Does anyone find the LEGO series of games frustrating?

[+GoldenWheels]

I have played several Lego franchise games at this point over two consoles (PS2/3). My son and I love Legos, we love superheros and Star Wars, it's a natural fit.

 

But for a guy in his mid 30s who grew up on difficult games of all types (because of bad/archaic design or otherwise) and who can still walk tall playing, say the newest FPS online...I find these games pretty frustrating.

 

More often than not....I find myself stuck in a room with no idea how to progress. 10-20 minutes (no joke) of pulling, tugging, looking around, jumping, and using of power ups later, I usually find the solution. But I feel like an idiot having a hard time with a Lego game (presumably for kids) that has essentially an infinite health bar. More often than not lately, I've been breaking down quickly and reaching for a FAQ. "What the heck am I supposed to do? OH! THAT'S what I am supposed to do."

 

This is brought on mostly by playing Lego Batman 2 on PS3 last night--which to be fair to myself some of the issues were exacerbated by the game being so dark, it is hard to see some of the stuff you need to build, etc. The camera at certain times hurts too. And there are areas my son struggles to do parts of as the partner, where they require coordination (he's 5). But I've had this issue with both Lego Star Wars games, Indy, and now Batman.

 

I get stuck. I get freakin' stuck playing Lego games. Does anyone else find these series and their mechanics kind of...obtuse? Please say yes because even my wife was laughing at me last night. Then she showed me what I had to do...which she had picked up just from watching me get mad for 5 minutes.

[DaytonaUSA]

Yeah between the basic controls and the puzzle elements I hate Lego games.

 

I always seem to get suckered onto buying ones tied to franchises I love, then 30 minutes in I ask myself why I'm sitting and taking the punishment that is the title lol.

[moycon]

There have been a couple times I had to look up how to progress in a Lego game. Seems to me it was the Indiana Jones Lego game. Yep I just found a thread I had started with a major RANT about the Indiana Jones Lego game!!

 

http://atariage.com/...42537-lego-indy

 

Boy Oh Boy, looks like I was PO'd at that one!! Dont recall having issues with the others ones I have played, including Bionicles.

[+GoldenWheels]

Yeah between the basic controls and the puzzle elements I hate Lego games.

 

I always seem to get suckered onto buying ones tied to franchises I love, then 30 minutes in I ask myself why I'm sitting and taking the punishment that is the title lol.

 

That was just it by the time I was done last night. I was like...this isn't even fun. I just want to be DONE. My son, god bless him, is happy beating up the same auto generating enemies for 2 hours in a row.

 

There have been a couple times I had to look up how to progress in a Lego game. Seems to me it was the Indiana Jones Lego game. Yep I just found a thread I had started with a major RANT about the Indiana Jones Lego game!!

 

http://atariage.com/...42537-lego-indy

 

Boy Oh Boy, looks like I was PO'd at that one!! Dont recall having issues with the others ones I have played, including Bionicles.

 

Your first post is totally me last night:

 

"So many cheap deaths I can't count, and the puzzles are beyond confusing."

 

Exactly. At least I know I am not the only one.

[akator]

I found the first few LEGO games (specifically Star Wars) entertaining yet repetitive, but the humor and franchise kept me playing through the monotonous gaming elements.

 

The repetitive "bust up everything and collect stuff" game play has gotten stale in subsequent games. I find myself thinking, "Again?"

 

The only "development" over the years is that the puzzles have frequently become unnecessarily obtuse.

 

LEGO Batman is the last one I played. I found it completely uninteresting and only played it for an hour, having had no enjoyment from the experience and no desire to ever play it again.

[tpugmire]

I've never had any real problems with progressing through any of the games, and I've played almost all of them. Sure, there were times I was stuck, but not to the point that I had to use a guide or anything. Finding all the extra stuff is a different story. You're pretty much required to have a guide if you want to get 100%.

[cimerians]

They seem to have forgotten the whole point that these games should be played by EVERYONE. I know exactly what you mean.

 

My wife is not a gamer, she sucks at games and will no longer play anything other than the original Lego Star Wars which in my opinion is still the best.

 

My daughter is a bit better than her in games but it's still too hard and of course lately........boring.

 

Somewhere along the line they changed these games to appeal more to gamers.

 

They also have this horrible split screen "line" during co-op. Same screen co-op for us worked well in the first few games. Now it sucks. They killed any future buys from me.

[Hydro Thunder]

I want to love the Lego games, but I absolutely hate them. Even though I love the ideas and the humor, the graphics...

For the reasons the OP states I just can't enjoy any of them at all, even after many tries. I generally don't like "Item collecting" games one bit and that is definitely a factor here. The other major one being what the OP says, that some of the puzzles are not so much puzzles as "you're just supposed to guess or know what to do". And I am terrible at those kinds of puzzles.

 

I wish it weren't so, I know a lot of people love these games and get a lot out of them. But they vex me and I won't come near them anymore lest I burn my house down in a fit of rage.

[moycon]

that some of the puzzles are not so much puzzles as "you're just supposed to guess or know what to do". And I am terrible at those kinds of puzzles.

 

Yep I agree, and I consider myself an avid gamer to this day, including puzzle games.

Maybe we're just too old? We don't have an extra 15-75 minutes to play around and figure out the solution to advance in certain games before we decide it's not worth our time, or get bored?

 

This is probably something we as kids would have never thought twice about. My friend and I spent hours and hours beating Raiders of the Lost Ark on the 2600. We actually left the console on overnight and continued in the morning before we finally figured it out. Can you imagine!!? I'll admit, it's a victory I never forgot, and never will. These days, I'd have probably just gave up.

[DaytonaUSA]

Yeah, the series makes you feel stupid with the puzzles and endless needless deaths. As your sitting there, either being killed over and over or scratching your head at a puzzle, you ask yourself "Now... this is a kids game, right? Why am I having so much trouble with this?!".

 

I agree, the humor is great in the games, especially the star wars ones, but the charm wore off quick, and my reasons for continuing to torture myself quickly dwindled.

[+save2600]

Had the IJ Lego game for Wii and yeah, experienced similar frustration. I've come to the conclusion that games that have you roaming around large environments like that are not for me. Throw in arcane "puzzle" objectives and forget about it. Just don't have the time, patience or attention span for them I guess.

[Atariboy]

The first Lego Star Wars is the only one I've gotten around to playing through and I had several moments where I was lost and had to wander aimlessly around until lucking upon the trick to proceed.

[Algus]

Lol I love the lego games but I can definitely see some of the complaints here. The only one that really had me going WTF was Lego Pirates. That one had some bizarre puzzles.

 

The collecting does get old but I've never had a long enough attention span to collect everything so I usually just settle for seeing the missions.

 

Lego City Undercover was a good upgrade. Some of the puzzles were good and the open world made me more inclined to collect. After all these games the formula is a bit old but I think they're targeting their existing fanbase at this point.

[+GoldenWheels]

I found the first few LEGO games (specifically Star Wars) entertaining yet repetitive, but the humor and franchise kept me playing through the monotonous gaming elements.

 

The repetitive "bust up everything and collect stuff" game play has gotten stale in subsequent games. I find myself thinking, "Again?"

 

The only "development" over the years is that the puzzles have frequently become unnecessarily obtuse.

 

LEGO Batman is the last one I played. I found it completely uninteresting and only played it for an hour, having had no enjoyment from the experience and no desire to ever play it again.

 

I have to admit this is my favortie part. Their LEGO retelling of the OT is hilarious. I'd watch it separately.

 

They seem to have forgotten the whole point that these games should be played by EVERYONE. I know exactly what you mean.

 

My wife is not a gamer, she sucks at games and will no longer play anything other than the original Lego Star Wars which in my opinion is still the best.

 

My daughter is a bit better than her in games but it's still too hard and of course lately........boring.

 

Somewhere along the line they changed these games to appeal more to gamers.

 

They also have this horrible split screen "line" during co-op. Same screen co-op for us worked well in the first few games. Now it sucks. They killed any future buys from me.

 

Agreed on both. My son has 0 chance to be able to do these things himself. Way too taxing for him dexterity wise. The infinite health is almost a slap in the face...like, hey, stay alive so you can get more frustrated!

 

I don't like that split screen co op either. Worked much better on same screen for me too.

 

Yep I agree, and I consider myself an avid gamer to this day, including puzzle games.

Maybe we're just too old? We don't have an extra 15-75 minutes to play around and figure out the solution to advance in certain games before we decide it's not worth our time, or get bored?

 

This is probably something we as kids would have never thought twice about. My friend and I spent hours and hours beating Raiders of the Lost Ark on the 2600. We actually left the console on overnight and continued in the morning before we finally figured it out. Can you imagine!!? I'll admit, it's a victory I never forgot, and never will. These days, I'd have probably just gave up.

 

I have to admit this crossed my mind. Like, If I was grinding on Skyrim or something, would I care about a half hour "wasted"? But god these LEGO mechanics/puzzles are just completely unsatisfying to me even when i finally get them. Because even when I get them--they still make almost no sense. I'm just like "Oh.".

[goldenegg]

I'm a huge fan of the Lego series of games (except Lego Indy, which I find ridiculously boring) and can't say I found any of them difficult. They're games I pop in whenever I just want to be entertained and not have to put much effort in to it.

 

The only Lego game I ever had an issue with was Lego Star Wars on the GBA. The zoomed in view made it difficult to know where to go and it was difficult to know if an area was above of below you.