darkSpyro

So uh yeah happy one year anniversary to the worst game in the franchise. (Please don't attack me)

The plot is not verybgood but i dont think its the worst game in the franchise, thats my opinion any way

This was a heckin good game IMO. Plot doesn’t mean everything

Quote: emeraldzoroark

This was a heckin good game IMO. Plot doesn’t mean everything

It wasn't just the plot. The game entirely felt very empty. And that's coming from a guy who gets every single figure and basically everything from each game

Quote: SkyFan91

Quote: emeraldzoroark

This was a heckin good game IMO. Plot doesn’t mean everything

It wasn't just the plot. The game entirely felt very empty. And that's coming from a guy who gets every single figure and basically everything from each game

This is also the guy who is has been a part of likely false interviews

Not the worst, not the best. Simply plain average, and that's not really something good.

Quote: King-Pen Krazy

Quote: SkyFan91

Quote: emeraldzoroark

This was a heckin good game IMO. Plot doesn’t mean everything

It wasn't just the plot. The game entirely felt very empty. And that's coming from a guy who gets every single figure and basically everything from each game

This is also the guy who is has been a part of likely false interviews

Ok I have had it up to here with your worthless trolling. For one, if you DO NOT AGREE with my view, points, opinions, etc, then kindly keep quit. Now on to that interview I was NOT in those interviews just because a few of my friends caught the article before it was deleted does NOT mean I was in it. Lastly, just stop because at this point I'm just going to ignore you if this nonsense continues.

it was a good game.

better than superchargers.

I enjoyed the game. Didn't care much for the creation aspect; I got my fill of it after recreating Sir Hoodington. But I enjoyed unlocking all the parts.

It got my oldest son back into Skylanders by allowing him to create his own characters.

Quote: ZapNorris

it was a good game.

better than superchargers.

Personally I strongly disagree. Especially on the story. I still respect your views

I agree to some extent about the story being utter trash, but I think that there’s enough there gameplay wise to make this one of my favorite games in the series next to SSA, of course.

the guacamole monster theme is still lit af

I agree with you about it being the worst.

It lacks a good story and thats a huge thing for me. The Skylander NPCs were so useless. They didn't have anything special to them. The worst are probably Eruptor and Cynder. I swear Cynder is there for fan-service and Academy. I love her, but they completely destroyed her character. Eruptor's role was just embarassing.

We could've learned so much more about the Ancients and Stealth Elf's past with the Senseis, but they completely left it. They also completely ignored the stuff from the comics and the end of Superchargers? Like are you actually kidding me? They had this whole reformation arc with Kaos in the comics and at the end of Superchargers, and they didn't bother to continue that on in Imaginators.
"You were the one helping this creep!"
Like, come on.

Another thing that severely bothers me... WHY THE HELL IS THE CORE OF LIGHT IN THE DAMN LIGHT REALM!? It's as if they completely ignored Superchargers' story as if it never existed. Which in my opinion, exists way more than the Imaginators story could. Aside from the Ancient stuff, the Imaginators story is non-existant to me. It's such an embarrassment to the franchise.

The Levels. They weren't fun at all. It felt like I was replaying the same thing every time. They were just so boring. They didn't have the excitement that Spyro's Adventure, Superchargers, Giants had... and don't even get me started on that Kaos battle. It was a complete repeat of the Trap Team battle, but worse. Just added Doomlanders and removed some other attacks. That's it.

The only good thing about this game? The whole ancient thing, in which they completely ignored afterwards, the Senseis, and the Imaginators. That's it.

Also who the hell stole Sprocket's spot in the story smh. Gill Grunt shouldn't even be there.

Very, very, very, good game. Just not great. Plot is by FAR the worst in the series, cast is great, wonderful gimmick, really good levels, but not the best. Not to mention it just threw anything SSC's added plot elements out of the window because of some dumb bull, I'm sure. I guess TfB didn't like that actual good direction because change. I respect everyone on the TfB Skylanders team, but dropping Kaos working with the Skylanders was a absolutely terrible idea, much worse than VV's first go at it with SF's lore. SF's lore is actually decent, sure it revamped the cursed ship and that was dumb, but it has got nothing against with that TfB did on Kaos. Not to mention the jokes, oh god it's so BAAAD. VV had a few cute ones in a herd of eh ones in SF and had great ones in SSC, but TfB grow up a little with your humor. I almost consider it non-canonical and instead give me my own head-canon plot.


Over all, 7.5/10 for me. The only real plus it has for me over the others is that is has a Switch version.


Sorry for the paragraph, having a slightly grumpy to night.

I loved Imaginators, even though I'm still unsure what's my favorite game between it and Trap Team, and even though everything you said is reasonable criticism I cannot ignore that fact I had so much fun playing it.

It was a game created with such heart and passion, sometimes even to the point of not caring about the exsisting lore just to put in as much stuff as possible, that to me it felt like a love letter to the fans.
The last possible one, probably.

So, while I do acknowledge most of its mistakes I am also willing to get over them because it's an entry which almost brought back the famous long lost magic, for me.
And even the final Adventure Pack shown it.

A rough but precious gem.

Though, all of that being said, I wouldn't celebrate each game's anniversary and simply consider the release of Spyro's Adventure.

Quote: Drawdler

Out of curiosity, how do you think this game feels so empty compared to Superchargers? Or even IMO Giants (which I find overrated)? I can agree with that if you're talking about worlds/lore but level design... Not so much. I think they're some of the fullest levels, there's near no places you go back to where you won't at least find a stash of gold.

The levels just felt really short and I felt like I was playing the same levels over and over. Not to mention that some levels share the same enemies

I enjoyed the character creation, I used it mainly to make characters I wanted in the game (less for "unique" stuff). It was fun, but it took some excitement away from playing with regular figures. The main issue to the game was the levels weren't very long and there were not enough of them. For an all in "make your own" gimmick, you need more content to play them in, and those repetitive missions post ending really don't cut it. They gave us almost endless alternatives for playable character, then not much to use them in.

Quote: defpally

I enjoyed the character creation, I used it mainly to make characters I wanted in the game (less for "unique" stuff). It was fun, but it took some excitement away from playing with regular figures. The main issue to the game was the levels weren't very long and there were not enough of them. For an all in "make your own" gimmick, you need more content to play them in, and those repetitive missions post ending really don't cut it. They gave us almost endless alternatives for playable character, then not much to use them in.

Strongly agree with your points. Character creation was excellent but there wasn't enough content to play them in.

Combat Gameplay > Gimmick Gameplay > Level Design > Story

Superchargers Story > Imaginators Story
Imaginators Combat Gameplay > Superchargers Combat Gameplay
Imaginators Gimmick Gameplay > Superchargers Gimmick Gameplay
Imaginators Level Design > Superchargers Level Design (Superchargers have a few better concepts, but forced vehicle sections ruin them)

Imaginators > Superchargers

End of debate forever

Quote: newkill

Combat Gameplay > Gimmick Gameplay > Level Design > Story

Superchargers Story > Imaginators Story
Imaginators Combat Gameplay > Superchargers Combat Gameplay
Imaginators Gimmick Gameplay > Superchargers Gimmick Gameplay
Imaginators Level Design > Superchargers Level Design (Superchargers have a few better concepts, but forced vehicle sections ruin them)

Imaginators > Superchargers

End of debate forever

I disagree. The level design in Imaginators didn't feel innovative and wasn't that creative. Fizzland was the only level that actually felt unique. The combat in Imaginators was pretty slow not to mention old characters were nerfed. The only combat mechanic in Imaginators that competes to the other games is sky chi. That's it. While character creation is the better gimmick it isn't enough to say this is the best and greatest of the series. Just my view

I absolutely prefer Imaginators over SuperChargers, that's a no brainer, but not under every aspect.

I prefer Trap Team's variety in level design, themes and atmosphere, though I love the idea of Elemental Realms.
SuperChargers' level gimmicks were superior to the ones used in Imaginators, both from a gameplay and creativity point of view, though they did felt gimmicky.
The combat is probably the best, but SWAP Force's is basically on the same level.
SA is still the game which got the elemental mechanics the most.

Overall Trap Team was just this incredibly amazing explosion of creativity, ideas and designs where some worked and others not as much, while Imaginators is more of a collection of all the series' characters, concepts and locations.
A celebration of the entire franchise, if you will, and I can totally get why someone would not be happy with it.

I think Imaginators is one of the best. Giants is my favourite, Imaginators is probably the second.

I never focus on the story, I only really liked Skylanders for the gameplay. Now with the ability to create my own Skylanders, I think that added a lot more to the gameplay aspect.

Now I could create my own movesets for my Skylanders - and to a greater extent, my very own Skylanders. For the first time, I was able to play as Morgen - a Skylander that never existed outside of my imagination, until Imaginators.

Now, Morgen is just as real a Skylander to me as Scorp or Echo, able to make his way through levels and fight enemies just like any other Skylander.

...And Joakim Brodén. Now the Sabaton vocalist can fight Kaos with his very own tank bazooka :D

Though, I will admit, there were some flaws: No resetting Imaginators unless you owned one of the 3DS games (only SSA and SG IIRC), no dragon Imaginators, very few levels, and some more stuff I've probably forgotten about.

To me, Giants felt like a retread with minimal upgrades. It was decent, and at the time great because we were all excited to play more of it.

Swap Force is my favorite, period. Lengthy levels, great gimmick, great tech upgrade and jumping. Trap Team is second, because it was more of that - however they walked back some of the nice upgrades. It really felt like TfB didn't embrace what was changed in Swap Force although it was very good.

I've got to agree with Drawdler and Drek95 that Imaginators was an awesome game. This is one of the Skylanders games that I kept coming back to the most out of all of them because it was so fun to replay and test my limits. Only SWAP Force is on the same level as Imaginators in that regard. The gimmick of creating your own Skylanders was definitely one of the best, most memorable ones I've ever seen in the series. It also added so much experimentation and trying to find what worked the best, which again was great for the replay value. I also loved how in Imaginators, Toys for Bob stayed true to the series' origins and added Doomlander battles-which were so similar to Kaos battles in Spyro's Adventure (and I absolutely loved the Kaos battles)-and added Creation Clash, which was basically a re-released version of the original Skystones. They really put something special together this time, and I'm glad they did. Frankly I didn't mind that we didn't get a new game this year, because Imaginators was so good, I still had plenty to enjoy!

I actually found the levels to have the perfect lenght, something I felt they already achieved in the previous game.
Trap Team came closer as well, but sometimes they truly felt too short (which still happens with some Imaginators' Adventure Packs).

Regarding post-game content, that was one of Trap Team's biggest problems and probably one of Imaginators' greatest strenghts, though the way the system work is a bit of a chore.
Think I enjoyed SWAP Force's Bonus Missions a little more, but prefer the overall concept here.

One of the worst parts about Imaginators is that old characters are also literally
unusable
whatsoever
"We made them weaker so people would use the Senseis and Imaginators!!!"
thats just fricken selfish. The Older characters are some of my favorites, and while I love the Senseis and Imaginators they cant just expect me to abandon the characters I grew up with.

Sorry; I got caught up in No Spoilers.

Happy birthday, Imaginators!

I would never say that the best entry goes to Imaginators. That title would go to Trap Team or Superchargers. Let's make a quick comparison:

Trap Team
The Good: The sheer creativity within the levels combined with the cleverness of the gimmick set a standard for the other games to follow I believe. The levels were the right length, the theme was hit just right, and the story didn't over-stay its welcome like SF did. The levels themselves had great replayability because of the Villains and the secrets that were hidden everywhere. The cast was also the greatest we've had to that point. The boss fights--in particular Kaos'--are the greatest the series has to offer, and Nightmare Mode truly felt like a Nightmare to complete, in a good way.

The Bad: One of the main things that killed Trap Team for many was the severe lack of character content, especially after the wealth of it within Swap Force. This isn't a fair argument for SC or SI, as those two games continued to cut character content anyways. The lack of post-game content also hurt Trap Team, as we only had the arenas and the Doom Challenge. This also can be argued for, as the levels were often worth replaying to see the Villain animations again, as well as to go through the fantastic boss fights that the Doom Raiders had to offer. One that I can't justify is the inclusion of Traptanium Gates, but we can generally agree that that was thanks to Activision's want of money; if it was TFB's decision, the gates would probably have been standard.

Overall: While this was a step down in content from Swap Force, this was a step up in setting the identity of the series, and how it truly should be in aesthetics and gimmick. There were hiccups along with those decisions, but compared to what Imaginators would be, they are rather small.

Superchargers
The Good: SC gets a lot of flak for a lot of its design decisions, but to be honest...it was probably the second-best game we've had. The characters, while not necessarily the best, were arguably some of the better designs from VV, even if they were all humanoid. The plot is also the most mature we've had in the series, as it had some actual character development and a lack of someone pulling the 'Look what I happened to find!' card, which is precisely how I feel Mags was handled in Trap Team. Even besides the plot, SC had some great mini-games, such as Skystones Overdrive. That was the truly definitive version of Skystones there.

Even besides the games, the Vehicles weren't half-bad. They brought intriguing lore and made a fairly interesting series of post-game content if you were willing to go through with it. I know many people came to Skylanders to play Skylanders, not a Mariokart knockoff, but I think that it's safe to say that Imaginators didn't do much better here either. I'll get to that later.

The Bad: The lack of new characters and non-Vehicle post-game content really brought SC down the drain. This, combined with the start of retiring Magic Items, also contributed to its demise. There was also the case of repetitive levels and other such things, but that is honestly left to the person involved. I didn't find them so repetitive; I quite liked going through with Vehicles.

Overall: If it simply had a proper arena and true extra missions for Skylanders, this probably would have topped Trap Team in actual content. The creativity of the gimmick, however, left something to be desired, and cannot feasibly compete against Trap Team in that area. At least it had a plot.

Imaginators
The Good: Character creation is something we've been clamoring for a long time, and I certainly will not bring this down. The cast and the crystals were all fantastic, and the combat is perfectly balanced for their strengths. The adventure packs are also the second-best we've had, with Trap Team just going above the mark with things like Sunscraper Spire and such.

The Bad: Alright, now for the nitty gritty. Imaginators had plenty of characters -- and plenty more if you chose to create them -- but very little to do with them. The levels bear little replayability even with the prize of Imaginite Chests and the arena is extremely repetitive and quite frankly a poor area to fight due to its size. The MAP, while a great design decision, was flawed in that there was no quick level select, making travel feel like a slog at times. Practically everything you do is for a Chest, and once you get them all, what's the point in playing anymore? Sure you can create more characters, but there's no more experiences to be had with them. Don't even count the dungeons; those are too repetitive and simple to be considered a good outlet.

And the plot...OH THE PLOT! One of the main reasons I played any of the other games so much was because of the great, if simple plot they brought to the table. SC was a joy to play because of it. Imaginators, however, took all the seriousness of the previous games and threw it out the window, replacing it with things like the Guacamole Monster and Abandoned Amusement Park. They try to be humorous but ultimately fall flat, and there is little sense of progression through the game. There are plot devices used just because they didn't want to explain it any other way ("I must be immune because I'm a dragon! Oh, and only the dragons can get rid of this magic! How convenient!"). The sheer childishness of the plot kills any enjoyment that could be had with the combat involved.

But besides this, just look what was done for the previous games compared to Imaginators. Superchargers and Trap Team got unique soundtracks, comics, storybooks, calendars, the whole wazoo! You could invest ridiculous amounts of money into those, and you'd still get a quality products. Imaginators had shockingly little, devloping Skylands in a very childish way. Even the soundtrack was made up with stock music and remixes. It's as if Activision wanted to spend as little cash as possible in extra content just so they wouldn't lost as much if the game failed...which it did.

Overall: If there was a good reason to return to SI after finishing it, I'd be playing it even now. Too many bad design decisions involving the story, content, and background decisions like music really killed off Imaginators. Say what you will about this being the best game for character creation and balance; I'd rather have a game that keeps the story consistent and provides a variety of things to do with our characters.

Imaginators :
Story 0/10
It had potential of making the lore a lot more mature and exciting , but instead the developers ignored 90% of the lore of the old games Especially Super chargers.

Senseis 8/10 Probably the best Skylanders team in the franchise and they’re very fun to play as although some of them have bland gameplay they still have cool designs.

Imaginators : 10/10 Very cool concept

Imaginator Parts : About 70% of the parts that came before the patch were dull , boring and some of them were just straight up ugly , but the ones that came with the patch are so good !!

Boss Fights : 5/10 Few of them are decent, but most of them aren’t...I don’t really see myself replaying a whole level just so I can’t fight a doomlander they should of have done checkpoint just like swap force and super chargers

The M.A.P : 6/10 a very cool concept , but it seems very rushed they could of have used a different camera angle to make it look bigger and make it feel like you’re exploring a large area but they failed to do that.

Post Gameplay : 6/10 Playing the missions that brain gives you the first few times is enjoyable, but with time the missions become boring and there isn’t any thing that encourages you to repate them.

The levels : 7/10
They were all good , but that’s about it there isn’t really something that special about them TBH.

Adventure Packs : 5/10
Half of them were bad TBH especially Eleven Forest...The only good ones are Cursed Tiki Temple , TWI and Lost Imaginite mines.

NPC Skylanders : 6/10
They could of have been great help , but instead they were just there so you can do their dirty work for them which sucked because It would of have been really cool if they helped especially with the final boss battle. I would like to see them in future installments , because they have great potential.

Quote: KingMed

Imaginators :
Story 0/10
It had potential of making the lore a lot more mature and exciting , but instead the developers ignored 90% of the lore of the old games Especially Super chargers.

Senseis 8/10 Probably the best Skylanders team in the franchise and they’re very fun to play as although some of them have bland gameplay they still have cool designs.

Imaginators : 10/10 Very cool concept

Imaginator Parts : About 70% of the parts that came before the patch were dull , boring and some of them were just straight up ugly , but the ones that came with the patch are so good !!

Boss Fights : 5/10 Few of them are decent, but most of them aren’t...I don’t really see myself replaying a whole level just so I can’t fight a doomlander they should of have done checkpoint just like swap force and super chargers

The M.A.P : 6/10 a very cool concept , but it seems very rushed they could of have used a different camera angle to make it look bigger and make it feel like you’re exploring a large area but they failed to do that.

Post Gameplay : 6/10 Playing the missions that brain gives you the first few times is enjoyable, but with time the missions become boring and there isn’t any thing that encourages you to repate them.

The levels : 7/10
They were all good , but that’s about it there isn’t really something that special about them TBH.

Adventure Packs : 5/10
Half of them were bad TBH especially Eleven Forest...The only good ones are Cursed Tiki Temple , TWI and Lost Imaginite mines.

NPC Skylanders : 6/10
They could of have been great help , but instead they were just there so you can do their dirty work for them which sucked because It would of have been really cool if they helped especially with the final boss battle. I would like to see them in future installments , because they have great potential.

This is literally my rating. Besides the levels, I rate those more of a 6/10 but glad im not the only one who thinks this.

Quote: SkyFan91

The game entirely felt very empty.

...no imagination?

Quote: 4inCreation

Quote: SkyFan91

The game entirely felt very empty.

...no imagination?

There was plenty of imagination with all the cool and crazy level/enemy concepts, it was just poorly excecuted.

It was a joke to SkyFan.

TT had the cheap AI, it damaged melee characters rather than old over new. Imaginators just has a lot of enemies that become damage sponges with the old characters.

It’s by design for sure: make the old characters unusable so you have to buy and play the new. For this reason alone I feel it sounded the death knell for the series in its current incarnation. The more I think about it, the I would be happy with a Marvel Ultimate Alliance style, no figures neccesary, Skylanders game. Collect the characters as you move through the game, but if you a portal and the old figures, you can unlock them early. Eventually, this game is going to have to be rebooted anyway due to balance issues and too many fan and staff favorites being unplayable right now.

Least favorite game, finished it once and never touched it again (Which is bad since i played every Skylanders game before Imaginators to death)

The more I mill over it, the more I think this really is the worst game with strobe lights covering up the sleight of hand going on. I get people liking the imaginator crystals, but they are weak. What makes Sonic, Mario, Crash, Spyro, and other kiddo platformer heroes and heroine series so great is those characters. This just isn’t the right venue for “make your own”s.

The playable villians, as said ad naseum, have hurt the series. They are just another “strobe light” that makes everything seem awesome, but blinds you to the inherent problems. Mainly destroying Kaos’ contemporaries before they were really able to get fleshed out.

I want to say I am one of the biggest fans of the Skylanders series in general. Spyros Adventure was one of the biggest breathes of fresh air in gaming in a long time. I wish the community as a whole would take the blinders off that they have with the whole “TFB can’t do wrong” mentality. They’ve made 2 of the most disliked games in the series, much of which because they are soulless. The main reason I DONT rip into TFB though is I don’t think it’s all on them. Activision is the culprit for yanking the soul from the series in general. But much (and most) of that loss did happen in TFB games. We just need to be honest with the situation and stop trying to find a scapegoat.

Quote: Earth-Dragon

The more I mill over it, the more I think this really is the worst game with strobe lights covering up the sleight of hand going on. I get people liking the imaginator crystals, but they are weak. What makes Sonic, Mario, Crash, Spyro, and other kiddo platformer heroes and heroine series so great is those characters. This just isn’t the right venue for “make your own”s.

The playable villians, as said ad naseum, have hurt the series. They are just another “strobe light” that makes everything seem awesome, but blinds you to the inherent problems. Mainly destroying Kaos’ contemporaries before they were really able to get fleshed out.

I want to say I am one of the biggest fans of the Skylanders series in general. Spyros Adventure was one of the biggest breathes of fresh air in gaming in a long time. I wish the community as a whole would take the blinders off that they have with the whole “TFB can’t do wrong” mentality. They’ve made 2 of the most disliked games in the series, much of which because they are soulless. The main reason I DONT rip into TFB though is I don’t think it’s all on them. Activision is the culprit for yanking the soul from the series in general. But much (and most) of that loss did happen in TFB games. We just need to be honest with the situation and stop trying to find a scapegoat.

I admit, I kind of agree with you. I feel like there's just a bit of a "tiny bit" of a TfB bias because they started the series. Although, I do disagree that villains and Imaginators were a bad idea to go in, I think both, especailly the latter, were great ideas to go in.

Kind of hard to say if TfB made the two disliked games in the series, but they did make the most expensive for sure. Yes, SSC did have multiple different things in the starter packs, but you could easily get those online for a much cheaper price. Imaginators has gotten a much more mixed reception over the past year and it makes sense way. TT has always been a great bag is big flaws that people seem to gloss over and act like everything is fine. I still find both games great, more so TT, but SF and SSC are still the best games in the series to me. Their just more polished and have more content to do, BRAND NEW puzzles instead of just lock puzzles and push blocks with a new coat of paint and slightly different mechanics.

Quote: Earth-Dragon

The more I mill over it, the more I think this really is the worst game with strobe lights covering up the sleight of hand going on. I get people liking the imaginator crystals, but they are weak. What makes Sonic, Mario, Crash, Spyro, and other kiddo platformer heroes and heroine series so great is those characters. This just isn’t the right venue for “make your own”s.

The playable villians, as said ad naseum, have hurt the series. They are just another “strobe light” that makes everything seem awesome, but blinds you to the inherent problems. Mainly destroying Kaos’ contemporaries before they were really able to get fleshed out.

I want to say I am one of the biggest fans of the Skylanders series in general. Spyros Adventure was one of the biggest breathes of fresh air in gaming in a long time. I wish the community as a whole would take the blinders off that they have with the whole “TFB can’t do wrong” mentality. They’ve made 2 of the most disliked games in the series, much of which because they are soulless. The main reason I DONT rip into TFB though is I don’t think it’s all on them. Activision is the culprit for yanking the soul from the series in general. But much (and most) of that loss did happen in TFB games. We just need to be honest with the situation and stop trying to find a scapegoat.

As much as I agree with this, I don't think people will understand our point of view. Fans will be fans I guess

Quote: Earth-Dragon

The more I mill over it, the more I think this really is the worst game with strobe lights covering up the sleight of hand going on. I get people liking the imaginator crystals, but they are weak. What makes Sonic, Mario, Crash, Spyro, and other kiddo platformer heroes and heroine series so great is those characters. This just isn’t the right venue for “make your own”s.

The playable villians, as said ad naseum, have hurt the series. They are just another “strobe light” that makes everything seem awesome, but blinds you to the inherent problems. Mainly destroying Kaos’ contemporaries before they were really able to get fleshed out.

I want to say I am one of the biggest fans of the Skylanders series in general. Spyros Adventure was one of the biggest breathes of fresh air in gaming in a long time. I wish the community as a whole would take the blinders off that they have with the whole “TFB can’t do wrong” mentality. They’ve made 2 of the most disliked games in the series, much of which because they are soulless. The main reason I DONT rip into TFB though is I don’t think it’s all on them. Activision is the culprit for yanking the soul from the series in general. But much (and most) of that loss did happen in TFB games. We just need to be honest with the situation and stop trying to find a scapegoat.

i agree the crystals was a waste of time, i got all 8 of them and a few extra, i made two characters and then could not be arsed to make anymore. i had already more than enough to play with when i got the figures.

Quote: Earth-Dragon

The more I mill over it, the more I think this really is the worst game with strobe lights covering up the sleight of hand going on. I get people liking the imaginator crystals, but they are weak. What makes Sonic, Mario, Crash, Spyro, and other kiddo platformer heroes and heroine series so great is those characters. This just isn’t the right venue for “make your own”s.

The playable villians, as said ad naseum, have hurt the series. They are just another “strobe light” that makes everything seem awesome, but blinds you to the inherent problems. Mainly destroying Kaos’ contemporaries before they were really able to get fleshed out.

I want to say I am one of the biggest fans of the Skylanders series in general. Spyros Adventure was one of the biggest breathes of fresh air in gaming in a long time. I wish the community as a whole would take the blinders off that they have with the whole “TFB can’t do wrong” mentality. They’ve made 2 of the most disliked games in the series, much of which because they are soulless. The main reason I DONT rip into TFB though is I don’t think it’s all on them. Activision is the culprit for yanking the soul from the series in general. But much (and most) of that loss did happen in TFB games. We just need to be honest with the situation and stop trying to find a scapegoat.

I disagree basically on everything, but still respect your opinion.

Where I do agree is saying that, as much as I liked them, villains figures were a huge miss in fleshing their characters out even more and turning them into likeable and interesting side-villains.
But seeing as the whole series' future appears to be uncertain, I think they preferred to give many fans what they wanted and not care too much about the consequences (again, a pretty debatable choice).
I also agree that Activision is probably still the one to blame for the majority of the problems plaguing this series.
It's pretty evident, at this point.

Other than that, consider me blind if you will, but I loved Imaginators and Trap Team with a passion.
"Soulless" is probably the last word I'd think about when describing both of them, even if I'd sure know another game of this frachise where it would fit like a glove.
TfB can do wrong, and it did, under many aspects.
But what if, instead of focusing on how "V.V. is godlike for all the polishness" or how "TfB can never fail", we looked at things in general?

We've already discussed countless times about which team is our favorite, why, and why we don't like the other one and it never led to anything constructive.
It's only going to start sterile conflicts, typically because the ones starting them consider their opinions as facts and can't accept others think differently.
Because, really, I can tell you Trap Team sold less than SWAP Force because the first one wasn't well received, so many customers decided to not buy the following entry: or you could tell me Trap Team didn't sell well because it came back to what SA and Giants were, while people wanted more of what it offered, and because there was a lot to buy.
We would both be right but it would lead to nothing.

What matters to me is that I had genuine fun with all TfB games, and neither SWAP Force nor SuperChargers came remotely close to that: they were enjoyable, but lacked the magic the first chapters had.
I already overthink too much in real life, not going to do that for videogames, especially for one I already liked.

I would like to point out that since I’m one of the more level headed critics of TfB, you are putting opinions in my mouth that aren’t mine but of those that belong to TfB vs VV folks. I’m more of a first 3 vs second 3 guy, with it being hard for me to propel ANY of the 2nd trio above any of the 1st. And I don’t feel VV should be used as scapegoat for problems inherent in the series and else where.

And the main reasons for the decline of the series post Swap Force was Competition and Burn Out. The series would have weathered the storm better if they hadn’t compromised so much during.

And don’t get me wrong, I too can respect what you, Drek95, can bring to a discussion.

Yeah, I mixed up the answer to your comment with a bit of a vent towards the category of people you mentioned.

Have to say I agree with both of your clarifications, V.V. is definitely not the only one to blame for the current state of the series, TfB and especially Activision have their responsabilities.
Your idea of, let's say, non-side gimmick games VS side gimmick ones is interesting, though I'd still lean towards SWAP Force being included in the "second half" of the franchise's history.

To me it's crystal clear everything changed after and because of that, to a very deep level, both from positive and negative points of view of course.

Competitors could have helped improve the franchise so much if only Activision got it the right way, and if only it lasted enough.
Burn out is a problem for the whole genre, which ties directly to the aforementioned lack of competitors.
It's all connected.

Sorry if it sounded like a direct attack, was not my intention.

I've liked all the Skylanders games.

Quote: TTD

Quote: Bifrost

Quote: 4inCreation

...no imagination?

There was plenty of imagination with all the cool and crazy level/enemy concepts, it was just poorly excecuted.

I completely agree. One of the things that I didn't like was that only the major enemies had an introduction, so many times in the game I'd come across an enemy, defeat them and then think "oh was that a new enemy?", they just didn't have that big of an impact on me. Now I know games like Mario don't do the introductions but I feel Skylanders has such a bigger emphasis on combat. I also loved the personality that these introductions game some of the enemies. I know it's such a small nitpick but it was something I really enjoyed in previous games.

I don’t think that’s a small knit pick. That’s been a big part of the series up until now. It’s another short cut they took that demonstrates why I feel this game had the least “soul” despite some believe it had one. They are looking at this hot girl with no personality defending her as if she isn’t shallow.