Battle-x-plorers

Recycling the infrastructure of a number of defunct cross-park interactive attractions such as Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom & Pal Mickey; S.E.A. Battle-x-plorers is an interactive cross-park tour based around the S.E.A. characters & storyline that has won over many Disney Park fans across the globe, already encompassing many attractions, now in a more interactive, tactile form. The primary form of interface with Battle-x-plorers is the use of the Play Disney Parks app, but physical add-ons are also available, much akin to the infamous WEB SLINGERS, or even this attraction’s predecessors. Battle-x-plorers, unlike SOTMK, includes all the park lands as areas you visit & interact with, to enable further gameplay & introduce you to the future SEA as well as the past. Additionally, 2-player competitive options exist & are supported at areas such as the Contemporary Resort, allowing you to take the adventure beyond the park. You can get started & filled up at one of a number of stations for your Battle-x-plorers journey, including the Main Street Firehouse, Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, & the Skipper Canteen. Signing up at the station is not compulsory, though the app version does not allow for Hard Mode without using the signup process at the resort.

Signup & Registration Process

To start the game, one can open up the functions required on the Play Disney Parks app, meaning this program has a buy-in of zero, unless you want stuff like Hard Mode, which do require a complimentary set of add-on cards, plus an optional buy in of a card scanner that can speed up gameplay & serves as a handy deck holder/organizer, as well as a way to play the game without the app/a phone. The premium entry points can be found at the Main Street Fire Department, Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, Skipper Canteen, & Auntie Gravity’s Galactic Goodies. These entry points are marked on your map as well their exteriors using the SEA insignia, & serve as rendezvous points for the cast members & guests alike, especially after they complete the missions given to them. Ready to go? Alright. Let me warn you this attraction’s tone is a fair bit more tragic & edgy than other attractions, tying to the mature appeal of S.E.A., the riebald dark humor of Walt’s day, & their “made in Japan” vibe. (Shrunken Ned, anyone? ODL has a lot of weird stuff there & it’s more than high time for the Magic Kingdom to have more of that peculiar character & less corporate shilling)

Gameplay structure

Gameplay-wise, the game does resemble a more strategic, less-combat oriented version of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, where players explore and adventure the area to find the different stations, meeting SEA members, solving logic puzzles, memorizing video clips, looking for clues, & defeating opponents. Players find the stations, which are marked with SEA embossed on brazen metal on the ground, with the kanji 海 “umi” (sea) on the wall, these decorations stylized differently in each land. These are detected by the app as well, which will give you some (sometimes cryptic, & yes they get more cryptic on hard mode before vanishing entirely) clues on how to find the stations, & points you to them directly with a 3D arrow and a mystic pulsing sound when you get closer. Every area of the park has its own story to tell with this, too, all concerning an ominous obsidian ooze of pure evil that appeared in the park one day, known as the Despair Blot, implied to be the source of the Shadow Blot from Epic Mickey, who corrupts & tempts souls in an effort to conquer & crush the entire resort. The Despair Blot’s plan involves it finding waypoints from the Magic Kingdom to the other three parks (and possibly expanding further!) by corrupting souls into its followers with the promise of power beyond all imagination, then corrupting them further & further. Of course, the Despair Blot has various locations she will confront you at, & it will take you a bit before she introduces herself as anything other than a nonsentient force of destructive ooze, so you better keep going; there be lives on the line here, yours & all of SEA, included!

The lands

So to start, Main Street USA is effectively our introduction to the Despair Blot and how it oozes through the cracks of the Magic Kingdom and into the everyday life of the various lands. Merriweather Adam Pleasure serves as the “Pokemon Professor” of the game, giving you a nice introduction to the game’s rules, and then allowing you to choose a member as your main companion/avatar. Dr. Albert Falls appears here as well as in Adventureland, surprisingly, as this chapter shows the story of his reaction to Smelding’s vengeful behavior & Merriweather’s defection from the SEA to form the Adventurer’s Club. In fact, Albert Falls helps introduce you to the multiplayer aspects of the game as a pseudo-boss (think the rival in Pokémon’s first battle, there are zero consequences for victory or defeat) fight. R.F. Blauerhimmel also appears here, discussing machines he has worked on. As you continue on, supporting characters will appear alongside SEA members in each area, on top of the new stuff introduced. Your first encounter with the Despair Blot is witnessing it violently overpower and collapse a trolley that Adam is riding on (and jumps away to safety from) before your very eyes. He is concerned, so now you must seduce and investigate who is responsible. Within a few minutes of investigation, it’s deduced to be Smelding who unleashed the Despair Blot. Later, the Blot’s influence ends up turning the wrecked trolley into a monstrous, flaming trolley-taur abomination with a humanoid upper body & a horse skull for a head. Smelding, incensed at the reaction to his treachery, jumps atop the trolley-taur and fights against you. Regardless, Smelding escapes, and poor Adam is so incensed by this poor behavior and treachery he leaves the SEA entirely in disgust and furor.

Now let’s split up and head for each land to detail the adventures that you will find while playing this interactive adventure. The most exciting stop is Tomorrowland, and to make up for Tomorrowland not being part of SOTMK, it serves as the home of the secondary attraction of this project; a revamped Tomorrowland Speedway, tying into Aunite Gravity’s as well as the game and lore; the new host of the Speedway is actually the redeemed area boss of Tomorrowland, Lorelei Orbité, “daughter” of Auntie Gravity, who appears in this game as well. Specifically, after her creation to try and defend the area from XS-Tech’s dangerous mass fraud with the help of a large defense robot, the Despair Blot takes advantage of her loneliness and desire to become stronger, trying to merge her with the defense robot so it can interfere with the futuristic SEA investigating a jewel found on the moon, and find a way to Epcot Center. Tragedy strikes, as one of the members, Clarence D’Lunis, has a crush on Lorelei and they are forced to battle. “Making sweet robot girls fight their true loves is so 1997… and i wouldn’t have it any other way!” D’lunis wants you to find the weak point of the defense robot as well as a way to save Lorelei from it. Identifying the Crystal power core with the help of the Timekeeper and T.O. Morrow (her “uncles”), you manage to save Lorelei from the Despair Blot, though there is a fake out where she seems to have died as D’Lunis holds her in his arms. Lorelei’s Speedway is also compatible with the game, and will give you some cards for it, making it into a Disney equivalent to the Mario Kart ride. Use these cards to interact with the revamped track and other drivers, and win the cup! Lorelei herself appears as the animatronic host of the racing event, found in the queue and instructing you on how to use your battle cards in the race. The SEA members of Tomorrowland (Clarence, Auntie Gravity) will also be present in the queue video, with a framed picture of Clarence as well. She also has a Sonny Eclipse poster on her wall.

Fantasyland’s adventure concerns the rise from the tomb of a forgotten queen of black magic, here to turn Fantasyland back into a primordial land of nightmares from its current state, this search being led by a disgruntled ex-friar framed for a crime he did not commit, who became tired of the festivals & wanting to lead the clergy himself to bring about change and prove his innocence, introducing us to the early days of the SEA as well as the founder, Vitale Robustelli, who serves as the host for the area. Players will have to first track down, then navigate, the queen’s crypt and avoid the traps left behind in the dark dungeon, traps reactivated by the Despair Blot, who even summons little imps to battle you. Of course, you also have to solve a formula for a potion to prevent her return. However, this turns out not to be the villain’s real plan, as the Despair Blot, empowering the dark friar with the promise of finding the real

culprit, turns him into a slimy magician creature using the Queen’s death mask. You must find the real culprit as well and bring them to Justice… and in fact the real culprit is part of solving the problem at hand. This real culprit, surprisingly, also has a sympathetic motivation revealed to you, specifically wanting to save his family from intrusions of raiders; but by then it’s too late for either of them; the Despair Blot takes advantage of it, leaving both sides to be absorbed into her. Regretful of what he has done, Vitale decides to resign, in the hopes future generations can prevent these sorts of tragedies, swearing to protect the culprit’s family, while the Despair Blot swears to haunt the SEA for generations to come, purely for her own vengeful amusement.

Next let’s go over to Adventureland, the last land where the Despair Blot is finding a waypoint over to another main gate park, that being Animal Kingdom. Here, you meet Albert Falls again, who is exploring the jungle and looking for the cause of sudden climate changes to the area causing animals to flee into the traps of poachers. You need to solve puzzles involving animal idols and ancient fossils. Well, looks like the traitor’s at it again. Smelding tries to sabotage your treasure hunt for clues, and even battles you at one point, but when he comes face to face with the Despair Blot, he begs for forgiveness. Taking advantage of the kerfuffle, Smelding escapes, but Falls decides to blacklist him from the team anyway.

Finale

Now, wherever you are, get ready for the final confrontation with the Despair Blot. She has decided to face you down personally, you of a lower moral character than the SEA, for she sees you as more temptable into darkness and foulness. She battles you in the hardest confrontation in the game, but you can put a stop to the despair blot

At the end, after the final confrontation has been done there is a hall of fame/high score table for players, where SEA are all cheering for you and your efforts. You will also be able to receive a special pin from here as well. Additionally, expansion to Frontierland and Liberty Square is possible in the future, but for now, they have areas to play the 2-player competitive version of the game.

Next: Epcot