I almost don’t even know where to begin with my coverage of Disney Infinity 3.0 because the game itself is so massive in scope that tackling the entire thing at once feels way too daunting for both me to type up and for you to even want to read in one sitting. I decided the best thing to do would be to cover various aspects of the game in different entries, document some of what I write about in casual Let’s Play videos, and go from there.
Today’s post is going to be a little bit of a broad overview. I’m going to attach Episode 1 of my Let’s Play series for you to see some of these things I’m talking about. This will act as my review for the game itself overall. I will review each of the items sold separately for you to be able to make an educated decision on whether or not they are worth the purchase.
[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://youtu.be/c0LBOQg0j7c” width=”700″ controls=”alt” rel=”no” fs=”no” wmode=”transparent”]
What is Disney Infinity 3.0?
Disney Infinity 3.0 is the third game in what what has grown from a simple Skylanders rip off into a juggernaut of a game. As I mentioned before, the scope of DI is huge. There’s a toy box where you can build everything from Disney to Star Wars to Marvel themed worlds, create your own games and script them with in-game tools — yes, you can even make isometric MOBAs in this thing — and decorate a house. There’s even the ability to download other players’ toy boxes.
You can also play through story-driven Play Sets which act as action/adventure games. So far there are three Play Sets released — two for Star Wars and one for Inside Out — which I will review independently. There’s Twilight of the Republic ($34.99) which takes place in the clone wars era, and Rise Against the Empire ($34.99) which spans New Hope through RotJ. I haven’t picked up Inside Out yet, but I’ll probably grab it soon. Oh, if you buy it be sure to get it in the Inside Out Bundle exclusive to Amazon for $65.
Looking for something a little more like Diablo? A dungeon crawler of sorts? Yep, there’s a game for that called Toy Box Takeover ($20). There’s even upcoming Toy Box expansion called Toy Box Speedway which is a Mario Kart-esque racer. I have no idea when that comes out. I will also review these independently since they are each sold separately.
Long story short, Disney Infinity 3.0 is a game of many games.
The Toys & Stuff
Yep, brace yourself, this one’s going to hurt. Figures cost $14 each. Right now the offering is pretty decent with plenty more coming soon. Each of the character toys is has four skill trees to unlock and upgrade over time allowing you to play through both Play Sets and the Toy Box to unlock their full potential. The Play Sets themselves feels almost like complete games unto themselves, offering up several hours of action adventuring.
Currently Released Disney Infinity 3.0 Figures:
- Anakin Skywalker
- Ahsoka Tano
- Yoda
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Luke Skywalker (Included in Rise Against the Empire)
- Princess Leia (Included in Rise Against the Empire)
- Han Solo
- Ezra Bridger (Toys R Us exclusive)
- Kanan Jarrus (Walmart exclusive)
- Sabine Wren (Target exclusive)
- Zeb Orrelios (GameStop exclusive)
- Boba Fett (Special Edition Exclusive)
- Disgust (Inside Out)
- Fear (Inside Out – Amazon Exclusive)
- Sadness (Inside Out)
- Joy (Inside Out – Play Set)
- Anger (Inside Out – Play Set)
- Mickey (Toy Box only)
- Minnie (Toy Box only)
- Olaf (Toy Box only)
- Mulan (Toy Box only – Best Buy exclusive
- Quorra (Toy Box pnly – Tron)
- Sam Flynn (Toy Box pnly – Tron)
Unreleased Disney Infinity 3.0 Figure (with release dates):
- Chewbacca (September 29)
- Darth Vader (September 29)
- Darth Maul (November 3)
- Hulkbuster (November 3 – Playable only in Toy Box mode and upcoming Marvel Play Set)
- Ultron (November 3 – Playable only in Toy Box mode and upcoming Marvel Play Set)
Power Disc Packs cost $10 each, but thankfully discs aren’t random and sold individually anymore. That was HORRIBLE.
Your DI 1.0 and 2.0 figures do carry over for play inside of the Toy Box which is nice, especially if you went out and bought the dozen Marvel characters for the way-under-supported Disney Infinity 2.0.
If you are tight on budget like me, and do not have the $300 to buy all of the figures, here’s my honest recommendation: Skip the characters that are only playable in the Toy Box. Buy the ones you enjoy playing, but keep in mind that you may want a character like Ezra who can interact with tech stuff.
Toy Box Mode
With the base game itself comes Toy Box mode. Here you can build whatever your heart desires using many (read: Tons) of familiar Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars (I guess we can just call those “Disney” now) things. Want to build an Ewok Village? Go for it. Want to script the Battle of Hoth? Make it so. The tools are there for you to build everything from your own Mario Kart racer game to a MOBA. In fact, Graev and I are currently working our way through learning how to use the logic tools in order to make our own Star Wars MOBA inside of the Toy Box.
When you create a world you want to share, or if you simply want to start by playing what others have made, then start downloading other people’s creations. Some of them are pretty spectacular. Creating and sharing will earn your some kind of prestige.
Unlocking all that the Toy Box has to offer isn’t too bad. You’ll earn sparks by doing just about everything in-game, and cheesing your way through them isn’t tough. I tend to just sit back, play the game, and unlock what I want most.
Overall Impressions
Disney Infinity 3.0 is so many games in one with so much to do that I’m a little overwhelmed. Between the Play Sets and the Toy Box — not only playing but building worlds — I feel like I have hundreds of hours here. The downside, however, comes with barriers to entry: $$$. I want to hold back on offering up my thoughts on each of the Play Sets and the Toy Box modes, but suffice it to say this is a quality product with Disney’s magical stamp of quality all over it.
For the total noob that I am, could you please explain what is the purpose of the figures ? For a non-collector type of person like myself, it seems to be a total waste of material, something that I really don’t need. Unless of course you’re telling me I need the physical figure each time I play.
You NEED the physical character to play. LIke Skylanders, you place the figure on the special pad and it scans your character into the game. Your physical character stores its stats in a microchip in its base. IN other words, to play with Luke Skywalker you need his figure in your possession.
*scratches head* How does it add to the gameplay experience ? I can see many business or economic reasons to have the figures as a requirement, but my gamer brain doesn’t understand, specially since I thought we were moving toward a fully digital gaming world.
Wouldn’t be the first time I just don’t get a gaming trend 😉
The stats for your character are saved on the figure itself, so if you take it to a friends house, the character you have leveled up is playable on their game. No matter their system.
So if you are a digital only person, with no plans to go to another location to play, and don’t like the figures on your shelf then there is no real added gameplay from the figure itself. They are simply a shelf decoration that happens to unlock characters in the game.
Now I have kids that love Infinity. Disney has me over a barrel, as my kids want every figure, even if they do not play that character in the game.
@Maljjin: Kids still see the value of having that toy in their hand. Holding that figure and saying, “This is MY Chewbacca,” holds incredible power for them and Disney. It connects their game to the physical world. It’s tangible in an otherwise very intangible world. Does this add to the gameplay experience by being a physical product? A little. I do like seeing my physical collection and placing them on the board, but as a whole it doesn’t drastically make this game any better or worse.
@Tumorseal: Even as an adult I want every figure knowing full-well that I don’t want to play them all in-game. Right now I only have a couple of them (like 5) and it’s hard enough finding time to play them all. I have my favorites that I’m trying to level up.