Lego Marvel's Avengers

[Tomato]

So just recently started playing this one, and from everything I've seen, this has basically been Lego MCU the game. About the only frustrating thing is that it's flipping back and forth between movies with no real direction... we started out in Avengers 2, then went back to Avengers 1, now I'm in a flashback to CA1... it's like, really? did we need to do this? Couldn't we have started with Avengers 1 and gone sequentially?

I dunno, it's a nitpick, but it's a little frustrating trying to keep up with the chronology when I'm supposedly in a flashback of another flashback.

[Glitch Girl]

I see what you mean about flashbacks within flashbacks.  That was... odd. 

I am 3 episodes in and have hit my first free roam area - almost the same free roam NYC with new missions and a few other changes of note, like the X-Mansion has been replaced with Avengers Facility.  I was trying to find the Baxter Building and Daily Bugle by memory, but failed.  However I did see an advert for a different news source, so that may no longer be there (what with X-Men and Fantastic 4 in marketing no-man's land).  gonna print out a menu of the previous game and doublecheck that and some other places of note.

Sitenote: Ran into Hulkling and Wiccan.  It was nice to see them depicted together. 

[Tomato]

I'm quite a bit further along in the story now, so even though there are a couple levels I have yet to play, I've gotten enough done that I can clean up most of the side stuff.

Just a heads up to anyone starting out... at any point between the different story missions, you can hit start (or its equivalent) and select "Go to space" to be able to free play previous levels. Also, if you want an early leg up on a ton of abilities early on, after you finish the second level, go back to the shield base. When you land, right in front of you is a glowing space which instigates a fight with Korvac. I instigated the fight on accident while I was stuck with Baron Strucker, but it was super easy. Having Korvac early on basically breaks the game... he has Vision's ability to phase through grates, SW's telekinesis, can manipulate cosmic bricks, fires electric lazers (which can both melt gold bricks and power up electric panels), and he flies. Between him and getting CW Scarlet Witch via DLC, the only character I really needed to unlock was Quicksilver.

Edit: Also super strength

[Glitch Girl]

I have finished movie 1 and have gone exploring instead of continuing.  Until I got Korvac, my swiss army knife was Wiccan.  He can go through grates, use electricity, use chaos power, mind control, fly, deflect bullets (even without his shield on).

For speed I picked up one of Iron Man's suits so don't need Quicksilver.  I THINK I picked it up in Malibu.

About the only thing I don't have yet is a digger, but hopefully I'll find one tonight.  Free roam is fun, and from what I read, I haven't even unlocked all the roaming areas. 

Sidenote: Damn Bucky, you ARE messed up in the head.  Also, robot unicorns and ninja ballerinas.

[Tomato]

For Digging I dunno. I got my initial digger with the Civil War DLC (Black Panther) but I think the one you're supposed to get first is Squirrel Girl. There are two versions of her, and while the modern one is on the Barton farm (which you get access to about midway into AoU) I'm not 100% on the classic, though I know Squirrel Girl had a mission at the lower part of central park. White Tiger is another possible digger, but I think she's in West Africa (which is the area right before the Barton Farm).

But yeah, there are a ton of Free Roam areas. For those not playing, we have Manhattan again (which I think has a little less in it than in Lego Marvel, but not by much) but there's also:

SHIELD HQ (the base from Avengers 1)
Asgard
Malibu (Tony's house)
Washington DC
West Africa (where you fight Klaw)
Barton Farm
Sokovia.

Edit: Just to help the poor saps who might otherwise spend like 20 minutes wandering around Manhattan looking for tunnels, you can get to the underground gold brick in Central park using stair under the monument just a bit north of the bricks location, and the underground one near the top of the map has stairs on the north side of the highway.

[Glitch Girl]

Ha, I remember that tunnel.  It vexed me in the first game, which is why I found it quick in this one.

My digger is Squirrel Girl Classic now - got her from Retired Peggy Carter in a retro-colored flashback mission in Manhattan. 

I haven't been to West Africa, the farm, or Sokovia yet.  I think those won't unlock until I progress in story mode a bit more.  I have cleared Asgard and almost all of Malibu, Washington DC, and SHIELD HQ and still spent a lot of time roaming around NYC.

Other random notes:

- I have Beth the Waitress in my roster. Guess they really needed characters to pad the roster now that the X-Men, F4, and Spider-Man are unavailable.

- I also have Blazing Skull (who I had to look up).

- And Classic Human Torch (who's a bit of a jerk)

- And someone called the Mighty Destroyer.  I had no idea who he was, but when I tested his powers, I ended up laughing for a good 5 minutes because I did not expect shrinking.  He's FRICKIN' ADORABLE!!!!

- Speaking of size changes, Fin Fang Foom grows.  That is wonderful.  It also means you can't use him in some free play levels.  This is not so wonderful.

- Being me, I have encountered a couple of game bugs. Bug #1 - Invisible people: People don't always load in NYC.  I can hear myself bumping into them, but there is no one wandering the streets except for mission assigners and cars.  They have loaded at least once, but after that,  it seems erratic.

- Bug #2 - Extreme Bouncing: If I take my flyer rapidly down from a huge height, chances are they will rocket up into the sky again.  I can drop them down or switch characters to deal with this, but it is annoying.  Seems to be confined to NYC for now.  I  need to check for patches when I get home tonight.

[Tomato]

- I have Beth the Waitress in my roster. Guess they really needed characters to pad the roster now that the X-Men, F4, and Spider-Man are unavailable.

And yet, no Jarvis? This vexed me.

- Being me, I have encountered a couple of game bugs. Bug #1 - Invisible people: People don't always load in NYC.  I can hear myself bumping into them, but there is no one wandering the streets except for mission assigners and cars.  They have loaded at least once, but after that,  it seems erratic.

This one happened for me as well, but on a much more annoying and pace-breaking scale. In Sokovia (which you get access to at the very end of the game) there's a puzzle that requires NPCs to perform a task, and they flat out didn't load for me. I had to leave the area and come back in after getting all the other items in the area.

- Bug #2 - Extreme Bouncing: If I take my flyer rapidly down from a huge height, chances are they will rocket up into the sky again.  I can drop them down or switch characters to deal with this, but it is annoying.  Seems to be confined to NYC for now.  I  need to check for patches when I get home tonight.

It's happened to me in other areas, but not as often. Basically, just instigate flight again, and get them to fall once more. Definitely something they should be patching.

An additional bug that I encountered, just so people are aware:

If progressing in the game means doing a task in an area (or even revisiting an area that you previously had full access to), you won't be allowed to leave it and come back with free play characters. This is annoying because there's a part late game where you start in Avengers Tower, and you have to just suck it up and progress if you want to access the Helicarrier.

[SickAlice]

I like it but I'm bias. Any LEGO game is fun for me. It's pretty standard and nothing radical imo but like a Mario game the basic structure appeals to me. I have the PC version so bugs galore as always and as always with the PC ones they're resolved by setting the res to 800x600. I'm a little more hyper for LEGO Force Awakens personally, also to see what mods come out for this and possible making a skin or two myself. I'd give it a "good" rating and the sight comedy is worthwhile.

[Glitch Girl]

Is it considered cheating that I am beating all the ground races without a vehicle?

[Tomato]

Since I did pretty much every race without vehicles, and there's at least two clearly designed for speed characters... no, not at all. There's a couple of races where using a vehicle would be easier, but they aren't usually unwinable.

[Glitch Girl]

For those curious (probably none of you), 73% is the max completion you can get without doing the AoU chapters (not counting the opener). This includes all available bricks, races, character tokens, and Stan rescues until the maps are completely clear of markers.  Even so, at least 5 character tokens are not available  in Manhattan and SHIELD HQ until you do the AoU, though I'm not sure when they trigger or what they are yet (gonna finish AoU and then finish free roam)

I am curious about one thing: After Korea Opportunities, I start in Avengers Tower where there are a few items that appeared in missions I previously completed.  Are they always there or do they appear upon mission completion.  These include a Pepper and Hulk selfie, the Dancing Cow from the Dairy, and a very patriotic bear.

[SickAlice]

Curious now too. I completed Malibu with the exception of the selfie which in my case Hulk's icon won't show up.