How Lego Dimensions Is Aiming For Bigger Adventures In Year Two

The Lego Dimensions train is going to keep right on rolling into year two, with 16 new properties being added to the toys-to-screen game over the course of the next 12 months. I had a chance to play around with some of the year two characters and worlds at E3 2016, where I was told the name of the game in year two is "even bigger experiences."

Rather than releasing an entirely new Lego Dimensions game, the team decided to use the original game as a platform from which to build entirely new experiences. That's a pretty great idea, as it allows folks to keep right on paying without ever needing to swap out a disc. The main story of Lego Dimensions has been told, so part of year two's big draw will be six story packs that unfold their own adventure.

It was explained that, just like in year one, story packs will also boast their own unique adventure world to explore and a new addition to the series, battle arenas, and dressings for the game's portal. The stories are planned to be meatier than ever and those portal dressings will allow you to customize the toy stand to make it look like, say, the Chinese restaurant from the upcoming _Ghostbusters _movie.

The battle arenas are perhaps the most interesting addition, as there will be 21 in all and they allow for four-player local competitive modes. The one I saw while at E3 boasted a level from Adventure Time where players were tasked with capturing and scoring an enemy flag. It's not as straightforward as that, though, as you can collect bits from around the world to upgrade the defenses around your own flag and even pick up special boosts hidden here and there to help you gain an edge on the competition. It was a fun romp and will give folks who already love playing Lego Dimensions together even more reasons to do exactly that.

As mentioned above, players can expect more properties than ever before in year two, once again living up to that goal of bigger experiences. The cast is as diverse as ever, too, featuring the likes of Gremlins, Harry Potter, Mission Impossible, Sonic the Hedgehog and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The team teased that a couple "surprise properties" might also pop up along the way.

I had the opportunity to tool around in the Ghostbusters world where I got to see a couple of new gameplay features in action. Some characters will allow you to pick from multiple team members with the use of just a single figure, for instance. The one Ghostbuster miniature, as an example, can transform into any of her teammates, each one boasting a unique ability.

The new portal ability on display in this world was a sort of dimensional rift, opening up tears in space that must be explored in order to push the story forward.

It was explained that clever interaction between year one and two toys is also being plugged in, which players will need to experiment with in order to fully enjoy. The example I was shown was using the Scooby Snack from year one with Gizmo. Feed that little guy a snack and he turns into a faster, stronger gremlin.

It's going to be a busy year for fans of Lego Dimensions, so get ready to dive into those first new content packs when they start rolling out this September. Based on what I saw, you might want to go ahead and invest in a bigger toy box.