Kid’s Corner: Disney Infinity 3.0 Twilight of the Republic Mom Review

Chances are if you’re a parent to a school-aged kid, Disney Infinity 3.0 is on your radar. Certainly, if you missed the boat on its predecessor, the 2.o, you’re almost going to have to get this one for the family. And why? Well because it’s one of the coolest games on the market for kids…. and who am I kidding, parents too. Toys to life games are cool.

And for us parents, they’re certainly cooler than anything we had to tinker with when we were kids. But is there a value in this? What’s the gameplay like compared to last year? Many say it’s a money pit and that last year’s gameplay didn’t meet expectations. With Disney Infinity 3.0, you will be surprised.

Disney Infinity 3.0 Playsets, Power Packs and Characters

You may have followed our coverage of Disney Interactive at D23 Expo, in which case you would have heard the latest announcements from Disney on the Infinity franchise. And if you didn’t, well then allow me to fill you in on the nutshell version (try to follow it’s a little confusing ). There are 3 main themes for the new Infinity. Of these, there are Star Wars, Disney and Marvel-themed sets.

The sets feature characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars properties. The slogan is,

Great Characters. Great Adventures. Join Forces.”

 

Star Wars Play Sets

For Star Wars, Disney Infinity 3.0 launched 3 playsets and like Disney Infinity 2.0 you can collect crossover coins in-game. These will unlock the ability to play certain Star Wars characters across each playset. Here’s the breakdown of the Star Wars playsets:

• Twilight of the Republic Play Set Starter Pack launched earlier this month. The playset includes two characters, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano, the game, the Toy Box expansion and base. In plot, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda travel to Geonosis after they are alerted that the Battle Droid factory has mysteriously been activated, and must discover who did it and why. The play set takes players to four different worlds (Geonosis, Coruscant, Naboo, and Tatooine) and features appearances by many Star Wars characters, including Mace Windu, Jar Jar Binks, Cad Bane, and General Grievous, to name a few. There’s also a boss battle with Darth Maul. This set is about $65. The Toy Box expansion runs $20 when bought separately.

• Rise Against the Empire Play Set has also officially launched. This playset includes Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Rise Against the Empire Play Set Piece and the Web Code Card. In the plot the Star Wars: Rise Against the Empire playset takes players on an adventure through the galaxy with Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca as they try to defeat Darth Vader and the evil Galactic Empire. It takes players to at least four different worlds: Tatooine, Hoth (where the climax takes place), the Forest Moon of Endor, and the Death Star, and features appearances by many other Star Wars Characters just as the Twilight of the Republic Play Set does, including Biggs Darklighter, Jabba the Hutt, and Boba Fett. This runs $35.

• The third is a play set based on Star Wars: The Force Awakens VII but there hasn’t been much released from Disney Interactive on its launch or gameplay.

Disney Play Set

As for the Disney theme, the Inside Out Play Set takes players on an adventure through the mind, in what is intended to be a sequel to the Inside Out film.

• Inside Out Play Set comes with Joy who is a ray of sunshine and brings boundless cheer to every adventure and Anger, the hot-headed powerhouse who uses fists of rage to remove obstacles. In the plot when Riley Anderson falls asleep on the couch watching a horror movie, her subconscious is sent into a state of chaos, and her memories go flying all throughout Imagination Land. It is up to her emotions, Joy, Anger, Sadness,Fear, and Disgust, to retrieve them all, as they fight their way through the chaos of Riley’s imagination, in both 2.5D and 3D gameplay. This set is about $35.

Marvel Play Set

Finally, as for the Marvel play set, much like the Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we haven’t heard much.

The Kid-Friendly Star Wars Twilight of the Republic Starter Pack User Experience

So Gauge (AKA Kid Friendly) was uber stoked to get his 3.0 Twilight of the Republic Play Set. He found it pretty simple to load the game into his PS4 and get started. May I just say, I watched him hold a very heavy interest in this game for 3 solid hours (until I kicked him off because video games fry your brain cells JOKES)! But seriously, he was all in. The last Infinity he had (still has) sat in his drawer until this came out. He only played it a few times and wasn’t really into it.

Disney Infinity 3.0 PLay Sets and Characters

Not only is he totally stoked about Star Wars everything, but he genuinely loves the gameplay and the cinematic breaks. The gameplay is just much more fun and with better graphics and he really loves that his favorite characters are in the game. He goes back and forth from playing to watching the show. Then, after all that, he lugs his characters around the house and plays with them. It’s an epic Star Wars battle in our home at any given moment, and I’m okay with that.

Disney Infinity 3.0 PLay Sets and Characters

Toy Box Expansion and the Exclusive King Mickey Kingdom Hearts Costume

I found that he really likes the Toy Box expansion and plays in here the most. If you have a kid (like mine) who LOVES Minecraft, then you’ll probably see the same interest. In the Toy Box space, he can build with much cooler graphics than Minecraft (I don’t even see what the fuss about Minecraft is. I hate the graphics). Plus, in the Toy Box Expansion, he got to use his EXCLUSIVE D23 EXPO King Mickey Kingdom Hearts chip which was only given to 5,000 attendees of the Disney Interactive panel along with a Mickey Mouse Character. So that was pretty sweet.

Characters

A few days after the release, little Mr. Kid Friendly got a big box at the door filled with characters! So far he’s played with all the Star Wars characters. He loves bouncing them back and forth and of course playing with them just for the sake of playing. We are opening these little by little and he is loving it. Check out the Kid-Friendly Twitter and Facebook for fun pics of these.

Disney Infinity Next

Disney just debuted Disney Infinity Next, a new online video series designed to share upcoming plans for – and a behind-the-scenes look at – Disney Infinity. This program gives fans a look at the past, present, and future of Disney Infinity and is shaped by user feedback.

Overall Value

So in my opinion, from a mom’s perspective, I love the Disney Infinity 3.0 Play Sets. I think they are definitely better than years past, that the Toy Box Expansion is awesome and it certainly makes buying gifts easy for everyone in the family. I mean realistically, when he gets a bunch of random toys for Birthdays and Christmas, they just clutter the room and get broken. With these, it’s always easy to gift and with them being small, it’s a collection I can stomach. Plus, I love playing this game with him and love all the little characters.

I give Disney Infinity 3.0 a big thumbs up, heck I give it a unicorn high-five for moms and kids and find it to be a total value.

Special thanks goes to Disney Interactive for supplying us with the product for review. It in no way shapes out opinions, but it sure makes writing these reviews a lot cheaper!