darkSpyro

In my opinion Superchargers was the best in the series and if this game came in 2016 then they would've expanded upon it this year. Superchargers didn't kill the franchise if anything, VV wanted to bring change to the franchise and it was good change! Unfortunately it was good change that a lot of fans didn't accept. Either way let me know what you think they would've done if there was ever a Superchargers year 2! That would've been amazing!

Meh it was okay but I felt the concept of vehicles was unoriginal and out of place with the basic world of skylands .

I always thought it would have fit better if the basic story started off as Kaos goes to the far future for some reason and the heroes have to follow ....

Although there is tech element in skylands for the most part its a medieval fantasy world .

No, no, no. Some chapter designs were cool, I'll give it that. But too many crappy characters and not enough on-foot. Racing took too much away from that.

You should put this post under "Unpopular Opinions."

I agree. i think Imaginators was a very horrible game to end the series

It's purely my opinion, but for every single good thing it introduced (and there were quite a few) it commited terrible, terrible mistakes.
Least favorite game in the series so far.

Would have welcomed a second year of SuperChargers if it introduced more new Core characters and no new vehicles or variants.

It's a tough choice in my opinion. Story wise? Superchargers wins hands down in my book. The story in Imaginators was utter trash. Banishing the darkness? That's a great point for a "finale", and then we followed it up with just another generic plot that almost was even worse than generic.

Gimmick though Imaginators wins. I hate racing games, but I did enjoy the vehicle gameplay for what it was. But creating my own character and leveling them up and constantly trying new gear and looks? Yeah, wins this round for me.

Gameplay was pretty solid in both for me. It's hard for me to recall Superchargers, having not played it in a while now, but I always end up liking the feel of the game of VV more than TFB. But then TFB did a lot of fan service and put in a number of things that fans have been wanting for a while now. So this one is a draw for me.

I'm torn which should be the "last game". Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and I have enjoyed both for what they are and what they set out to do. I would really love just 1 more game sometime, maybe 2018 or 2019, to wrap it all up with Kaos and whatnot. But until then, we will have to accept what we got for our current "finale".

I do agree on saying SuperChargers' story felt more like a proper finale than Imaginators'.
But again, I don't think the latter was supposed to be the end of the series, even though that doesn't excuse the inexistent epilogue after Kaos' defeat.

That being said, I hated how they handled the battle with The Darkness: it was a very interesting character, manipulative and evil (probably held back by Kaos' influence) and after that rather good battle with the Emperor and the fake end (which totally got me, after 4 games where Kaos was the final boss)... We get a vehicle part...?
Oh sure, as if we didn't had enough manadatory ones in the rest of the game.

Literally anything would have been better than... that.
No need to make use battle him with our Skylanders, probably because they would have been too weak, but at least give me an open arena where I can do more than just drive straight and gain speed to crash onto the biggest evil in the whole Skylands.
Felt more like a minigame than a final battle.

The awesome soundtrack only made it worse.

I agree, if the series is truly about to end I would like at least one more game to properly wrap up everything: make the Skylanders battle the true ultimate threat, like Malefor, an even more powerful The Darkness or something else entirely and let Kaos fully help them and maybe even end up joining the Academy for good.
Let us feel the story is over.

Imaginators was a great idea that suffers from a shortage of content - and since it is likely the last, it won't get any better. Imaginators offered so much flexibility in making characters that have special meaning to you, it is a shame you only have the shortish story in the game to use them. Imaginators would have done great with online versus, I can just see taking your Imaginator online to fight battles in up to a 4 player fight.

But, on the other hand, making your own character is just sort of an "all in" gimmick. Once you can make your own, what else can they offer you to make you want to buy more figures? It almost seems like it was intended to be a last ditch effort to hand the reigns over to us.

Quote: defpally

Imaginators was a great idea that suffers from a shortage of content - and since it is likely the last, it won't get any better. Imaginators offered so much flexibility in making characters that have special meaning to you, it is a shame you only have the shortish story in the game to use them. Imaginators would have done great with online versus, I can just see taking your Imaginator online to fight battles in up to a 4 player fight.

But, on the other hand, making your own character is just sort of an "all in" gimmick. Once you can make your own, what else can they offer you to make you want to buy more figures? It almost seems like it was intended to be a last ditch effort to hand the reigns over to us.

Completely agree, except for the "ultimate gimmick" part.

I think it's probably hard to top, and definitely a nice way to pass the baton but it doesn't directly prevent future installments with nee figures.
Even the most carefully created Imaginator can't be compared to a character designed by the professionits, with unique powers, look and gameplay.
3D prints can't hold a candle to proper toys as well, and for a number of reasons.

But if this is truly the last chapter, at least they left us with something which will gave us hours of fun.

I wish I'd played Superchargers (and I ought to soon; seen it for a fiver in CeX for the Wii!), but based on the little gameplay I've seen, it doesn't look like it qualifies for ending the series with a bang. Assuming of course this is the final entry (it could well be if the next game goes through development Hell). I'm just looking at Superchargers' gameplay now and it looks fantastic, especially the platforming sections, but a lot of what looks like mini-games appears to be the main content. I'm not sure much I'd want that for 2 years even with consistent updates! And this is coming from someone with a colossal [enthusiasm] for kart/battle racers!

So based on what little I know of Superchargers, I think it's one of those things where it might be unpopular, but you've got to do it just to say that you did and move on. Kinda like licking a Nintendo Switch cartridge after Reggie tells you (repeatedly) not to do it, but you do it anyway. After a short break from your usual Toys-2-Life tomfoolery, you can return to it and I think Imaginators was a great way to go! Considering how little replay value I get out of Skylanders, being encouraged to get more parts for different playstyles for my very own creation has a lot more appeal to me than buying different Skylanders that don't really have the same magic as I found with S1/2's figures.

Quick question before I go: how does Skylanders: Superchargers fare purely from a racing PoV? As previously stated I love cars, but I'm hoping they control as fluidly as they do in the videos I've seen and feel fun to modify!

Quote: Johnbonne

Quick question before I go: how does Skylanders: Superchargers fare purely from a racing PoV? As previously stated I love cars, but I'm hoping they control as fluidly as they do in the videos I've seen and feel fun to modify!

No, the track racing part is rubbish. The modifications really don't feel substantial and the rces are filled with BS moments. The rubber banding is far more pronounced than Mario Kart, and as a result you can often be nailed near the finish line and passed quickly thanks to the poorly designed weapons forcing you to re-run long races because the CPU screwed you at the end. It feels at times like a race that is filled with blue shells. The vehicles don't really feel right either, you never get that feeling of pulling off that perfect power slide Mario Kart gives so well. And it feels like there is very little skill and practice can do about it.

That said, the non-racing parts (and where you just race straight down a path) aren't bad at all. Just avoid the tracks (which is what that carried over to Imaginators). It is a decent Skylanders game, but a terrible Mario Kart clone.

Quote: Johnbonne

I wish I'd played Superchargers (and I ought to soon; seen it for a fiver in CeX for the Wii!), but based on the little gameplay I've seen, it doesn't look like it qualifies for ending the series with a bang. Assuming of course this is the final entry (it could well be if the next game goes through development Hell). I'm just looking at Superchargers' gameplay now and it looks fantastic, especially the platforming sections, but a lot of what looks like mini-games appears to be the main content. I'm not sure much I'd want that for 2 years even with consistent updates! And this is coming from someone with a colossal [enthusiasm] for kart/battle racers!

So based on what little I know of Superchargers, I think it's one of those things where it might be unpopular, but you've got to do it just to say that you did and move on. Kinda like licking a Nintendo Switch cartridge after Reggie tells you (repeatedly) not to do it, but you do it anyway. After a short break from your usual Toys-2-Life tomfoolery, you can return to it and I think Imaginators was a great way to go! Considering how little replay value I get out of Skylanders, being encouraged to get more parts for different playstyles for my very own creation has a lot more appeal to me than buying different Skylanders that don't really have the same magic as I found with S1/2's figures.

Quick question before I go: how does Skylanders: Superchargers fare purely from a racing PoV? As previously stated I love cars, but I'm hoping they control as fluidly as they do in the videos I've seen and feel fun to modify!

The racing is good for what it is. Since Defpally is mainly looking at the negative and avoiding the positive, I'll give the positive points. Changing mods on your vehicle is very helpful. People say there isn't a difference but no THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. Shield Striker for example, it has terrible handling of you equip a mod with much much better handling you feel and see the difference. As for the difficulty, it can be quite a challenge but since I'm the best racer (straight up facts right here no one better not say otherwise I'll rub you into the ground in racing) it isn't that difficult for me. Supercharging your vehicle is another great factor and is helpful too. Also, lots of replayability in racing. So many options from online race to boss pursuit to nitro cup and more! So yeah as in terms of racing it's fun for what it is.

Quote: SkyFan91

The racing is good for what it is. Since Defpally is mainly looking at the negative and avoiding the positive, I'll give the positive points. Changing mods on your vehicle is very helpful. People say there isn't a difference but no THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. Shield Striker for example, it has terrible handling of you equip a mod with much much better handling you feel and see the difference. As for the difficulty, it can be quite a challenge but since I'm the best racer (straight up facts right here no one better not say otherwise I'll rub you into the ground in racing) it isn't that difficult for me. Supercharging your vehicle is another great factor and is helpful too. Also, lots of replayability in racing. So many options from online race to boss pursuit to nitro cup and more! So yeah as in terms of racing it's fun for what it is.

You seem to just get triggered anytime someone mentions something that isn't smiley super positive about Skylanders. I mentioned several positive aspects about Superchargers, I in no way "avoided the positive". Did you get your feelings hurt when Year 2 turned out to be vaporware exactly like everyone was telling you?

The challenge in the game comes from the CPU cheating. You can go laps in first place only to have the super rubberbanding AI cheeseball you with the unbalanced weapons then 3 cars pass right before the finish line. Awesome.

The mods are overwhelmingly ineffective. SOME of the fringe vehicles that outright stink (like maybe Shield Striker which is practically a tank by default) can be made marginally playable with mods.

And good luck finding anyone to race against online these days.

Look, I don't hate Superchargers, I had quite a bit of fun with the game. It is worth getting, particularly since it is so cheap now - but the track/lap racing is garbage (which makes the 3DS/Wii versions garbage by default). It might do alright versus some of the shovelware racing games you see in stores, but against games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe it is terrible. It was painful getting that feat in Imaginators.

Quote: defpally

Quote: SkyFan91

The racing is good for what it is. Since Defpally is mainly looking at the negative and avoiding the positive, I'll give the positive points. Changing mods on your vehicle is very helpful. People say there isn't a difference but no THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. Shield Striker for example, it has terrible handling of you equip a mod with much much better handling you feel and see the difference. As for the difficulty, it can be quite a challenge but since I'm the best racer (straight up facts right here no one better not say otherwise I'll rub you into the ground in racing) it isn't that difficult for me. Supercharging your vehicle is another great factor and is helpful too. Also, lots of replayability in racing. So many options from online race to boss pursuit to nitro cup and more! So yeah as in terms of racing it's fun for what it is.

You seem to just get triggered anytime someone mentions something that isn't smiley super positive about Skylanders. I mentioned several positive aspects about Superchargers, I in no way "avoided the positive". Did you get your feelings hurt when Year 2 turned out to be vaporware exactly like everyone was telling you?

The challenge in the game comes from the CPU cheating. You can go laps in first place only to have the super rubberbanding AI cheeseball you with the unbalanced weapons then 3 cars pass right before the finish line. Awesome.

The mods are overwhelmingly ineffective. SOME of the fringe vehicles that outright stink (like maybe Shield Striker which is practically a tank by default) can be made marginally playable with mods.

And good luck finding anyone to race against online these days.

Look, I don't hate Superchargers, I had quite a bit of fun with the game. It is worth getting, particularly since it is so cheap now - but the track/lap racing is garbage (which makes the 3DS/Wii versions garbage by default). It might do alright versus some of the shovelware racing games you see in stores, but against games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe it is terrible. It was painful getting that feat in Imaginators.

Year 2 has nothing to do with superchargers but okay whatever floats your boat

"SuperChargers didn't kill the franchise or anything" is a big lie and we're seeing the results now. TT had the issue with too big of a lineup, but the worse they could've done was making a game with controversial style changes - aaaand that's exactly what they did. Good plot and graphics or not,that game set Imaginators' failure a year ahead of time because it made people turn away from the franchise in a format that NEEDS people buying a lot on Month 1, and as far as we know, it might do that to the entire mainline franchise.

It might not be 100% VV's fault, but the fact no one looked at the whole concept and ordered 'maybe let's do that once we have other games on this engine so there's content' was a huge mistake. Well, the huge mistake is the yearly format, but looking at a specific game since we can't change Acti's short term addiction.

TT was what set Superchargers to not sell well to Activision's expectations. Yes people turned away before Imaginators but when Imaginators came the majority came back. Y'all can blame SSC all you want but it was truly TT that screwed over the sales. Wasn't because of how the game was but because too many figures and so little time. SSC was more generous with the lineup and if TT didn't exist or if it had a roster like SSC, then the sales of SSC would've been fine.

TT did well, it just fell off after the first few waves EXACTLY because of the figure amount. If SC was a regular game with 20 figures it would've done fine, the issue is that people are ALREADY tired of figures; you throw then 10 old ones with new movesets(people who aren't huge fans won't even care), and 10 characters with a vehicle theme(alienates huge part of the fanbase) and 20 vehicles with very poor moving parts and no function other than racing and bonus stats(lol). People came back for Imaginators far too late because of that.

Doesn't matter if TT did well, did well or not it screwed over the sales of SSC. And if you're gonna say oh SSC should've had 20 figures instead of saying that to TT then I don't know what to say.

Stop twisting my words. TT did well but started having some trouble at later waves. Selling 20 original figures would've been perfect for SC because people would recover from being so burned out over a big lineup. Selling 10 reposes,20 mostly useless vehicles, and 10 figures of a theme half the fanbase didn't want INCREASED the burnout. TT making (most) people happy but tired of figures was exactly the problem.

That makes more sense. I'm still gonna pin the blame on TT though mainly due to the over the top roster. :/

To think it was considered an overstatement when I said it almost a year ago...

It might not be a nice thing to say, especially since V.V.'s games are among the favorite ones in the franchise for a lot of users, but yes I indeed think SuperChargers heavily damaged the series even to the point of killing it, maybe.

Let's look at some commonly recognized Trap Team mistakes:
- remotion of PvP;
- gimmicklanders-exclusive Elemental Gates:
- huge roster (I think that's extremely debatable, but it's still a problem for those who want to collect everything);
- rather bad distribution.

Now let's look at which controversial decisions the devs took for SuperChargers:
- introduction of a racing aspect to both the main game (with certain parts being mandatory) and as a side-mode;
- no more Cores, only gimmicklanders and Elemental Gates are vehicle-exclusive and have been removed from the levels themselves;
- almost more variants than the new characters themselves, half of which are reposes (call them the way you want, that's what they are) or console-exclusive Skylanders.
The rest are vehicles, which of course have tons of variants as well;
- complete randomization of basically every kind of collectable;
- low replayability, unless you are a huge fan of vehicles;
- still a questionable distribution.

Clearly fans didn't received SuperChargers as well as it was expected (I wonder why), and thus most likely became suspicious about Imaginators which at least managed to feel like a Skylanders game again.
I know I said in the past that SuperChargers managed to capture the feeling of the series better than SWAP Force, and I'm still convinced about it despite all the vehicle-fantasy stuffed in it, but there is simply no match with the last game.

Again, don't know how much of that was directly V.V.'s fault, but to me that game was a big disappointment and a partial failure.

I will give it one thing: The Vehicle figures were more unique, interesting and fun than Traps and Creation Crystals. Heck, the old Magic Item figures are more unique, interesting and fun than Traps and Creation Crystals.

Of course, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and the in-game functions of Traps and Creation Crystals are pretty great (access to a variety of additional playable characters), while Vehicles depend on people's preferences.

Disregarding Vehicles for a bit, Traps have an advantage in that they feature varied designs, while the Creation Crystals are just combinations of casings and cores. On the other hand, Creation Crystals actually have different design combinations, while Traps had 21 identical designs copied across 2-3 elements (+3 unique designs).

Still, neither hold a candle to the Vehicle figures. And I'm not normally a fan of Vehicles, so that's saying something.

(I also appreciated the SuperCharged Revamps over Series+ figures, though Imaginators handled returning characters even better by revamping TT Villains into Senseis.)

I agree, I like traps and Creation Crystals for what they are but vehicles have amazing and detailed figures which also feel fantastic when you play with them (of course I had to move them around as if they were real, I'm a professional Portal Master ).

The problem is a lot of them actually looked better than their pilots, and that's something I can hardly accept in a series called "Skylanders".
Yeah, looking at you Astroblast and Smash Hit.
And let's not forget Thrillipede's soulless eyes.

Warning: This post is spoiler heavy

In my opinion, Imaginators should have had the SuperChargers ending, with Kaos becoming a reluctant helper. That would have been a much better ending to the series. In SuperChargers, The Darkness should have been destroyed for good without a boss battle, and Brain should have stayed evil and been the true final boss of Imaginators. Imagine fighting an ancient, one of the creators of Skylanders, as the ultimate final battle. It would be epic.

So to recap if it was tl;dr

SuperChargers should have ended with The Darkness being destroyed by the Ancient Rift Machine after you fight Kaos like it was originally planned. Then, when the Sky Eater explodes, Kaos and Glumshanks are shrunk and trapped within the dome.

Imaginators should have ended with after the Super Kaos boss, Brain reveals his own evil intentions and tries to fight you himself in the ultimate final boss of the series. Kaos helps you defeat him, and then basically becomes a reluctant helper to the Skylanders.

Quote: Chompy-King257

Warning: This post is spoiler heavy

In my opinion, Imaginators should have had the SuperChargers ending, with Kaos becoming a reluctant helper. That would have been a much better ending to the series. In SuperChargers, The Darkness should have been destroyed for good without a boss battle, and Brain should have stayed evil and been the true final boss of Imaginators. Imagine fighting an ancient, one of the creators of Skylanders, as the ultimate final battle. It would be epic.

So to recap if it was tl;dr

SuperChargers should have ended with The Darkness being destroyed by the Ancient Rift Machine after you fight Kaos like it was originally planned. Then, when the Sky Eater explodes, Kaos and Glumshanks are shrunk and trapped within the dome.

Imaginators should have ended with after the Super Kaos boss, Brain reveals his own evil intentions and tries to fight you himself in the ultimate final boss of the series. Kaos helps you defeat him, and then basically becomes a reluctant helper to the Skylanders.

Totally agree!