The Bohrok my have been mindless beasts, but they were still interesting. Until 2007 or 2008, they were an enigma that defied explanation. We knew Makuta didn’t make them, so who did? Why were they supposed to “clean it all?” Why did the Bahrag say that the Toa an Bohrok were brothers? And so on. In other words, they raised questions that hinted that there as a lot more going on in the Bionicle world than we knew about at the time (which is kind of an understatement). And I’ll defend the Rahkshi, too–they were the only villains we’d seen who didn’t have much problem overpowering the Toa Nuva in a relatively fair fight, thus raising the stakes a lot, and also implying that if they were that powerful, Makuta must be insanely powerful. (Of course, he didn’t really live up to that implication in MoL, but that’s not the Rahkshi’s fault! 
) Compare that to the skull villains. They’re just kind of “there.” They don’t raise any big questions, and they don’t raise the stakes beyond what would normally be expected. They also seem incongruous with a biomechanical world, since Toa/Protectors don’t seem to have skeletons, at least not like human skeletons. On this point, they suffer even compared to the Rahi of 2001, because the Rahi helped with worldbuilding by giving us examples of wildlife that fit into the etablished lore very well.
To be fair, we haven’t really gotten to the skull villains yet.
This same point could be made for the skull villains. We have no idea who made them or where they’re from…
I don’t think an argument can be made for or against the skull villains’ role in the story because we only know what they look like at this point.
No, but in all likelihood, there won’t tie into the larger story/world in as spectacular a way as the Bohrok, and thus any answers about their origins won’t really tell us much.
I suppose so. We can still speculate based on what we’ve seen so far, though.
You just took the words out if my mouth. That’s my point,
there skeletons sure but what do they do for the story, nothing there just villains we don’t care about or ponder about.
!!!
So…
So we haven’t even gotten to the part in the story where they appear yet!
G1 was more about mystery
Here’s what G2 needs: a character death.
G1 didn’t get a death until 2003, and that was only temporary.
Hmmm…
I think its had a good atmosphere if nothing else.
I mean…
If that doesn’t scream “mysterious tribal island” to you, then I don’t know what would.
Secondly, with the skull creatures, I fear you’re looking at it in hero factory terms. For all we know, these aren’t shiny, new robot gangsters with skull emblems.
These are the necrotic remains of an ancient biomechanical army, or perhaps more morbidly, what’s become of the former inhabitants of the ancient city.
Lastly, I leave you with this; a picture from the end of the european version of episode eight. Based on this, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it seeming robo villainish, a la HF.
@WiIIess12 Yeah… It’s more than a little early for that. We hardly know the characters yet. It wouldn’t make an emotional impact in the slightest.
Like, a Lhikan style, PoF death? 
That would be great, but unlikely. 
Oh, you mean all those individual stills that not at all reflect the actual tone of the animations except maybe the first one?
Most cliche zombie image ever. If we’re not going to consider them skeletons, then they’re zombies, which are even more overused.
@TheEsquire
Dat pretty blue sky…wait, there’s a battle going on?
2015’s Atmosphere almost feels like spring break for the Toa. They come to a beautiful, tropical island and rek all the sh*t until the summer wave, which is when the real enemies show up.
Overused, but more akin to an ancient tribal atmosphere.
And if you want to go into the feel of the animations, listen to the music. It has a sort of mix between rock and more traditional vibes, which in turn gives a sort of bio mechanical atmosphere.
The narratives are good too; making it seem almost fable like. Really, the only thing that isn’t is the dialogue, to which I have no defense.
I don’t know, I think that for all of BIONICLE 2015’s many faults, the atmosphere is one of the main things its gotten right.
Everything has been designed to evoke the feel of old BIONICLE. The character dialogue (mostly), the design of Okoto, the narration, the backstory… the Ancient City and everything to do with it screams “mystery.” Heck, even the artistic style of the animations is a callback to the old style of online animations and MNOG.
The story itself, on the other hand, is still in its infancy, so it’s understandable that we haven’t gotten into significant developments on that front. Nobody’s died, for instance. Give it time; it will develop more. Personally, though, I think they’ve nailed the atmosphere perfectly. Serious, mysterious, with an ever-present sense of foreboding and danger coupled with humorous elements that show themselves through the characters’ personalities.
-Mesonak
I read that like this and instantly thought Meso wanted people to die
But, PoF confirmed for self-sacrifice, remember? XD /jk