Skylanders, the granddaddy of the toys to life genre, still appears to have plenty of life left in it. Last year’s Superchargers was arguably the best in the series thus far, introducing a racing mechanic and expanding on the Skystones card battler game. The latest annual iteration of the game, Skylanders Imaginators, may be its most ambitious yet — and also the biggest change to the series.
From the on-set of the Skylanders IP, the biggest draw was always centered around the new figures launching each year. Whether they were new figures, giant figures, swappable figures or vehicles, there was always some hook to get us to buy the pieces of plastic. The in-game characters themselves could be upgraded and customized with hats and powers, adding a sense of ownership, but everything was tied to the plastic that housed it. In other words, you were *always* playing with the same toy as your friend, with only small changes between the two.
One of the reasons behind the shrinking of the toys to life market is that younger fans have begun to outgrow the series, moving on to more traditional action games and relying less on physical toys. To that end, Skylanders is adapting to the change, seemingly focusing more on those older gamers now to who love customization and individualization. Here are some of the big changes that Imaginators is bringing to the series:
Character Creation
Imaginators allows players to create their own Skylanders characters from the ground up. The creation tool is fairly comprehensive; bodies are personalized, right down to heads, arms, and abilities, and even the mottoes they shout during the games can be selected. Abilities, animations and more are customizable, too. Characters are then added to the new “Creation Crystal”, a glowing plastic toy that saves the player’s Skylanders creation. Only one Skylander can be saved per crystal, and there has been no word yet on if more than one crystal design will be available to help distinguish between creations.
Character Classes
The characters are now divided into Battle Classes as well as elemental types. The types are standard fare for traditional RPG and MMO fans, with ten total including Knights, Brawlers, and Sorcerers. Where past Skyaldners characters tended to be a jumble of abilities, these are much more in line with other games that Skylanders fans are now playing.
Senseis
Sensei characters are sort of like the Battle Class trainers. They’ll work to add weapons, skills, SECRET skills, and more to the created characters. There are 31 in all, allowing the creations to evolve and add even more features as players progress. Not only do they help the Imaginators, they also pack a powerful punch on their own via their Sky-Chi ability.
Skylanders Art-to-Life Contest
Finally, Activision and Toys for Bob are giving fans the opportunity to have their own creations included in the game. Through a contest, fans can submit drawings and ideas to the Skylanders team via SkylandersCommunity@Activision.com and through social media with the #SkylandersArtContest hashtag.
The game will also allow compatibility for all 300+ Skylanders figures from previous iterations, which is essentially getting to Pokemon levels at this point. With a more mature gameplay core behind it, and a deep character creation embedded in, Skylanders Imaginators could be the evolution that the game needs to maintain interest from its growing fans. It arrives on Wii U, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4 and PS3 this October.
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