Skylanders, the multi-billion dollar franchise that popularized the toys-to-life genre, is back once again. This year the series goes to a whole new level in the form of Skylanders: Imaginators, where players can create their very own Skylanders from top to bottom. And with E3 2016 right around the corner, many fans and newcomers still want to know what we can expect from this upcoming sixth installment. This is where this blog comes in. Let's start with what we do know about this new game.
The Plot
"The story of Skylanders Imaginators takes place long ago when the Ancients used a mysterious power known as "Mind Magic" to create everything in Skylands. With it, they conjured into existence anything that they could imagine! However, they soon learned that in the wrong hands, it could be very dangerous, and so they sealed it away so that it could never be misused. After discovering this ancient secret, Kaos has unleashed the power of "Mind Magic" into Skylands once again - and he is using it to create an unstoppable army of Doomlanders, the likes of which have never been seen! Now it's up to Portal Masters to create Skylanders Imaginators from their own imagination and stop Kaos and his evil Doomlanders before it is too late. And to help train them, Eon is sending the greatest mystic warriors of all time - the Senseis!"
So it looks like Kaos didn't learn his lesson after everything that went down in SuperChargers and he is once again trying to rule the world with an iron fist. Kaos is creating so-called "Doomlanders" (which I'm guessing aren't the same as the Evil Skylanders from the first two games) to invade Skylands and terrorize the locals. Now we, the Portal Masters, have been given this special ability to create our own unstoppable army to solve the mystery of Mind Magic and stop Kaos once again. Although, we could use some help from the Senseis. Speaking of which...
Skylanders
You can't have a Skylanders game without the Skylanders themselves! Imaginators will introduce over 30 new Skylanders: 20 Senseis and at least 10 Villains from Trap Team. Just like last year, there will be no new Cores, since they pretty much have no use in the actual game anymore. However, you can expect to see new Eon's Elite figures being released with this game.
About the only gimmick this time around is the Senseis being marked under one of ten different battle classes: Smasher, Knight, Ninja, Bazooker, Quickshot, Sorcerer, Brawler, Sentinel, Swashbuckler, and Bowslinger. Each Sensei can perform an ultimate attack, based on their battle class, in the form of Sky-Chi. Sky-Chi is not an upgrade, instead, it is displayed by a power bar that appears next to that Sensei's HUD. Once that bar is completely filled, the Sensei will be able to wipe out (or at least seriously damage) all enemies on-screen in the blink of an eye. For those of you who have played Trap Team on the 3DS, it's kinda similar to that. Senseis can also unlock special areas, such as Sensei Statues that only characters of a specific Battle Class can unlock. If they do, they unlock a Super Sky Chi move. Additionally, Senseis can unlock unique weapons for your Imaginators. This can occur by defeating an area filled with enemies with a Sensei. Doing so will cause a purple chest to appear filled with "Imaginite". Each piece of Imaginite contains a weapon or some other special item to upgrade your Imaginators. Each weapon falls under one of four different rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, and Mythic. The rarer the item, the more powerful the weapon.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that each Sensei (Villains included) that you load into the game increases the level cap for your Imaginators. For example, if you have a total of 10 Senseis then all your Imaginators will be able to reach Level 30, regardless of their battle class. Again, this feature is exclusive to the Imaginators. All other Skylanders will remain at Level 20.
Now speaking of villains, at least 10 of the antagonists you may or may not have liked from Trap Team are back as Senseis in Imaginators. The Villains actually have their own toys, we've been waiting for this. The reason I said "at least 10" is because some people say 10 while others says 11. I'm not sure what to believe until Activision sheds more light on the subject, so let's just go with at least 10 for now. As far as I know, Activision has currently only revealed 3 of the Villains: Golden Queen (who is available in the Starter Pack), Wolfgang, and Pain-Yatta. As for the rest of the Villains, I'm not too sure about. Although, I have been hearing a lot of rumors that the remaining Villains will all be Doom Raiders. I really hope so, I want to play as Dreamcatcher, Luminous, and Nightshade again, especially since none of them appeared in SuperChargers. The Villains will have the exact same role as the Senseis in terms of gameplay, from training the Imaginators to accessing secret areas in the game. The Villains will have completely new powers compared to the ones they had in Trap Team, although some of their old moves will be revamped for Imaginators. Now Pain-Yatta and the Doom Raiders will bring the total number of Villains to 10, but if there really are 11 of them who could the last one be? My money is on Kaos, although that would be awkward since he is an antagonist again.
Now onto Imaginators. Imaginators are the titular characters of the game that are created using the player's mind. Portal Masters will have the ability to take the phrase "Ready to play God?" quite literal as they create new creatures out of thin air using their imagination. (Or if they're extremely lazy then they can always hit that "Randomize" button.) To make their imaginations come to life, players place an elemental Creation Crystal on the Portal of Power to bring their creations to life in-game. The Creation Crystals use LightCore technology to pulse like a heartbeat when placed on the Portal to let the player know that an Imaginator is currently "living" inside of it. Once in, players can choose from many different features to create hundreds, possibly even thousands, of unique combinations. It's kinda like SWAP Force on steroids, and you don't need to buy additional character parts to unlock new features for your characters. Please note that the Imaginators are stored onto the crystals, not the game itself. So don't lose your Creation Crystals. Additionally, each Crystal can only hold one Imaginator at a time, so you'll have to buy some additional crystals if you want a full army. (I'm only gonna buy one per element, but I don't know about the rest of you.)
I almost forgot about pricing, nothing is free you know. The Senseis and Villains will be sold for $14.99 each and the Creation Crystals will be sold for $9.99 each. That's not so bad, especially when compared to other toys-to-life franchises. (*cough* LEGO *cough* Amiibo *cough*)
Starter Packs
As usual, you must obtain a Starter Pack before you can play the game. Now from what I've heard, there will be no digital version this time, since the digital version of SuperChargers was overshadowed by Starter Pack sales. This means that you must buy a physical copy of the game, no exceptions. The regular Starter Pack comes with 2 Senseis (Master King Pen and Golden Queen), a Fire Creation Crystal, the Portal of Power, a collection poster, stickers, and the game itself. The Starter Pack will be priced at $74.99. But if you're a hardcore collector, then why buy the regular when you can get the Dark Edition? The Dark Edition Starter Pack comes with 3 Senseis (Dark Master King Pen, Dark Golden Queen, and Dark Wolfgang), 3 Creation Crystals (Fire, Life, and Dark), the Portal of Power, a double-sided Dark Edition collection poster, stickers, and the game itself. As always the Dark Edition is valued at $99.99 and, for the first time in the series since SWAP Force, it will be exclusive to GameStop in the United States. I'm not sure about other countries, so check with your local Skylanders retailers.
Platforms
Skylanders: Imaginators will be released October 16 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U. The game will not be released for the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, or tablet devices. This is due to those systems being too weak to handle the game's software. (Plus, the Wii is pretty much a dead console by now.) But we all saw this coming as no other major toys-to-life franchise really supports these systems anymore. Not to mention, the Wii and 3DS were both downgraded last year and were no longer looking to meet the full game, and Eon wasn't there at the end of those games to hint a sequel. So yeah, we all pretty much knew 2015 was the last year Skylanders would be coming to Wii and 3DS. Time to upgrade to the Wii U, and then to the NX if it happens to kill the Wii U.
Traps
Traps will serve no purpose in Imaginators, especially since the Villains have their own figures now. Plus, the portal included in the Starter Pack is the SWAP Force portal because Activision says its a fan-favorite portal. (Which is true, that was my favorite Portal of Power design.) However, Traps will be compatible during online racing to boost your Skylander and Vehicle stats. Speaking of which...
Racing
Racing makes a comeback in Skylanders: Imaginators. Old tracks from the previous game will return for this one, along with all-new tracks. These tracks can also be played via online multiplayer again. This is also the only way to use the Vehicles, as Imaginators omits the ability to drive in the main campaign.
Skylanders: Imaginators is Tied-In With Skylanders Academy
The game will be tied-in with the upcoming television series, Skylanders Academy, as some of the fan-favorite Skylanders like Spyro and Jet-Vac will serve important roles in the game. Usually by guiding the player through the levels and during bonus missions. Other than that, it is still unclear what else connects the game and the cartoon. Guess we'll have to wait to find out.
Well, that's about it for what we know, if there's anything I missed please let me know in the comments below. Stay tuned for Part 2, for what we don't know about this game.
-B.C. Rivers