On the story mode play-through, don’t worry about any collectibles or side quests. Just try to get through the story. You’ll need to go through each level again in Free Play mode later and it will be much easier to pick up things then when you have more characters and items available.
Don’t worry about collecting all the studs or dying. Later you will pick up stud multipliers that will dwarf any amount of studs you collect in story mode.
Enjoy the story cinematic cut-scenes. They mirror the action, music, and voice-acting from the Peter Jackson movies but with some whimsical LEGO touches and homages to other games. You can’t skip them in the first play-through but you will be able to later (by pressing A then Y).
There is no explicit Save command in the story mode play-through. Watch for the glowing ring in the lower left corner of the screen which means the game is saved. In some of the longer levels you will also find Save Statues which will make the game save at that point. Then you can quit and not be alarmed by any “Progress will be lost” messages. Note that the “Save and Exit” command will save any studs or collectibles you’ve found but won’t save your location.
Map Stones look similar to Save Statues but have small blue twinkling lights rising up around them. You can press B when you are near these to activate them, but I’d advise you to just skip them. We’ll pick up all 16 later for an achievement.
If you are stuck at some point about what to do next in a level:
- Smash all the LEGO objects you can
- Try using all the characters you have available. Watch for character-specific clues:
- Mound of dirt (brown studs with tiny pebbles bouncing around) -> Sam (or someone using the Mithril Trowel item)
- Sprout of a plant -> Sam (or someone using the Mithril Trowel item)
- Fire pit or other flammable object -> Sam (or someone using a tinderbox item)
- Target or arrow slots on walls -> Legolas or another elf (or another elf or someone using a bow item)
- Glowing green leaves on ground -> Legolas or another elf (or someone using the Mithril Spring Boots item)
- Swing poles -> Legolas or another elf (or someone using the Mithril Gloves item)
- Cracked LEGO stone -> Gimli, might need to jump-smash with A then X or be thrown by a larger character (or someone using an axe item).
- Objects with light blue sparkles or aura -> Gandalf (or another wizard)
- Fishing jetty -> Merry or Gollum (or someone using a fishing pole item)
- Fire to be extinguished -> Pippin (or someone using a bucket item)
- Crawlspaces -> Any hobbit or Gimli or Gollum
- Tightropes -> Legolas (or another elf) to walk on top, any character to hang under rope
- Shiny Mithril objects -> Berserker (or someone using the Mithril Fireworks item)
- Orange handle -> Sauron or an Uruk-hai (or someone using the Mithril Boxing Gloves item)
- Golden rope hook -> Sam (or someone using a rope item)
- Dark area -> Frodo or a wizard (or someone using an item like Luminous Stone or Magma Rock)
- Try using different items, including ones in the Treasure Trove
- Try looking behind things
- Try moving “down-stage” to the front of the scene (towards your screen).
- If there is an icon in the top middle of the screen then you must find that item. If there are a set if similar icons there then you must defeat that many enemies or accomplish a task that many times (they will get a red X when you have finished one). When you are in a battle with some major enemies you will see hearts in that area; each boss with require some different action to knock out their hearts.
- When you pick up an item that has a specific use, a golden arrow pointing down will show up to direct you to where you should use the item. You also sometimes see this arrow pointing you to specific objectives.
- If all else fails, you might read the book that came with the game.
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