Nintendo Wii – Matheus Pitillo

Disney Infinity

Release Date: August 18, 2013
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Genre: Adventure / Sandbox
Plataform: PS3 / 360 / Wii U / Wii / 3DS / Mobile / PC

Lets face it: everyone is a Disney fan! I honestly won't believe you if you say that at one point of your life you weren't touched by Disney's unique way of telling stories. Whether by their characters, art, animations, parks, shows, songs or even by Mickey himself. I bet you have experienced that "magic" and, if you are a human full of emotions, you probably fell in love too.

And finally the big day arrives for all of those Disney lovers: the big release of Disney Infinity, a game that - as Disney - is everywhere. Or at least in almost all platforms. The player can find it on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo WiiU - as the main console version - or even on Nintendo 3DS, following more as a "Mario Party" gameplay style. Nintendo Wii also received the game for its platform, though with fewer features, such as the absence of a co-op experience in the Play Set part of the game. And if it wasn't enough, players can also experience Disney Infinity on PC and iOS devices, offering the options to build, edit and share all of your toy box experiments at any time.

For the ones who still don't know, the game allows players to share their creations on ANY PLATFORM. It doesn't matter if you are a Nintendo player, you can easily share your Toy Box with an user that plays on PlayStation 3, for example.

WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE

Disney Infinity it is not just one game, it's a game within a game. Imagine that you have the opportunity to go back to your childhood and you are gifted with an amazing and colorful Toy Box. All you need to do is to drop all of these items on the floor and start to build your own dreams. You can do "anything", you just need to use a spark of your imagination. Who never imagined making the boring Winnie the Pooh do a quick visit to Cruella de Vil's house? Well, maybe not! Who would want to do such a thing, right? *cough cough*

The point is: while the game offers original Play Sets with original adventure experiences related to the character's Universe, it also offers a second game mode in which it is YOU who have freedom to create whatever you want, in the way that you want, to finally share with your friends and see how they will react whitin your creations. This concept allows the game to attract an even wider audience. Whether you are a big fan of the movies, or adventure games, or even if you are just a crazy action figure collector person like myself, you will always find people getting trapped inside this expensive cycle. So, by following this philosophy I will write this review in a different way than usual: find the category that best fits you and read this review. (Or, you might just read it all, since I lost loads of time writing it! LOL)

DISNEY INFINITY FOR GAMERS

First of all, Disney Infinity is not Skylanders. The only thing similar between both games is the Base that allows to have figures being "scanned" inside the game. But besides that, the games are totally different. It's almost like trying to compare Assassin's Creed with Watch Dogs, because both use basically the same control scheme. Anyway...

By purchasing the Starter Pack the player will receive three characters/figures - Jack Sparrow, Sulley and Mr. Incredible - and a Play Set with their unique worlds. Play Sets are a piece that contains the whole Universe of a specific group of characters. The player needs to place this piece on top of the Disney Infinity Base - that comes in the Starter Pack - to finally be able to access this Universe. Within the Play Set, players also needs to place their characters on the DI Base, so they can be brought to "life" into the game.

Each Play Set delivers a complete open world campaign experience - based on the Play Set theme - full of objectives and collectables. Because of the theme related experience, the players can only use the characters that are part of that Universe. So, if you want to play, for example, in The Incredibles' Metro City, you will need to use Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, Dash, Violet or Syndrome. But if you want to use different characters from different Disney Worlds, you will only be able to do it by playing in the Toy Box. And that's the good news: there is a secret Big Vault in each one of the Play Sets, that can only be opened if you use all of the characters from that Universe. By opening it you will be rewarded with an already designed Toy Box of that specific Play Set. So you and your friends can play together, without the restriction of only being able to use characters of that specific universe. Finally, there are also unique items to unlock in the Toy Box that can only be found in specific Play Sets.

Gameplay wise Play Sets also offers different types of gaming mechanics and experiences. Although all of them follows for an open world adventure idea, each one of the Play Sets focus more on a different concept. Monster University is all about pranks, scares and competing. They even have a school points scale, that reminds me the whole idea of House's competition in Harry Potter series. LOL. Pirates of the Caribbean introduces swordplay combats, ship battles and even ship customization. Yeah, you can customize your own ship! And, finally, The Incredibles gives you loads of melee combat, with super powers and small missions around Metro City.

Each Play Set can take around 5 to 7 hours to complete, plus the hours that you will spend by searching for all unlockable items. Since the Starter Pack comes with 3 Play Sets, you can easily calculate 15 to 21 hours of experience to complete the whole game of this first wave. Of course the player can always place a new character and search for all the specific missions and items related to that character, increasing even more their gameplay.

Not everything is perfect, though. Even offering different mechanics, story lines, environments and experience, all the starter play sets end up giving the feeling of lack of something. The stories are not very strong - compared to the original movies - and the missions tend to not vary too much, differing only on basic mechanics, for the same theme/idea. But don't get me wrong! I am not saying that the game, or these Play Sets, are bad. They are actually very good. But not perfect, you know? I was actually quite surprise with The Incredibles in specific, because I felt like they had a bigger variance of characters vs. powers, compared to Pirates of the Caribbean for instance. But on the other hand, in the Pirates Play Set I found that the universe looked bigger, and with more stuff to do, while the characters themselves were almost the same.

Regarding the controls, while the Nintendo Wii U seemed to be the best option to play the game - considering that the player could easily use the gamepad to navigate through the items, objectives and menus - if the player decides to play on Co-Op, the only controller that will actually work for the second player is the Wii Remote. This kind of sucks, considering that it's a mess to move and rotate the camera, or even to use special attacks etc. Luckily Disney already announced that they will soon release a patch giving support to the Pro Controller as well. Besides that, all controllers are pretty easy to learn and it seems to be very intuitive, even with loads of options to do.

Finally, if you are a gamer who loves to create your own Worlds, quests and stories, the best game mode for you will definitely be the Toy Box.

The Toy Box is this empty environment/level to be filled up with your imagination, using the items you collected in the game. By playing the main campaigns - or the characters specific Adventures - and leveling up your character, the player is rewarded with Spins. Spins can also be found in capsules, around other pre-made Toy Boxes. Those Spins can be used in the Toy Box Vault which randomly rewards the player with one item, out of 16, per spin. Every time that you want to increase the number of items to use in your Toy Box, you will need to rely on your luck and in your progression with Spins. The other option, of course, is to collect those items around each one of the Play Sets, as I said before.

It is not hard to create your own adventures, but it might require a little bit of patience. You just need to change between pages of categories and items, and finally place it on the environment. You have the option to rotate and move those pieces until you achieve the best spot for your adventure. To change textures or even to delete something, you can use the Magic Wand that offers more options to the player. There are also items that help you to quickly change the sky just by pressing a button, as well as to spawn new enemies etc. But talking about "patience" one more time, what I found a little bit frustrating is the low speed between menus and items. Maybe it's just me, but every time I decide to move from gameplay mode, to building mode, it drives me crazy because of the delay between options.

Triggers, events box and links can also be used in the Toy Box. if you are familiar with some Game Engines such as UDK or Unity, you will find that to "script" the events on Disney Infinity is very easy. Players can connect special items together and give them basic rules. You can easily link a button that, when pressed, will activate fireworks, open doors, start a song or spawn new objects or enemies. There are even cameras to unlock in the Toy Box Vault that allows you to change from top-down to side-scrolling games. And the character will also follow this pattern while locked inside this camera mode. It's awesome! And, the best part is that for the new players, the game also offers tutorials teaching the basic mechanics of the triggers and objects.

After creating your own Toy Box, you can easily share it online between your friends, or even send to Disney to wait for a review. If approved, your Toy Box can be downloaded directly from their Original Database. Players can play any toy box in any of the platforms.

So, if you are included in the GAMER category that I said before, I would recommend Disney Infinity if you like an easy-to-play adventure experience, with building and customization options. If you are a big fan of Little Big Planet and Minecraft you will probably love this game.

DISNEY INFINITY FOR FANS

It's pretty clear how much love the effort the team put into this game. Disney Infinity was made by Fans for Fans. Each one of the Play Sets features a whole new storyline in parallel with the original one shown in the movies. And it was confirmed that Avalanche Software and Disney worked directly with Pixar to make these storylines as good and complete as the ones seen in theatres. It might have not succeed 100% - as I said earlier in this review - but it was pretty close to it.

You can easily recognize the personality of each one of your favourite characters. The voice acting is stunning and the animations make them be extremely alive. It's nice to have the option to see how their lives existed after the movies and how we have total control on top of that now.

Right in the beginning of the game the player can experience one of the most beautiful introductions I have ever see in a game. All the first part is actually playable - and without spoilers - you will learn the first mechanics and controls, and also be enchanted with the beautiful Universe that Infinity is part of. All the possibilities are introduced right there, and it just make us, fans, even more excited to start building everything that we always dreamed as well.

As a fan, if there is a negative point in the game I would say that it is the lack of classic characters. Of course this problem can easily be solved soon, in the next wave of characters and Play Sets. But the thing is, as much as I love Monsters University, The Incredibles, Cars or any of other Pixar movies, I really miss the classic characters from the first Disney animations. Where is Simba? What about Ariel, Mulan or Pocahontas? One Play Set about Aladdin would be amazing as well, you know? I understand that the developers can add it, if they decide to, but I really don't get why there was a lack of this content for the first wave of the game. I just hope they are not planning to do only Play Sets related to Pixar movies...

DISNEY INFINITY FOR COLLECTORS

Now comes the best part - And also the most expensive one! If you are a crazy collector like me, you finally found the perfect game. Man, no words describes how well done each of the figures are. The quality is amazing! Their unique poses represents perfectly each one of the characters and all that I want is to buy them all, even if I don't end up playing the game anymore or bankrupting myself in the process.

And if it wasn't enough, everything related to Disney Infinity comes in waves, bundles, accessories and pieces. You will not only collect figures, but also Power Discs, albums and cases. To have the most powerful character, or the most complete Toy Box, the player can add Power Discs on top of the DI Base, to increase a character's stats, or add tools and characteristics to your own Toy Box.

For the first wave of items, there are 20 official Power Discs - 3 of them are rare pieces - while stores like Toys R Us and GameStop have their own exclusive Power Discs as well. So, if you decide to have all figures and all Discs, expect to spend at least 200 hundred dollars, if not more.

Knowing about this huge marketing, Disney Infinity created a special feature inside the game that they call the Hall of Fame. Every character or Power Disc that the player purchased and unlocked in the game will appear in this Hall of Fame as a physical statue. The statue can vary from Bronze, Silver to Gold, according to the level experience of the character. The Hall of Fame constantly evolves, growing walls, celling, flowers etc. It's a very beautiful and stunning experience to face. And you end up having your original figures in hand, but also inside the game.

So, if this review is for you - a collector - don't think twice and go buy your figures. Take zillions pictures of them. Place it inside protection cases - available from all major retailers for a small cost - and show it to your friends or enemies, so they can envy you too. LOL. Yeah, it's awesome and I love it! And since Disney knows exactly how to sell more dreams, a new wave of characters are coming soon, with new Play Sets. You will be able to find characters such as Rapunzel, Skeleton Jack, Woody etc.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

Disney Infinity has everything going for it to be one of the biggest hits for the ending of this generation of video games. It's a game that allows for the mixing of any type of genre, with the ability to create anything that only relies on your own imagination. It's a game which also puts friends and family together, with infinite fun and choices. To know for sure how long this game will last, it only depends of how long the developers will give support to it. But I would guess that it will take a long, long time, to disappear from your shelf, or from the stores.

My Personal Score: 4/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Game Articles, Reviews

The legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Release Date: November 20, 2011
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Action / Adventure
Plataform: Nintendo Wii

To criticize about a game so strong and expected as the Zelda series, requires a lot of responsibility on the part of the writer. Of course, anyone can pick up a paper - or in this case a blog! - And write whatever they want, without using foundation or even trying to prove and to invent new reasons to justify his criticism. This does not mean that an analysis is worth more than the other, but what should be taken into account is the responsibility brought along with his words. And it is thinking about this aspect that I start my review on the newest game in the series The Legend of Zelda. This time the long-awaited Skyward Sword. I believe that many may not agree with my opinion here, perhaps taking it personally and not accepting that one can negatively criticize this game in some aspects, but I hope you understand that analyzed not only the side of art, as well as technical aspects.

A friendship in the sky
A letter of Zelda comes to Link early in the game. Unlike expected, is not a distress call from the young princess, but a warning reminding you of the event between both of them. In this new adventure, Link, Zelda and the other characters do not live in the famous land of Hyrule. His new place is called Skyloft, an island that floats above the clouds in the sky. And as a floating city, the whole aspect of art, gadgets and buildings are based upon this concept. The main transport of people are already trained giant birds known as Loftwings. And, of course, the bird of Link is different from the others, causing him to suffer prejudice on the part of the town troublemakers, and compliments on the part of Zelda, her best friend from childhood and, until then, it is not a princess.

It is interesting to note that the timeline between this, with previous games in the series, follows a disordered flow. By the way history is presented, makes you believe that Skyward Sword takes place before the events of Ocarina of Time. No one can say that all games follow a sequence and complete in itself, but somehow if we were put in a timeline, that would be what makes the most sense so far, taking into account that the inhabitants of Skyloft not know the "world below the clouds", and that fear was like hell down there and was just a legend. But of course that is not enough to Zelda. She believes that there is a whole new world down there, and that even the other calling that place of legend, she was always curious to discover and prove their veracity.

Dialogues here, childish taunts there and some disputes in the sky - which is also one of the coolest thing in the game! - While Zelda and Link are talking and flying over their giant birds, a strong whirlwind comes and sucks the girl down there. So Link must leave for his childhood friend and uncover the secrets of the world below the clouds, finally discovering the evil land of Hyrule. To do this, Link meets Fi, a spirit of feminine appearance, created by the Goddess worshiped in Skyloft, which inhabits the sword of Link. She will guide Link on his journey, providing information necessary for its advancement, helping at certain times of the plot.

It is noteworthy that unlike The Wind Waker, which we sailed in a boat, fly in your Loftwing in Skyward Sword can be an amazing experience. To begin the flight speed does not compare to the time it took the boat to cross the oceans. Flying is something magnificent, practical and fun. All control of Link's Loftwing is made with the movements of the Wii Remote. And the feeling of weightlessness for the variation of speed is something that really responds very well. Not to mention how fun it is to run out of the floating island and jump in the clouds, calling your bird with a whistle and flying freely in the sky.

When the Legend evolved
Create a new game for an old franchise requires a lot of the developers, especially when it is considered a legend. What is better? Risk and develop points that have always been well-regarded in the series, but trying to innovate with what is already offered for the new generation, or keep the same rate as the previous games and be sure it will be a good game, but without any great new? Luckily Skyward Sword tries to mix a little of both and can evolve, but without slipping and risking too much. The present developments in the game are rather details that bring a more positive aspect, but it's nothing that really stands out as a great new differential, which finally could have been.

I would rate this new Zelda as an Action / Adventure game with new RPG touches. I say RPG because now this is an evolving system of items and equipment that are based on the collection of other specific materials during the game, such as jewelry, captured insects etc. You have the freedom to evolve what equipment you want and even to have a stronger shield you should evolve it or use one that best suits in the environment you are visiting then, remembering that now shields can break depending on usage unbalanced. Again, I sort as an RPG game because even the narrative of the game in the end of everything just follow the same line, the way everything is presented and the fact that Link remains a "dumb" character, makes this game even more closely matches in the genre. This inclusive, are details that should have been better observed by the creative team. First, why to offer the player a choice of answers that Link could give during the game, if all the answers will lead to exactly the same result, only changing the tone of the conversation? Or, before all the fantastic art direction and soundtrack of the game, why not this time progress and not risk a little more and dub the voices of the characters eventually? Even if that dubbing follow a dialect unique and special, as the character Fi in the game features. Well, these are questions that will be left unanswered for now...

Still treating of the technical side I must confess an initial shock that I had when I play the game in Nintendo Wii. Unconsciously, it comes to the current generation of Video Games, we are frightened when we see graphics that do not correspond with those of recent games. My first impression to start playing Skyward Sword was that something was wrong with my television. The graphics did not look beautiful, the textures are presented in low resolution and jaggies, wow, how many jaggies! But I can guarantee that after 20 minutes your whole outlook changes and the game begins to convince you perfectly, because you see a great affection in every little detail of the scenarios, colors, art direction, great level design and creativity with everything. The game features a color palette to envy others. Combining this with superb soundtrack managed by Koji Kondo, we can't criticize the game and not drooling for each new second. In my opinion, is definitely the best soundtrack of the game series The Legend of Zelda.

As we are talking about technical developments, another major difference is the new gameplay that the game presents. Attacking using Link's sword is now much more fun. Finally, with the help of the Motion Plus, the game has more accurate controls - as far as possible! - Ensuring that the movement of the sword will follow the same direction and angle that you do holding your Wii Remote with your hands. The feeling of lifting your Wii Remote over your head and see Link doing the same movement while charging the energy of the sword is amazing. Cuts are allowed horizontal, vertical and diagonal from left to right or vice versa, while the Nunchuck is responsible for the control of the shield on the other hand. And the coolest part of all this is that "with great power, comes great responsibility" and, therefore, the enemies have different strategies to combat them, which vary for the position that they defends or attacks. In fact, in the case of a difficulty curve, I found that the Skyward Sword has the greater initial difficulty in Zelda games series. I emphasize the word "initial" because although the game begins with a difficulty curve strengthened, everything ceases to exist going forward. Despite going Dungeons becoming increasingly complex, lengthy and at times even boring, the bosses in the end of each Dungeon possess a decreasing level of difficulty, which is unsatisfactory.

The Goddess Oracle
During the search for Zelda in the World below the Clouds, Link comes across another character that is also behind the girl, in which he refers to as the Oracle of the Goddess. The character, known as Lord Ghirahim, is the villain of the game and aims to resurrect their master, and for that, somehow need Zelda.

Lord Ghirahim can be one of the MOST BIZARRE villains of all time. Possessing feminine traits, haircut "trendy" and clothes that seem to ~~have gone out of the closet of Lady Gaga~~ leave it even stranger. The objectives of the villain are not fully disclosed at the beginning of the game. All we know is that Zelda is one of the chosen and possess a very vital role for both the Goddess and to generate enough energy to revive the great master of Ghirahim. So besides having to go in search for Zelda and understand everything that is happening, Link must also be present in time to protect the girl from the surprise attacks of Lord Ghirahim.

One of the sacred objects in Skyward Sword and that inclusive is Zelda that handling early in the game, is the Harp of the Goddess. It would be the equivalent of Ocarina in Ocarina of Time. During the game you also learn to play different songs on the harp, and the entire command is controlled by the Motion Plus, simulating the motion of strumming.

The Hero's Journey
Throughout all his journey and his goal of save her best friend Zelda in the World below the Clouds, Link begins to realize that there are more secrets than he could imagine. He realize that Zelda also has a mission and it will not give it up until she finish her goal, regardless of the new danger that she is running. New alliances are emerging, proving that Link is not alone in this. But to achieve your next step, the energy of the Triforce is put into practice again, forcing our hero to find within you the Strength, Courage and Wisdom enough to be able to complete this additional challenge.

While I analyze in a positive point the way that Triforce is presented in Skyward Sword, showing that Link must earn that power to move on, there is another point that disappointed me a little and added a lot of negative way for the progress of history, which is the repetition.

Okay, this new Zelda is probably the largest Zelda Game ever launched before. The total time of the game is huge if you complete all the goals and extra check for all items, and even then only if the linear narrative of the game duration is also very rewarding. However, there are several completely unnecessary moments or ways that developers justified to extend the plot. If you are one of the players that, for example, didn't like the forced repetition of the game Folklore (PS3) in return for their game scenarios, you end up feeling uncomfortable about it around here too.

After completing the initial and main Dungeons in the game to finally get to earn and acquire the power of the Triforce, Link must travel again for each of the Dungeons and achieve what is asked in the game. Of course, the scenarios change in some respects, but nothing like it so much that the players need to "recycle" level designs that at first impression, was seen in a good way. The obligation to follow the same steps again, give to Skyward Sword a downside to the game.

Still, even with some technical problems, repetitions or even that feeling that could have been a game more evolved compared to previous series, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword can stand well with an impeccable art direction, a level design to let anyone open mouth, and keeps on top, or rather, above the clouds, proving once again that the LEGEND remains as a Legend.

My Personal Score: 3,5/5

[button type="icon" icon="paper"]Written by Matheus Pitillo.[/button]

Published by Matheus Pitillo in Reviews

Tags: análise, game, Matheus Pitillo, Nintendo Wii, review, Skyward Sword, the legend of zelda, Zelda

Review: Disney Infinity

Review: Zelda Skyward Sword