darkSpyro

This topic is basically another SF vs TT thread. It's been pretty dry recently so let's have another one of these.


Which game do you feel is better?

I personally, think SF is the best game in the series. TT is still great with an awesome gimmick, but boy did it drop in content. I was so excited for Trap Team, my expectations were high, I will admit. I wanted time attack and score mode to return. Same with bonus missions. Not only did we loose time attack and score mode, we lost bonus missions AND quests. Basically anyway to customize your Skylanders stats was gone, (Except for, ugh, hats).Now that is a awful move.

I expected Trap Team to be the perfect mix of Swap Force's gameplay, and knock mechanics with TfB's story telling and lore. Instead, we basically got Giants with much better graphics. Everything VV put in SF, was gone in TT, hell even a few of TfB things were missing. The collections were downgraded to Skylanders and Traps. No story scrolls to read. But then again TfB decided to kill story scrolls and have the "oh so under used" Flynn flap his yapper.

I know TfB made Kaos Mode, but it's basically Arena battle with the same mission. Protect this chest from enemies.

TfB decided to reuse everything from Giants and SSA. From elemental gates leading to HATS, Sky stones, Lock Puzzles and cannon sequences. They're gonna need to learn that using the same thing over and over again is not the best idea. I can't help but feel Paul Richie is responsible for this.

Despite all that, TfB made fantastic Skylanders, levels and hub for TT.

That turned out to be mostly a TfB rant but it's true....


Vircarious Visions are the other hand knew what to do to make the game-play fresh, new and innovative while keeping what was still great. They dropped Sky Stones and replaced lock puzzles with the much quicker, yet creative spark locks. They're easy enough for kids to solve while hard enough for adults to have a challenge (Lock puzzles were the same way, but much more boring) The levels were longer and bigger as well and I was glad they were, they offered much more exploration. The only problem with the levels that that they were a tad less creative then TfB's.


That doesn't mean that VV is the better developer. There are many things VV messed up on.


The lore is wonky and inconsistent, most notably being Kaos' Mother (Kalamity?) using a portal on herself, when Glumshanks in Giants says that Portal Masters using portals on themselves is dangerous.

Another thing is the humor. It's beyond childish. ENCHILADAS! PIE! Flap chicken flap! Anything out of Flynn's mouth basically. Stuff like this makes me cringe.

Many of the VV Skylanders have bland personality or none at all (Except Riptide, Fire Kracken, Free Ranger and a few others). This is practically a sin for Skylanders games.

Now for the big thing. No heroic challenges and no way to boosts the stats of an individual Skylander. Bonus missions give you charm that boosts the stats of every Skylander, instead of one. It killed customization of your Skylander and made it basically the same as your neighbors.

It's not as expanded as my TfB rant, but VV's sins are just as big as TfB's.


Anyway, those are my thoughts. It's not the most well written as it's rushed but I think I get my point across.

I'm really hoping Sky 5 takes the best of Vv and TfB, with many new things as well.

V.V. hands down. T.F.B. might have started the innovation and the franchise but that doesn't meant their infallible. The best example is George Lucas and Star Wars. He changed Film making while giving us a legacy with Star Wars. He also endlessly tweaked those original movies and gave us the prequels. I rest my case. Just because you create a wonderful thing doesn't mean you will release something everyone will love and knock it out of the park every time. Now Empire Strikes Back was directed by Irvine Kershner and it is usually viewed as the best Star Wars of all time. This is an example of how someone can come into an established franchise, change it a little and make it their own, for the better. This is how I view T.F.B. and V.V. Especially after Trap Team.

I will agree with you. The one thing I will give TT credit for over SF is the concept of using Skylanders in a tower defense type of game. I would love to see that mode expanded upon and improved in the next Skylanders game. I also think the way traps was handled is cool, with the traps speaking to you, and making the fantasy of actually trapping the villains feel more interactive. I'm extremely excited for the next installment, hoping it'll be the best of all worlds as VV will be able to reflect on what worked and what didn't in SF, and continue to build off of the things that TfB have added.

I also love the villains and how they speak through the trap and have quests to evolve, but they are under-used IMO. They could all have their own upgrades and the evolution working like soul gems. For the rest, I feel like TT has lost something, and I can't quite put the finger on what it is. Maybe it's those modes mentioned by the OP.

I know I liked the accolades a lot in SF (btw, I still have to play Giants, and haven't finished SSA). It gave my collection addiction a purpose in-game. The Swap Zones were nice as well...

Time for the TFB representation here. In the end, my opinion will stand on having them work together instead of Activision switching developers causing either very rushed games or games with little grasp of what happened before, but if I have to choose,it's still them.
VV is very childish in concept and presentation. NPCs have to hold your hand all over the details, the story forgets continuity over what feels more "awesome and cool" and they'll be the first to remind you of that, characters get dumbed down to embarassing levels(Kaos turned into laughingstock over his so oh-more-important mother who doesn't get even a name, Flynn getting all the recognition and shiny things he....deserves?), and their own character designs being the same body types,faces and backstories all over even if they STARTED OUT as something of their own. Balancing? Let's make everything slower and sluggish for older characters and nerf a ton, that sounds like good balancing. And for some reason the composers decide to reuse or lazy their way out of a TON of songs in Swap Force, even using the ones that ARE really good in extremely short sections.
TFB is rough around the edges but by far the story is better and by TT so is the presentation, though their joke quality dropped into VV's level for reasons I don't understand. Even seeing the plot twists and the things happening from a mile away, they present it quick and straight to the point, and I could see it scaring some kids by the end of the game with how they so quickly drag the meta once again into the story (and before anyone says it came out of nowhere,so did Dark Portal Master bullcrap. At least this one got a bit of continuity from the first game with a few similar textures and the lack of estabilished Traptanium canon meaning they could do whatever). They kept raising the stakes, and I felt more involved and less just looking at things unfolding like in the previous two games. The art in general was a lot more creative with the best hub and some of the nicest-looking assets(Time Town and Golden Desert deserving special mention), and by Eon, the soundtrack more than made up for SF.
Not to say TT is perfect, I had my fair share of glitches that nearly cost me a few boss battles,Traptanium Gates made me quite salty over having to leave this game unfinished and I miss a ton of "quality of life" things like being able to check my Skystones collection, previous cutscenes, and collectibles in general, but I still had more fun following AND watching it than having zero effort watching a Swap Force LP and feeling like forgetting what I saw.

This probably means nothing to you if you ignore story over gameplay, but for me if one is actually bad and forgettable(and not just cheesy or passable) it doesn't matter what the other one half has to offer. Feels a bit like,say, Sonic Unleashed versus Sonic Boom, where one is a great game with some noticeable bad parts, while the other is an already meh game with some really bad parts.

But in the end,they'd really benefit more working together. Physics seem to work better in SF,the in-game engine cutscenes felt a lot more natural(while TFB had to go back to CGI probably to save time) and VV has a history in working with cartoon fantasy franchises. Giving them one-two years each will keep some obvious things always missing in those games, and eventually it will bite the franchise back.

TFB.
I have to say that SF's story wasn't all too creative in some parts. Now I'm not saying TFB hasn't had it's dull moments, but VV didn't have as much interesting details.
I like a lot of the VV characters but TFB did them better too. Although, I do wish they'd go back to two characters per element or maybe 3. In the long run, 4 is just too many and I may start to cut back in the future if VV does 4 again.
In terms of game play, I still prefer TFB still all though, that was the closest of the completions. VV produced good game play it is just that I sometimes prefer lock puzzles....

Quote: Bifrost

Time for the TFB representation here. In the end, my opinion will stand on having them work together instead of Activision switching developers causing either very rushed games or games with little grasp of what happened before, but if I have to choose,it's still them.
VV is very childish in concept and presentation. NPCs have to hold your hand all over the details, the story forgets continuity over what feels more "awesome and cool" and they'll be the first to remind you of that, characters get dumbed down to embarassing levels(Kaos turned into laughingstock over his so oh-more-important mother who doesn't get even a name, Flynn getting all the recognition and shiny things he....deserves?), and their own character designs being the same body types,faces and backstories all over even if they STARTED OUT as something of their own. Balancing? Let's make everything slower and sluggish for older characters and nerf a ton, that sounds like good balancing. And for some reason the composers decide to reuse or lazy their way out of a TON of songs in Swap Force, even using the ones that ARE really good in extremely short sections.
TFB is rough around the edges but by far the story is better and by TT so is the presentation, though their joke quality dropped into VV's level for reasons I don't understand. Even seeing the plot twists and the things happening from a mile away, they present it quick and straight to the point, and I could see it scaring some kids by the end of the game with how they so quickly drag the meta once again into the story (and before anyone says it came out of nowhere,so did Dark Portal Master bullcrap. At least this one got a bit of continuity from the first game with a few similar textures and the lack of estabilished Traptanium canon meaning they could do whatever). They kept raising the stakes, and I felt more involved and less just looking at things unfolding like in the previous two games. The art in general was a lot more creative with the best hub and some of the nicest-looking assets(Time Town and Golden Desert deserving special mention), and by Eon, the soundtrack more than made up for SF.
Not to say TT is perfect, I had my fair share of glitches that nearly cost me a few boss battles,Traptanium Gates made me quite salty over having to leave this game unfinished and I miss a ton of "quality of life" things like being able to check my Skystones collection, previous cutscenes, and collectibles in general, but I still had more fun following AND watching it than having zero effort watching a Swap Force LP and feeling like forgetting what I saw.

This probably means nothing to you if you ignore story over gameplay, but for me if one is actually bad and forgettable(and not just cheesy or passable) it doesn't matter what the other one half has to offer. Feels a bit like,say, Sonic Unleashed versus Sonic Boom, where one is a great game with some noticeable bad parts, while the other is an already meh game with some really bad parts.

But in the end,they'd really benefit more working together. Physics seem to work better in SF,the in-game engine cutscenes felt a lot more natural(while TFB had to go back to CGI probably to save time) and VV has a history in working with cartoon fantasy franchises. Giving them one-two years each will keep some obvious things always missing in those games, and eventually it will bite the franchise back.

Thanks for basically writing down my thoughts.

Didn't want to partecipate to another "let's bash TfB for all their mistakes and elevate V.V. to a god-like status" (because apparently that's how all the "TfB vs V.V." threads end up), but since you equally admitted the things both developers had right or missed, I'm going to say one simple thing, obviously a personal opinion, impression.

SF became quite annoying and boring, after some months.
TT hasn't, at least not yet.

And frankly, I doubt it would become annoying.
Maybe boring.

Toys for Bob. No questions asked.

VV I feel handled the gameplay better, but they weren't as creative as TFB. For example, in Trap Team, the level order is first a haunted swamp, then a science tower taken over by bad dreams, then a sawmill overrun by wooden robots. In Swap Force, the level order is first a desert... then a desert... then a desert. (And it didn't help that those levels were WAY too long). Even some of the characters I feel aren't that creative. And granted, I do like the Swap Force characters, though I feel they're a little more generic compared to the ones from TFB's games. So... I guess I choose TFB, though I still stand by my opinion that both companies should work together.

TfB is Skylanders' original developer. However, VV made Skylanders looks better on HD. I'm not entirely sure which developing company is better.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: Bifrost

Time for the TFB representation here. In the end, my opinion will stand on having them work together instead of Activision switching developers causing either very rushed games or games with little grasp of what happened before, but if I have to choose,it's still them.
VV is very childish in concept and presentation. NPCs have to hold your hand all over the details, the story forgets continuity over what feels more "awesome and cool" and they'll be the first to remind you of that, characters get dumbed down to embarassing levels(Kaos turned into laughingstock over his so oh-more-important mother who doesn't get even a name, Flynn getting all the recognition and shiny things he....deserves?), and their own character designs being the same body types,faces and backstories all over even if they STARTED OUT as something of their own. Balancing? Let's make everything slower and sluggish for older characters and nerf a ton, that sounds like good balancing. And for some reason the composers decide to reuse or lazy their way out of a TON of songs in Swap Force, even using the ones that ARE really good in extremely short sections.
TFB is rough around the edges but by far the story is better and by TT so is the presentation, though their joke quality dropped into VV's level for reasons I don't understand. Even seeing the plot twists and the things happening from a mile away, they present it quick and straight to the point, and I could see it scaring some kids by the end of the game with how they so quickly drag the meta once again into the story (and before anyone says it came out of nowhere,so did Dark Portal Master bullcrap. At least this one got a bit of continuity from the first game with a few similar textures and the lack of estabilished Traptanium canon meaning they could do whatever). They kept raising the stakes, and I felt more involved and less just looking at things unfolding like in the previous two games. The art in general was a lot more creative with the best hub and some of the nicest-looking assets(Time Town and Golden Desert deserving special mention), and by Eon, the soundtrack more than made up for SF.
Not to say TT is perfect, I had my fair share of glitches that nearly cost me a few boss battles,Traptanium Gates made me quite salty over having to leave this game unfinished and I miss a ton of "quality of life" things like being able to check my Skystones collection, previous cutscenes, and collectibles in general, but I still had more fun following AND watching it than having zero effort watching a Swap Force LP and feeling like forgetting what I saw.

This probably means nothing to you if you ignore story over gameplay, but for me if one is actually bad and forgettable(and not just cheesy or passable) it doesn't matter what the other one half has to offer. Feels a bit like,say, Sonic Unleashed versus Sonic Boom, where one is a great game with some noticeable bad parts, while the other is an already meh game with some really bad parts.

But in the end,they'd really benefit more working together. Physics seem to work better in SF,the in-game engine cutscenes felt a lot more natural(while TFB had to go back to CGI probably to save time) and VV has a history in working with cartoon fantasy franchises. Giving them one-two years each will keep some obvious things always missing in those games, and eventually it will bite the franchise back.

Thanks for basically writing down my thoughts.

Didn't want to partecipate to another "let's bash TfB for all their mistakes and elevate V.V. to a god-like status" (because apparently that's how all the "TfB vs V.V." threads end up), but since you equally admitted the things both developers had right or missed, I'm going to say one simple thing, obviously a personal opinion, impression.

SF became quite annoying and boring, after some months.
TT hasn't, at least not yet.

And frankly, I doubt it would become annoying.
Maybe boring.

I actually do plan to put down VV's faults. I just need to fit think about what to put down.


Quote: AdamGregory03

VV I feel handled the gameplay better, but they weren't as creative as TFB. For example, in Trap Team, the level order is first a haunted swamp, then a science tower taken over by bad dreams, then a sawmill overrun by wooden robots. In Swap Force, the level order is first a desert... then a desert... then a desert. (And it didn't help that those levels were WAY too long). Even some of the characters I feel aren't that creative. And granted, I do like the Swap Force characters, though I feel they're a little more generic compared to the ones from TFB's games. So... I guess I choose TFB, though I still stand by my opinion that both companies should work together.

Agreed, while SF levels were fun, they were more generic.

I have to say I don't really care about the story, and I wish you could ALWAYS skip EVERY cut scene. Swap Force is awful with that, and Trap Team even has its issues, like how you can't skip Kaos' introductions every time you do Kaos mode. I think everyone can probably agree on the faults and and it just comes down to which faults bother you.

As far as having two teams doing Skylanders games, I would think that this is because one studio couldn't possibly handle the timeframe required to get the games out in time, especially as more and more characters are added, and as they try to continue to develop cool technologies to differentiate the games. Even something simple like having the portal speak to you, and giving each villain a full set of phrases to say to you as you play, could take a few people months to put together. I would think that TfB is already working on a Skylanders 6, and that Skylanders 5 began development before Trap Team even came out. Not to say that they won't discontinue the series before then, but most development studios are constantly working on new games that may not see the light of day. Most big game studios have games they worked extensively on that were scrapped. Look at Blizzard with Warcraft Adventure, Starcraft Ghost, and the supposed "Titan" project. With VV and TfB staggering releases, content will come to us much more quickly and in a better state, and there will always be a new game coming along if they decide to put one out. I realize these games have bugs, but they could be a lot worse given the scope of the characters alone. Imagine trying to playtest all 170+ Skylanders to try and find bugs. Although they could stand to release some more patches.

At the end of the day, I am glad that there are two teams working on the series, and I would be surprised if they didn't share ideas with each other sometimes. You can see fairly clearly that some things from Swap Force did make it into TT, such as portal master rank. So it's not like these two groups of developers are opposed to each other's contributions. Has anyone from these companies made a comment on this? I mean, I would actually think that they are relieved to be able to split the work.

Trap Team doesn't allow you to skip anything that tells about a level's mechanics, I noticed. Initial cutscenes are fine, but they probably kept puzzle types, traps and the like obligatory so kids don't put the blame on the game for getting stuck.
And TFB mentioned they were in vacations after the release of the game, they're probably still in the prototype phase since there isn't a response to SKL5 yet to know what's the best approach.

And on the dev teams speaking of each other,it's the usual PR thing of "happy about their work on X game". TFB really upped the defensiveness of their plot elements in TT,and seemed to be pretty eager to finish just about any story arc they started there. Flynn and Buzz get their issues solved in the same game, trapped characters are taken out of the main story and don't affect it anymore, and the lore is mostly used for the levels and not much else. Just hope it's not the reason for the crappy Story Scrolls, Swap Force was all over the place with them but they could've fixed all the plot holes in a way or another instead of stopping worldbuilding altogether.

Vicarious Visions. I don't really care about story all that much I care more about gameplay which Swap Force excelled at. And honestly I felt as if Trap Team was way more childish than Swap Force was which sucks for both of them. Also, the Trap Team nerfs were way worse than the Swap Force ones, in Trap Team a lot of characters damage outputs were way to low compared to new Skylanders. There was no point playing then at all. In Swap Force some were nerfed but not as bad as some were in Trap Team. Trap Team also removed quests and didn't increase the level cap so I've only played with some of my new Skylanders for a few hours then I just play other games on the same day of getting them. They made gameplay worse and balancing worse which was pretty bad for people like me who prefer gameplay. Trap Team's content is so low that I hardly play it any more and only do when I get new Skylanders or if I'm making a video. Swap Force had loads of content and even if you have done every mission in the game you have quests to do and you can level up your old Skylanders. I also dislike Villains, I hope they do not make a return in Skylanders 5 and if they do I will rarely use them. So yeah, Swap Force > Trap Team. Spyro's Adventure and Giants are great though, even though they kinda lack in content you could do Heroic Challenges and quests if you had nothing else to do.

If villains don't return I'll feel more robbed by VV than anything. TFB removed character usefulness but they still support them being playable. Even if Villains just work on specific areas or the Tag-Team shockwaves from TT's final boss come back, at least make the money everyone's spending on traps worth it while it can be supported.

Vicarious Visions is best...

And I'll explain why, or at least my opinion,


Before I get started, I must say SSA is my favorite game in the series, but most of that is only because it was the first.
SSF is my second favorite,


I, for one, liked the bright colour-full-ness in the game. Because of this reason, I find myself bored playing STT.
I like Woodburrow better than the Skylanders Academy, I liked the sheep, the dummies, the rainbow bridge that only appears from 3pm-6pm or-so, the Power pods, the ( almost ) everything.

When first playing this game, I was amazed. It's a huge leap of innovation from Giants, and I love how it seems more "modern" in style.
The custom profile pictures for every Skylander was awesome, and in my opinion, much better than using their Stat Card art.
The HealthBar/XP Bar was much more compact, and organized...

And co-op!
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
It was so much better playing with two players! The previous games, and Trap Team, seem very unorganized when playing 2 player,
Same goes for PVP, and I loved those cool split screen thingy where it showed both skylanders profile pictures

Swapping is my favorite gimmick so far, and no nerfing! Or.. at least not very much.
SSF's graphics looks much better than STT in my opinion, and even though the story was not-so-great, I didn't care. The enemies were basically all the same..
You had the spinning one, the melee one, the overhead projectile one, and the straight-forward projectile enemy..

Even though levels were boring, and most characters, designs were VERY uncreative, they were definitely not lacking in gameplay.
Scorp, Zoo Lou, Wind-Up, Star Strike, and more, all brought great, unique gameplay to the series,
Content? SSF sometimes had way too much content, but it's better to have too much than too little.. *I'm looking at you TFB"
Bounus Missions, Survival, Score Mode, Timed Mode, and more! They were all great, and even all the Old stuff was better than before


Even when the enemies got cool intros, and totally different designs, they were all the same enemy.
Every enemy is basically a variant of another, such as the Greeble Ironclad, he would attack you, lie down and be vulnerable, then put his shields up, his spinning purple shields. That's the exact same attack formula for others, such as the Loose Cannon, etc
Same with others, the Greeble, Normal Chompy, Grumblebum Thrasher, and to some extent, the Cyclops, all had the same attacks,
Same with the Cyclops Sleetthrower, Greeble Heaver, all different "species" of enemies were all the same.
Whereas Toys for Bob's games, all have variety.

This all didn't mix well with very long levels, sometimes taking at least 2 hours to complete 100% . Around Iron Jaw Gulch, you start to get bored by the repetitiveness of levels,

I also didn't like how there was no personality especially the SWAP FORCE..
Tfb characters seem to be all unique, and had fun, distinct personalities. VV's landers all just seem like "generic heroes"
And of course...


Overall, I like VV's style MUCH better.

Quote: Bifrost

If villains don't return I'll feel more robbed by VV than anything. TFB removed character usefulness but they still support them being playable. Even if Villains just work on specific areas or the Tag-Team shockwaves from TT's final boss come back, at least make the money everyone's spending on traps worth it while it can be supported.

I'm expecting villains to still be playable. It's to unique get rid of. Not to mention it's very different then what we got before.Swapping is still in TT and I'm expecting to at least have the TT villains playable.

Quote: Badwolfmichael

The custom profile pictures for every Skylander was awesome, and in my opinion, much better than using their Stat Card art.

I don't know, some of the work seemed pretty rushed. A few artworks have their lineart removed for no reason and it's very jarring to see some holes in the drawings, and some like all of Hex' artworks make me wonder if the artist actually looked at her art instead of the new model. She doesn't have a forehead the size of her palm or is purple-skinned,that I'm sure of.

There's also another issue both dev teams will have to face - power creep. Midgame normal enemies in TT have over one thousand health, Kaos felt like I was fighting a secret FF boss. Removing some zeros won't solve enough; if we don't want to have a Yiazmat on a game that has nothing with RPGs or enormous level curves,we'll need a big restructuring of game and character balance real soon.

I just found a metaphor I think should describe my experience with TfB and V.V. games.

SF hwas been an incredibly huge flame, burning bright since the beginning... But quickly started to fade and lose power.

On the other hand, TfB's games (particularly Trap Team) started lukewarm, but always putting a smile on my face for the details of everything, starting from the main menu... And then slowly increased their power, growing to immense sizes as the game progressed and as I bought more characters to play as.

Of course, we have 3 TfB games and only one made by V.V..

However, it's true, my only reason to keep playing in SF were characters' Quests and the new Skylanders to upgrade.

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Bifrost

If villains don't return I'll feel more robbed by VV than anything. TFB removed character usefulness but they still support them being playable. Even if Villains just work on specific areas or the Tag-Team shockwaves from TT's final boss come back, at least make the money everyone's spending on traps worth it while it can be supported.

I'm expecting villains to still be playable. It's to unique get rid of. Not to mention it's very different then what we got before.Swapping is still in TT and I'm expecting to at least have the TT villains playable.

Swap Force yells at you for having a trap in the portal. So that tells me that the portals read the traps like normal items. Because of that, I would think they would recognize traps in the next game, but we shall see...

Vicarious Vision. They made Swap Force the most innovated and lenghty game in my opinion. And the Swap Force were actually a gimick and not just powerful Skylanders. Not to mention their amazing art style.

Now, I won't hate on Toys for Bob because they had cool ideas like playing as the villains and the speaker. Though it seems like they're scared to try something different with gameplay (Trap Team really feels like Giants 2. I mean chapter 4 has a bounce pad placed where you can jump).

Character design wise, it's a tie.

Quote: spyrocrash

Vicarious Vision. They made Swap Force the most innovated and lenghty game in my opinion. And the Swap Force were actually a gimick and not just power Skylanders. Not to mention their amazing art style.

Now, I won't hate on Toys for Bob because they had cool ideas like playing as the villains and the speaker. Though it seems like their scared to try something different with gameplay (Trap Team really feels like Giants 2. I mean chapter 4 has a bounce pad placed where you can jump).
C

Agreed, TfB doesn't like change. The bounce pads are a perfect example.

I don't really have much to say that the OP hasn't. I disagree about the humour (I don't think it's as good as the original TFB games, but there are more good jokes than people give it credit for), though I definitely agree about the story, presentation, story and personality.

SF has far, far better game design than any part of the TFB games, but in comparison to the TFB games it feels like it lacks heart. Because of that, I'll always see it as a really great game that just completely missed the mark on the story aspects. It's a real shame, because there are some good concepts (mainly in the bonus missions), even if they don't live up to a lot of TFB's ideas. The actual plot setup is kind of repetitive and unoriginal, but effective and simple enough that with some tweaks it could've worked and been a lot more fun and not so questionable.

Of course, that's not to say TFB's plots are perfect. TT's story is incredibly lacking in background lore, the way Traps work is very questionable, the humour is some of the worst in the series, it's very inconsistent about Portal Master stuff... Honestly, I feel like they started to lose that touch during Giants, which never had the same immersion as SA (outside of the first level), used "ship gone down" as an excuse too often and had Machine Ghost Ex Machina. (Coming from someone who like's Giants' story best because it's a great continuation and feels more dark, mind you.)
It's not nearly as bad as SF- I even think TT's story is much better than that, and we all know how much it disappointed me- but I also think people (myself included) give TFB too much credit when it comes to that sometimes, and if TT ended up with the best story of the series, I still would've been very disgruntled at the lack of content and step down in game design. But hey their art direction in TT was perfect. I don't think SF's art direction is bad... Mostly... But it feels sorta generic and less lively. And oftentimes, it's just too kiddy and not serious enough (a large part of why it feels more generic).

Same conclusion as almost everyone else- TFB for creative assets, VV for game design/content. If I had to pick one, VV. Giants is actually my favourite game, but a large part of that is nostalgia, and I think SF is best objectively (even though it doesn't feel very Skylanders-y, in a bad way).

so much to read but heres my 2 cents.

i like SF levels and gameplay better than TT but the TT story was better. I actually liked the humor in SF, its so corny at some points its hilarious. But in TT i found the mabu very annoying. Overall, put SF gameplay and extras with TT story and trap gemmic = best game ever.

Also i should note ive just now beaten SF and ive 100% TT, Yet to play giants and SA, there next on my list after 100% SF.

SSF was just too kiddy to be funny.

It's like they made the game for 5 year olds.

Tfb makes games that feel ages 12 and up.

Well, I know that's definitely not mature or anything .>.>..

But... it's much better.. I felt the SSF NPC's were literally explaining how to do everything to you like you had no i dea how to play >.>

Really I don't think you can favour 1 above the other coz they both bring different good and bad things to the games.

Swap force had to have a lot of new cool things coz it was VV's first go at the franchise, they had to try and impress as much as possible or risk not getting to make another game.

But toys for bob is definately the heart of the franchise. Their games seem to have more 'soul' but may always have less content. Despite its lack of content besides story mode, theres a reason SA is still highly regarded and replayable.


Graphics and all that other stuff really don't matter. Both do all the basics fine.

Really everyone just wants Toys4bob games with VV extra content.

I found Swap Force to be the low point, but i love the figures from it.

Good responses....we've had this thread before...so I wont re-post what's already here.

Quote: Arc of Archives

I don't really have much to say that the OP hasn't. I disagree about the humour (I don't think it's as good as the original TFB games, but there are more good jokes than people give it credit for), though I definitely agree about the story, presentation, story and personality.

SF has far, far better game design than any part of the TFB games, but in comparison to the TFB games it feels like it lacks heart. Because of that, I'll always see it as a really great game that just completely missed the mark on the story aspects. It's a real shame, because there are some good concepts (mainly in the bonus missions), even if they don't live up to a lot of TFB's ideas. The actual plot setup is kind of repetitive and unoriginal, but effective and simple enough that with some tweaks it could've worked and been a lot more fun and not so questionable.

Of course, that's not to say TFB's plots are perfect. TT's story is incredibly lacking in background lore, the way Traps work is very questionable, the humour is some of the worst in the series, it's very inconsistent about Portal Master stuff... Honestly, I feel like they started to lose that touch during Giants, which never had the same immersion as SA (outside of the first level), used "ship gone down" as an excuse too often and had Machine Ghost Ex Machina. (Coming from someone who like's Giants' story best because it's a great continuation and feels more dark, mind you.)
It's not nearly as bad as SF- I even think TT's story is much better than that, and we all know how much it disappointed me- but I also think people (myself included) give TFB too much credit when it comes to that sometimes, and if TT ended up with the best story of the series, I still would've been very disgruntled at the lack of content and step down in game design. But hey their art direction in TT was perfect. I don't think SF's art direction is bad... Mostly... But it feels sorta generic and less lively. And oftentimes, it's just too kiddy and not serious enough (a large part of why it feels more generic).

Same conclusion as almost everyone else- TFB for creative assets, VV for game design/content. If I had to pick one, VV. Giants is actually my favourite game, but a large part of that is nostalgia, and I think SF is best objectively (even though it doesn't feel very Skylanders-y, in a bad way).

Could you please explain why you think SF's level design is better?

Just curious to hear other opinions, since I personally found them to be too long (and that wouldn't have been a problem, if they also were filled with contents), empty (I felt like there were a lot of dead times) and waaaaaay more linear than TfB's ones (they didn't encouraged exploration that much).

But the combact system was really better.
No, wait.
It was challenging and engaging. Don't know if better, but certanly more fun.

TFB's humor was FAR from being "something for 12 year olds", no idea what you're saying if you don't explain it, Badwolfmichael.

But that's not to say it was any good in TT compared to the other two. Surprisingly, Flynn was the only one who actually had any improvement, since uncessary 'boom' aside he was doing a lot more small talk and things that made him feel less like a running gag - heck, I was surprised at the final level and how he actually dropped most of the jokes and was using very distressed expressions before leaving. But everyone else?

No, Buzz, I don't care how you got there(actually I know. His running animation is horrifying). Mags I think that we know basic level design. NO BUZZ I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR ABILITIES. MAGS SHUT UP ABOUT FOOD ALREADY. Yes another level with Cali and/or Flynn pretty please.

The only scene I actually giggled a bit was the credits because sending off Kaos by means of existential crisis was just amazing, but that's about it. Overall it felt like they tried to be VV with running gags and one-note jokes which really weren't anyone's favorites to begin with, and if they really felt like they couldn't be funny enough they should've spent more time polishing their story where they were excelling at.

TFB was the best but the 4th game is so bad idk what happened. Wish they could make a game like Giant again.

Quote: Bifrost

TFB's humor was FAR from being "something for 12 year olds", no idea what you're saying if you don't explain it, Badwolfmichael.

But that's not to say it was any good in TT compared to the other two. Surprisingly, Flynn was the only one who actually had any improvement, since uncessary 'boom' aside he was doing a lot more small talk and things that made him feel less like a running gag - heck, I was surprised at the final level and how he actually dropped most of the jokes and was using very distressed expressions before leaving. But everyone else?

No, Buzz, I don't care how you got there(actually I know. His running animation is horrifying). Mags I think that we know basic level design. NO BUZZ I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR ABILITIES. MAGS SHUT UP ABOUT FOOD ALREADY. Yes another level with Cali and/or Flynn pretty please.

The only scene I actually giggled a bit was the credits because sending off Kaos by means of existential crisis was just amazing, but that's about it. Overall it felt like they tried to be VV with running gags and one-note jokes which really weren't anyone's favorites to begin with, and if they really felt like they couldn't be funny enough they should've spent more time polishing their story where they were excelling at.

Kaos, surprisingly, had a lot of character development in TT. Flynn too, from what you mentioned.

Also, how every Skylanders game is supposed to connect from Sky 5 an onward makes me thing we are getting a bigger story, that crosses multiple games.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: Arc of Archives

I don't really have much to say that the OP hasn't. I disagree about the humour (I don't think it's as good as the original TFB games, but there are more good jokes than people give it credit for), though I definitely agree about the story, presentation, story and personality.

SF has far, far better game design than any part of the TFB games, but in comparison to the TFB games it feels like it lacks heart. Because of that, I'll always see it as a really great game that just completely missed the mark on the story aspects. It's a real shame, because there are some good concepts (mainly in the bonus missions), even if they don't live up to a lot of TFB's ideas. The actual plot setup is kind of repetitive and unoriginal, but effective and simple enough that with some tweaks it could've worked and been a lot more fun and not so questionable.

Of course, that's not to say TFB's plots are perfect. TT's story is incredibly lacking in background lore, the way Traps work is very questionable, the humour is some of the worst in the series, it's very inconsistent about Portal Master stuff... Honestly, I feel like they started to lose that touch during Giants, which never had the same immersion as SA (outside of the first level), used "ship gone down" as an excuse too often and had Machine Ghost Ex Machina. (Coming from someone who like's Giants' story best because it's a great continuation and feels more dark, mind you.)
It's not nearly as bad as SF- I even think TT's story is much better than that, and we all know how much it disappointed me- but I also think people (myself included) give TFB too much credit when it comes to that sometimes, and if TT ended up with the best story of the series, I still would've been very disgruntled at the lack of content and step down in game design. But hey their art direction in TT was perfect. I don't think SF's art direction is bad... Mostly... But it feels sorta generic and less lively. And oftentimes, it's just too kiddy and not serious enough (a large part of why it feels more generic).

Same conclusion as almost everyone else- TFB for creative assets, VV for game design/content. If I had to pick one, VV. Giants is actually my favourite game, but a large part of that is nostalgia, and I think SF is best objectively (even though it doesn't feel very Skylanders-y, in a bad way).

Could you please explain why you think SF's level design is better?

Just curious to hear other opinions, since I personally found them to be too long (and that wouldn't have been a problem, if they also were filled with contents), empty (I felt like there were a lot of dead times) and waaaaaay more linear than TfB's ones (they didn't encouraged exploration that much).

But the combact system was really better.
No, wait.
It was challenging and engaging. Don't know if better, but certanly more fun.

VV was simply listening to what we wanted---we wanted longer levels. Trap Team has was a great BALANCE of pre-SF games and Swap Force. They've perfected it in Trap Team. And NO ONE wants 3-4 levels with the same area. TfB does better here. But gameplay wise, there's a lot of goodness with both tech companies.

Quote: Drek95

Didn't want to partecipate to another "let's bash TfB for all their mistakes and elevate V.V. to a god-like status" (because apparently that's how all the "TfB vs V.V." threads end up), but since you equally admitted the things both developers had right or missed, I'm going to say one simple thing, obviously a personal opinion, impression.

That's not even close to what happens. No one claims VV is infallible. But they were the ones that realized they needed to move forward technically. They ditched the Wii as the lead platform. They moved up to higher def graphics. They added jumping (which was by far the most desired feature). And swapping is by far the coolest new innovation - way better than traps or giants. All of these benefited the franchise.

TfB, on the other hand, gets a lot of credit, they do great toy design and the original concept is great. They had it going for them up until Trap Team, you could explain Giants failure to add much in only being a one year dev cycle, but after two years they not only didn't add anything significant technically, they actually walked back things that were added/improved. And came out and flatly said they would have removed jumping if they thought they could get away with it. They obviously suffer from a bad case of "Not invented here" syndrome, which is a very bad thing for a developer to have. It wrecks innovation because it means the developer shuns good ideas simply because they didn't come up with it. That is the reason TfB gets maligned in these discussions.

My complaint is that Trap Team doesn't have an option to show subtitles during the cutscenes. I have some hearing loss so I have no idea what they're saying, though I get the gist of it from the visuals. But the story might matter to me more if I could understand the dialogue.

Quote: defpally

Quote: Drek95

Didn't want to partecipate to another "let's bash TfB for all their mistakes and elevate V.V. to a god-like status" (because apparently that's how all the "TfB vs V.V." threads end up), but since you equally admitted the things both developers had right or missed, I'm going to say one simple thing, obviously a personal opinion, impression.

That's not even close to what happens. No one claims VV is infallible. But they were the ones that realized they needed to move forward technically. They ditched the Wii as the lead platform. They moved up to higher def graphics. They added jumping (which was by far the most desired feature). And swapping is by far the coolest new innovation - way better than traps or giants. All of these benefited the franchise.

TfB, on the other hand, gets a lot of credit, they do great toy design and the original concept is great. They had it going for them up until Trap Team, you could explain Giants failure to add much in only being a one year dev cycle, but after two years they not only didn't add anything significant technically, they actually walked back things that were added/improved. And came out and flatly said they would have removed jumping if they thought they could get away with it. They obviously suffer from a bad case of "Not invented here" syndrome, which is a very bad thing for a developer to have. It wrecks innovation because it means the developer shuns good ideas simply because they didn't come up with it. That is the reason TfB gets maligned in these discussions.

Where did they say THAT? Source? Oh my God if they did that, I just might have left the franchise (Probably not). SSA and Giants felt so limited with out jumping. Jumping added so much to the Sklanders formula!

DAMMIT TfB! REALLY? COME ON!

This is what annoys me about TfB they avoid change.

@GhostRoaster: Yes, they were INDEED listening to us, as they improved the series enormously, with the introduction of jump, the outstandingly better graphics and, as you said, the lenght of the levels.

However, I would have liked those levels to be more meaty, as I found myself wandering too often, without anything to do, even when keeping moving forward.

The first levels were perfect, great atmospheres, they managed to change the themes enough, even when keeping a single main theme (forest, or grasslands), but after Rampart Ruins they almost gave up, on level variety...

I agree, TT nailed those aspects, (especially with the Light and Dark Expansion Packs), and if V.V. keeps it in mind, I'm sure the outcome will be incredible.

@defpally: Just look at what you wrote.

How can we keep saying that we are treating both companies in the same way, when you wrote just 2 lines to talk about V.V.'s mistakes, and almost 7 for TfB's...?

We'll start to be objective when comparing them, when we'll learn to write more or less the same number of lines regarding mistakes for both companies.
And believe me, I know it is hard, as we all have preferences, but I'm trying my best to do it.

@HeyitsHotDog: I know V.V. only got ONE chance, so far, to develop a Skylanders game, but personally, if that's the route they want to take, from now on, I think I will still prefer a company that, according to my tastes, has been able to create 3 original games with a standard I like, instead of one that, again, so far, innovated so much it almost felt like I wasn't playing a Skylanders game...

Of course, I wish them the best, and I'm sure that they (and TfB ) learned from their mistakes, and won't repeat them again.

Quote: Drek95

@defpally: Just look at what you wrote.

How can we keep saying that we are treating both companies in the same way, when you wrote just 2 lines to talk about V.V.'s mistakes, and almost 7 for TfB's...?

We'll start to be objective when comparing them, when we'll learn to write more or less the same number of lines regarding mistakes for both companies.
And believe me, I know it is hard, as we all have preferences, but I'm trying my best to do it.

Because they broke one of the big sins of software development. Eschewing innovation because they didn't come up with it. I could write 200 lines on why that is terrible.

And why do I have to keep the same number of complaint lines for each, I thought this was a comparison? There is a reason I feel VV is superior - because they make less mistakes. Pointing out less problems with one versus the other is not, per your words, "elevating them to god-like status". It just means that one has LESS PROBLEMS THAN THE OTHER.

Why do you feel that TfB deserves the exact number of lines of commentary? That is not the definition of "fair comparison". Line count is a stupid metric, and is a hallmark belief of someone that cannot effectively evaluate pros versus cons.

Quote: defpally

Quote: Drek95

@defpally: Just look at what you wrote.

How can we keep saying that we are treating both companies in the same way, when you wrote just 2 lines to talk about V.V.'s mistakes, and almost 7 for TfB's...?

We'll start to be objective when comparing them, when we'll learn to write more or less the same number of lines regarding mistakes for both companies.
And believe me, I know it is hard, as we all have preferences, but I'm trying my best to do it.

Because they broke one of the big sins of software development. Eschewing innovation because they didn't come up with it. I could write 200 lines on why that is terrible.

And why do I have to keep the same number of complaint lines for each, I thought this was a comparison? There is a reason I feel VV is superior - because they make less mistakes. Pointing out less problems with one versus the other is not, per your words, "elevating them to god-like status". It just means that one has LESS PROBLEMS THAN THE OTHER.

Why do you feel that TfB deserves the exact number of lines of commentary? That is not the definition of "fair comparison". Line count is a stupid metric, and is a hallmark belief of someone that cannot effectively evaluate pros versus cons.

The "lines" thing was not litteral.
Sorry if it sounded like it was.

The problem is I almost always see people writing down a lot of TfB mistakes, and forgetting what they got right.
On the other hand, I rarely (it happens, mind it) read about V.V. mistakes, and mostly about what they did good, even exaggerating, sometimes.

I say, let's write down TfB's and V.V.'s pros and cons equally.
This is not a thing I commonly see.

I frankly think a lot of V.V.'s success is due to them being the FIRST TRUE INNOVATION in the Skylanders series.
It was great, it was fresh, and it was like a dream... 'Till it lasted.

Of course, those are just personal opinions.
I just think that different developers should cooperate to bring us the game we used to like.
Innovation? Sure!
Rebooth? How about NO?

Quote: Drek95

I just think that different developers should cooperate to bring us the game we used to like.

That is entirely my point. VV didn't tell TfB, hey why don't you take out stuff from the franchise we added, that's TfB's deal. The feeling is hey, VV made a pretty good game too, why didn't TfB keep all that stuff they added we liked and just add more to it? It's not just big things, it is little things like being able to do upgrades without listening to dialog again and again. Add longer levels, but give them the character TfB added. Keep in PvP arena, even if they don't add anything new to it AND add Kaos mode. Minimize the use of jump pads, don't add MORE of them (they never work right in two player anyways). What we got was Giants 2 with traps (which isn't much of an innovation). Trap Masters are Giants without a Lightcore.

It's hard to deny the huge steps forward VV made with the franchise. I remember the first time I booted Swap Force and realizing it was no longer a Wii game, the HD detail was stunning. And playing through levels being able to jump at last. The way the levels went on and on (after the really short Giants levels). How cool and satisfying it was to pull a Swap Master apart and make an abomination snapping it on another. Yes there were flaws, but there is no denying that everyone felt it was a big step forward. Even the biggest fans of Trap Team (I'm one of them) will readily admit it didn't do much new.

That's the thing about innovation. You can come up with a great idea, but four years later people are going to ask "what else you got?".

It goes both ways,defpally. VV should've also asked help with SF's lore,but what did they do? Take what they THOUGHT was right and run with it. Plot proceeds to get full of holes,inconcistencies, and things that have nothing to do with the tone of the series. Same goes for their horrid character design when I-Wei and Paul Reiche mentioned several times they have a lot of unused designs because they have to choose who makes it to the current TFB game.

EDIT: And out of the subject, this topic now has that glitch where it takes several refreshes to load fully. Page 2 can't come sooner.

Quote: defpally

Quote: Drek95

I just think that different developers should cooperate to bring us the game we used to like.

That is entirely my point. VV didn't tell TfB, hey why don't you take out stuff from the franchise we added, that's TfB's deal. The feeling is hey, VV made a pretty good game too, why didn't TfB keep all that stuff they added we liked and just add more to it? It's not just big things, it is little things like being able to do upgrades without listening to dialog again and again. Add longer levels, but give them the character TfB added. Keep in PvP arena, even if they don't add anything new to it AND add Kaos mode. Minimize the use of jump pads, don't add MORE of them (they never work right in two player anyways). What we got was Giants 2 with traps (which isn't much of an innovation). Trap Masters are Giants without a Lightcore.

It's hard to deny the huge steps forward VV made with the franchise. I remember the first time I booted Swap Force and realizing it was no longer a Wii game, the HD detail was stunning. And playing through levels being able to jump at last. The way the levels went on and on (after the really short Giants levels). How cool and satisfying it was to pull a Swap Master apart and make an abomination snapping it on another. Yes there were flaws, but there is no denying that everyone felt it was a big step forward. Even the biggest fans of Trap Team (I'm one of them) will readily admit it didn't do much new.

That's the thing about innovation. You can come up with a great idea, but four years later people are going to ask "what else you got?".

As Bifrost said, that can be said for V.V. too.

Why did they wiped out most of TfB's lore/characters/features?
And why let us hear Gorm's dialogue only once, when upgrading, if I constantly have to hear Rufus each time I come back to Woodburrow, and can't skip the majority of the cutscenes...?
And why did it felt so... Bland?

Those were my first three gripes, with SWAP Force.
It remembered only the necessary from the previous games, it was slow and repetitive and most of it wasn't as inspired as Giants and SA.

They didn't innovated that much, in Trap Team, but at least they got those three things just right, to me.
And that's what makes me happy.

In my opinion, TT is a solid experience with some flaws.
SF is a great innovative game with some big problems.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: defpally

Quote: Drek95

I just think that different developers should cooperate to bring us the game we used to like.

That is entirely my point. VV didn't tell TfB, hey why don't you take out stuff from the franchise we added, that's TfB's deal. The feeling is hey, VV made a pretty good game too, why didn't TfB keep all that stuff they added we liked and just add more to it? It's not just big things, it is little things like being able to do upgrades without listening to dialog again and again. Add longer levels, but give them the character TfB added. Keep in PvP arena, even if they don't add anything new to it AND add Kaos mode. Minimize the use of jump pads, don't add MORE of them (they never work right in two player anyways). What we got was Giants 2 with traps (which isn't much of an innovation). Trap Masters are Giants without a Lightcore.

It's hard to deny the huge steps forward VV made with the franchise. I remember the first time I booted Swap Force and realizing it was no longer a Wii game, the HD detail was stunning. And playing through levels being able to jump at last. The way the levels went on and on (after the really short Giants levels). How cool and satisfying it was to pull a Swap Master apart and make an abomination snapping it on another. Yes there were flaws, but there is no denying that everyone felt it was a big step forward. Even the biggest fans of Trap Team (I'm one of them) will readily admit it didn't do much new.

That's the thing about innovation. You can come up with a great idea, but four years later people are going to ask "what else you got?".

As Bifrost said, that can be said for V.V. too.

Why did they wiped out most of TfB's lore/characters/features?
And why let us hear Gorm's dialogue only once, when upgrading, if I constantly have to hear Rufus each time I come back to Woodburrow, and can't skip the majority of the cutscenes...?
And why did it felt so... Bland?

Those were my first three gripes, with SWAP Force.
It remembered only the necessary from the previous games, it was slow and repetitive and most of it wasn't as inspired as Giants and SA.

They didn't innovated that much, in Trap Team, but at least they got those three things just right, to me.
And that's what makes me happy.

In my opinion, TT is a solid experience with some flaws.
SF is a great innovative game with some big problems.

You have too much of a TfB bias. I hate to sound mean but it's getting annoying, even though I like you.

Trap Team's flaws are much bigger than you think.

Trap Team is much more repetitive and slow than SF. SF did have cannon sequences, but they were short. Spark Locks were short as well. TfB's cannon sections are not slow, but very slow. Lock puzzles are very boring now and take a lot of time. Don't even get me started on Sky Stones.

Are you guys really debating the depth of the plot? Wow!!! One thing Swap Force did that was interesting towards the end of the game was engage me, the player, with that Never Ending Story like moment with the Mom and the Portal at the end of the game. That blew my mind a little. There was a little of that towards the end of Trap Team with Kaos but why only at the end. That's cat's out of the bag. It would be awesome if the game were asking me to make choices in re-building or straight up building the development of Skyland's itself. T.F.B. didn't innovate all that much with T.T. In fact I believe they took away more features than they added. Why remove the profile screens, the Challenges, the rank pedestals, pvp, etc. They only added Villain Traps and Tower Defense. S.F. had so much more meat than T.T. does. Again this is the year Star Wars comes to Infinity and they better bring their "A" game if they want to compete...at least for my $$$.

The first game I played in the series was Swap Force, then Spyro's Adventure (still unfinished). then Trap Team. I really got into SF, but still haven't fully immersed in TT. This one felt bland from my point of view, which is probably due from SF being my first Skylanders game...

Quote: HeyitsHotDog

Quote: Drek95

Quote: defpally

That is entirely my point. VV didn't tell TfB, hey why don't you take out stuff from the franchise we added, that's TfB's deal. The feeling is hey, VV made a pretty good game too, why didn't TfB keep all that stuff they added we liked and just add more to it? It's not just big things, it is little things like being able to do upgrades without listening to dialog again and again. Add longer levels, but give them the character TfB added. Keep in PvP arena, even if they don't add anything new to it AND add Kaos mode. Minimize the use of jump pads, don't add MORE of them (they never work right in two player anyways). What we got was Giants 2 with traps (which isn't much of an innovation). Trap Masters are Giants without a Lightcore.

It's hard to deny the huge steps forward VV made with the franchise. I remember the first time I booted Swap Force and realizing it was no longer a Wii game, the HD detail was stunning. And playing through levels being able to jump at last. The way the levels went on and on (after the really short Giants levels). How cool and satisfying it was to pull a Swap Master apart and make an abomination snapping it on another. Yes there were flaws, but there is no denying that everyone felt it was a big step forward. Even the biggest fans of Trap Team (I'm one of them) will readily admit it didn't do much new.

That's the thing about innovation. You can come up with a great idea, but four years later people are going to ask "what else you got?".

As Bifrost said, that can be said for V.V. too.

Why did they wiped out most of TfB's lore/characters/features?
And why let us hear Gorm's dialogue only once, when upgrading, if I constantly have to hear Rufus each time I come back to Woodburrow, and can't skip the majority of the cutscenes...?
And why did it felt so... Bland?

Those were my first three gripes, with SWAP Force.
It remembered only the necessary from the previous games, it was slow and repetitive and most of it wasn't as inspired as Giants and SA.

They didn't innovated that much, in Trap Team, but at least they got those three things just right, to me.
And that's what makes me happy.

In my opinion, TT is a solid experience with some flaws.
SF is a great innovative game with some big problems.

You have to much of a TfB bias. I hate to sound mean but it's getting annoying, even though I like you.

Trap Team's flaws are much bigger than you think.

Trap Team is much more repetitive and slow than SF.

Don't worry.
Just because your opinion is different doesn't mean I'm automatically right and you are consequently wrong.

Sorry if I sounded annoying, it's just that, as I said before, in my opinion, Trap Team has nearly everything I want from a Slylanders game.
I simply cannot see it as slow or repetitive.

Sure, it lacks PvP, Heroics/Missions and other SF's modes, but since I personally never cared that much about them, I cannot truly consider them as flaws.

I do hate the fact that the level cap wasn't increased and that Quests were removed, as well as Trap Team's bigger problem: Traptanium only Elemental Gates.

Never. Do. It. Again.

Quote: ultyzaus

The first game I played in the series was Swap Force, then Spyro's Adventure (still unfinished). then Trap Team. I really got into SF, but still haven't fully immersed in TT. This one felt bland from my point of view, which is probably due from SF being my first Skylanders game...

Hey, welcome to the boards. I know what you mean. It does feel weird and kind of dull compared to S.F. To be honest at time's T.T. doesn't even feel like a T.F.B. game.

Disclaimer: For anyone that likes T.T. more I'm not trying to change your mind. These are all opinions and one opinion is not more important or correct than any other. I like what I like, you like what you like.../game on.

For know VV like the style more for some reason and just cause of 1 bad gimmick from TT really makes me side with VV

Quote: Drek95

@GhostRoaster: Yes, they were INDEED listening to us, as they improved the series enormously, with the introduction of jump, the outstandingly better graphics and, as you said, the lenght of the levels.

However, I would have liked those levels to be more meaty, as I found myself wandering too often, without anything to do, even when keeping moving forward.

The first levels were perfect, great atmospheres, they managed to change the themes enough, even when keeping a single main theme (forest, or grasslands), but after Rampart Ruins they almost gave up, on level variety...

I agree, TT nailed those aspects, (especially with the Light and Dark Expansion Packs), and if V.V. keeps it in mind, I'm sure the outcome will be incredible.

That's funny. I think TfB and Trap Team had PRONOUNCED periods of "walk to next ambush area" and "kill everything/boss" and "move to next ambush area". This did not feel AS FORCED in Swap Force and flowed better. I do agree there were some lagging periods in Swap Force because they were only doing what we asked...but to be fair...Trap Team has these moments as well.

So net/net: TfB has better overall creativity in toy and some areas of their game aesthetics...but VV is the technical powerhouse forcing change and trying to expand the game. Both are great, and both have plusses and minuses...but imo I can see the hard work VV is putting in....despite the fact that the game "feels" better to me in TfB world I'm equally disappointed about their lack of features post the main story event. It's unacceptable and has left me with 10 months of pretty much nothing to do with the game. I still haven't completed all score mode and time attack challenges in Swap Force, and I was playing it well into last summer. Those dozens of accolades giving recognition for EVERY SINGLE THING...all gone now. So, since I'm done with Trap Team I'll go back to the game that's STILL giving me bang for my buck (despite annoying Rufus). Swapability is still the best gimmick---they balanced the technical innovation with awesome and long term playability...how can you argue with the balance of toy and game?

Thanks goodness I have an XBO and new games to start playing.