As a child, I was a big fan of the Skylanders franchise. I enjoyed exploring the fascinating world of Skylands, battling the evil forces of Kaos, and saving the day with a colorful cast of reliable allies. I also really liked to collect new figures to expand my arsenal and new ways to play the game, since they all had their unique elements, and playstyles.
Now as an adult, I’m a big fan of Genshin Impact. I enjoy exploring the fascinating world of Teyvat, battling the evil forces of the Abyss, and saving the day with a colorful cast of reliable allies. I also really liked collecting new units to expand my arsenal and new ways to play the game, since they all had their unique elements, and playstyles.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize why I’m addicted to gacha games
But yeah, after realizing the similarities between the playable characters narrative, the availability of the playable cast, and the overall core gameplay of the game itself, it’s my belief that Gacha is the new age version of Toys To Life, and I will prove this by primarily comparing Skylanders, with Genshin Impact
So first of all, playable characters in both Skylanders and Genshin Impact have similar character depth. In Skylanders, while they all share the overall game narrative of being banished to earth by an evil warlock, each individual Skylanders backstory is very simple. For example, Gill Grunt, a veteran fishman, is on the hunt for a Mermaid that he swore himself too during his days in the marines. Sprocket is a wealthy mechanic on the hunt for her missing uncle, who was kidnapped by the main overarching antagonist of the franchise Kaos, and Pop Fizz is just a silly little guy who likes to experiment with potions. In Genshin, while their playable character backstories are a bit more complex, they nonetheless serve similar purposes. Faruzan is a scholar trapped in stasis for years in a mysterious temple, now grappling with the new age she finds herself in, Diluc is a wine tycoon and ex knight who swore revenge on the main antagonistic faction the Fatui (The Russian mafia essentially) for the death of his father, and Yoimiya is a silly cinnamon role who likes to make people happy with fireworks. Rarely are any of the playable casts backstories relevant in either Genshin and Skylanders, and really serve the purpose of giving players a character they can latch on to. Maybe you like more complex characters like Gill Grunt or Diluc, or you like simple characters like Yoimiya, or Pop Fizz.
Furthermore, the minimal backstories of each playable character ties into a key aspect of both gacha, and toys to life, which I like to call “plug and play”. Essentially, both these games allow the player to insert any character they want in the story, and not care if it makes any sort of sense. Skylanders, in comparison to Genshin, has way less restrictions since, aside from Imaginators and side content, the Skylanders themselves aren’t central characters in the games story, and even considering the side content where the Skylanders are actively involved, the main game doesn’t restrict the player on which characters can or cannot be used. Genshin Impact does care somewhat about the lore of its characters, but is still pretty flexible with what characters the player can and cannot use. For example, characters from the nation of Natlan canonically cannot be present in other nations before the Natlan story arc. Doesn’t stop the player from pulling and using Natlan characters earlier in the story. In addition, there are a multitude of overworked characters in Teyvat, and the game uses this as an endearing trait for many of them. And yet, the player can have them wandering the world, collecting mints in spite of their workload.
Thirdly, the distribution of playable characters of both gacha, and toys to life share plenty of common elements, mainly that they’re all not immediately available to the player, and, with some exceptions, are not unlocked in a traditional way. For Skylanders, players have to endure the most daunting trial for any gamer; going outside (gasp), as Skylanders, as a toys to life game, requires the figures to first be purchased in order for them to become playable in the game. In Genshin Impact, players, thankfully, don’t have to go outside. The entire playable cast can be unlocked in game, with the caveat that they have to gamble for them using premium currency that can be earned in game or bought in in game shops. Essentially, both Genshin and Skylanders require the player to unlock characters in non traditional ways that may require monetary exchange. Skylanders even has a gambling aspect to it, as you can never be too sure if the walmart you’re going to has the specific figure you want in stock (rip child me searching for series 2 Spyro for 4 months). Taking it one step further, Toys to Life would often have second edition figures for existing characters. For example, the Skylander figure Chop Chop has his series 1 figure, his series 2 figure, his gold variant, his series 3 “twin blade” variant the translucent green twin blade variant etc. Genshin however, hasn’t yet tapped into the marketability of releasing second versions of characters, but Hoyoverse's other titles Honkai Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero have. You have Dan Heng → Dan Heng Imbibitor Lunae, Tingyun → Fugue, Anby → Soldier 0 Anby, etc. Variants of new characters are an easy way for developers to entice already engaged players with further play time (and money), and both Toys to Life and Gacha are pros at this concept at this point
So in conclusion, while on the surface gacha games and toys to life are objectively different, based on how they design their characters, I do think it’s enough to solidly compare them. From the playable characters backstories, how flexible each game is in their gameplay usage, and their obtainability and how they’re marketed, it’s my belief that gacha games are the spiritual successor to the toys to life genre.
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