Discussion: Why I'm Buying Disney Infinity 3.0

I bought the first three Skylanders games. I liked them. I have nearly 150 characters to prove it. When I decided I wasn't going to follow the Skylanders franchise into their fourth game, Trap Team, I thought that the vast majority of my interest in the Toys to Life genre was finally at an end.

Sure, I own a few Amiibo: Peach, Zelda and Jiggly Puff. But I don't feel the same burning, needs-medical-treatment-now need to "catch 'em all" that I did with Skylanders. I also collect the Amiibos with Jay, so we keep the cost down but not needlessly repeating characters.

And from what I saw in Disney Infinity 1.0, I was pretty sure I'd "never" get that game. The playsets they released for their first game were all franchises I knew nothing about. Whew! Dodged a bomb there, didn't I?

Um, no. Bombs have timers for a reason, and the Disney Infinity bomb is about to explode onto my collection shelves with the purchase of Disney Infinity 3.0.

Which leads to a really great question...

What Changed My Mind?

It all started when I saw this totally adorable figure on the shelves at WalMart. I've been drawn to Infinity figures a time or two before--Elsa from Frozen almost got a purchase, as did Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas--but I've always held off because I knew that Disney Infinity 1.0 was totally not for me. I don't know anything about any of the franchises they used, and the one I have memories of (The Lone Ranger) is something I heard they messed up. Badly.

But this adorable (?!) little Disgust figure? She almost came home with me. The only reason (aside from thinking "I don't play Disney Infinity!) was because I spent nearly $120 on the game, card reader and cards for Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. But once I got home I kept thinking about the figure I'd left at WalMart, and that lead to me researching the newest Disney Infinity game--3.0--and realizing this might be the year for me to totally jump in.

As a fan of Star Wars, there's no way Disney could release this figure set and have me not buy it. THey're just too cute! And if I'm going to buy them and get the playset piece to unlock their part of this year's Infinity, why not grab that too when it comes with Anakin (Yay!) and a new character named Ahsoka that I'll now have an excuse to research? I figure that if I buy the figures and ignore the play piece I'm leaving money on the table. Since I don't agressively collect Amiibo and don't collect Skylanders anymore, there's nothing stopping me from collecting infinity on a financial level, either.

But is the game good enough to warrant the $65 price tag that Disney is asking to get in? I've been doing a lot of research ever since I saw the Disgust figure and I think at this point--for me--it's a resounding yes. Here are a few reasons:

1. I don't feel the "gotta catch 'em all" urge that I had with Skylanders since I don't necessarily want or like every Disney character or franchise that has been made. 
2. The normal (non-crystal) figures also don't seem to suffer from as much scalping as the Amiibos do, so I don't mind grabbing one here and two there from the store or via Amazon. 
3. As with my love of Skylanders, I like the family oriented nature of the Toys to Life genre. I'm a social gamer, not a super gamer, so having a more laid back difficulty curve works for me.
4. The whole "toy box" concept is extremely appealing to me. I've been designing games in programs like RPG Maker 2000 for decades, so getting a shot at using all the great Disney stuff is really, really, exciting! 
5. There are a decent number of online options. It's still not the full online I'd like from a game like this--and it may never be, I know they need to protect kids--but there seems to be more of a happy medium here than what I've seen in other Toys to Life products.
6. Even if I don't fall head over heels for the game, I'll still love the figures I buy for it. I'm not going to look at a figure of Mulan and ask myself "Who was that again?" the way I might about Bash or Cynder these days. 
7. Since I can add to my collection at my own pace, I can invest what I want to while I decide if I am committed to this before I spend a ton of money on this. I'm sure I'll buy more than just a starter set--for me to really get into this kind of game that's a given. But I don't need to buy the 30 some figures here that interest me all in one big spending spree, so picking up a few won't be bad. 

Will Disney Infinity 3.0 give me the kind of experience I want or need? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, though: my poor, dusty PS4 is going to be very happy to see it. It's not fun being a $450 (CDN) paperweight. Hopefully this will give the machine something to do.