darkSpyro

The must of cancelled the heroics the same way they cancelled using the old Adventure pack levels.

Because you can jump and they were to lazy to remake all of them again.

Adventure packs I hope will be returned to us since they'll have time to work on those. If they don't I'll live, but I'd like to see that. However, they need not be so lazy in taking away one of the things that actually makes you bond with your characters outside of just being plastic toys you throw on every so often. I think I gave two very viable solutions a few posts ago about how they could have gone on with Heroics if they just made 46 (or however many) new ones. At least I'd have a reason to get every character to unlock them.

Considering how big the new levels are, they could've done the same they did in Giants and just used parts of them for the new Heroics. It's not the same engine,but Giants also had a lot of changes when it came to scrapped enemies(replacing Shadow Knights,for example) and updated 'areas' for the heroics(the ones in Crawling Crypt being the most obvious,since everything looks more round and unsaturated). Jumping wouldn't really break the levels(unlike the Adventure Packs,which could be broken with it considering the small ledges some had) since they're usually with very high plataforms and enclosed spaces,except for the occasional Bounce Pad which are still around in SF.

They could've programmed the logic to incorporate stats from SSA and SG and if they were all complete give you x stats (not the crumbs they threw at us like 2 speed 1 critical hit etc). For those who were knew to the franchise...they could've used the Bonus Missions as a rewards system to improve stats specific to skylanders (again stored on the figure) and still kept the legendary treasure stuff for those that didn't want to bother but still have an upgrade system for global use.

My guess is that it was getting a bit hairy to keep track of all of this, so backed off of it. If they can create "a" system for storing the information, but allow the developers the abilty to mix it up in terms of "how" we do it in game would be great.

As monotonous as upgrading the skylanders in Giants was...I was hoping that just like from SSA to SG---some of your work would be realized...I believe there is some neglible nod to recognizing work done in those two games but it's essentially a slap in the face.

At least everyone who can go into the previous two games will look and act good...

One last general rant...they need to define a metric system for these stats and KEEP THEM CONSISTENT. PLEASE.

On the adventure pack---it would be a bottom up re-write...the levels can't just be imported in. I'm glad they didn't work at returning them....well...because we've already had those adventures. If they can settle on the engine etc I think bringing it back isn't out of the question-problem is communicating what does/doesn't work would be harder...so my money is on no.

Swap Force is the least played version at our home. They did come up with some very good character design, but i often wished i could take them into Giants.

Here's a summary of whats wrong with SF, some of it mentioned by others
1. The game lacks character and charm overall like the Arena. Other examples abound like the item shop. Giants gave a lot of memorable elements: Flynns ship, granted is small, but there was this chapter where it was the setting of an adventure, the Oracle, Wilikin Village and Stompy Mage, Drill-X, the Conquertron. In Swap Force nothing sticks to mind.

2. The nerfing of existing characters. This was a big disappojinment. We always thought we could use our existing favorites when it became too hard for the new ones. Imagine our disappointment when Eye brawl couldnt last two minutes without dying.

3. Loss of heroics. This combined with above dissolved all our attachment to existing collection/characters. Older characters deserved their power and their reputation as being powerful. They took all that away. No one who is new to the franchise would want to own the old ones if they cant hold a candle to the new characters. Hunting for old characters was fun and desirable back then, now its unnecessary.

Swap force is good, I really got into giants and because we only have 3 slots and 5 players it is a problem in my house.........

I love skylanders and I would like to see the programmers go back and make expansion packs of spyro's and Giant, not the 1 level item I mean a 20 level cd. They could include the jump and in new version of spyro and also add more heroic challenges. I think they could milk the current 3 games (spyro, giants and swap) for at least 2 expansion per versions and they could find a whole new group and kids buying and playing the old characters over the next 6 years while looking at the next skylanders versions.

This would reward the current players who have purchased the characters and find a whole new group of players buying new releases of the spyro characters plus it would give the parents more reasons to buy more skylanders if they knew activision was going to keep the current figures useful.

You know what would be amazing? The ability to beat the snot out of Rufus and Gorm. I'm tired of listening to these clowns without the ability to immediately skip whatever useless babble I've already heard a million times over. In the first game, if you accidentally hit Flynn or Cali with an attack, they responded to it. I'd like that with Rufus and Gorm, then at least I'd get a little pleasure out of having to hear their voices.

Edit: Why does this game hate giving speed for characters? A charm with +1? Which, thanks for nothing by the way! Only two treasures thus far, one with +2 the other with +5? Unless we get one in Sheep Wreck Islands, then that's all we get. Why do they love slow characters this time around? So annoying!!!

Cons
1: I don't like how they shove so many characters down my throat and throw them away later. (What happened to Cali and Hugo?)
2: No heroics (this topic)
3: Swap zones. I just think they're just gimmicks and difficult. (I died so many times on the rocket zone on the first run)
4: Giants are useless because they are just too slow and only exists in the game just to open crates.
5: Elemental Gates. There are barely any in the game being replaced by duel gates which makes people with one controller want to buy more swappers if they want to %100 the game. (I can see the money in their eyes)
6: Op hats. They have a huge gaps in stats compared to the ones in Giants.
7: The intro of the post game. It takes forever to start the game for me.
8: The story: It is very forgetful.
Pros
1: Graphics. They are a huge improvement from last year
2: The Hub. It is the biggest with many activities and secrets. (Unless you have the Wii version)
3: The levels. They are huge and hold secrets, mini-games, and enemies.

Quote: Eggers

You know what would be amazing? The ability to beat the snot out of Rufus and Gorm. I'm tired of listening to these clowns without the ability to immediately skip whatever useless babble I've already heard a million times over. In the first game, if you accidentally hit Flynn or Cali with an attack, they responded to it. I'd like that with Rufus and Gorm, then at least I'd get a little pleasure out of having to hear their voices.

Edit: Why does this game hate giving speed for characters? A charm with +1? Which, thanks for nothing by the way! Only two treasures thus far, one with +2 the other with +5? Unless we get one in Sheep Wreck Islands, then that's all we get. Why do they love slow characters this time around? So annoying!!!

But, I need to know, Skylander friend. Are you ready to achieve physical perfection to rival my own?

Quote: GhostRoaster

Quote: Eggers

You know what would be amazing? The ability to beat the snot out of Rufus and Gorm. I'm tired of listening to these clowns without the ability to immediately skip whatever useless babble I've already heard a million times over. In the first game, if you accidentally hit Flynn or Cali with an attack, they responded to it. I'd like that with Rufus and Gorm, then at least I'd get a little pleasure out of having to hear their voices.

Edit: Why does this game hate giving speed for characters? A charm with +1? Which, thanks for nothing by the way! Only two treasures thus far, one with +2 the other with +5? Unless we get one in Sheep Wreck Islands, then that's all we get. Why do they love slow characters this time around? So annoying!!!

But, I need to know, Skylander friend. Are you ready to achieve physical perfection to rival my own?

We all know the only thing Gorm's lifting while standing there is a big bottle of 'roids!

Quote:

I'd like that with Rufus and Gorm, then at least I'd get a little pleasure out of having to hear their voices.

That's something I also noticed and missed, though I didn't bring it up because it's kind of nitpicking. It ties in with the "personality" point.
Skipping cutscenes- when you even CAN skip them- takes too long in SF. It might sound impatient but when I just want to play a quick session I shouldn't be forced to sit through all this dialog and keep getting interrupted by unskippable cutscenes. It's one of the things that makes me keep going back to Giants instead... Even just booting up the game is much faster, the load times are shorter and you can skip all the intros right away.

I like Giants better. Maybe I'm just trying to go "hipster" or something as I said the same about Giants, I said I liked SA better and hated Giants before(and looking at it now Giants > SA slightly), but Giants just plays smoother and has more personality. Also feels more memorable. The benefits of Giants outweigh those of SF for me... I love the level design of SF and most of the graphics, as well as some of the new Skylanders(those I like I really like, though some just don't feel exciting at all and I genuinely dislike a couple[]), but in my opinion most other stuff like the toy integration, battle mode etc. was a step down. SF is technically better but less fun to actually play... And that's what's important.

Ever heard of Croc: Legend of The Gobbos? It has so many issues, but by god, it's so cute and charming and has some really cool stuff. It's enjoyable to play even though it needed to fix some things and has a couple of really bad points and stupid design decisions. If you look up "flawed but fun" that game is the very definition of it. I'm not trying to say that Croc is better than SF... But I had a bit more fun playing it and mindlessly, pointlessly exploring the world just recently than I did with being constantly interrupted by cutscenes in SF .
If you want a more recent example to prove I'm not going easy on it since it's really old and somewhat dated, Minecraft has a huge flaw: the lack of tutorials on items insures frustration and forces you to rely on the Wiki and other out-of-game sources to understand what you need to do to progress sometimes, but it's still a great game to just explore in and have true freedom with. And it's fun.

Technical stuff is really freaking important and bad technical aspects can ruin a game; heck, you don't even need to look outside this franchise, just look at n-Space's Skylanders games on the 3DS(though maybe I'm honestly too harsh on them, considering I went easy on Croc...), games with some decent design ruined by some draining technical aspects including game crashes which seem to make little sense, as the games don't pull off anything that's really technically impressive to a player, and the games have little truly interesting or attention-grabbing design. But if I had to choose between VV's polish (3DSSA and SF) and TFB's personality (SSA, Giants) I'd pick the latter. SF has less glitches and better graphics and it fixed some bad design decisions and it's more "clever"... But the other two are just more fun and they're technically good enough, they didn't need to be "perfect" technically and neither did SF.
Honestly, looking back at it I don't even have fun with 3DSSA any more and started liking n-Space's a little better because they fixed a couple things VV horribly failed at, and stupidly didn't include, even though 3DSSA has amazing technical aspects and cool feature that I wish VV had integrated into SF and that I'm upset that n-Space canned. I like the incredibly smooth menu design and level selection, and I adore some of the level design because of cleverly-hidden shortcuts. Also, pretty much every single Skylander's moveset is genius. Maybe in the case of 3DSSA I got bored because I played it for over 300 hours, though, and also because there's no real point any more since level 10 is so easy to reach in Giants/SF. Regardless... It kind of proved my point even more as 3DSSA is literally just grinding to level 10 but I still had fun with it for longer than I have SF, played the latter more but enjoyed it overall less than the former. SF is a case of TOO MUCH... With little feeling of reward for doing it.

I just hope that the developers make the games more "fun" and rewarding next time. It's not quite there in SF... It's a technically amazing game but it doesn't feel like it has much heart, not to discount VV's work as they obviously did put tons of work into it, but I feel like they put a bit too much into "perfecting" and making the new graphics/making the game glitchy as little as possible... It's good that they're updated and it will help the series so that it won't age so bad from now on, and they won't need to do it later, but they didn't need to go this far and should have spent some more of those resources on just making playing it more fun.

Lemme wrap this up: compare the graphics styles the Simpsons has used... The new one is more technically correct but the off-proportions and bounciness of the older style is more interesting, and stands out more, it's technically worse in things like proportion and has less shading but looks mostly better... You don't notice that the proportions on the older style are oh so slightly off or how "unrealistic" it really is to the point it distracts you from the show, and it doesn't look bad, so it's not an issue. The new style is, ironically, the opposite: it has subtle touches that kind of imitate the older style but you don't really notice them. If you look at some other older pictures from The Simpsons you can see how detailed backgrounds, animation and everything was in general and how they had little subtle touches on a lot of things, more personality, and had subtle things that set moods, which aren't in the new version much. http://deadhomersociety.com/20...o%C2%A0college/ http://deadhomersociety.com/20...ast-nude-burns/

I doubt Skylanders will go on that long or get worse to the point that The Simpsons did. However, in my opinion... The Skylanders games are the same as Simpsons animation in the respect that SF's efforts do have some touches SA and Giants had... But you just don't notice them much, so they really don't matter very much. The aforementioned "personality" SA and Giants had is rare in SF- there were still a lot of "hidden" touches in those games, but you could see more personality on the surface too, and it gave the games a wonderful charm. For instance, the Skylanders had their own cute little animations on their stats screens in Giants, which is gone in SF. The NPCs in SF all feel flat- agreed Giants was somewhat the same but SA wasn't so much, it had more subtle touches in writing. Look at the TTL integration... you can still imagine you're a Portal Master and it's briefly mentioned a couple of times but it's not important like it was in SA, and even worse than it was in Giants. It's a shame, as those things drew you more into the experience and were really great, they just added so much to the games. I hope that the series doesn't continue this "technically better but less fun" trend. That's not to say they can't do both but a bit of focus should be taken away from making things "perfect" to make things a bit more "fun" sometimes.

I'm not even sure what I'm rambling about even more, point is go play Croc for the PS1, if you're a fan of mascot platformers I think you'll like it. It's simply flawed in some respects but it's absolutely adorable so it's still very fun to play despite its problems.

Anyway, overanalysing... Over! I chose between writing this or playing SF again, so.

Here's your +1 speed charm. Try not to use it all in one place.

You're right, Arc, there really isn't much reward this time around to justify the annoyance that people like Rufus and Gorm and the cut scenes are. At least heroics rewarded you for buying new characters and playing challenges with them. Now that I'm at rank 80 and I have every collectable in the game, where's my motivation to continue? I can assure you, without motivation to keep playing, I have no interest in buying further figures for a game that will soon be starting it's very own dust collection. I really feel like they shot themselves in the foot in more than a few ways by taking away heroics and all the boosts I got with them in the past.

I think the question really goes down to: who's to blame? Did VV do this because this is now their game and they'll do what they want? Activision decide to just throw it all away? Personally, I'm hoping it's VV's fault because then when TFB comes back next time they can correct this mess... then just never let VV develop a console game again or I'll just skip their versions.

I love the fact they have removed heroics.

They were too easy and felt like a 'requirement' to have a competitive skylander, aside from that though I cant comment on the other points, I'm only halfway through hard, however I certainly seem to level fast...easily get new characters to lvl 10+ in one level.

looking forward to doing timer challenges after completing the game in nightmare - I hope theyre difficult!


PS: Personally...I never liked giants (the skylanders not the game itself) they were always too slow and bulky..and even the useful ones felt too overpowered and made the game too easy/boring to play - I like the swap force guys as they are still nimble and arent TOO powerful compared to normal skylanders)

Quote: IJJusion

I love the fact they have removed heroics.

They were too easy and felt like a 'requirement' to have a competitive skylander, aside from that though I cant comment on the other points, I'm only halfway through hard, however I certainly seem to level fast...easily get new characters to lvl 10+ in one level.

looking forward to doing timer challenges after completing the game in nightmare - I hope theyre difficult!


PS: Personally...I never liked giants (the skylanders not the game itself) they were always too slow and bulky..and even the useful ones felt too overpowered and made the game too easy/boring to play - I like the swap force guys as they are still nimble and arent TOO powerful compared to normal skylanders)

Yeah,but playstyle and opinion =/= should be in the game or not. I don't like PVP,but Heroics gave those people something to do(and something for me to do when I'm done with being horribad at Arena Challenges) ; my sole giant is Tree Rex,but it's bad that VV decided to push them to the side with the drastic speed loss when their own walking gimmicks are the only way you're surviving in Nightmare.

Quote: IJJusion

I love the fact they have removed heroics.

They were too easy and felt like a 'requirement' to have a competitive skylander, aside from that though I cant comment on the other points, I'm only halfway through hard, however I certainly seem to level fast...easily get new characters to lvl 10+ in one level.

looking forward to doing timer challenges after completing the game in nightmare - I hope theyre difficult!


PS: Personally...I never liked giants (the skylanders not the game itself) they were always too slow and bulky..and even the useful ones felt too overpowered and made the game too easy/boring to play - I like the swap force guys as they are still nimble and arent TOO powerful compared to normal skylanders)

Leveling up is only HP...Heroics addressed the other stats of the skylander. You weren't forced to play them...so no harm no foul...but for those that liked to do it (or at least have the option) was sorely missed here. It only seems to be about stars now. I'm looking around for Super Mario Galaxy.

Silly thing...why do skylanders announce themselves ON EVERY PVP BATTLE. SG didn't do this and nodded when the landers didn't change...why did they do this? It adds a TON more time to the loading... I also miss the announcer talking during the load screens. I do recognize they fixed that awkward pause during the win and now the skylander and the announcer don't clash (ie don't talk at the same time).

Quote: Eggers

Personally, I'm hoping it's VV's fault because then when TFB comes back next time they can correct this mess... then just never let VV develop a console game again or I'll just skip their versions.

A tad harsh...they did a ton of stuff right...I'm thinking they got a lot of negative backlash about needing to buy skylanders to do the heroics. They should keep the concept of heroics there but the implementation shouldn't require additional purchase. I'm thinking because of the backlash they just canned it entirely instead of tweaking it.

VV got the difficulty / reward right...and the survival / bonus missions are very balanced. The star concept is great and forces you to get better across the board on all aspects of the game...they just needed to bring more toys to life to the party.

Quote: GhostRoaster

A tad harsh...they did a ton of stuff right...I'm thinking they got a lot of negative backlash about needing to buy skylanders to do the heroics. They should keep the concept of heroics there but the implementation shouldn't require additional purchase. I'm thinking because of the backlash they just canned it entirely instead of tweaking it.

VV got the difficulty / reward right...and the survival / bonus missions are very balanced. The star concept is great and forces you to get better across the board on all aspects of the game...they just needed to bring more toys to life to the party.

And a better characters,and better plot,and better toy design. And SPECIALLY not forget that TFB made two games and stablished awesome things before throwing a bucket of paint on Dread-Yacht,demoting Cali to a cameo, ignoring Giants' lore and implying it's in any way improved.

Quote: Bifrost

Quote: GhostRoaster

A tad harsh...they did a ton of stuff right...I'm thinking they got a lot of negative backlash about needing to buy skylanders to do the heroics. They should keep the concept of heroics there but the implementation shouldn't require additional purchase. I'm thinking because of the backlash they just canned it entirely instead of tweaking it.

VV got the difficulty / reward right...and the survival / bonus missions are very balanced. The star concept is great and forces you to get better across the board on all aspects of the game...they just needed to bring more toys to life to the party.

And a better characters,and better plot,and better toy design. And SPECIALLY not forget that TFB made two games and stablished awesome things before throwing a bucket of paint on Dread-Yacht,demoting Cali to a cameo, ignoring Giants' lore and implying it's in any way improved.

It's not some much an opinion that it is fact that the game was improved even if you don't agree with the changes. There are things that got left out that I miss and would have liked to have seen but the game is still improved. I've been a gamer for about 30 years and I can tell you that not all improvements go over well. They gave us a lot of excellent features that work really well. I will list a few:

1. Jumping. Like it or not it does improves what they can do with the game as far as game play options. Mesmerelda's (sp?) encounter would be lacking without it as would several other points in the game.

2. Swap Zones. They could have simply been lazy and just given us Elemental Zones or Swap Zones behind Elemental Zones but they made them independent and made them feel very organic inside the game.

3. Graphics. That speaks for itself.

4. Increased level size. Again self explanatory.

5. Charms and Legendary Treasures AND the removal of Heroics. Now this is a touchy one. While it might not be welcome across the board it did improve efficiency as far as globally buffing your Skylanders. They did experiment with this in Giants with the Luck-O-Tron as far as a system providing global buffs. It was terribly inefficient how Heroics were done before needing to do it the same way on all your Skylanders. How is that unique or special?

6. Portal Master Rank. Earning more stars gains further access to additional Bonus Missions, Hats, Charms and the pedestals to put them on. The Portal Master Rank actually serves a purpose.

7. Swapping. While not necessary, it does provide the game with additional life as far as experimentation and discovery of certain "broken" combos.

8. New door puzzles. Shock and Volt puzzles are a lot more fun than the old tilt and tilt and tilt and...well you get the point.

9. Training Dummies...this should have happened in S.S.A. but I'm glad it finally did. It's nice to have an out of combat area to test damage and combos before we commit.

That's all that I can't think of at the moment. My caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.

Now that's not to say I thin Swap Force if perfect. There is a lot that was left out.

1. Serious lack of lore or story in relation to any real history regarding the Giants, Corelanders or, hello, the SWAPPERS themselves. I'm thinking they think that their main audience (shallow little kids that don't care about lore ) won't care about the history behind the history of the Giants and Swappers beyond a 30-45 second cinematic.

2. Water interaction. Most of you know that this is a consistent gripe of mine. Some Skylanders had move sets or Soul Gems that revolved around their interaction with water and that appears to be gone.

3. Anything that feels unique in relation to improving your Skylander figure. This used to be taken care of with Heroics, however flawed, in that you were rewarded for time spent on that Skylander and it made it more personal. What didn't feel personal was doing it the 10th or above time. I have a few solutions on that front but I will save it for a different thread.

4. A legitimate reason to use Giants other than preference and treasure chests. No feats of strength, Giants only gates or anything resembling a challenge only I Giant can solve...for shame V.V....for shame.

I'm sure I'll add more later but that's all I can come up with now. V.V. did a really good job with S.F. We all want our own virtually perfect play experience and I think this one came close. I think their biggest hurtle will be finding a good and compelling way to bring heroics back so we feel a connection to the actual Skylander again. Time will tell.

Question is: do any of these things improve the game as a whole? One can make this game with incredible graphics and gimmicks to spare and be the worst thing ever. There's a difference between the bells and whistles and how you REALLY engage a player. You can't make things broken,you're giving an advantage in PVP to those who will use the superior Skylander and those who use their old favorites will have to either do the same or ban the broken one from tournaments,much like the Brawl tier stuff.You can stuff the game with achievements,but if they're a chore,the player doesn't feel rewarded completing them at all. The level can be as big as you want,but if you already decreased the level number it's the same thing.

Though considering how many times I repeated these points since the release of this mess of a game,I'm probably talking to the wind ever since Day 1.I'll just go and be biased,and say Swap Force insults what I liked about the series.When it comes to plot,when it comes to character design,when it comes to characters and gameplay(except jumping,that just needs polishing).I liked it when as kiddy as the game got it CHALLENGED me to want more,to look for the family-unfriendly things,to try my hardest to make Hex remotely playable.SF just makes me be afraid of the next game.

Quote: Bifrost

Question is: do any of these things improve the game as a whole? One can make this game with incredible graphics and gimmicks to spare and be the worst thing ever. There's a difference between the bells and whistles and how you REALLY engage a player. You can't make things broken,you're giving an advantage in PVP to those who will use the superior Skylander and those who use their old favorites will have to either do the same or ban the broken one from tournaments,much like the Brawl tier stuff.You can stuff the game with achievements,but if they're a chore,the player doesn't feel rewarded completing them at all. The level can be as big as you want,but if you already decreased the level number it's the same thing.

Though considering how many times I repeated these points since the release of this mess of a game,I'm probably talking to the wind ever since Day 1.I'll just go and be biased,and say Swap Force insults what I liked about the series.When it comes to plot,when it comes to character design,when it comes to characters and gameplay(except jumping,that just needs polishing).I liked it when as kiddy as the game got it CHALLENGED me to want more,to look for the family-unfriendly things,to try my hardest to make Hex remotely playable.SF just makes me be afraid of the next game.

I don't think this game was developed to be overly balanced for pvp, even with the fair fight option. Granted I usually only play with my 9 year old daughter but things seem o.k. to me. This game (the whole series really) doesn't really seem to be tuned for competitive pvp. It's an adventure game that happens to have pvp. If I want a more balanced system I'll play a fighting game. It's a fun addition to the game but that's it. If this game EVER adds online functionality I can see room for a bigger debate about balancing pvp but until then I don't see it as a priority for the developers. Hell play Slobber Tooth against Bumble Blast (or any ranged character really) and it won't take long for you to realize that this game isn't overly balanced for pvp. Fair Fight helps a little but some fights will never be truly fair.

All of the improvements that I listed actually add function (maybe not graphics, but it sure does look purty) that's why I listed them as an improvement. It's not really subject to an opinion. Now I gather that some don't want or like them so they won't see it as an improvement to their play experience but the do add to the game none the less. Time will tell what they feel will improve the game but I think it's important that we keep these discussions/debates going so they see both sides.

Quote: Tigorus

1. Jumping. Like it or not it does improves what they can do with the game as far as game play options. Mesmerelda's (sp?) encounter would be lacking without it as would several other points in the game.

i jumped like only 2 times against mesmeralda and i didn't have any problem, so i don't see your point

Quote: voodude

Quote: Tigorus

1. Jumping. Like it or not it does improves what they can do with the game as far as game play options. Mesmerelda's (sp?) encounter would be lacking without it as would several other points in the game.

i jumped like only 2 times against mesmeralda and i didn't have any problem, so i don't see your point

Yes because all jumping in the entire game comes down to one fight.../facepalm. The Mesmerelda fight was one example. Did you simply take the damage that could have been avoided with a jump? You avoided all damage from the fight by jumping only twice? The point still remains, you did jump. I used one fight as an example where, clearly jumping to avoid certain obstacles would be different without jumping. There are dozens of places in the game that require jumping and that is my point.

Ok, so maybe it was a tad harsh to not want to play another VV Skylander title. I was looking at it from the perspective that they were deciding this was their game and they'll do and delete whatever they want. I have no proof that this is true, thus I shouldn't condemn them as such. Thank you for helping to point that out, GR.

Anyway, as for the points that Tigorus made above, I agree with a lot of them... sans for one.

Quote:

5. Charms and Legendary Treasures AND the removal of Heroics. Now this is a touchy one. While it might not be welcome across the board it did improve efficiency as far as globally buffing your Skylanders. They did experiment with this in Giants with the Luck-O-Tron as far as a system providing global buffs. It was terribly inefficient how Heroics were done before needing to do it the same way on all your Skylanders. How is that unique or special?

First of all, an improvement is an opinion. "Changes" are a fact, "improvements" are an opinion since by its basic definition means that they were changes made for the best. That is one person's thoughts. While I agree with most everything else you wrote as an improvement, this one stands out as one where my opinion is different from yours. Heroics made your character unique by allowing you to put forth effort that nobody had to do. If you hated them and refused to do them, yet I did them all, my character would have different stats from the same exact character that you would have. So it's not doing the same heroic for each character that is unique, it's the ability to upgrade their stats from someone else who only does a few or none at all. That made my specific Skylander unique.

I loved the Luck-O-Tron, it changed aspects of the game but not the actual characters and there's the difference. I could upgrade my individual character and take those stats with him anywhere I went. Now you are reduced to the stat changes of whatever charms and treasures the person who owns the game did, which may be totally different than the ones you would use for your Skylander. I talk a lot about the speed stats because (and maybe I'm alone in this) but I dislike slow characters. One of the first things I'd do with a new giant was make them do speed heroics so they weren't crawling along anymore. What did we get in Swap Force? Everyone's speed dropped back down and (thus far in my game anyway) two charms worth a total of +7 speed together and one super amazing charm worth +1. I regularly have to tell Crusher to slow it down because he is just tearing across levels. This is an example of why I don't see the heroics being removed as an improvement, I believe it worsened the game.

I will say that I love the bonus maps and arenas now that I can compare times and scores with other people. Gives me a reason to replay them trying to do just that much better than anyone who got a better score than me. With more people to compare to, it really does increase the replay factor of these a lot.

I had a long post, but... I think it would cause more vitriol I can't deal with than encourage discussion. I'll just sum up my thoughts like this instead: Bifrost-senpai, know that you are not alone and I totally agree; SF's story sucks and interrupts; the levels are a bit too long and have a bit too much padding; jumping had some good ideas but was flawed and feels odd(too "weighty" with lots of jumping and slipping off of slopes); there are too many invisible walls in stupid spots discouraging me from exploring the environments; the amount of cutscenes suck; the SWAP Zones are fun when you happen to have a matching one to access, but feel forced and it's horrible there is no reason given Spyro can't fly through a Rocket Zone; Dual Element Gates are absolutely idiotic and have no reason to exist; Bonus Missions are a waste and an inferior version of the Heroics with no reward: PVP stinks and has no charm any more; Heroics and/or (but definetly this one: ) the feeling of being a Portal Master need to come back NEXT GAME AND NO LATER; and for once I disagree with GhostRoaster(on the thought that SF has a good sense of reward for going above and beyond).

Giants Console = SSA Console > SF Console > SA 3DS >> SF 3DS = Giants 3DS >>> iOS Games

^.^

Quote: Eggers

Ok, so maybe it was a tad harsh to not want to play another VV Skylander title. I was looking at it from the perspective that they were deciding this was their game and they'll do and delete whatever they want. I have no proof that this is true, thus I shouldn't condemn them as such. Thank you for helping to point that out, GR.

Anyway, as for the points that Tigorus made above, I agree with a lot of them... sans for one.

Quote:

5. Charms and Legendary Treasures AND the removal of Heroics. Now this is a touchy one. While it might not be welcome across the board it did improve efficiency as far as globally buffing your Skylanders. They did experiment with this in Giants with the Luck-O-Tron as far as a system providing global buffs. It was terribly inefficient how Heroics were done before needing to do it the same way on all your Skylanders. How is that unique or special?

First of all, an improvement is an opinion. "Changes" are a fact, "improvements" are an opinion since by its basic definition means that they were changes made for the best. That is one person's thoughts. While I agree with most everything else you wrote as an improvement, this one stands out as one where my opinion is different from yours. Heroics made your character unique by allowing you to put forth effort that nobody had to do. If you hated them and refused to do them, yet I did them all, my character would have different stats from the same exact character that you would have. So it's not doing the same heroic for each character that is unique, it's the ability to upgrade their stats from someone else who only does a few or none at all. That made my specific Skylander unique.

I loved the Luck-O-Tron, it changed aspects of the game but not the actual characters and there's the difference. I could upgrade my individual character and take those stats with him anywhere I went. Now you are reduced to the stat changes of whatever charms and treasures the person who owns the game did, which may be totally different than the ones you would use for your Skylander. I talk a lot about the speed stats because (and maybe I'm alone in this) but I dislike slow characters. One of the first things I'd do with a new giant was make them do speed heroics so they weren't crawling along anymore. What did we get in Swap Force? Everyone's speed dropped back down and (thus far in my game anyway) two charms worth a total of +7 speed together and one super amazing charm worth +1. I regularly have to tell Crusher to slow it down because he is just tearing across levels. This is an example of why I don't see the heroics being removed as an improvement, I believe it worsened the game.

I will say that I love the bonus maps and arenas now that I can compare times and scores with other people. Gives me a reason to replay them trying to do just that much better than anyone who got a better score than me. With more people to compare to, it really does increase the replay factor of these a lot.

I view it as an improvement from an efficiency stand point. Heroics were not efficient by any means. For the original S.S.A. line I would have to do 32 X 32 heroics to get them all for all the S.S.A. Skylanders (not including variants). That's 1024 heroic runs...How in the name of all that's unholy is that fun, unique or efficient? Now add S.S.A. variants, add Giants, add Giant variants, add S.F., add S.F. variants...Are you freaking kidding me? With the current system I can simply go through the game and unlock additional stars for my ranks to gain access to additional pedestals thus gaining additional buffs. Let's not forget about charms either.

In regards to the actual stat. numbers, we know they did a slight number crunch when S.F. came out. I personally don't think they feel and slower with the lower number. I believe it's all percentage based anyway. The numbers don't matter as much as the actual result.

Now regarding the Heroics themselves, I want to be clear on this. I like/love the spirit of what a Heroic Challenge was but hated the repetitive execution. I would love a system that allowed me to put in some effort and add some kind of unique benefit to the work I've done. I will be posting a possible solution/idea to this shortly that I want to become a community effort. Like them or love them this appears to be a pretty hot topic and needs to be addressed.

Lol Tigorus you obviously haven't tried doing Quests on anyone in SF

For those of us who like to "complete" all our Skylanders, the Quests in SF feel almost punishing, as for spending even more time (way more, actually, from my experience) than you would on Heroics you're rewarded with a pathetic 75 bonus HP

Heroics are a godsend in comparison and even those are less of a grind. The Quests in SF force you to replay levels you have already replayed many times over to upgrade your Skylanders.

And Hats are more efficient than Heroics too, use Knight Helm dude

I know this post is awfully rude but well... Seriously just try doing Quests in SF on everyone, every variant, everything. I DARE EVERYONE TO DO THIS. It has made me HATE the game. It will make you LIKE Heroics.

Quote:

I view it as an improvement from an efficiency stand point. Heroics were not efficient by any means. For the original S.S.A. line I would have to do 32 X 32 heroics to get them all for all the S.S.A. Skylanders (not including variants). That's 1024 heroic runs...How in the name of all that's unholy is that fun, unique or efficient? Now add S.S.A. variants, add Giants, add Giant variants, add S.F., add S.F. variants...Are you freaking kidding me? With the current system I can simply go through the game and unlock additional stars for my ranks to gain access to additional pedestals thus gaining additional buffs. Let's not forget about charms either.

Ok, I can see your point now. Sorry for misunderstanding what you meant. Yea, having to do heroics again for every single Skylander would be a ridiculous task. I don't think that should have given them a reason to undo the whole process though. I had said in a previous post here that they really could have made new ones that had the same identifying names (or however it's programmed) as the original ones. That way, an older Skylander shows up as having done them already and thus you only need to complete them with the blue based ones. They can give the same stat increases as the original ones and save us the issue of losing all our hard work.

Quote: Arc of Archives

Lol Tigorus you obviously haven't tried doing Quests on anyone in SF

For those of us who like to "complete" all our Skylanders, the Quests in SF feel almost punishing, as for spending even more time (way more, actually, from my experience) than you would on Heroics you're rewarded with a pathetic 75 bonus HP

Heroics are a godsend in comparison and even those are less of a grind. The Quests in SF force you to replay levels you have already replayed many times over to upgrade your Skylanders.

And Hats are more efficient than Heroics too, use Knight Helm dude

I know this post is awfully rude but well... Seriously just try doing Quests in SF on everyone, every variant, everything. I DARE EVERYONE TO DO THIS. It has made me HATE the game. It will make you LIKE Heroics.

I don't find your post in any way rude. No I haven't really looked a quests. The benefit never really seemed worthy of the trouble. I LOVE hats and the benefit they provide. They also stay on your character regardless of who's system you're on, so there's that. As to your dare...I will say no thank you lol. I don't see the point in complaining about Heroics than making my eyes bleed from quests. There's still plenty for me to do since I'm taking my time this time around.

Quote: Arc of Archives

I know this post is awfully rude but well... Seriously just try doing Quests in SF on everyone, every variant, everything. I DARE EVERYONE TO DO THIS. It has made me HATE the game. It will make you LIKE Heroics.

I dislike the quests in this game as well. I appreciate the effort they made trying to create more of a challenge, but the only one I got to a gold rank in this game is Boomer. Lockpick puzzles that aren't exactly all that plentiful in levels. Beat undead spell punks when you get 3 or 4 that show up in only ONE level? So I have to play that level how many times while not being able to skip the annoying dialogue and scenes? I can't say I'll be doing too many quests for any skylanders I don't consider to be a favorite of mine.

I think it's important to remember the demographic for this game. I'd say 6-12 year olds for the most part. While this level of detail matters to them, not nearly as much as it does to the few that hangout on forums. Our opinions matter only marginally because we represent a very small customer base for them (even though some of buy 20 times as much as the average customer) and because we do give some insight to what the real demographic might be thinking. That said, I think the game play is not nearly as important as the interaction between toy and game. That's what sets Skylanders apart.

All that said, there are a few things I don't care for in SF as well.
- Jumping. I don't care for it since it slows the game down when you fail to make a jump. As well, it can be used to avoid enemy hits. Previously, the faster characters could avoid hits while slower characters were hard to get out of the way. Part of the reason why Giants had so much health is because they could barely move. In short, being faster isn't as big of an advantage as it used to be.
- the hub. Like Flynn's ship much better. Felt like the story moved better because the ship actually went to those locations. Plus, it was smaller, and took less time to get where you wanted to go.
- load time...it stinks. although it's much much better on xbox one then it is on wii. I wouldn't surprised if Skylanders is done with the Wii. As well, I understand that there's some necessity to it.
- I'm ok with shock and bolt, but I would have like to see some of the old puzzle games return as well.
- Persepheny (sp?) needs to come back. These new guys suck. I imagine they will given that this time around, Flynn's on vacation. Very easily to explain NPC characters coming back.
- water - it was a nice aspect for there to be certain areas that could only be swam or flown over. That's lost.

Quote: melvimbe

I think it's important to remember the demographic for this game. I'd say 6-12 year olds for the most part.

They are damn well marketing older folks as well, as no one 6-12 year old has any money to throw at this. Legacy gamers/parents who were there when Space Invaders, Pac Man and Donkey Kong hit this crazy thing called Arcades are paying for this franchise...and they better factor in their feedback as well. I'm sure if there was a poll on who the older and younger players are you'd be quite surprised.

Sorry, a bit of a hot button since it's always used as a "crutch" as to why some things can't be marginally improved. I can say in Swap Force that the sophistication has been ramped up considerably. The problem is that games have also gotten "dumber" over the years...simply handing over success instead of truly challenging the player. It's a difficult balancing act for sure, and I feel that Swap Force grew up in a few areas...(and regressed in others).

I agree with your other critiques...

Quote: Arc of Archives

Lol Tigorus you obviously haven't tried doing Quests on anyone in SF

For those of us who like to "complete" all our Skylanders, the Quests in SF feel almost punishing, as for spending even more time (way more, actually, from my experience) than you would on Heroics you're rewarded with a pathetic 75 bonus HP

Heroics are a godsend in comparison and even those are less of a grind. The Quests in SF force you to replay levels you have already replayed many times over to upgrade your Skylanders.

And Hats are more efficient than Heroics too, use Knight Helm dude

I know this post is awfully rude but well... Seriously just try doing Quests in SF on everyone, every variant, everything. I DARE EVERYONE TO DO THIS. It has made me HATE the game. It will make you LIKE Heroics.

You speak truth. As monotonous as heroics were, it is heaven as compared to simply doing quests in Swap Force.

After spending some time with the quests...I can say that three or four are relatively routine. The quests related to the element are downright nuts....25 unlocks of puzzles? Kill 25 Fire/Water Golems? Witherer? Earth / Terrasquid Quest? It's a grind from hell. And that's just to get ONE character done. Giants had similar things to accomplish but 90% of all quests could be accomplished in the Heroics AND THEY SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED LEVELS to accommodate it. The magic Puzzle quest is the only one I specifically remember had to be done inside of a level in the game.

Oh joy---I have to see that video clip in that level only another 300 times? Yay!

Sadly, given that we now have been level set in Swap Force that completed quests DO NOT PROGRESS YOUR CHARACTER IN THE NEXT GAME I am definitely not thinking about pursuing them for all 173+ skylanders. I "might" get to the blue base guys...MAYBE.

It's sad because it could've been a good thing for me to keep me occupied...looking forward to more figures etc...now not so much.

Again, toys to life squashed like a grape.

On target demographic being kids,guys,that's more of a choice from the publishers to have it blindly focus on it. Just look at some games that target kids but have an older fanbase,with older installments that at least give a nod to those people: Giants actually had that,SSA had a few things by accident. We had 'heckfire' being thrown around,references to mental disorders and definately not for humor(Wilikin Village *shudder*),PVP-focused parts of the game(because what kid cares about tiers),and the most notorius,someone getting killed by an elemental nuke. TFB definately knows not everyone here is under 15.

SF threw that out of the window along with plot elements that worked. You're not the Portal Master stopping this madman with a penchant for Magitek from taking over the center of the universe and gathering allies along the way,you're a group of Skylanders doing everything a truckload of NPCs can't for whatever reason. It's not about the giant robot who enslaved moles(and sings dubstep) and was quite happily going to grind you to bits with a fiery drill until you used it to destroy the whole place,it's the spider-ghost-thingy that appears out of nowhere,does a musical number,gets a laughable defeat and is simply never seen again.
Maybe blaming it all on VV is too harsh,really - once you see the (17-minute-long)credits,the TFB dev team wasn't really prominent while making this game. If they worked together,they'd know what to keep and what to remove,and we'd get a proper sequel.

Quote: Bifrost

On target demographic being kids,guys,that's more of a choice from the publishers to have it blindly focus on it. Just look at some games that target kids but have an older fanbase,with older installments that at least give a nod to those people: Giants actually had that,SSA had a few things by accident. We had 'heckfire' being thrown around,references to mental disorders and definately not for humor(Wilikin Village *shudder*),PVP-focused parts of the game(because what kid cares about tiers),and the most notorius,someone getting killed by an elemental nuke. TFB definately knows not everyone here is under 15.

SF threw that out of the window along with plot elements that worked. You're not the Portal Master stopping this madman with a penchant for Magitek from taking over the center of the universe and gathering allies along the way,you're a group of Skylanders doing everything a truckload of NPCs can't for whatever reason. It's not about the giant robot who enslaved moles(and sings dubstep) and was quite happily going to grind you to bits with a fiery drill until you used it to destroy the whole place,it's the spider-ghost-thingy that appears out of nowhere,does a musical number,gets a laughable defeat and is simply never seen again.
Maybe blaming it all on VV is too harsh,really - once you see the (17-minute-long)credits,the TFB dev team wasn't really prominent while making this game. If they worked together,they'd know what to keep and what to remove,and we'd get a proper sequel.

I loved that about TfB, making the Adventure Time of video games (I've said this countless time before). A whimsical world with bright colors, cute critters and a lack of humans, with a dark history and characters who are more complex than you think. VV for some reason didn't continue that unique theme (Probably by accident) and that really disappointed me, I want to know more about the Wilikin and Kaos' mental state (The Napoleon Complex fits him perfectly). Bifrost, your right on about characters just appearing out of nowhere one moment and then disappearing the next (Shellshock and Mesmerelda). That's just poor writing.

The other day my 9 yr old son told me we shld stop buying new characters so we could save money for Nerf.
Law of diminishing returns i guess. Each new skylander bring less and less fun for each dollar spent. They spent a week playing it after opening new figs on Xmas and has not played

Everytime they get a new fig they just upgrade them, play them in arena battles and not much else. They didnt even bother for all the swap zones in the story after we got figs with stealth and drill. Swap force is way inferior from the previous 2 in terms of fun factors and elements that make you want to go back.

Quote: SkylandCitizen

The other day my 9 yr old son told me we shld stop buying new characters so we could save money for Nerf.
Law of diminishing returns i guess. Each new skylander bring less and less fun for each dollar spent. They spent a week playing it after opening new figs on Xmas and has not played

Everytime they get a new fig they just upgrade them, play them in arena battles and not much else. They didnt even bother for all the swap zones in the story after we got figs with stealth and drill. Swap force is way inferior from the previous 2 in terms of fun factors and elements that make you want to go back.

Maybe it's not the game....maybe they are just bored with the premise. It happens.

Ok, now that I'm in a better mood and I've cleared my mind, I can write something more constructive than just pointing out everything I can remember about SF which stinks. Elaboration on the points from my thoughts post:

• Bifrost-senpai, know that you are not alone and I totally agree: Because she is totally right. I think SF does keep some aspects of the past two games which were good (like playing new characters is still addictive) but Bifrost is right about the story. It's just badly written in SF. Characters introduced and quickly abandoned- never used again, retconning, Flanderization galore, and too much stuff is just full-out cartoony. I don't mind "immature" stuff and don't have a stigma against it cause it's "kiddy" or "lame" or anything... nope, it's just that there's no real "unfortunate implications" on the side to challenge you, and there are very few "dark" moments(and even those ones aren't as dark as the last two games), and the characters all act like they have brain damage(besides Glumshanks, the only one with a good performance). There's really just no extra depth to this story, to put it simply. The lore is kind of nice though... but unfortunately they never really expanded on any of it! :T
  
• SF's story sucks and interrupts: See above. And "interrupts"? well everyone disdains those mid-level cutscenes, do I need to go over them again...? They just make playing "short sessions" impossible.
  
• The levels are a bit too long and have a bit too much padding: Idk I just hate some of the minigames. Like the ship-shooting minigames are really boring. It's hard to explain exactly why I feel this but it may just be because of the stupid interrupting dialogue in the end. Might just be personal taste. However... I do know if they make the levels any longer next game they will just be sickeningly so. They really don't need to be longer than they are now.
  
• Jumping had some good ideas but was flawed and feels odd(too "weighty" with lots of jumping and slipping off of slopes): Jumping just doesn't feel quite natural enough, it feels heavier than a standard platforming jump so I often over(or under, when trying to compromise)-estimate my jumps. Both in combat and plain platforming. It's just annoying. I do like how you can use falling off edges as a kind of advantage though! If you can't avoid an attack might be able to jump off an edge. That's probably unintentional but kinda cool(and I'd like to see it used intentionally next game). I also like how jumping lets you avoid some attacks now, it makes combat feel more fair.
  
• There are too many invisible walls in stupid spots discouraging me from exploring the environments: Not as bad as in the 3DS version thankfully but there are a few "lazy" invisible walls blocking areas which look like you could reach. Without fences or anything in the way. HUGE PET PEEVE of mine in video games and can ruin immersion. And like I said is just discouraging me from exploring the environments. I realise invisible walls are just needed sometimes but there are lazy ones in this game quite a bit... Some rooftops in Iron Jaw Gulch... Various spots in Mudwater Hollow... Tent in Rampant Ruins... etc.... (On a related note older games [mostly PS2-era] seem to have less/very few invisible walls most of the time which is something I really appreciate about them.)
  
• The amount of cutscenes suck: Everyone's gone over this one
  
• The SWAP Zones are fun when you happen to have a matching one to access, but feel forced and it's horrible there is no reason given Spyro can't fly through a Rocket Zone: Exactly what I wrote... They are fun but they feel totally forced. They don't feel like they fit in the levels or game. There's no lore behind them like the Element gates(to be fair, those were never directly addressed really, but it was clear enough that matching elemental "energy" = gate opens- why SWAP Zones are limited to the SWAP Force is beyond me, and any headcanon I can make about it is just grasping at straws). And it's really jarring when a flying character isn't allowed to play and fly through a Rocket Zone. These are tolerable in "Game Logic Land" but in a story-focused game series which explains most other stuff they're very annoying. Ruins immersion and makes the zones feel totally tacked on. I just love how the guy who explains them to you just says if you match a SWAP Skylander of the type then you can enter then and gives no further explanation and how these Zones never get any other exposition. It just feels utterly lazy and I think it's horrible that VV didn't explain anything about it.

• Dual Element Gates are absolutely idiotic and have no reason to exist: Question- does anyone enjoy these or think they genuinely add to the gameplay? No? Exactly. Maybe overstating it, but... Blatant cash grab and just an annoyance, SF characters already have the SWAP Zones which is enough for them to "unlock"
  
• Bonus Missions are a waste and an inferior version of the Heroics with no reward: I just don't feel like these really add anything to the gameplay. They're supposed to be like mini-adventures, but to be honest, I just don't think they're entertaining. I mean, I might sound a bit harsh, because they technically do add to the gameplay... But it's just that they could have used the time developing these on other things... And frankly I would have like to seen other things improved or a new level or two rather than Bonus Missions. They feel like they're trying to fill in the gap that Heroics left but completely miss the point- Heroics were supposed to be trials you took your Skylanders through to improve them, not "mini-adventures"... I really hope I'm not alone on this, I just find them extremely boring. It's kind of nice to have "short levels" but Survival kinda fills that role, and these Bonus Missions aren't that good anyway.
  
• PVP stinks and has no charm any more: Five arenas(including the two purchaseable ones)... Old battle packs no longer work... God do I even need to go further than that? They just botched PVP this time, not just because the new Skylanders set a new standard most old ones won't be able to compete against or will have trouble with, but it's just boring now... The smallest PVP in the series and by far the worst. None of the arenas are even that good to make up for it(Treacherous Beach is just awful, honestly...), and there's barely any snarky announcing from the announcer now too. My family is no good at Skylanders but I had fun playing PVP with them in the last two games because the mode was just cool- it had lots of charm and detail and the arenas felt original and different from one another. SF has none of that and I've pretty much stopped using it besides for finishing that PVP quest.
  
• Heroics and/or (but definetly this one: ) the feeling of being a Portal Master need to come back NEXT GAME AND NO LATER: GhostRoaster and I and several other people went into great length about this already. It's the real heart of the series- giving lore to a gimmick and really immersing you- Giants already started ignoring it more, SF tossed it out the window.
  
• And for once I disagree with GhostRoaster(on the thought that SF has a good sense of reward for going above and beyond): I just don't think there's a "moment of awesome" or "you did a super duper achievement" for anything. Sure you can reach level 80 and stuff but it doesn't actually give you anything that great for reaching what's supposedly the "ultimate" rank. It should feel like you conquered an unconquerable challenge and you've become the wise old master of the thing but there's just no real satisfaction doing it... You're just grinding for stars to get there, really, and provided you have enough figures/whatever it's not very difficult to do.

Well that's it I guess .-.

AoA---couple of comments:

1. dual elemental gates---in case you haven't noticed they blended multiple elements there...so the same logic you use to understand opening of standard elemental gates makes sense for dual elemental gates... I also like the blended environments...adds additional visual differences that I can appreciate.

2. The sense of accomplishment while chasing the portal rank is overstated by you...I'm not saying it's a panacea to any of the playability issues...but it's been a kick going through the process. I am genuinely concerned that when I reach 80...going back isn't going to be fun at all...and even stated as such. So---I wanted to give the game SOME props to this process while at the same time ACKNOWLEDGING the weakness of this component. I wouldn't be saying this if my infamous heroics (or some variation thereof) was in the game.

For me, the game level length of levels is fine---we need MORE levels...the videos itself is fine IF WE CAN SKIP. It's a total sin that they made the majority of them without this skip ability. Totally poor. It's almost as if they wanted to show us how cool they are...again and again...it totally kills replayability. I for the life of me don't know with the amount of testing they SAID this game got that they didn't get this negative feedback.

Also, I know that the LOADING statement during the video load is a total farce. If you'll notice, the amount of time you have to wait ON THE SAME CLIP is different on first time versus re-appearance of the clip during the same session is different.

Is anyone else wondering why they INSIST on showing whatever current clip is in the queue depending on your progress whenever you leave and do PVP, solo survival etc and come back AGAIN AND AGAIN? Totally poor design choice.

It's very true that the scenes you can't skip just ruin my willingness to replay the game. Lately, I haven't even been turning on Swap Force at all, much to the relief of every other game that collected dust the day Giants came home with me. No lies, the day I turned on Giants for the first time, it was extremely rare if any other game made it into my Xbox. I played that game daily to work on figures. With this game? I can't even cut past the opening logos and I know, once I finally get those stupid things out of the way, there's only Rufus, Gorm and every single annoying scene of any level I try to play waiting for me. I just have no interest in watching these over and over. I've learned that I can bring up the Xbox home menu when the stupid cut scenes begin or end a level and just stare at that for a while. Then when I go back in the skip option is there. I'd honestly rather stare at the home menu than watch those scenes again... of course, I'd rather not play at all lately rather than have to deal with them. It's a shame how, in my opinion, this game got ruined big time!

The other day my 9 yr old son told me we shld stop buying new characters so we could save money for Nerf.
Law of diminishing returns i guess. Each new skylander bring less and less fun for each dollar spent. They spent a week playing it after opening new figs on Xmas and has not played

Everytime they get a new fig they just upgrade them, play them in arena battles and not much else. They didnt even bother for all the swap zones in the story after we got figs with stealth and drill. Swap force is way inferior from the previous 2 in terms of fun factors and elements that make you want to go back.

Quote: IJJusion

I love the fact they have removed heroics.

They were too easy and felt like a 'requirement' to have a competitive skylander, aside from that though I cant comment on the other points, I'm only halfway through hard, however I certainly seem to level fast...easily get new characters to lvl 10+ in one level.

looking forward to doing timer challenges after completing the game in nightmare - I hope theyre difficult!


PS: Personally...I never liked giants (the skylanders not the game itself) they were always too slow and bulky..and even the useful ones felt too overpowered and made the game too easy/boring to play - I like the swap force guys as they are still nimble and arent TOO powerful compared to normal skylanders)

This is what I keep trying to explain that people don't understand. The older games do effect everything still.

Quote: WickedRogue

Quote: IJJusion

I love the fact they have removed heroics.

They were too easy and felt like a 'requirement' to have a competitive skylander, aside from that though I cant comment on the other points, I'm only halfway through hard, however I certainly seem to level fast...easily get new characters to lvl 10+ in one level.

looking forward to doing timer challenges after completing the game in nightmare - I hope theyre difficult!


PS: Personally...I never liked giants (the skylanders not the game itself) they were always too slow and bulky..and even the useful ones felt too overpowered and made the game too easy/boring to play - I like the swap force guys as they are still nimble and arent TOO powerful compared to normal skylanders)

This is what I keep trying to explain that people don't understand. The older games do effect everything still.

Restate/explain your statement better. Not sure I understand.

Btw I just have to add this as it seems people miss it: you can, indeed, make the cutscenes shut up.

Try pressing the pause button during one of the loading cutscenes

Still, this game just loads so slowly, compared to the last two especially... Some of the levels take minutes to load, and just entering Woodburrow from the menu has a terribly long load. It's funny how video game tech keeps getting better but the load time on games usually keeps getting longer. Does the PSOne version load faster? Ugh I don't even want to think about what load times the Wii players might be dealing with.