darkSpyro

How big do you wonder the free roam is going to be? Whole world size big, or Academy+little islands?

wait, free roam is confirmed...?!

No i know, but to what extent?

It has been confirmed on several occasions that there is a large overworld that connects all the levels together. Nothing else has really been discovered besides that...

I used to think part of the M.A.P. was the level show in Barbella and TKC's gameplay videos because
However, it looks more like a level than part of the M.A.P.. I'm not completely sure either way.

Quote: TheToyNerd

It has been confirmed on several occasions that there is a large overworld that connects all the levels together. Nothing else has really been discovered besides that...

K, then.


I hope they make it huge, have side-quests with various towns, and have secret areas with chests and soul gems.

I actually think it might possibly be this area . it kind of reminds me of what the Academy gardens might look like . And it seems like a whole wide island area. We'll see soon enough though.

I doubt they will. This isnt an RPG

Quote: TaeKwonCrow

I doubt they will. This isnt an RPG

Actually, it's very much an RPG.

RPG = Role Playing Game

The player plays the role of a Portal Master.

Skylanders always had RPG elements (XP, Levels, Upgrades...).

Okay, we know that about the hub:

• It will be semi-open (so, you know, not totally open, but somewhat).
  
• You can play the levels in any order you want (maybe the first and last ones are exceptions).
  
• Academy is in there.
  
• There are Elemental Realms unlocked by Senseis but accessible with any Skylander.

Quote: Crash10

Skylanders always had RPG elements (XP, Levels, Upgrades...).

Okay, we know that about the hub:

• It will be semi-open (so, you know, not totally open, but somewhat).
  
• You can play the levels in any order you want (maybe the first and last ones are exceptions).
  
• Academy is in there.
  
• There are Elemental Realms unlocked by Senseis but accessible with any Skylander.

What's more, we now have classes, gear, stats, etc.
It's totally an RPG (not sure if it's an RPG light tho...)
Even the plot in SSA was structured like one (collect all 4/7/8/10 artifacts to open the door to the final boss and/or get the power needed to beat him, fight bosses guarding most of them, so on and so forth)
Also, Final Fantasy was a D&D derivative, right?
Well, collect four elemental crystals, battle an elemental five/four headed dragon that's a servant of Chaos/Kaos, and the antithesis to them is also a dragon.
Illuminati confirmed
Spyro's Adventure = Final Fantasy I
D&D artist guy = D&D knockoff
8 Elemental Sources = 4 elemental crystals
Hydra = Tiamat
Kaos = Chaos
Spyro = Bahamut
Skylanders = Warriors of Light
And the inspiration from FF is more blatant in Giants, they ripped Triple Triad off of Squall "Leon" Leonheart's game, Final Fantasy VIII's own Triple Triad.

I would say it's a Hack 'n Slash mixed with RPG (kinda like the Night stages in Sonic Unleashed). You know, the enemies even show the damage when you hit then. RPG thing. But it quite works like a Hack 'n Slash, by it's style of combat, puzzles, and platforming.

Quote: Crash10

Okay, we know that about the hub:

• You can play the levels in any order you want (maybe the first and last ones are exceptions).

Are you sure about that?

Quote: newkill

Quote: Crash10

Okay, we know that about the hub:

• You can play the levels in any order you want (maybe the first and last ones are exceptions).

Are you sure about that?

It was confirmed in a recent Gamescom video.

http://www.gamereactor.eu/grtv/?id=279333

Quote: Aura24

Quote: newkill

Quote: Crash10

Okay, we know that about the hub:

• You can play the levels in any order you want (maybe the first and last ones are exceptions).

Are you sure about that?

It was confirmed in a recent Gamescom video.

http://www.gamereactor.eu/grtv/?id=279333

Wow, really?
Huh... That's kinda interesting.

But keep in mind that what I said about the first and last levels being exceptions are just guesses, but I think it's the most probable choice.

Quote: Crash10

I would say it's a Hack 'n Slash mixed with RPG (kinda like the Night stages in Sonic Unleashed). You know, the enemies even show the damage when you hit then. RPG thing. But it quite works like a Hack 'n Slash, by it's style of combat, puzzles, and platforming.

Hack and Slash? Only half of the landers have combos. A few have to be used strategically.
If you like RPG hack and slashes, you all should try Warrior/Musou (not Basara doe, don't give crapcom any more monies than absolutely necessary.)
They call em battlefield RPGs, but...

They crossover with a lot of crud, but the main games are Samurai Warriors (Sengoku [Japanese warring states] period) and Dynasty Warriors (Sangoku [Chinese Three Kingdoms] Period), with Warriors Orochi being a crossover between the two. (Dynasty Meets samurai [Sangoku meets Sengoku])
There's also Dynasty Warriors Gundam,
Hyrule Warriors (Wii U/3DS) (crossover with Zelda [if you're one of the few who doesn't know what Hyrule is])
Pirate Warriors: One Piece
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage (my bro says JoJo rips off FotNS, but idk either franchise, so... Drawdler, maybe you could explain it better without my bro's bitter attitude and oversimplified explanations!)
Apart from Orochi, all the crossovers are essentially "crossover's cast and setting crossed with Musou's (warrior's) gameplay.

Oh juarmo, I know about those games actually. I consider Skylanders a Hack 'n Slash because of the high focus on combat, like a Beat 'n Up. But I think you're right about being more of a RPG.

Quote: Crash10

I would say it's a Hack 'n Slash mixed with RPG (kinda like the Night stages in Sonic Unleashed). You know, the enemies even show the damage when you hit then. RPG thing. But it quite works like a Hack 'n Slash, by it's style of combat, puzzles, and platforming.

SSA & Giants always felt like Diablo-lite to me personally, and they've only added platforming for the most part since ( the main combat aspects still have that Diablo feel )

Yeah, the first two are pretty much Dungeon Crawls. From Swap Force and onward, they felt more like a Action-Adventure game (term used for games that generally mix Hack 'n Slash and Platform, as I know) with RPG.

Quote: Aura24

Quote: newkill

Quote: Crash10

Okay, we know that about the hub:

• You can play the levels in any order you want (maybe the first and last ones are exceptions).

Are you sure about that?

It was confirmed in a recent Gamescom video.

http://www.gamereactor.eu/grtv/?id=279333

Unless I missed something, Paul says "choose which level to enter", but no mention of the order in which the chapters of the story are played.

Yeah I got that too, I think it's too early to say we have level order choice .

Perhaps the levels require a certain portal master rank, similar to the required Stars needed in various Mario games. That'd be an interesting new, and one I personally would enjoy, feature.

Of course, the required rank shouldn't become so high that one can't access it without relative ease. If you beat one level, another should become readily available, but completionists and those who enjoy non-story modes could unlock other levels faster, perhaps, too.

^That's a good idea too.

I'd prefer the levels not so easily accessible though like banjo kazooie ( having to complete enough objectives of open levels before the next level will open) . I liked this system coz it gave you a purpose to play to completion, both story and extra objectives. It makes the game last much longer . Which is something skylanders needs to work on .

Quote: Drawdler

I don't like "you need X collectables to unlock next level" 'cuz it feels limiting in a boring way. It could act as a difficulty gate of sorts but I've never seen that pulled off well.

I personally like the system of Crash 2/3. There are several worlds with a few levels each, you can play all the levels of a world in any order (aside from the boss level being last) and you unlock a new world when you finish all the levels of the last one. Keeps some nice difficulty progression while giving you decent freedom and making each replay feel fresh.

... In retrospect, the original Spyro games pretty much had that system too.

If you don't like the function of "you need X collectibles to unlock the next level", you aren't a gamer, m8.


(no offense)

Quote: Drawdler

I'm not your m8, p8l.

(none taken)

Well, I guess I ate/drank too much dew and doritos...

(thanks)

My guess is that we will have the Academy on the center of the M.A.P., more or less, and that there will be a quite wide explorable "world" surrounding it and leading to the various levels.

However, I personally think we won't be able to complete the levels in any order, simply that we can access them directly from the M.A.P. (similarly to SA) maybe even after we've completed them: in fact I'm expecting the M.A.P. to expand each time we complete a new level, so that we can access the next one.
The hubs always changed while progressing in Story Mode, so I guess it would make sense.

I'm really hoping for tons of enemies, secrets, collectables and treasures and also NPC's to talk to.
I also think that Adventure Packs will be accessed from the M.A.P. as well, and while I'm not expecting them to unlock the respective levels I'm crossing my fingers for older Adventure Packs to at least add more areas ro explore.

Quote: BoneGrunt

Perhaps the levels require a certain portal master rank, similar to the required Stars needed in various Mario games. That'd be an interesting new, and one I personally would enjoy, feature.

Of course, the required rank shouldn't become so high that one can't access it without relative ease. If you beat one level, another should become readily available, but completionists and those who enjoy non-story modes could unlock other levels faster, perhaps, too.

As long as you can acess everything (earning enough stars) just by playing, doing quests etc. It would be really bad if you get to a part of the game where you need more stars to progress, but to get more stars you need new Skylanders to get new collectibles and rank up.

^The games are always made so you can reach the end with just the starter pack.

Kind of like an RPG-esuqe world.

with the random chest drops and gear collections to replay the worlds with all levels interconnected on a hub with semi free roam capability is seems more like a love child of Pokemon and Diablo.; Just my $.02. Super stoked to get this one, SC sucked so lets hope they can bring it back around.