darkSpyro

Since I first saw the new Skylanders (mostly the Cores, the Swappers are a different case), iI immediatley tought they have something really different, from the old est characters.
The first revealed, Countdown and Roller Brawl only looked different, less childish and more "mature".
But then, month after month, new characters began to appear: Star Strike, Pop Thorn, Rip Tide, Grim Creeper, and so on. When I finally managed to see them in action, I felt like they weren't Skylanders (not in a bad way, just really different). After playing a bit, that sensation vanished, only to appear again after a month or two.
What was it? Why do they look and feel so different, from the older Skylanders?

I have a theory.

Let's take into consideration the first 32 characters and their main attacks (sorry if this will be a long exsamination, but it will worth the patience):

MAGIC
Spyro: flames and horns
Wrecking Ball: tongue and burps (or force field, I don't remember)
Voodood: Axe Reaver and zipline
Double Trouble: Eldritch beam and clone

TECH
Drobot: lasers and gears
Boomer: dynamite and slam
Trigger Happy: guns and golden pot
Drill Srageant: drills and charge (or blaster)

EARTH
Bash: tail swing and roll
Prism Break: beam and crystals
Terrafin: dive and punches
Dino Rang: boomerangs and rock fists

AIR
Whirlwind: rainbow and cloud
Sonic Boom: eggs and scream
Warnado: tornado and shell
Lightning Rod: lighntings and super thunder

FIRE
Sunburn: fire and teleport
Eruptor: lava lobs and eruption
Ignitor: sword and fire form
Flameslinger: arrows and fire trail

WATER
Zap: slime and zaps
Slam Bam: ice prisons and punches
Gill Grunt: water hose and harpoon
Wham Shell: mace and starfishes

UNDEAD
Cynder: lightnings and shadow dash
Ghost Roaster: chain and skull charge
Hex: dark globes and bone wall (or skulls rain)
Chop Chop: sword and shield

LIFE
Camo: sun orbs and vines
Stump Smash: hammers and nuts
Stealth Elf: daggers and invisibility
Zook: bazooka and bamboo walls

Noticed anything? Let's move on with Giants:

MAGIC
Pop Fizz: potions and beast form
Ninjini: swords and bottle (or orbs)

TECH
Sprocket: wrench and mines (or turret)
Bouncer: finger guns and rockets

EARTH
Flashwing: crystals shards
Crusher: hammer and petrifing sight

AIR
Jet Vac: vac-blaster and vacuum
Swarm: blades and swarm form

FIRE
Hot Dog: fire barfs and wall of flames
Hot Head: fire and oil

WATER
Chill: ice javelin and ice walls
Thumpback: anchor and chomp

UNDEAD
Fright Rider: spear and ostrich attacks
Eye Brawl: eye and punches

LIFE
Shroomboom: mushroom walls and slingshot
Tree Rex: fists and beams

Still nothing? Let's see the new Cores, and then I will explain my theory:

MAGIC
Star Strike: fans and star
Dune Bug: magic projectiles from the staff and energy balls

TECH
Countdown: rockets and bomb
Wind-Up: claws and overcranking

EARTH
Slobber Tooth: head bash and chomp
Scorp: tail sting and crystal balls

AIR
Pop Thorn: thorns and air blasts
Scratch (guess): claws and laser

FIRE
Smolderdash: fire whip and suns
Fryno: punches and charge (or overheating)

WATER
Rip Tide: swordfish and hammerhead shark
Punk Shock (guess): electric arrows and water balloons

UNDEAD
Roller Brawl: claws and dash
Grim Creeper: scythe and ghost form

LIFE
Zoo Lou: birds and wolves
Bumble Blast: bee gun and honey globs

Ok. Now for the theory.
If you notice, except for the Tech characters wich ARE the weapons, almost all of the new Core characters have weapons; magic staffs, swords, guns of some sorts, blades, whips...
Out of the first 32 characters, only 15 characters had a wepon of some kind, still not counting some Tech characters, or else they would be 13.
Then, in Giants we have 9 out of the 16 new Skylanders who use weapons, instead of powers.
Finally, in Swap Force, the characters using weapons are again 9 out of 16... Cores. Because, including the Swappers, the weapon wielding characters are 25 out of 32. 10 more than Spyro's Adventure.
Only Night Shift, out of all the 16 swappable characters hasn't got any weapon.

To me, the "plain" Skylanders, the ones that only uses theyr natural abilities to attack, are often the most original, fun and interesting. And that's why, to Me, the new characters feels so different.

Thanks for your patience, please, feel free to leave your opinion!

I think it has less to do with weapons and more to do with how they function. Most Skylanders fall into a few patterns...
short strong attack/mid-medium attack
long range attack/protective attck
Mechanics based

The key really is the last one. In the first game, the majority of the characters were the first two types. The only characters who weren't that I can think of...Wrecking Ball is a mechanics type, Prism Break is a mechanics type, and Whirlwind. Now when I say mechanics - it means characters who aren't just 'point and shoot', they usually require a little more thought not because of just damage output, but how they are designed. Yes Wreckingball has a ranged attack and a protective attack, but his real 'base' off attack is eating. Prism Break requires setting up prisms or picking on chompies to setup a damaging combo - just shooting won't get you far, nor will just dropping prisms. Whirlwind is the first real pet user - I can't say Double Trouble as his 'pets' are more 'defensive bombs, but whirlwind is pretty much pet-centric - sure you can treat her like a grenade launcher, but that's not what her entire game is based around.

Giants for the most part stuck to this formula. You got characters with gimmicks that may seem like they are mechanically different, but in essence they aren't (Sprocket & Chill for instance). Most of the new characters were just clones really. What's the difference between Jet-Vac and Gill Grunt besides element? Not a complaint, it just traveled more along the same path as SSA.

Now Swapforce, took those three archetypes, and made more mechanic based characters. Even the non-mechanic based characters got slightly more evolved 'tech' if you will.
Free Ranger - Free - stun attack; Ranger - defensive spin that's REAL use is shutting down shields (IMO);
Blast Zone - Blast - Damage Amplification - sure the fire acts as a shield, but its more offensive like Prism Break's prisms;
Smolderdash - Going Nova and being able to alter attacks via hiting them for increased control and damage output;
Bumbleblast - Slow down and DoT attacks;
Zoo Lou - the first real 'pet user', unlike Whirlwind EVERYTHING is pet related;
Dune Bug - the stickyball of too low damage to be doom, but DOOM;
Starstrike - I'm going to be practically invincible by spinning throught the whole level la la la;
Trap Shadow - Aimable 'pet' style attack? Too bad Pop Fizz didn't get this aiming ability...
Magna Charge - magnets...nuff said...
Wind-Up - winding up and how it plays into the style;
Grim Creaper - take Ignitor, lower his melee options and make his armor attack more complex;
Quick Draw - more pets;
Grilla Drilla - pets, turrets;
Rollerbrawl - chain attacks
Slobbertooth - eat mechanic

The characters feel different because they are. Characters were way more 'prototypical' previously with them being so straight forward and simple for effectiveness that you could put on a character you've never playd before and look like a pro, while now, most of the new characters require a little bit of time behind the wheel to understand and/or make effective.
- Unreall

Yeah, maybe you are right too.
But, you know what? Then maybe I prefer mechanic based characters, rather than "spam an attack and win".
It's just... It's just that using Wind-Up spinning ability or Smolderdash eclipse mode is super fun!
Can't wait to try Fryno.

But then, why do I still enjoyed more the first Skylanders, rather than this new ones?
Mmmh...

Also making a big difference is the fact they had a different group designing them, yeah TfB had final approval but that's not the same as building it from the ground up.

It shows the series has grown up a little

Something I noticed is that dragon-shaped Skylanders don't fight with weapons, and there was no new dragon Skylander introduced in Swap Force (I think Pop Thorn is considered a dragon, but he looks more like Wrecking Ball than a dragon).

Quote: newkill

Something I noticed is that dragon-shaped Skylanders don't fight with weapons, and there was no new dragon Skylander introduced in Swap Force (I think Pop Thorn is considered a dragon, but he looks more like Wrecking Ball than a dragon).

Yes is indeed classified as a dragon, but dont forget . He's a dragon who fights with a fire staff.

I like the change of style from Giants. Maybe it's because i did'nt play SA, but that felt fresh, yet not far from what i played before

Actually, i find more annoying the total absence of combos upgrade on the new skylanders.
There's plenty of new guys who would have benefits gratly from combos on the line's of Brawler's Eye Brawl, Blademaster Ignitor or Vampiric Warrior Chop Chop. And i'm sure you can figure yourself who are the ones i'm talking about (Grilla, Free, Grim Creeper, Rip Tide...)... instead, some of them gained either ONE extra finisher instead of three or a charged attack

That felt like a real waste of potential to me, game.play wise. VV could have worked a bit harder to keep this trait from TfB's Skylanders
Hopefully TfB will give combo-related Wow Pows to some future reposes

I liked the Original 32 Skylanders best. Skylanders Giants was pretty bad, and the only giants that weren't an ugly wreck seemed to be Ninjini. Swap force? I dunno, theres just something I don't like about the character designs, especially the Swappers.

It's more because they made a mess out of the character design; the Swappers literally have the same body shapes with some changes there and there so someone that doesn't care about it wouldn't know the difference.Some gameplays were already completely the same but with aesthesic changes(Giants in general,almost every melee character has nearly the same range and types of moves), and these made them feel different even if they weren't. If you don't change enough,it stands out like a sore thumb.
I'd pick up the big analysis I did on their pictures that I posted on some threads to defend my point on why SF was a bad game,but I'd probably kill the thread just like the last few I tried to discuss this in.

No, please, Bifrost. I really enjoyed Swap Force, but that doesn't mean it hasn't some... Imperfections, that really bothered me. Feel free to write your opinion, even if it's not a positive one.
Just try to remain as much as possible in the "characters design" topic.