The first round was a big hit - but I think they blew it with the 2.0 when they (A) made you rebuy the base for $80 and (B) made almost the entire game about Marvel.
I apologize for going back to this, and the rumor forum probably doesn't seem like the best place to mention this, but seeing as how the game is dead and there is talk as to how or why, I felt inclined to add my perspective.
I also bought all three versions, after initially not having any interest in the game. But my daughter, who was 4 at the time, saw it and seemed interested. And it seemed like something we could do together. So I picked up the base game, Elsa & Jack (NMBC), and fired it up with her. For the most part, we had a decent amount of fun, but the primary limitation was that neither Elsa nor Jack could participate in any of the story modes. So I bought a few of the Cars, Sully & Mike, and some Toy Story characters and we started the main adventure mode. But really, all she ever wanted to do was just play as Elsa in the world hub. So, we spent hours there as she ran in circles, froze me, and giggled.
Fast forward a few years. I not only bought all three games, I bought every character, all the power discs, etc... It was *expensive*. But she enjoyed playing, and I slowly amassed a collection of female characters that she enjoyed playing as.
Ultimately though, that same problem kept rearing it's head. In a game that is all about having characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars all in the same place, it had a horrible habit of forcing you to only pick "compatible" characters to play any of the actual story content. As someone with no time, or desire really, to create my own toy worlds, the story mode was the main bread and butter for me & the kids.
By segregating characters from each other in the main missions, they totally missed out on the primary potential the game had.
Using
Lego Dimensions, another Toys-to-Life product, you can see everything Disney did wrong. Infinity felt like a collection of stand alone games that sat within a larger world. Dimensions feels like a singular game with tons of places to explore.
In Dimensions, any characters can be used at any time. This leads to often funny dialogue and situations, such as Batman meeting the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz and assuming he needs to arrest him as he must be the same Scarecrow from Gotham. Or Lego Batman meeting DC Batman. Or Batman doing just about anything really
Now my daughter is a bit older and she is currently all about Harley Quinn, and she can be Harley Quinn in any level at any time. Adventure Time, Harry Potter, Simpsons, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc etc etc etc. She can bonk characters with her over sized mallet anywhere she wants.
It's my hope that with Disney pulling out of the video game space, and Lego having the rights to all the same Disney IP's that used to be in Infinity, that we see Disney characters and worlds begin to show up in Lego Dimensions eventually. Then, finally, I could explore any Disney world with any Disney (or whoever else for that matter) characters. What happens with Sloth from the Goonies and Gizmo the Mogwai show up in Halloween Land? So many great things, that's what.
Arghh!
