I’ve been playing Lego Star Wars II with my wife a lot lately, along with Carcassonne, which is great for late-night wind-down play. We get frustrated a lot, due to constant problems with the camera and platform jumping, but since there is almost zero penalty for dying, it’s alright.
Let me reiterate: never ever make games require jumping where you can’t judge the goddamn angle and distance. Oh, and making some apparently alike surfaces climbable and some not. Add to that the fact that the game often requires very precise jumping and you’re well inside frustration city. But again, it’s alright to die some fifty times in a level in this game, so. But everything else is super easy and satisfying, leaving your brains to work on the numerous puzzles. I’d say the difficulty is perfect on the puzzles – we often need to think a bit, but have only needed GameFAQs once. I keep thinking if the puzzles are actually throwaway easy, since the game is basically tuned for kids, and I’m just so removed from these basic action-adventure games that I need to relearn my primitive videogaming skills. Whatever the case, the puzzles work.
I’ve played the original Lego Star Wars on the Xbox a bit, but I haven’t had company for that, and it’s just a weak game to play alone. The overall fun factor hangs on the comedy value a lot, and laughing alone is just, well, sad. The sequel plays very much the same, with the same gameplay problems, but as the subject matter (Star Wars episodes IV-VI) is vastly more superior and iconic than the original game’s (episodes I-III), it’s a hugely improved experience. It was a stroke of genius to keep the Lego characters silent throughout, putting the focus on keeping things very compact and the humor physical. (I laughed hard at “Luke, I’m your father”.)
Definitely recommended, if you have someone to play this through with.
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