Skylanders is giving series fans a chance to unleash their creativity with the latest entry, Skylanders Imaginators. A new, robust character creation system will allow players to go as far down the rabbit hole as they want. According to the marketing, the sky will be the limit in terms of possibilities.
Since the beginning of their smash-hit franchise, developer Toys for Bob started receiving fan mail from players, showing off their dream Skylander hero. This started laying the foundation for their newest addition to the franchise.
Imaginators starts players off with one of ten elementally-aligned creation crystals. From there, they can choose their hero’s class, based off existing archetypes found in previous games. Every physical part on a character is customizable, with more parts, themes, armour and actions that are unlockable through gameplay. Heroes are given even more depth in personality with sound themes and voice packages.
Players get to take their new, custom hero through an original storyline populated with both new characters and familiar faces. New mini-games will also play a role. One such example is Troll Radio, which plays like a call-in radio show. Both this and diversions like it will reward players with chests, which contain parts, sound themes, and other treasures.
Special armour and attacks can be acquired by battling Doomlanders. Through these battles, players can obtain powerful weapons, and learn new mechanics for upcoming levels. This gives an added layer of depth to the whole experience.
To help further train your custom creation, Skylanders is introducing a line of characters known as Senseis. These are powerful master heroes, featuring a mix of new characters, rehabilitated villains from previous games, and guest hero, Crash Bandicoot. Playing through your game as a Sensei will lift level caps on your character, as well as teaching them special skills.
Of course, the more Senseis you collect and play with, the stronger your hero will become. And seeing as how the level increases are incremental, it benefits the player to collect them all. For a game that allegedly has kids’ creativity in mind, the need to buy all the peripherals seems a bit greedy. Paywall barriers mean that kids will be limited in what they can do with the game, ultimately stunting the growth of their own creations. While customization is a much-needed shot in the arm to the series, it remains to be seen how far kids can go before their parents have to sink more money into it.
That said, if you are interested in diving into the world of Skylanders, it will hit stores this October. The starter pack will contain Master King Pen and Golden Queen figures in addition
to a creation crystal.
