Lego Traveller's Tales Series

-

TT Games

Timeline: I must preface that this is not Telltale Games. This is Traveller's Tales Games. They actually made a list of decent games in the past like Sonic 3D Blast. Then one day they were approached with the idea of creating a Star Wars Lego game at the beginning of the 21st Century. There were a lot of publishers that thought this type of game wasn't going to be successful. Boy were they wrong! The game was so well-received that the company continued to produce another 25 games! While it is nice for developers to stick to the trend that works, their product must evolve and adapt. Sometimes this brings some wonderful changes. Other times, you might wish they would have kept some previous features in. So, I decided to play each and every one of these games. I have prepared a list of reviews and will post a new one each day. There are also a couple of bonus reviews. The following is a list of phases the company took for the franchise:

  • The Originals (2005 - 2008): Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman
    Passionate Projects made with no foundation
  • The Ambitious (2009 - 2011): Indiana Jones 2, Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Star Wars: Clone Wars
    Experimental Projects when it came to expanding the games
  • The Deadline (2011 - 2012): Pirates, Harry Potter: Years 5-7, Lego Batman 2, Lord of the Rings
    Unpolished Projects built in rapid succession in accordance to other releases
  • The Long-Term (2013): Lego City: Undercover, Lego: Marvel Super Heroes
    Projects that were exclusively focused and built over a length of time
  • The Explorers (2014): The Lego Movie Videogame, Lego: The Hobbit, Lego Batman 3
    Projects wanting to try new things with mixed success
  • The Spectacle (2015 - 2016): Jurassic World, Marvel Avengers, Force Awakens
    Film Projects extended and advertised through a different medium
  • The Reboots (2017 - 2018): Ninjago, Marvel Super Heroes 2, Incredibles, DC Super Villains
    Projects going to some extent in mixing up the formula
  • The Outliers (2019 - 2022): Lego Movie 2, Star Wars: Skywalker Saga
    Projects made with a complete change in focus

Gameplay

Setting: There is a common theme when you evaluate the company's games. The Lego games generally focus on what is presented through the movies as their source material but also through television and comics. Normally, a game will have about 20 chapters. The larger or combined games will have double that. Other than a couple of exceptions, there will always be a Story Mode where you have control of at minimum two characters that can be handled between two separate players. These characters can be switched between when going solo. There will be puzzle elements inside the levels that will require specific characteristics and abilities from characters that become available for purchase later in the game. Once completing the Story Mode, you will gain access to Free Mode that usually skips cutscenes and allows you to Save & Exit your current progress at any time. Free Mode will allow you to swap to one character from the roster and provide a list of other characters needed to collect all the hidden items.

Overview: Every game builds upon the previous one in both graphics and gameplay. Things like lighting, interfaces, and the number of characters shown on the screen all slowly improve. Animations and movements progress with each character having their own range of unique idle animations that reflect their individual personality. Characters that dominant more in the story will generally provide more flair over those who might only be named in the credits. Although some characters only appear in specific levels as Easter Eggs with their own special feature unlocked, there can be a total of 50 to 150 characters available. Every game (except one or two) will also allow you to customize your own character using aspects of the ones that are currently unlocked.

Levels: Levels consist of collecting 5 or 10 mini-kits that will have some sort of contribution for bonus content. Each level will also have a stud-collecting meter that contributes to your overall completion rate. There are at least 20 power bricks that can be found inside each level or in the central hub areas. These make sequences complete faster, multiply the currency you collect, or add some global cosmetic overlay. The way of finding these will depend on the current theme of the game. There tends to be references to the developers' other games, comedy bits that subvert what we expect to see when a scene plays out, and an expanded landscape to explore. Gameplay will have elements of smashing things up for currency, building objects to advance, and fighting off enemies. The puzzles are generally made to be easy with things like repeating patterns (like Simon Says), color coordination, disco dancing, match-sequencing, and properly moving objects.

 

2-20-2023