Disney Infinity

Genre: 3D Platformer / Action-RPG / Content Creation Application

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Note: Are you confused by all this “Toys to Life” stuff? Check out eShopperReviews’ helpful guide here!

Disney Infinity is a family-friendly 3D Platformer with Action-RPG elements and a Content Creation Application mode. This game was released in 2013 on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Wii, and Wii U, with an entirely separate game with the same title released on Nintendo 3DS the same year. This game takes the “Toys to Life” concept and adds to it Disney and Pixar franchises, along with a custom world-creation tool similar to what you might see in games like the LittleBigPlanet series, Mario Maker, and more recently in Game Builder Garage. As for the “Toys to Life” content, much like Amiibos, Disney Infinity figurines have NFC chips in them, which can be read by a “Infinity Base” portal device that connects to your Wii U via a USB port.

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Getting Started

For those wondering about what additional toys/gadgets/doodads you’ll need to get to enjoy this game, know that in order to play this game, you need to have a Wii U-compatible Infinity Base. This includes versions of this device made for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Wii platforms (not the 3DS, Xbox 360, or Xbox One platforms though – those won’t work). It doesn’t matter which Edition number in the series the base comes from – all edition numbers work the same.

You will also need at least one compatible Disney Infinity character figurine (this game only works with figurines created for the first game – 2.0 Edition and 3.0 Edition figurines won’t cut it). Each figurine has its own unique level to play and additional content to unlock, and different figurines have different abilities, but no specific figurine is required to play the game.

That is all you need to play the game – one compatible Infinity base and one compatible character figurine. However, if you want to fully enjoy the game, you may have to consider getting more…

If you want to play a significant portion of this game’s content, you will also want to get a compatible Play Set figurine (this game only works with play set figurines created for the first game – 2.0 Edition and 3.0 Edition figurines won’t cut it). Each Play Set figurine contains worlds with activities to do, and these worlds can only be played if you use the corresponding character. For example, to play the world of Monsters University, you need to also use a figurine of Mike, Sully, or Randall from Monsters University.

In addition, players can opt to use additional round and hexagonal Power Discs (once again, only 1.0 discs – 2.0 Edition and 3.0 Edition discs won’t cut it) to add more content into the game and give characters additional upgrades.

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Infinite Possibilities?

Disney Infinity is basically split into two sections. There’s Toy Box mode and there are the Play Sets. By default, without using a Play Set figurine, players will only have access to the Toy Box mode. This is a world creation tool that allows players to create their own small worlds, even make small levels to complete via various means. The game includes a handful of tutorials for crafting these worlds, as well as a small assortment of short levels to demonstrate what is possible. This is also where you’ll find the brief character-specific level to tackle. All of these levels tend to be either an obstacle course, a time trial, a race, or something like that. Do not expect any of these to last more than a few minutes.

While these are clearly meant to get players thinking about creating their own levels, I felt like this game didn’t do nearly enough to incentivize players to actually do so. You can’t share your works with others online or see what others have done, so unless you have someone to pass the controller to try out your hard work, that work seems empty and somewhat meaningless.

Because of this, to feel like you’re really getting a decent amount of gameplay out of Disney Infinity, you’ll really want to make use of the Play Set figurines, but I’m not sure just how I should rate this game when so much of the content of the game is locked behind these additional purchases. If you manage to track down a new copy or bought the game when it first game out, it will have come with a starter Play Set, but those buying the game now may be getting it used, which means they won’t necessarily have access to this, or may pick it up with a completely different Play Set figurine.

I can say that generally speaking these Play Sets offer a fairly open area with multiple Platforming-style tasks to accomplish. These areas are usually bigger and more detailed and world-specific than what you see in the Toy Box, and have a story that ties everything together. It’s nothing truly extraordinary, but this is definitely where the meat of the game will be. Unfortunately, it’s also where a part of this game’s core appeal crumbles away, because players can only take characters into these worlds that were originally from these worlds, dulling the thrill of the crossover potential this game seems to be built on.

Another element that seems somewhat lacking here is the controls and overall design of this game. So much of Disney Infinity feels scatterbrained, with button placements that don’t always make sense, and the Toy Box mode in particular is surprisingly obtuse and difficult to wrap your head around for a game apparently designed to appeal to children. Many players will be left scratching their heads at just how all of this is meant to work, and will have to explore around to try and figure everything out, and doing so can be frustrating and tedious.

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Disney Magic?

The presentation here is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, this game’s opening really does a wonderful job selling players on the magic this game potentially offers players, warping them from one Disney world to another to another, with 3D representations of these worlds and characters that all look fitting, but have an exaggerated and unified style that looks… off. Still, if you can get used to the off-model look of things, there seems to be a sufficient amount of magic here, and the game even has some of the voice actors for these characters (though not all) reprising their roles… but inevitably, the game always stumbles over itself while trying to impress you.

Quite simply, Disney Infinity on Wii U has severe performance issues, with massive dips in framerates, brief skipping and freezes as it tries to catch up with what it’s trying to do, and this is on top of the frequent load times, both with and without loading screens. Not only does this kill a lot of the “magic”, but it affects the gameplay too, making even moving through the game menus feel like a chore.

The result is something that feels ambitious, but with an execution so rough and frustrating that it feels like this game either needed more time to work on smoothing out the port to Wii U, or perhaps they should have just made a completely different game.

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To Infinity and Beyond?

I can still appreciate how ambitious Disney Infinity is, despite its many, many flaws. Rather than just sticking to the same formula as Skylanders or Lego Dimensions, Disney Infinity tries to offer players not only a way to take their favorite characters on an adventure, but also create new adventures for them too. Unfortunately, the Wii U version of Disney Infinity is horribly unpolished, with massive performance issues, its Content Creation elements are half-baked and confusing, and the meat of its content is spread across Play Set figurines in a way that truly makes it feel like this game is trying to hit you over the head with its monetization, even more so than other Toys to Life games. As a result, while there is a fair amount here to enjoy and play with, it’s hard to recommend it over the likes of Skylanders, which is more accessible, runs better, and isn’t nearly as limiting in the way it uses its Toys to Life concept. Unless you absolutely need Disney characters in your Toys to Life game, skip this one.

tl;dr – Disney Infinity is a family-friendly 3D Platformer with Action-RPG elements and a Content Creation Application mode where players are enticed with the promise of an epic crossover featuring all their favorite Disney and Pixar characters, and being able to build their own adventure for those characters. Unfortunately, the game is unpolished, suffers nasty performance issues, is overly confusing, its Content Creation elements are too limited, and its 3D Platformer and Action-RPG gameplay is too restricted by the Toys to Life elements. Unless you absolutely need a Disney-themed Toys to Life game, this is not the Toys to Life game you’re looking for.

Grade: C-

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