First Impressions: LEGO Dimensions

Toys to games has always been a model I’ve been very cautious of. The idea is simple enough, pay for a special figure that has an RFID chip in its base, place the figure on some sort of reader and play as that character in the game itself, a sort of “Physical DLC” if you would. Currently, there are three franchises that use this model, Skylanders which focuses on Spyro esque creatures, Disney Infinity which is what happens when you combine Garry’s Mod, Disney and Skylanders and finally Nintendo’s amiibo, which are designed to work across multiple game franchises to unlock small things in the individual games like costumes, weapons, sparing partners, ect. Out of the three, I do have to admit, while at times to hard to actually find, the amiibo are the best executed so far. To me, it feels like I’m forced to pay for the characters I may only use once. Skylanders figures are limited to Skylanders, same as Disney Infinity’s are limited to Disney Infinity. While the amiibo are limited to Nintendo consoles, they’re not limited to one or two games (theoretically). I can use my Link amiibo in Super Smash Brothers for 3DS (once the peripheral comes out as I don’t have a new 3DS) and WiiU, Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors as an example. While I think more variety with the already released amiibo would be nice, it’s better than just limited to one or two games in the case of Disney Infinity. Tt Games wants in on this model as well, and what better franchise then the LEGO Games, hence LEGO Dimensions.

Set in the same “world” as the LEGO Movie, the barriers that separate the worlds seem to be breaking down, so it’s up to the player to fix it by using a special portal set that comes bundled with the game, that it looks like you have to build yourself so that’s a nice bit of detail, and sending in special minifigs and vehicles into the game. Confirmed worlds include the LEGO Movie, DC Super Heroes, The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz and Back to the Future. It’s a nice idea (and if they confirm a BIONICLE world, then I’ll pick it up as it will be a “Shut up and take my money” moment for me) but one thing about it makes me cautious. The fact that it is a Toys to game structure. I know the LEGO Games, and I know they are known for character rosters of into the hundreds, not including vehicles, and with the multi universe structure they’re going with, that means hundreds of toys to get if you want the full roster, which means you’ll be forking over potentially thousands of dollars. Now granted, all I’ve seen on the game is the initial trailer, nothing on how they’re going to handle this potential issue because your basically asking people to pay around $80 for the game and somewhere between $5 (current price for a collectible minifig) to $20-$30 per individual figure, which is a blatant rip off for something that’s not even 4cm tall. The art style does look good, in that same LEGO motif with the same shading, if you’ve seen any recent LEGO game, you’ll know what it looks like, it’s basically the same as, again, it’s a LEGO game using the toys to game structure.

That’s pretty much all there is to say on LEGO Dimensions, up next, due to viewer request, the Opening Impressions of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 5, and potentially something else if the same thing happens as Digimon Fusion Season 2. See ya tomorrow.