darkSpyro

This game has a lot of flaws.
-Plotholes, including that of Kaos's mother and yourself being about to use the portal on themselves.
-Disappointing final boss.
-Lengthy stages.
-Poor sense of danger.
-New Skylander designs are more miss than hit (IMO, but characters like Stink Bomb, Freeze Blade, Free Ranger, etc are butt ugly)
-GOOOOOOOORM!!! (At least he's not Persephone though)

...And yet, it's still a pretty good game. I feel like the core gameplay has actually improved, as have the graphics, though some of the design changes are debatable including the cuter Chompies. (I preferred the creepier ones myself) In addition, while the new Skylander designs are iffy, they're still a blast to play as, and the new Swaplanders and Swap Zones are very fun. The Bonus missions are like the Heroic Challenges, but better. The Survival Arena brings back the arena mode from Giants, and provides some great twitch button-mashing joy. And while, yes, the stages are quite long, the action is still very fun, and in Time Attack mode I found myself used to it.

Also, I like some of the new NPC characters. I actually kind of like Tessa, who's kind of meek but actually helps at times like she did by freeing the animals and knocking down that mirror in the Mother Kaos fight, more then Cali who acts all gungho but did nothing to help ever (even in the Carnival stage in Giants, it's implied she's doing something, but never actually shown). I also kind of have a soft spot for Snaglescale and his long-winded stories, as well as Baron Sharpfin who looks outright bad*** and has somewhat of a "shady villain who gains an epiphany" type story. Also, the fact that the NPCs aren't all completely useless and expect the Skylanders to do all the work was kind of cool. Wheelock the Landshark actually fights alongside the Skylanders, while Avril the Frost Elf kicks butt against badguys by herself with a FISH!

Lastly as far as NPCs go, I liked seeing some of the Skylanders getting more recognition. Gill Grunt's Gillmen look great in this game compared to the past, where their faces were so different from Gill Grunt that they looked more like a subspecies of what Gill Grunt is rather than the same species. Also it was cool to see Slam Bam's yetis, Stump Smash's trents, Terrafin's landsharks and Wham-Shell's crabs (Shellshock and Blind Beard) being established as actual species rather than them being the only ones known of their kind.

Yeah, Swap Force has its faults, but it's still a great game in my opinion.

That's the last you'll see of the rubber duck chompies, don't worry. The 3DS games are the only places where they reappear and even then Beenox can't decide which model to use at times.

Also, Tree Men aren't treants(that's Arbo and other tree folk) or sentient trees like Stump Smash/Tree Rex. All three different species.

Speaking of the cutesy chompies, I'm not a big fan of Swap Force's version of Spyro. I could be alone, but I actually really like Skylander's Spyro's design. He looks hungry and lustrous, like a creature who hasn't eaten in days, but he is cunning and clever, and he looks like he will enjoy tearing his prey apart. Many people think he's ugly, but I think his ugliness is cool. But in Swap Force, they made his expression very cutesy, which removed his intimidation factor.

The weak wow pows were a big disappointment in this game. The wow pows in Giants made most of the reposes really powerful. That, and unlocking heroic challenges are what got me collecting. But the reposes in Swap Force made me resent spending the money.

But, still a good game for sure. Memorable figures that stand out for me include Wash Buckler, Punk Shock, Smolderdash, Star Strike, Rubble Rouser, Spy Rise, Bumble Blast, and Night Shift.

Chapters were a little long. I thought the after-game was quite rich: bonus missions, time challenges, swap zones, etc. Way fun.

I still haven't gotten 100 percent completion. Stupid dumb "no damage..."

Swopforce was probably the only Starter pack we ever paid full price for . It is also so far the only dark edition pack we ever bought .

The not so suble tickling you into buying just one more Skylander was very impressive.

My toy buying addiction was under control with Giants and Spyro . SwopForce switched my toy buying
gears into overdrive . All those cool labels like "Blue Lighting" really made you want to rush out and buy another LC .


It was a bit sucky that Pirate and Crypt and Iceland adventure toy levels did not work . The battlepack Arkeyan Crossbow and Lava cauldron were very unimpressive weapons of war . We all still used the dragon cannon first .

I felt the Skylanders in Sheep Wreck Island and Tower of time should have been the other way around .

..........................

In game speaking I was very annoyed that we used power pods instead of my favorite fairy .
The hub town was huge and full of secrets . I loved the rainbow bridge idea .
Muscle Hippo annoyed me pretending he is my equal . It would have been nice to have him beaten up in some sort of arena practice mode .
Tessa is much cooler than Callie .
I think i prefer trolls to greebles .
I dont know how I feel about the mega levels . Your average kiddie is full on sugar and ADHD so I suppose its a bad idea for a kiddie game

If I have a complaint its that the swopforce challenges seemed out of place . They could have made it fit better .

Quote: Dark fhoenix

Swopforce was probably the only Starter pack we ever paid full price for . It is also so far the only dark edition pack we ever bought .

The not so suble tickling you into buying just one more Skylander was very impressive.

My toy buying addiction was under control with Giants and Spyro . SwopForce switched my toy buying
gears into overdrive . All those cool labels like "Blue Lighting" really made you want to rush out and buy another LC .


It was a bit sucky that Pirate and Crypt and Iceland adventure toy levels did not work . The battlepack Arkeyan Crossbow and Lava cauldron were very unimpressive weapons of war . We all still used the dragon cannon first .

I felt the Skylanders in Sheep Wreck Island and Tower of time should have been the other way around .

..........................

In game speaking I was very annoyed that we used power pods instead of my favorite fairy .
The hub town was huge and full of secrets . I loved the rainbow bridge idea .
Muscle Hippo annoyed me pretending he is my equal . It would have been nice to have him beaten up in some sort of arena practice mode .
Tessa is much cooler than Callie .
I think i prefer trolls to greebles .
I dont know how I feel about the mega levels . Your average kiddie is full on sugar and ADHD so I suppose its a bad idea for a kiddie game

If I have a complaint its that the swopforce challenges seemed out of place . They could have made it fit better .

I have to admit... I have no idea how you managed to make that typo not one, but three times.

That being said, I told myself all I wanted was 8 swappers, but now I'm having a hard time lying to myself that. Deep down, I actually wouldn't mind having more figures than what I have. I wouldn't mind having more swappers, or even the rest of the core landers. Even last night I had a dream that I was in a shop that sold Skylanders and I ended up buying Smoulderdash and a full Grim Creeper figure.

Also, while I still like GOOOOOOORM!!! more than Persephone, I'll admit he's only a mild improvement. What I hated about Persephone is probably the same thing I hate about Whirlwind's personality, in that it's so sickly feminine to the point of almost being sexist. Still, I wouldn't mind taking Spy Rise USA in the fight against GOOOOOOORM!!! ...I do kind of like Tuk, though. I kind of wish Tuk got more character development.

Swap Force is awesome, simply said. None of the games are perfect, but the after-game content still rules supreme compared to any other title.