together.
And also for the love of god, make some physical Lego sets for Portal already.
Dimensions embraced the mixing of the franchises and it mad for a very entertaining game. I dare say it was the best lego game released. The biggest downside, as others have mentioned was the constant use of the portal to physically move and change characters in order to solve puzzles in game. I never liked that mechanic in Dimensions.
I'm sad to see it go, I have a complete set for packs for the game so i've gotten my enjoyment out of it but I will miss the concept of mixing franchises like that. I hope they decide to make new lego games in the future, minus the TTL stuff, that continues to embrace this idea of smaller franchises coming together.
And also for the love of god, make some physical Lego sets for Portal already.
justsomeguy
Member
That's reminded me to dig out my copy and finish the packs I had. Manged to get in on an employee special offer thanks to a friend, so got it for an absolute steal.
Enjoyed it but definitely too expensive at rrp.
Enjoyed it but definitely too expensive at rrp.
I think Amiibo is a bit safer since it seems to be marketed and treated more as collectible figurines than as traditional Toys to Life products.