Thoughts on Lego The Force Awakens Announcement

Less than two months after The Force Awakens came out, it has been announced that there will be a Lego video game solely based on it, developed by none other than Traveller's Tales as usual. The trailer for it is nice re-imagining of the first teaser trailer in Lego form, adding a lot of its trademark humor in the process. I have to admit, it made me laugh throughout the whole video, especially the Stormtrooper flickering the lights.

On one hand, I shouldn't be surprised due to a lot of stuff cashing in on the latest film in the multi-million dollar Star Wars franchise. On the other hand, I'm a little frustrated that the Lego games are now being released as incomplete games.

I have played some, but not all of Traveller's Tales Lego games based on licensed properties and really liked them. I love the way that they reinterpret the source materials in a humorous fashion. I know a lot of elements were toned down just to appeal to children (i.e. Indiana Jones series), but they still have a lot of charm that makes them fun to play. The games do follow the same formula:

- Hub world or Open World area to access all levels
- Simple puzzles to solve
- Collecting Lego studs to purchase unlockable characters and other stuff
- Once a story level is complete, a Free Play option is unlocked. There, you can play whatever character you want in that level to access areas you couldn't before.
- Achieving various things to complete the game 100%
- 2-Player Cooperative Play

The replay value is part of why I love them. There is so much content and stuff to collect that makes it a challenge for completionists like myself. When I buy a Lego game, I always - and I mean always - complete it 100% with no exceptions. Heck, I recently bought Lego Marvel's Avengers, and I'm currently trying to complete it 100%, which will take me a while, but it will feel so rewarding in the end.

The purpose of this blog is to express my disappointment in the decision of making a Lego game based on just one movie. I haven't played The Lego Movie Videogame, so I can't say how well that worked, but this is Star Wars that we are talking about: a multi-part series. But first I want to go back to where this series of games started.

The game that started it all was, of course, the original Lego Star Wars, based on the prequel trilogy. It blew many people's minds, myself included. You get to relive the prequel trilogy in Lego form, with reinterpreted scenes to make it really funny. Not only that, but there was a lot to do once the main story is beaten. Also, you can die so many times and not get a game over. It was followed by Lego Star Wars II, based on the original trilogy, which set the standard on the gameplay in terms of content and collectables.

With the success of both these games, Traveller's Tales has found a successful formula, and has since then made Lego games based on other properties like Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Jurassic Park. This is something I was always cool with. I love seeing the games reinterpret the source material in a humorous fashion or adapt parts of a film to benefit the gameplay more. Sometimes it's cool to see them write an original story like in the Lego Batman games and Lego Marvel Superheroes.

However, there have been missteps in the past, not when it comes to gameplay, but for how many installments of a film franchise to put in one game. In 2008, Lego Indiana Jones was released, just one month after Kingdom of the Crystal Skull came out in theaters. The game was only based on the original trilogy, which is strange, because when the original Lego Star Wars came out, the release of Revenge of the Sith was only a month away. Guess what? Sith was still in the game, regardless.

Just one year after Lego Indiana Jones came out, a sequel was released. It retooled a lot of levels and scenes from the original trilogy, while also finally including Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I know there are people out there who dislike Crystal Skull and have no desire to be reminded of it, therefore being just fine with the original game based on the first three films. Like it or not, there are four Indiana Jones movies to date, the same way I can say that there are four Jurassic Park movies to date, despite only really liking the original and some parts of Jurassic World.

In 2012, Lego The Lord of the Rings was released, and it was awesome just experiencing the entire trilogy in Lego form. I actually felt like I was going on an amazing journey thanks to its open world gameplay. Two years later, Lego The Hobbit was released. Something was wrong the moment I first heard about it. It was released in April 2014. By that time, only two films in the planned trilogy were released. As anyone would guess, the game was only based on An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug.

Although I do not approve of downloadable content, maybe The Battle of the Five Armies, which came out at the end of the year, could be released as DLC later on? According to this article, there were no plans to adapt Five Armies as DLC or as a separate game. Reactions have not been positive, almost like the consumers were cheated when they first bought it. This is the reason why I never bought Lego The Hobbit, because I feared that something like this would happen.

Now history repeats itself with Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's just going to be based on that one movie, with some exclusive story about the lead-up to the film, probably just to pad it out. Imagine if the original Lego Star Wars came out and it was only based on The Phantom Menace. That isn't enough to make a good standalone game.

I'm sure the game will be great regardless. However, since this is a new trilogy in the making, couldn't they have just waited until Episodes VIII and IX were completed before making a game out of it? Sure, we'd have to wait, like, four years or so, but at least there would be more content to put in a Lego game to enjoy it for a long time.

The great thing about most of the previous Lego titles was that each game was a compilation of a series of movies. I've mentioned before that playing Lego The Lord of the Rings wasn't just about reliving the trilogy in Lego form, but also feeling like you're going on an epic journey. I can say the same about Lego Harry Potter. Yeah, it split into two games with four movies in each installment, but both still had a lot to do and explore once the story was finished.

Before The Force Awakens came out, I decided to replay the story of Lego Star Wars II, which is the equivalent of marathoning the original trilogy in preparation of that movie and it was a blast replaying it.

With Lego The Force Awakens, we're only receiving one third of this new journey. The story ends, and now I have to wait two years for Lego Star Wars Episode VIII. I do not approve of this business practice. This is why I cannot stand this generation in gaming, hence the reason that I will not bother purchasing it. If you're planning on buying it, I won't hold a grudge against you. Enjoy the game overall. I'll just be waiting for what could be Lego Star Wars: The Sequel Trilogy, knowing I'll have a complete game by then.

So what does everybody else think? Are you excited for this come out? Do you agree or disagree with this post? Feel free to comment.