izigame.me

It's times like this I really wish Steam had a Mixed review option, because I don't think it's a bad game at all. I quite enjoy it a lot, as it's a different take on what most Lego games do. I'm just gonna get some stuff out of the way so you can know what you're getting since it doesn't tell you on the steam page or the trailers.
First off, not every franchise gets an equal amount of treatment, and I think it's disingenuous how they label all of these "hand crafted worlds." You get access to a hub world that not only gets bigger as you progress, but the hub world is unique to you and your save file depending on which worlds you want to go to in what order. It's a really cool idea, and brings a bit of varied gameplay, making sure your playthrough is unique. The biggest problem with this however is that there are actually only 7 worlds to play through, which are:
Jurassic World
Scott Pilgrim VS. The World
The Umbrella Academy
Masters Of The Universe
Hot Fuzz
The Thing
and Battlestar Galactica
Each world consists of 5 unique levels that cater to the style of that franchise, and imo they do a really good job of capturing the essence of each one. The Thing makes it feel like you're playing a horror game, Battlestar Galactica feels like a third person shooter, and Scott Pilgrim is just you playing through the movie with a lot of easter eggs and nods to specific things. (My favorite part was when you had to melee kill a guy when you needed a password, which happens in the movie)
Some levels are definitely harder than others, and although order doesn't truly matter, if I would have known how easy (and costly) it is to die, I might have chosen my worlds in a different order. Each world has a unique unlockable that can be used in other worlds, and some vary in use tremendously. I'm not gonna get into spoilers, but with some worlds being so combat focused, some unlocks are better early than others, but you can still manage.
Now, with there being only 7 worlds to choose from, how do all the other "worlds" come into play?
Well, every world I haven't mentioned has either a single level or no level at all. Characters like Megaman and Megan are unlocked by completing multiple puzzles and challenges throughout all 7 main worlds. Once done, you have the character unlocked and you can play as them when replaying missions. Other franchises get a bit better treatment by giving you a single level to explore a bit. Once finished, you usually unlock a character, which is alright, but it's frustrating that this system isn't explained anywhere in the promotional material. In the Steam Page, is says:
"Play with some of your favorite characters from across TV, movies, games, and comics, and explore handcrafted worlds inspired by Jurassic World, Back to the Future, JAWS, The Thing, Chucky, Battlestar Galactica, Hot Fuzz, The Umbrella Academy, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Masters of the Universe, Invincible, and many more!"
Only 6 of the 7 main worlds for the hub worlds are in the description, and they aren't even the first ones mentioned, and you won't be able to access a lot of these worlds until you usually finish the first level of each hub world franchise. People who have watched the first trailer 1010 Games put on Steam would probably think that Back To The Future and Invincible are important in the game, but they aren't. They give you no indication at how long it will actually take to unlock all the characters they showcase in the first 30 seconds of the trailer, which I imagine would bum some people out if their favorite franchise was given as little treatment as something like Megaman or Chucky. Something that adds a final straw to it is that the characters aren't THAT different from eachother. The game plays very much like a Lego game, in that most characters have the same moveset and there are a handfull of characters that have a unique ability that you'll have to use, but the variation of characterization just isn't there. Characters have different firing speeds, movement speeds, charged melee attacks, and a few have unique abilities other than a dodge roll.
I'll be honest, it has plenty of issues when it comes to bugs, some people are claiming they are losing their save files with updates, not having an option to change the cut scene volume kinda sucks, the hub world can get annoying to traverse the more worlds you unlock, and the actual character variation feels very much like Lego but worse.
I wouldn't recommend this game to many people, especially at the price tag it's selling for. The price you're paying is strictly for the ips and that's really it. At the same time, however, I really enjoy the game. I enjoy seeing all these characters I know and love being together, I enjoy using Megaman to fight through the Scott Pilgrim Movie (even though the character you chose never gets put into cut scenes, which kinda makes sense, but it would be funny to have them replace one character). I enjoy the simplicity of it on a base level but the varied gameplay of each world.
No matter what, I think this game is a little gem to keep in case you want to see a cool proof of concept, but really nothing else. Get the game if it ever goes on sale.