A few questions

[Jon.Topps]

1. I see a lot of people posting about the absolutely idiotic method of saving in this game, where you actually have to complete a whole level before it saves. Is there a way to save while you're on the island before going into a level? Like if I've opened up a gate or something? Any way to manually save, at all?

2. How do you go into freeplay? And how do you use the characters that you've unlocked?

3. I see people talking about buying stuff, which I've seen in other Lego games I've briefly played at a friend's house. Where do you buy stuff here?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Bluedemon]

You do not in fact need to finish the level to save depending on whether you are playing the story or replaying the level in free play. In story mode you have to wait until you get to a checkpoint then use the signs to save and exit. In freeplay just when you select return to island in the middle of the level click the save and exit rather then exit. I did that in my freeplay of the levels to go back and get the mini kits I missed usually in chases etc. To buy players in free roam once you complete the story for one of the movies you can select players freely, you can also purchase them in that menu if you've unlocked them. Or find them in the world and buy them from there. Red bricks can be bought in JP1 Visitor Center, or JP World in the big pyramid mountain thing near the front.

To unlock freeplay you have to complete the entire "movie" like 4 or 5 levels and then you can just either select them from the map and select Freeplay choosing what character you want to start with and then you can change into any unlocked character from the character menu (holding down Y on the xbox controller).

I know your post is a couple of weeks old so you might have figured this out already, but if not hope this helps you out. Except for a few minor bugs/glitches I really enjoyed playing this and just 100% this evening.

[Jon.Topps]

Thanks for the help! And congrats on the 100%!
I'm finding the general process of the game really annoying. Like I'll start up, and be wandering around the island, not even really knowing where to go. I've randomly found where to buy stuff a couple of times now. Just in general it's a painful type of UI to navigate. But thanks for the tips, I'll try them out next time.

[Toad4Life]

1. All of the stuff you collect in the level will save as long as you save at the checkpoint.
2. Freeplay for the world map unlocks when you complete the movie. You can enter freeplay on levels you completed after completed and if you can physically access them.
3. You purchase RED bricks from the Visitor Center on Isla Nubar, and you can purchase characters from the character select screen in free-play on the world map or as you see them roaming around.

[Vulpis]

Just as a note, there's two visitors centers to buy red bricks and such at--the one in the Jurassic Park 1 area, and one in the Jurassic World area.