darkSpyro

I've noticed, and I know many others have as well, that the this game doesn't feel like complete. I wanted to list out the observations I've made that lend to that feeling. Before I start though, I should be clear that I'm happy with the game and have enjoyed playing it. This isn't a rant or whine so much as putting out that there are several things that feel like they've been cut short, either because of running out of development time, the complexity of a 4th game in the series, or features that just feel incomplete.

- The uneven number of reposed characters by element
- The uneven number of villains by element
- The uneven villain quests. Some quests require just showing up while some actually have a task to complete. This could be intentional, but it also could be that development didn't have time to make a complete quest for all the villains.
- In skelletones game, there was no new recorded audio. Whether it be the NPC or skylander doing the 'rapping' the audio used was first used elsewhere in this game or from previous games.
- Minis were not given any unique attacks or even new audio. Their audio is simply the same as their bigger counterparts played at a higher pitch (which can get rather annoying)
- the volume of bugs appears to be higher then in previous games. That can also be due to the higher volume of characters to code for as well as the relative luxary of being able to patch the game for new consoles this time around.
- No PvP. Could be running out of time or it could be intentional. For one thing, with the increased volume of characters, lack of balance (which was never good to begin with) is greatly exposed.
- When speaking with Kaos in the academy, he does not turn to face you

I'm surely there are other signs that I missed. Again, I enjoyed the game, and these don't bother me that much. it does cause concern for the next game I think. How much of the 2 year development period was spent on planning vs actually development, and will S5 follow the same model? Will there be lessons learned from this development, so development will be scaled back for S5, in terms of characters code and or features developed. I can't see them opting for less game content, but dropping off old figures seems possible.

The game is unfinished because as I always say, you can't make an Epic game in 1 year. They almost did it with giants the only thing missing was jumping in giants and it would be one of my best game. Swap force they clearly removed the Heroics. Why? They probably didin't have the time to make like 32 new heroics. And after that in Trap Team no more pvp... And for that one I really don't know why they removed it... It was the best feature of the game!

I wish they would just take their time and make an amazing game instead of making okay games every year.

Quote: LloydDXZX

The game is unfinished because as I always say, you can't make an Epic game in 1 year.

I was under the impression that TFB began working on STT as soon as they finished Giants. I thought the point of having TFB and VV taking turns developing the games gave them 2 years to work on a game.

It is 2 years apart. They had started working on Trap Team right after Giants was released. So now VV has already had 1 year to work on Skylanders 5, with another year to go.

Actually what Activision is missing is that the amount of work literally goes up 30% or more for every game to keep all of the "legacy" content. Obviously, they are now cutting corners by not including some of the previous content and/or having some rather obvious bugs where they clearly needed more time and testing.

In short, the amount of time between games (to keep same polish and content) needs to go up per entry or we will continue to see a decline in content or polish. I see them breaking their "cardinal rule" of backwards compatibility starting next game.

This comes to mind.

I'm repeating myself here, but as for the lack of PVP, one major reason might be the tablet version. Without online matches, it's not a good platform for 2-player, even if it's supported. So instead of having a mode that is only accessible for two players, they replaced it with a new mode that's accessible to single players as well - Kaos' Doom Challenge.

At least they try they're best. They don't just say "Oh, we need more money for a new yacht so let's poo out another Skylanders game.", they put effort into it. Into the characters, levels, designs, and villains, even if they are uneven.

I don't know so much about unfinished as they didn't bug check, but it does clearly feel like it was rushed. There's no rhyme or reason for some elements to be missing figures (undead in particular, an element that has two staple characters they reused in every previous game), why the older sidekicks were reused for an obviously gimmicky purpose (and serve almost NO purpose in the game save for one very tiny area...).

Other than whatever Harvester was supposed to be though there isn't much in terms of leftover content. None of the forgotten characters have dummied out wow pows, other than Ghost Roaster having a beta string referring to it's ability as "Crazy Skull" and still calling itself "the Ghost Eater", though the ability itself does nothing let alone a speed increase like it says (apparently the first upgrade you'd get for GR was meant to do that initially).

There's something that bugged me too: I never saw the bit where Kaos and Chompy Mage seem to be arguing with one another. I've seen the screenshots, but he's caught so early in the game it doesn't seem to be there. It's not the captured Kaos either, as he's smaller for...some reason...

Also the animation looks unfinished as **** (even in the soul gem previews) also at the golden queen boss-

Cali: RUN SKYLANDER *walks slow as heck*

Quote: LloydDXZX

The game is unfinished because as I always say, you can't make an Epic game in 1 year. They almost did it with giants the only thing missing was jumping in giants and it would be one of my best game. Swap force they clearly removed the Heroics. Why? They probably didin't have the time to make like 32 new heroics. And after that in Trap Team no more pvp... And for that one I really don't know why they removed it... It was the best feature of the game!

Whereas Swap Force lost Heroics, it gained 20 Bonus Missions and I want to say, between 20-40 Survival Arenas. That's a lot of extra levels. More than Heroics ever gave us.

Problem is, though, Trap Team is so lite on content. Only a handful of Brock's Arena levels, and KAOS mode is 100 waves, but set in only a handful of different arenas.

I miss the content Swap Force gave us, and I hope to God that VV develops the next Skylanders to have a ton of content like Swap Force had. Swap Force gave us -

- 480+ stars to collect
- Elemental Gates (miss being able to use ANY figure to open gates)
- Dual Elemental Gates (made it feel like I was owning Swaplanders for some reason)
- Swap Zones (Swap Zones really made this game feel unique as they played differently)
- Leaderboards
- Time Attack Mode
- Score Attack Mode
- 20 Bonus Missions
- 20-40 Survival Missions (can't remember the number, but it's 20 or more)
- Swap Zone Challenges
- Longer levels (I liked the longer levels)
- Better stat boosts than Trap Team

It was fun comparing my collection to my friends' collections, as well as my scores. That's something Trap Team decided not to do.

I used to think Swap Force wouldn't be as good, due to the lack of Heroics, but at least Swap Force gave us some way of making our Skylanders faster. I love my Skylanders having that sense of speed, but in Trap Team, they move so slow, minus Punk Shock, who is very fast at 60 Speed, while others at the same speed move so slow.

It just seems so unbalanced. I miss building stats with my Skylanders. I miss them having 90 speed and moving fast. The best this game gives us, is 15 speed, yet I can't tell the difference when a +15 speed hat is equipped.

Despite my gripes, I still love the franchise, I just wish the developers would have kept stat building in the games (both TFB and VV). Trap Team lacks speed for Skylanders, plus a lot of modes that made Swap Force feel so fun, with great longevity.

TFB/VV need to keep fundamentals in mind when making Skylander games -

- Don't spit on people's previous Skylanders by disregarding them (Trap Team does this by making it so only Trap Masters can open gates)
- Keep stat building in ALL games
- Always give us 4 Adventure Packs, spread out long enough to keep people playing, but don't make it so we can't 100% story mode on day 1
- MODES! Lots of modes like Swap Force had
- Give us a reason to use our Swap Force Skylanders
- Give us a reason to use our Giants
- Give us a reason to use past characters that we spent our hard earned money on
- Never make it so our previous figures are not important (ie reboot the game or remove the ability to use them)
- Keep regular Elemental Gates in
- Bring back Dual Elemental Gates
- Give us new Swap Zones in every game

Basically, if I were Paul or a planner at TFB, or Karthik/Guha or a planner at VV, I would be making sure to keep the best parts of past games, while introducing the new style of play for the upcoming game.

- SSA had Elemental Gates, which could be opened by ANY Skylander (keep Elemental Gates in every new game)
- SG had Feats of Strength (add new Feats of Strength in every new game)
- Swap Force had Dual Elemental Gates (keep Dual Elemental Gates so people will have a reason to swap Swaplanders)
- Swap Force had Swap Zones (add new Swap Zones in every new game; this would go a long way in uniqueness per game)
- Trap Team had secrets via Traptanium Crystals (add new secret areas accessible by destroying those with Trap Masters in every new game)
- Trap Team allows for the trapping of villains. (add new villains to trap in each new game)

Doing these things will show customers, or the parents, that they didn't waste their money on figures, because in each new game they serve a purpose. This also helps levels by adding a variety of things to do in them.

Each new game definitely needs to have a new style of play to it, but Skylanders devs should NEVER forget about what made the previous game so exciting, which could also help the new play style in making the upcoming game even more exciting.

I don't want to know I bought 46 traps (56 for us collectors) just for them to only work in one game, or not be able to trap new villains in every new game going forward (basically a physical Pokémon which TFB/VV would be wise to cash in on that idea and use it for every new game).

Long story short, this is what I'd like to see in every new Skylanders game -

- Elemental Gates that can be opened by any Skylander of the required element
- Dual Elemental Gates that can be opened by Swapped Swaplanders
- New Feats of Strength
- New Swap Zones
- New Traptanium Shards in levels leading to secret areas
- New trappable villains
- 4 Adventure Packs per game
- Score Attack
- Time Attack
- Stat building (Skylanders always need to be faster than they are)
- Levels as long as Swap Force, but as plentiful as Spyro's Adventure and Trap Team (26 and 22 after Adventure Packs)

Plus, whatever new style of play is introduced, which should then be added to the next game, along with everything listed above.

I know it would probably be a lot of work, but TFB/VV want to keep customers invested in Skylanders. Shunning previous Skylanders, by not allowing their uniqueness to be demonstrated will only hurt consumer morale in the long run. They will be less appreciative at the fact they spent hundreds on figures that can't do much but be played with in levels (but costed more than core Skylanders), than being appreciative for taking time to recognize the reason they bought Giants, Swap Force Skylanders, and Trap Masters, and Traps to begin with.

I cannot believe someone's still bothered by the absence of reposes for some Elements...

They are not mandatory.
Just deal with it!

Quote: Kevin16

Cali: RUN SKYLANDER *walks slow as heck*

I had to keep swapping to a villain for those parts just because Wallop moves so slow, then back to take out debris. That might've been the intention but it did get a little annoying.

Bear in mind making something like Trap Team require only Trap Masters means you won't feel "Oh, I didn't buy Giants so I can't do everything, guess I won't bother.", I understand what you're getting at though.

The bonus modes we got in Trap Team beyond story...

Arenas! Same gimmicks recycled over the course of a few different arenas, not usable outside of this for PvP (I never really played PvP, but having the option was nice).
Rhythm game! What the heck game, seriously.
Skystones! Instead of playing like Triple Triad (Final Fantasy 8 for those who don't know) it plays like a watered down Magic: The Gathering, not too bad, but with only one way to collect the stones, it feels more an afterthought.
Kaos challenge! Actually this I quite liked, even if it does get annoying when you get swamped by about five Painyattas at once.

I did like the more dynamic hub level too.

This game has the best hub, hands down.

Swap Force had the best levels when it comes to how long they were.

Spyro's Adventure and Trap Team have the most levels of the 4 console Skylander games.

Swap Force had more modes than any other Skylanders game.

Spyro's Adventure and Giants allowed you to see everything on day 1, pending you had at least 1 Skylander of every element, plus 1 Giant.

They need to combine all of that into every game, to make every game the ultimate game in terms of longevity. They need to stop holding stuff back, in order to create an artificial way of extending the length of the game, when they can do that by putting more thought into each game, making more levels, longer levels, more modes of play, and bringing back what made us buy Swap Force Skylanders, Giants, Traps, and Trap Masters to begin with.

Quote: Nelomet

Bear in mind making something like Trap Team require only Trap Masters means you won't feel "Oh, I didn't buy Giants so I can't do everything, guess I won't bother.", I understand what you're getting at though.

The bonus modes we got in Trap Team beyond story...

Arenas! Same gimmicks recycled over the course of a few different arenas, not usable outside of this for PvP (I never really played PvP, but having the option was nice).
Rhythm game! What the heck game, seriously.
Skystones! Instead of playing like Triple Triad (Final Fantasy 8 for those who don't know) it plays like a watered down Magic: The Gathering, not too bad, but with only one way to collect the stones, it feels more an afterthought.
Kaos challenge! Actually this I quite liked, even if it does get annoying when you get swamped by about five Painyattas at once.

I did like the more dynamic hub level too.

Basically all this. Some of the TT extra content is good, but not good enough/quantity enough to compete with SF (though I agree the hub is great). When I started buying into Skylanders, I had this weird assumption that because so much profit was made off each toy, it meant better longevity for each character, I assumed the extra profit would be able to cover all the extra heroics/quests and extra content added to each game.

And I really miss Triple Triad. The new Skystones Smash feels like a much more simple game to play. Which is weird, seeing as I've heard TFB say in interviews that they want the series to age with the kids that play it, progressively getting more mature and challenging as their original audience grows year by year.

(In my little siblings words, aged 10 and 11 so they might be too old to be the intended audience, they don't feel TFB respect kids' intelligence enough.)

Quote: Nightmoon

I'm repeating myself here, but as for the lack of PVP, one major reason might be the tablet version. Without online matches, it's not a good platform for 2-player, even if it's supported. So instead of having a mode that is only accessible for two players, they replaced it with a new mode that's accessible to single players as well - Kaos' Doom Challenge.

I guess if you want to rationalize it somehow, have at it. I think it's a cop out because of the triangle effect I previously discussed.

GM: I get what you're saying, agree with most. The dev teams appear at odds because TfB wants to make the game "kid friendly" while VV likes to create a competitive atmosphere and nod to real gamers.

I have whiplash.

While I love the game and consider it to be the best yet, I do have problems with it. Many Ghost Roaster pointed out.

No Score or Time attack mode

No Feats of Strength or Swap Zones.

Shorter levels: This one hurts me the most. I LOVED Swap Forces long levels, feels like a real adventure. TT are still great ones though.

Also this game is repetitive, I mean REPETITIVE. They use nearly all the same mechanics from the last two TfB games and you know the crane games in Rainfish Riviera? They used that in the Madagascar game! Skystones, Lock puzzle, Sky stones, lock puzzle, SKY STONES, SKY STONES AAAGAGAHGAH SSSKKYYY STTOOONNESS!!!! I H-----I HATE Sky Stones. I know you can get "cheats" for both but still come on TfB have something new. I know Swap Force used level gimmicks like rail riding in Motleyville and the Musical Bonce pads in Iron Jaw Gulch, but they were quick and easy.

Not a fan of the Trap Masters are the only ones to unlock elemental gates thing either. What's the point of The Crystals then? Now THAT was stupid. And I don't just mean stupid design but really, it's absolutely moronic. I'm suspecting it was Acti's decision, not TfB's.

I like the Minis, but they're unnecessary. I hope we don't get anymore the next game (Though we likely will.).

And don't get me started on Meditations on Boom. I'm starting to get annoyed with Flynn.


So, over all, I want the game Ghost Roaster wants. Here's what I'd like see.

Score Mode and Time Attack

Bonus Missions and boost stats of the Skylander that completed it said mission.

Return of PVP.

Ways to make your Skylanders faster.

Reposes of Ghosty, Dino-Rang, Boomer, Voodood and Sunburn.

Levels with the length of Swap Force and the amount similar to SSA and TT.

Giants and Swapper Zones (Not necessary, but appreciated)

Story Scrolls with good lore.

New Trappable Villains and a new main villain (With NO Kaos as the "surprise" villain)

A bigger story with some dark undertones.

I do like the Mini's and hope they keep those going. I'd be fine if they never released anymore Lightcore Skylanders. I honestly hope the next game plays off of the whole Dark/Light elements. In other words, have the story deal with the Light and Dark Elements.

I'd like to see VV (assuming that's who is working on the next game) get as close to evening out the Light/Dark Element Skylanders, with the other 8 elements. However, I'd still like to see new characters in the regular 8 elements in the next game.

I'd like to see Boomer, Ghost Roaster, Voodood, Dino-Rang, Wham-Shell, Sunburn, and Warnado get some Series 2. It's long overdue. I feel like the creators of those characters are spitting on those characters. Be proud of your creations by not neglecting them.

I felt the elemental gates in Swap Force had more variety than the first two games, as well as Trap Team.

What I listed above, being included in all future Skylander games, would make for the longevity Skylander games need, while at the same time allowing us fans to see everything on day 1 (minus what's in Adventure Packs).

Upon nearing release date of Skylanders Trap Team the developers' thoughts were "Well, there isn't much time to perfecting quality assurance. At least we finished the bare necessities... that's the minimum for our kids and fans of Skylanders, as long as our fanbase won't diminish. We're still open for groundbreaking reviews for the upcoming game, we did a plethora of quality resources as much as possible."

Also, it's difficult for the developers to think of a repose for the previous characters introduced from past Skylanders games. Finding a better title for the repose is rather complex; I tried to think of it - all it turned out that nothing could fit a theme with nor mightier than the previous version.

I actually do like the Minis in particular, because of their cuteness as seen from Skylanders Lost Islands, which reminds of bringing smiles towards my emotions. Open mouths of the dragons and watching them running are the ones that soothes my levels of moodiness.

I read Spyro character's page on the Skylanders.com website at its first version after working on a batch of screencaps. It reflects Dark Spyro's backstory. After seeing the batch I've done, it feels like this website is incomplete. There are also flaws within a few pages of the charactes at various versions.

i think the time of the level is much better now. the swap force 30min levels was a bit to long, it felt like you had to plan your gaming ahead...

Quote: CountMoneyBone

i think the time of the level is much better now. the swap force 30min levels was a bit to long, it felt like you had to plan your gaming ahead...

My sessions were on average 1-2 hours, so that wasn't a problem for me personally.

Stage length in swap force was in all honesty nicer because there was more there. This isn't a game you really want to marathon: you do a level or two and then give it a rest. But one thing in particular that worked with the longer length of SF was that when you did revisit a level there was more to tackle at once. Just got that movement type for the swap zone available? You can get legendary treasures at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't' perfect, but they felt a lot more like levels there.

Quote: GameMaster78

Boomer, Ghost Roaster, Dino-Rang get some Series 2

Speaking of these 3, I wasn't the only one thinking that it was extremely odd that Tech, Undead and Earth are all one short of being even with the other elements? (and especially since it was a repose they were missing)

Quote: spyroflame0487

Quote: GameMaster78

Boomer, Ghost Roaster, Dino-Rang get some Series 2

Speaking of these 3, I wasn't the only one thinking that it was extremely odd that Tech, Undead and Earth are all one short of being even with the other elements? (and especially since it was a repose they were missing)

Perhaps Ghosty, Dino-Rang and Boomer are secret reposes?

Anyway, does anyone else agree that TT can get repetitive with Skystones, Lock Puzzles, Push blocks, and the cannons? I haven't seen anyone else complain about it.

For the record already tried that, they don't have wow pows (GhostRoaster's though brings up a bit of debug text back from when he was GhostEater, but the skill is just a repeat of his first with bad text, much like Boomer and Dino-Rang).

Quote: Kung Fu Man

Stage length in swap force was in all honesty nicer because there was more there. This isn't a game you really want to marathon: you do a level or two and then give it a rest. But one thing in particular that worked with the longer length of SF was that when you did revisit a level there was more to tackle at once. Just got that movement type for the swap zone available? You can get legendary treasures at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't' perfect, but they felt a lot more like levels there.

I've always felt the SSA levels were obscenely short. Giants length is borderline ok, so if Trap Team is on average a tad bit longer than Giants level I guess it would be "acceptable" considering they are adding more distinct chapters to make up for it.

Yes this game feels unfinished and it's because of all the reasons listed in the OP.

There are a bunch of issues with this game that have killed my excitement. It's my least favourite right now.

Australian release dates are probably still gonna suck. There's no hint that they won't. It's not fun as waiting for characters, when everyone else already discussed them...
While the story's good, the background lore feels kinda shallow with some parts of it contradicting one another, or staying unexplained, plus the lack of Story Scrolls (lalalala Meditations on Boom isn't a thing lalalala!).
Level design is somewhat more focused on minigames/puzzles again and fighting sections have less interesting design.
Knockback/flinch mechanics are less deep again.
Not only is there no new version of Quests or Heroics, but the old ones I spent hundreds of hours doing have absolutely no acknowledgement.
Life, Magic, Light and Dark Gates being inaccessible to me caused me to stop exploring, because I keep running into areas I can't get into.
Removal of all non-story modes and only Survival has a worthwhile equivalent.
The additions have done little to rectify the problems I had with SF or previous Skylanders games.

I'm only really looking forward to Lob-Star and Blackout at the moment. I'm not that excited to use anyone else, just because the game isn't that good. It's good... But not that good. Not good enough that I feel very satisfied. The only new character I played and feel as satisfied with as the SF characters would be Blades.

Also, PSA: they could and have issued patches before; IIRC, SF had a patch that changed how the Message of The Day looked and what bonuses it gave, and I'm absolutely positive that the PS4 version had a very minor patch at one point.

Arc, mind giving me some example of the contradictions and stuff left unexplained?

Also, I see where your coming from, especially the lack of story scrolls. You think this is the last Skylander game for you?

Speaking of which, no sales yet reported for vgchartz....when do manufacturer report their numbers?

I also want to mention that SWAP Force had the same kind of stupidity with locking off areas at release- hell, I couldn't access a Sneak Zone until FEBRUARY- but at least the Swap Zones added unique kinds of gameplay and were more substantial than Elemental Gates in TT. Plus, it didn't make the game feel more incomplete with "unknown" Elements/characters/abilities for the sake of surprising kids.

The contradictions aren't nearly as bad as those in SF and are more easily forgivable- mainly because the plot is much more entertaining all-around, not to mention there aren't nearly as many noticeable contradictions- but there are a couple that I noticed.

• How come Doom Challenge is ongoing, as though Kaos is still around, even after you've trapped him in the same save?
  
• A lot of NPCs will talk to your villain as though they're a Skylander. For instance, Glumshanks doesn't bat an eye at you when you're playing as Kaos and the first time you speak to an NPC to initiate a villain quest, they refer to you as a Skylander even if you're playing as the villain whose quest is available. If you talk to Flynn as Kaos he congratulates you for being a saviour.
  
• Villains aren't stronger in zones that match their elements, only areas where they all get a boost for some reason. You'd think the elemental boosts would apply to all creatures of Skylands, including villains...
  
• The Golden Queen is incredibly inconsistent about wether she talks to you or your Skylander. She will talk to your Skylander about switching over, and ask you if you're afraid of dangerous situations, and tell your Skylander to solve puzzles, and brag about her stats to you.
  
• Kinda nitpicky, but the explanation for the villain timer is that the villains get tired. When you can "tire them out" by just walking/standing around as them, this seems kind of silly.

Okay, I know that was nitpicky, but there's more unexplained lore than contradictions. Like *massive spoilers ahead*, why does Golden Queen turn humongous from stepping in her gold pool? What's up with the Villain Vault in the hub- why was it built there? Why are Brock, the Skaletones, Quigley, etc. in Skylands Academy and why are there no more NPCs staying around there? How did the Minis get frozen and sent to earth when Skylands Academy was only just built, after all currently known send-to-earth-explosions? Why is it that you can trap some generic enemies (I.E. the Bone Chompy) and not others of the same species? How are so many NPCs able to give special upgrades to villains? Why can you only activate some turrets in Doom Challenge using a Skylander of a certain element?

Also, it bugs me how Kaos has his own Trap and doesn't fit into another Element, but I just chalk that up to him being a Portal Master- at last that doesn't contradict anything I noticed. And also- much as I hate to go "Acti is evil hurdurr!"- I think this little nitpick was a result of Acti. I suspect Kaos was going to be a Magic character, before Acti told TFB to give him a unique Trap, so that they could sell Kaos' Trap in addition to the Magic Traps. Either way, it's unexplained in game why Kaos doesn't fall in alignment with another element, and that kinda bothers me.

Quote: Arc of Archives

The contradictions aren't nearly as bad as those in SF and are more easily forgivable- mainly because the plot is much more entertaining all-around, not to mention there aren't nearly as many noticeable contradictions- but there are a couple that I noticed.

• How come Doom Challenge is ongoing, as though Kaos is still around, even after you've trapped him in the same save?
  
• A lot of NPCs will talk to your villain as though they're a Skylander. For instance, Glumshanks doesn't bat an eye at you when you're playing as Kaos and the first time you speak to an NPC to initiate a villain quest, they refer to you as a Skylander even if you're playing as the villain whose quest is available. If you talk to Flynn as Kaos he congratulates you for being a saviour.
  
• Villains aren't stronger in zones that match their elements, only areas where they all get a boost for some reason. You'd think the elemental boosts would apply to all creatures of Skylands, including villains...
  
• The Golden Queen is incredibly inconsistent about wether she talks to you or your Skylander. She will talk to your Skylander about switching over, and ask you if you're afraid of dangerous situations, and tell your Skylander to solve puzzles, and brag about her stats to you.
  
• Kinda nitpicky, but the explanation for the villain timer is that the villains get tired. When you can "tire them out" by just walking/standing around as them, this seems kind of silly.

Okay, I know that was nitpicky, but there's more unexplained lore than contradictions. Like *massive spoilers ahead*, why does Golden Queen turn humongous from stepping in her gold pool? What's up with the Villain Vault in the hub- why was it built there? Why are Brock, the Skaletones, Quigley, etc. in Skylands Academy and why are there no more NPCs staying around there? How did the Minis get frozen and sent to earth when Skylands Academy was only just built, after all currently known send-to-earth-explosions? Why is it that you can trap some generic enemies (I.E. the Bone Chompy) and not others of the same species? How are so many NPCs able to give special upgrades to villains? Why can you only activate some turrets in Doom Challenge using a Skylander of a certain element?

Also, it bugs me how Kaos has his own Trap and doesn't fit into another Element, but I just chalk that up to him being a Portal Master- at last that doesn't contradict anything I noticed. And also- much as I hate to go "Acti is evil hurdurr!"- I think this little nitpick was a result of Acti. I suspect Kaos was going to be a Magic character, before Acti told TFB to give him a unique Trap, so that they could sell Kaos' Trap in addition to the Magic Traps. Either way, it's unexplained in game why Kaos doesn't fall in alignment with another element, and that kinda bothers me.

I've had the same nitpicks. Here are some of my own.

Why is there more then one of a trappable villain (Like how there are many Scrap Shooters in The Sewer Level, but only one is trappable, which in in the next level) Why not have Scrap Shooter be one of a kind?

There have been some changes in graphics, like Lava Barf Eruptor's Lava Barf 2. It looks so bad now, the lava balls are so small. Zap is another example, while his new jump is awesome, he has that weird left leg thing there it's angle is slightly turned inward to his chest and it's been bothering me since SSA. VV got rid of it and it looked great and TfB (I'm guessing) brought it back. Trap Team is on the SF engine, right? Then why are there changes in some of the graphics and animations? I just want the Zap limp gone! Every time I play as the little guy, as much as I love him, I can't stand that leg! (Sorry about the rant, its just a "thing", I guess. We all have them.)

Another is the hat select screen, when you have a hat on is SF , you could press X to remove it, while in TT you have to go back to the front of the list to the remove button, it's not a big deal, but it's tedious.

Re: Doom Challange - Kali said that Kaos cursed it - not that it was ran/operated by Kaos. She also mentioned it was still great training, in spite of Kaos' curse. Therefore, it's perfectly logical that they opted to leave it as-is for expert Skylander Training.

^ Correct, but Kaos pops up and speaks to you during those levels. Do you really think he would have pre-recorded that?

Also, what happened to Hugo? I think it was mentioned that he went to study or something, but the plot was so vauge about it that I can't even remember. He was totally tossed aside, just like he's been in every game since Giants. He's actually one of my favourite NPCs so his continued negligence has upset me.

^ Maybe, just maybe, he's a Portal Master in training? God that'd be an awesome twist! I miss Hugo too.

Why would it be anything other than a pre-recorded hologram?

It's obious that multiple individuals in the Skylanders universe have used it for training, as Kali mentioned it was cursed (and not something like "beating it will break his curse"). Do you think all the times before Kaos joins your group, he's just waiting around for some Skylander trainee to pop into his Doom Challenge? What if Dro Bit tries to enter while Kaos is on the toilet? Awkward!

I'm going with pre-recorded hologram and dummy/spirit/hologram enemies. Goes with the training aspect of it. :D

Like I said in another thread, I can't help but feel like the reason they're holding off info on the new elements and characters is because there's DLC associated with them. Will it change the lack of PVP/uneven number of characters per element? No. But it might make us feel more "whole."

Actually what I'd love to have back is character Quests, I've really felt that hole for whatever reason.

Some of you mentioned that developers should make new Feast of Strengths and Swap Zones in every new game. I think that there might be an understandable reason behind why they don't do that, and it's not necessarrily a bad thing. You know, you can 100% (or nearly 100%) every game by only buying toys of that game. Now, if all these specific gates and zones would be present in every future game it would be very difficult to the newcomers of the franchise to get all the old toys required to fully enjoy the current game. It's not much of an issue for now, because I guess you still can grab a giant, and there are still swappers in the store (though I'm not sure if every movement type is still available everywhere...), but in sky5 you would need all of these + 8-10 trap masters + traps, and then comes the new gimmick... so although it would be a nice addition to us who has most of the stuff from last games, it's bad for everyone who missed something in last games (eg. movement type), or only just discovered Skylanders.

Quote: lidocain

Some of you mentioned that developers should make new Feast of Strengths and Swap Zones in every new game. I think that there might be an understandable reason behind why they don't do that, and it's not necessarrily a bad thing. You know, you can 100% (or nearly 100%) every game by only buying toys of that game. Now, if all these specific gates and zones would be present in every future game it would be very difficult to the newcomers of the franchise to get all the old toys required to fully enjoy the current game. It's not much of an issue for now, because I guess you still can grab a giant, and there are still swappers in the store (though I'm not sure if every movement type is still available everywhere...), but in sky5 you would need all of these + 8-10 trap masters + traps, and then comes the new gimmick... so although it would be a nice addition to us who has most of the stuff from last games, it's bad for everyone who missed something in last games (eg. movement type), or only just discovered Skylanders.

that is where the reposed variants comes into the picture... instead of just releasing reposes variants for the hell of it. they could have a purpose.

I don't think they'll repose giants, swappers, etc. I'm not sure how well core reposes sell, but I guess it's not by chance we got minis this year instead of a bunch of S3 and S4s... (I know they are reposes in some way though) So I can't picture them re-releasing expensive gimmicks. Anyway, they don't seem to care that much about which reposes are desperately needed (Ghost Roaster, Sunburn and so on...), so reposes might not solve that problem at all.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Arc of Archives

The contradictions aren't nearly as bad as those in SF and are more easily forgivable- mainly because the plot is much more entertaining all-around, not to mention there aren't nearly as many noticeable contradictions- but there are a couple that I noticed.

• How come Doom Challenge is ongoing, as though Kaos is still around, even after you've trapped him in the same save?
  
• A lot of NPCs will talk to your villain as though they're a Skylander. For instance, Glumshanks doesn't bat an eye at you when you're playing as Kaos and the first time you speak to an NPC to initiate a villain quest, they refer to you as a Skylander even if you're playing as the villain whose quest is available. If you talk to Flynn as Kaos he congratulates you for being a saviour.
  
• Villains aren't stronger in zones that match their elements, only areas where they all get a boost for some reason. You'd think the elemental boosts would apply to all creatures of Skylands, including villains...
  
• The Golden Queen is incredibly inconsistent about wether she talks to you or your Skylander. She will talk to your Skylander about switching over, and ask you if you're afraid of dangerous situations, and tell your Skylander to solve puzzles, and brag about her stats to you.
  
• Kinda nitpicky, but the explanation for the villain timer is that the villains get tired. When you can "tire them out" by just walking/standing around as them, this seems kind of silly.

Okay, I know that was nitpicky, but there's more unexplained lore than contradictions. Like *massive spoilers ahead*, why does Golden Queen turn humongous from stepping in her gold pool? What's up with the Villain Vault in the hub- why was it built there? Why are Brock, the Skaletones, Quigley, etc. in Skylands Academy and why are there no more NPCs staying around there? How did the Minis get frozen and sent to earth when Skylands Academy was only just built, after all currently known send-to-earth-explosions? Why is it that you can trap some generic enemies (I.E. the Bone Chompy) and not others of the same species? How are so many NPCs able to give special upgrades to villains? Why can you only activate some turrets in Doom Challenge using a Skylander of a certain element?

Also, it bugs me how Kaos has his own Trap and doesn't fit into another Element, but I just chalk that up to him being a Portal Master- at last that doesn't contradict anything I noticed. And also- much as I hate to go "Acti is evil hurdurr!"- I think this little nitpick was a result of Acti. I suspect Kaos was going to be a Magic character, before Acti told TFB to give him a unique Trap, so that they could sell Kaos' Trap in addition to the Magic Traps. Either way, it's unexplained in game why Kaos doesn't fall in alignment with another element, and that kinda bothers me.

I've had the same nitpicks. Here are some of my own.

Why is there more then one of a trappable villain (Like how there are many Scrap Shooters in The Sewer Level, but only one is trappable, which in in the next level) Why not have Scrap Shooter be one of a kind?

There have been some changes in graphics, like Lava Barf Eruptor's Lava Barf 2. It looks so bad now, the lava balls are so small. Zap is another example, while his new jump is awesome, he has that weird left leg thing there it's angle is slightly turned inward to his chest and it's been bothering me since SSA. VV got rid of it and it looked great and TfB (I'm guessing) brought it back. Trap Team is on the SF engine, right? Then why are there changes in some of the graphics and animations? I just want the Zap limp gone! Every time I play as the little guy, as much as I love him, I can't stand that leg! (Sorry about the rant, its just a "thing", I guess. We all have them.)

Another is the hat select screen, when you have a hat on is SF , you could press X to remove it, while in TT you have to go back to the front of the list to the remove button, it's not a big deal, but it's tedious.

I think that TT was built off the Giants engine. You can tell from some of the graphics and the design of the menus... for goodness sake, even the menu sound effects are the same ones as Giants.

Quote: Sboy13

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Arc of Archives

The contradictions aren't nearly as bad as those in SF and are more easily forgivable- mainly because the plot is much more entertaining all-around, not to mention there aren't nearly as many noticeable contradictions- but there are a couple that I noticed.

• How come Doom Challenge is ongoing, as though Kaos is still around, even after you've trapped him in the same save?
  
• A lot of NPCs will talk to your villain as though they're a Skylander. For instance, Glumshanks doesn't bat an eye at you when you're playing as Kaos and the first time you speak to an NPC to initiate a villain quest, they refer to you as a Skylander even if you're playing as the villain whose quest is available. If you talk to Flynn as Kaos he congratulates you for being a saviour.
  
• Villains aren't stronger in zones that match their elements, only areas where they all get a boost for some reason. You'd think the elemental boosts would apply to all creatures of Skylands, including villains...
  
• The Golden Queen is incredibly inconsistent about wether she talks to you or your Skylander. She will talk to your Skylander about switching over, and ask you if you're afraid of dangerous situations, and tell your Skylander to solve puzzles, and brag about her stats to you.
  
• Kinda nitpicky, but the explanation for the villain timer is that the villains get tired. When you can "tire them out" by just walking/standing around as them, this seems kind of silly.

Okay, I know that was nitpicky, but there's more unexplained lore than contradictions. Like *massive spoilers ahead*, why does Golden Queen turn humongous from stepping in her gold pool? What's up with the Villain Vault in the hub- why was it built there? Why are Brock, the Skaletones, Quigley, etc. in Skylands Academy and why are there no more NPCs staying around there? How did the Minis get frozen and sent to earth when Skylands Academy was only just built, after all currently known send-to-earth-explosions? Why is it that you can trap some generic enemies (I.E. the Bone Chompy) and not others of the same species? How are so many NPCs able to give special upgrades to villains? Why can you only activate some turrets in Doom Challenge using a Skylander of a certain element?

Also, it bugs me how Kaos has his own Trap and doesn't fit into another Element, but I just chalk that up to him being a Portal Master- at last that doesn't contradict anything I noticed. And also- much as I hate to go "Acti is evil hurdurr!"- I think this little nitpick was a result of Acti. I suspect Kaos was going to be a Magic character, before Acti told TFB to give him a unique Trap, so that they could sell Kaos' Trap in addition to the Magic Traps. Either way, it's unexplained in game why Kaos doesn't fall in alignment with another element, and that kinda bothers me.

I've had the same nitpicks. Here are some of my own.

Why is there more then one of a trappable villain (Like how there are many Scrap Shooters in The Sewer Level, but only one is trappable, which in in the next level) Why not have Scrap Shooter be one of a kind?

There have been some changes in graphics, like Lava Barf Eruptor's Lava Barf 2. It looks so bad now, the lava balls are so small. Zap is another example, while his new jump is awesome, he has that weird left leg thing there it's angle is slightly turned inward to his chest and it's been bothering me since SSA. VV got rid of it and it looked great and TfB (I'm guessing) brought it back. Trap Team is on the SF engine, right? Then why are there changes in some of the graphics and animations? I just want the Zap limp gone! Every time I play as the little guy, as much as I love him, I can't stand that leg! (Sorry about the rant, its just a "thing", I guess. We all have them.)

Another is the hat select screen, when you have a hat on is SF , you could press X to remove it, while in TT you have to go back to the front of the list to the remove button, it's not a big deal, but it's tedious.

I think that TT was built off the Giants engine. You can tell from some of the graphics and the design of the menus... for goodness sake, even the menu sound effects are the same ones as Giants.

So, does that mean that the "Zap foot" will be there every other game? They're gonna need a meeting and just decide on what graphics and animations to keep and just use one engine (The SF one with the animations of TfB's one)

Come to think of it, they're gonna need to decide on more things then just that. VV got rid of things TfB had and TfB got rid of things VV put in and put things back in (The upgrade menu for example), making it inconsistent.

Quote: GameMaster78

This game has the best hub, hands down.

Swap Force had the best levels when it comes to how long they were.

Spyro's Adventure and Trap Team have the most levels of the 4 console Skylander games.

Swap Force had more modes than any other Skylanders game.

Spyro's Adventure and Giants allowed you to see everything on day 1, pending you had at least 1 Skylander of every element, plus 1 Giant.

They need to combine all of that into every game, to make every game the ultimate game in terms of longevity. They need to stop holding stuff back, in order to create an artificial way of extending the length of the game, when they can do that by putting more thought into each game, making more levels, longer levels, more modes of play, and bringing back what made us buy Swap Force Skylanders, Giants, Traps, and Trap Masters to begin with.

Actually, that was my biggest problem with Swap Force. The levels were too long, and they took like an hour to beat even if you were ignoring all the collectibles or gates or Swap zones.

*Thread looks like its turned into a whine fest despite OPs declaration he was avoiding that*

I'll throw my 'incomplete' salt in the ring. So far - I just beat the Air Pirate stage - I only have one-maybe two real gripes. The 'unknown' villains look like they were 'yanked' from other elements, and thus there is a huge 'gap' between say Life having 6 or 7 villains, and Magic having THREE. JUST THREE. This makes the light/dark elements look more and more like a blatant money grab, and less like 'additional content'.

My other gripe isn't really a gripe more so its a 'wish'. I wish that ALL villains had 3 attacks, the Doom Raiders when evolved got evolved powers (to maintain the trend of Doom Raiders > regular villains), and when evolved, you could use the skin from the original figure (looking at you Dreamcatcher, my wife likes the evolved, I don't). With basic villains onloy having 2 powers that don't really change much, there is little to no reason to ever use them. ;play Tussel sprout because my son loves the music. I hardly play any other non-Doom Raider villain - and its not because I'm power hungry and need to be unstoppable, I just feel like I'm 'nerfing' myself by playing the regular villains. Even though I LOVE Pain-Yatta's design -- more than any other Skylander or Villan this go around, he doesn't get much play outsie of 'showing off' as he only does 'two things'.

But that is admittedly only a half-gripe.
- Unreall

Yeah light and dark are ranking up there with the "Did these need to exist?" categories because they don't add anything to the game. Hex already showed dark was perfectly at home with Undead, if Wolfgang himself didn't already. Many of the other villains seem more at home with other categories too, such as Blaster-Tron.

Ultimately it just feels shoehorned in. Oh and fun fact: once you unlock info on them in the game, light AND dark towers will start randomly appearing in Kaos mode. If you're planning on just getting one element or the other might want to clear that out before slapping the adventure items on the portal.

[quote=[url=http://forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=109439&post=5337769]lidocain[/url]]Some of you mentioned that developers should make new Feast of Strengths and Swap Zones in every new game. I think that there might be an understandable reason behind why they don't do that, and it's not necessarrily a bad thing. You know, you can 100% (or nearly 100%) every game by only buying toys of that game. Now, if all these specific gates and zones would be present in every future game it would be very difficult to the newcomers of the franchise to get all the old toys required to fully enjoy the current game. It's not much of an issue for now, because I guess you still can grab a giant, and there are still swappers in the store (though I'm not sure if every movement type is still available everywhere...), but in sky5 you would need all of these + 8-10 trap masters + traps, and then comes the new gimmick... so although it would be a nice addition to us who has most of the stuff from last games, it's bad for everyone who missed something in last games (eg. movement type), or only just discovered Skylanders.[/quote]

See, but this is where thought comes into mind. These geniuses came up with Skylanders to begin with. Why can't they find a simple work around for the lack of those who decided to hold out on getting into Skylanders at a later date? Here, I'll come up with an idea on how to allow new buyers to access stuff they may not own due to late adoption of the series.

So, we all know the tablet version can be played with instant Food Fight and Snap Shot.

Let's say Timmy is getting into Skylanders for the first time. Mommy dearest doesn't want to hunt down 1 Giant (needed for Feats of Strength), and 6 Swappers (seeing as mommy wanted to go ahead and buy Timmy Swap Force because he wanted to experience past Skylander games). So what does one do?

Simple. The characters are programmed into each new game already, due to being able to register the toys themself. So - and this will give people more reason to own more coins than they need for upgrades - you introduce the Skylanders Rental Program. In each level, by each Feat of Strength or Swap Zone, there is an NPC who offers you a selection of Giants to be used only for Feats of Strength, or Swap Force Skylanders by Swap Zone entrances to be used only for Swap Zones, at the cost of 10,000 gold (this way they have to work for the chance to enter thus getting a feeling of working to enter said zone).

See, that simple. The Swaplanders' coding is already in the game, just temp unlock them for access to those zones. Only allow for the rental of Giants and Swappers.

See, and not to be rude, but why should it be take out on those who invested thousands in this game, due to late adopters of the franchise? Why should we suffer lack of content and be made to feel like our purchases were for nothing but to be taken full advantage of in one game, because people got in late?

The way to show appreciation to those who spent 15 bucks on Giants, Swappers, and Trap Masters, is by including areas they're needed in, in each game. To appeal to newcomers though, allow for the rental of unique playstyle Skylanders, so they can use gold to rent them to access said areas, should they not be able to find them at stores.

Skylanders are sold used all over my city, so finding a swapper of each type isn't hard at all really. Finding a giant is easier than anything.

With out digging too far into the 'old figures still work' rabbit hole.

First - what are we really talking about...

Feats of strength? That was JUST MASHING 'X'. that doesn't qualify as 'content'.
Swap Zones? 'Mostly' (not all) annoying areas that you never wanted to replay once you aced it.

So I can't sit here and honestly say "Oh I miss those, I wish they were still here to make me pull my 'figure X' out", because I don't miss them.

Truth be told, the gimmicks have never altered the game in a way that made me 'want' them. It's simply been a matter of "Hey Giants have more health and seem to be more effective than the cores", "Hey the SF characters have some real nasty combinations and kill/move faster than the other characters", and "Trap Masters hit harder and have more splash damage".

So in the current 'format' of the series, lets not get delusional with where the fun is and what we do when playing the game. I've got just a large collection as anyone else, at least one of all characters, with a bunch of 'casual' variants and chase variants. So I want to play as other characters as well, I'm not blinded by that.

And frnakly, this game did a much better job than SF of making me feel 'OK' doing that. Does Boomer feel behind? As a S1 - yes he does, he needs a Wow Pow. But I can put EyeBrawl on and feel content with how fast I chew through bad guys.

So if you want more content, then just flat out say you want more content, but as someone who was nervous about using old characters and the such, this game has actually done a good job on that front. would I love a more 'organic' approach where different 'entries/gimmicks' in the game affected things more - yes I would. If I did a new game from the ground up, I'd aim it more towards the Spyro direction of an open world, with Giants having increased size due to Trap Masters, and this letting them have large AoE and PBAoE style attacks, while smaller characters might platform better, Swaps would have adjusted damage/health ratio in favor of health, and Trap Masters would net you more money and do more damage than anyone else (and still be able to use the trap mechanic while others can't).

But that would lose the 'Skylander' feel and require a bit more from the intended age-group. *shrug*
- Unreall

For the record, I never stated that it is totally fair system to everyone, it was just one wild guess on which could have been on the contra side when the developers decided whether to include old gimmick areas in new games or not.
However, I cannot agree more with what Unreall just said, these stuff were not that much great at all to be so upset about not present in the games anymore. I was amused by Feasts of Strength for the first couple of times, because I found those animations pretty funny, then they become repetitive and by the end of the game I was just annoyed to switch to a Giant for about 1 minute because there was a wall/rock/pile of wood in the way...
So yeah, like everyone else, I would like to do more stuff with my old figures, at least quests and levelling up, I just don't think that these area things are the best way to show appreciation towards the collectors of the franchise.

After a couple of games, I've come to a conclusion that toys only exist to be sold. Creating a "purpose" for all of this crap we buy is not really on their minds. It's clearly the case due to the lack of attention on their execution.