Skylanders Imaginators: Creative Video Game or Pointless Play Time.

For this past Christmas, my little padawan was ever-so generously gifted a new video game for his playstation 3, called "Skylanders Imaginators" (see that post HERE). Now that isn't to get confused with the previous Skylander games that they've released in the past. 

He had been holding out hope to see if Santa would bring him his much anticipated gift. Well luckily my mom and step-dad made his Christmas wish come true! I knew that his gleaming smile meant he was beyond ecstatic, but I personally was curious to see if it will hold up as an efficient game with multiple ways of play. 

Our last Skylanders game was a relatively a great one, giving my padawan so many options to personalize his playing experience. I also liked that it was a game that he was able to complete the game on his own. Making it challenging, but not too impossible. 

With our previous experience in mind, I had extremely hopes that this would be a newer version, with newer possibilities and extended game play.

Inside the initial starter pack, you'll receive two characters, a creation crystal, one portal, the game disc, and a poster. There are a few other papers, but they are mostly for "fine print" readers, which I am not. 

While you don't have a huge variety of characters inside your starter pack, they do give you the capability of getting through quite a few levels. In case you're wanting new "themed" characters (bazookers, leaf, ect.), you can find them in single packs (just the character itself) or in a playset (with a land, the character, and sometimes a creation crystal).

The creation crystals allow you to simply create a Skylander, down to the tail. You don't necessarily have very many options to begin with, but as game play progresses, you'll be gifted numerous varieties of eyes, bodies, weapons, along with other body parts. 

The entire game is based around the usual bad guy (Lord Kaos) and his attempt at taking over the Skylander world, putting an end to good guys all around. You - the Skylanders - are trying your best to defeat Kaos and all of his minions around the lands, while using specific "themed" characters to unlock specific lands. 

They also have racing as one of the mini games included within the lands. 


While my padawan hasn't really gotten too far into the game itself, it is seeming to be the same level of difficulty as it was in our prior Skylanders game. 

His favorite part about the entire game, is really the fact that he can truly create from beginning to end, his very own Skylanders. You can even personalize their catch phrases!

When my son figured out that you could alter what they said, I started bursting out with laughter with the "lines" he was coming up. 

The game's graphics are really similar to the Skylanders Superchargers (his other Skylanders), cartoon characters with dimensions. The story is very similar to our prior game, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wish they would've altered it a smidge more. I understand it's not identical, but I truly feel it isn't different enough. The character variety is quiet diverse, but I also am a bit confused. 

You see, he also got a character that claims to give you a new adventure. Well so far it seems what they actually mean by "new adventure" is simply you get into a new area of Skylander land, not an additional quest with the specific character itself. 

If we're wrong and you're aware of it, please let me know!

I would say that this is an awesome game that allows the kids to explore their creativity and use them in action, but I don't know how well it would entertain older kids. 

My little padawan is 5 years old and doesn't get very much time to play playstation, so when he gets the opportunity - recently - he's been reaching for the Skylanders Imaginators. I do see his confidence arise as well, when he creates something he's truly proud of and see's it defeat the bad guys. While I don't think video games are a solution in any sense to create confidence, entertain kids for long, or teach them creativity, I do think it doesn't hurt to create while they play.

I recommend this for younger padawans, but I do think older Jedi's in training may find it a bit "boring". However, you are able to alter the difficulty of the overall game play, which could in a way give them a bigger challenge. 

Do you guys like playing video games? What about your padawans? I'm personally waiting for the Nancy Drew #33 (Midnight in Salem) to be released. 

I hope your Wednesday has been smooth sailing and you're 2017 has treated you good so far! If it hasn't, just remember you rock!