darkSpyro

I hated how long the levels were in SSF. The levels in SSA and SG were perfect. Each were only about 15 minutes long. It was something I could just pick up and play for a few minutes then put it down. Swap Force was something I had to prepare for. I really hope they change this in Trap Team. I'd much rather have a lot of 10-15 minute levels than a little 40-50 minute long levels.

The levels are confirmed to be more around the length of Giants levels. You can see the full first level of the game (Soda Springs) if you go to the SkylandersGame youtube channel, and it looks MUCH shorter than swap force.

They definitely shortened the levels from Swap Force. While I honestly admit Giants wasn't my favorite game, I am glad the levels were shortened, but not to the point the levels are pointless. It's nice to change them up since the Swap Force levels were so tedious and the repeating cut scenes and dialogue boxes didn't help neither.

Yeah, Giants had some varied times for levels which made it easy if you wanted to get invested, or just wanted to grind or check out a skylander's abilities quickly. Playing earlier today, noticed a playthrough of Aerial Attack can take around 16 minutes because there are so many enemy waves, while you can be done with Kaos' Kastle in less than 11 unless you really want to get all treasures on first try.

I think TFB Makes the levels storter and Better

The length of the swap force levels wasn't a problem. It was a lack of checkpoints and the lack of being able to choose to start from that check point.

The levels in SSF were so plain and dry

I'm definitely happier with shorter levels, although the mid-level save point in Swap Force was a welcome introduction.

Well a marathon level, just one or two, wouldn't be bad in TT either. Considering the Doom Raiders concept a boss rush level would be pretty great(when it comes to a level length, boss rushes in general aren't good since you're just rehashing the bosses in another location), just put some checkpoints in it and you have a bigger one for people looking for an endurance challenge.

It would be nice if you could get your stars without having to complete a level. That way, if you repeat a level to get the one missing hat, you can just end it once you found the treasure, without forcing you to complete the level in order to get credit for it.

And yes, overall, I'd rather have shorter levels. I don't see the need for checkpoints. Just make it two separate levels. I don't care if there is no real sense of completion of a level, I just want to relatively quickly get to my favorite parts of the game without having to endure the parts I don't care for as much.

Quote: mantez

The length of the swap force levels wasn't a problem. It was a lack of checkpoints and the lack of being able to choose to start from that check point.

You can start from the checkpoints.

Not if you start a different level and you can't choose to start from the checkpoint.

Quote: mantez

Not if you start a different level and you can't choose to start from the checkpoint.

Oh... well most video games do that.

All you whiners talking about length of levels don't come here and complain it took you 20 min to beat the game. Most of the levels in Swap Force were length appropriate. Take your ADHD medicine if it bothers you.

By the way, it's already confirmed that the level length will be Giants length, which is "ok" but I like SOME of my levels to be decent length.

Quote: spyrocrash

Quote: mantez

Not if you start a different level and you can't choose to start from the checkpoint.

Oh... well most video games do that.

Quite the opposite, take The last of us for example I can select the level after I beat it and select a checkpoint from that level.

Quote: GhostRoaster

All you whiners talking about length of levels don't come here and complain it took you 20 min to beat the game. Most of the levels in Swap Force were length appropriate.

I didn't mind the length of levels in swap force, It was just a pain to do the whole level again if I missed something at the end of it.

Isn't Last of Us open world though?

Quote: GhostRoaster

All you whiners talking about length of levels don't come here and complain it took you 20 min to beat the game. Most of the levels in Swap Force were length appropriate. Take your ADHD medicine if it bothers you.

By the way, it's already confirmed that the level length will be Giants length, which is "ok" but I like SOME of my levels to be decent length.

This times infinity.

I will never understand the gripe of "oh the levels are just too long". That's like complaining that the steak you bought was bigger than you asked for. The only way I could see this is if you were talking about the duration in relation to younger kids being able to endure the longer levels. That being said if kids are having their interest peaked they will stay...most of the time. I loved the longer levels. If I enjoy a game I want to keep playing it. When it's done it's done. I guess I'm more of a journey guy and not so much the destination. After I beat Pokemon Y I was like "wait that's it"? I was so disappointed with the game length when compared to other Pokemon games. It sounds like I'm going to be experiencing the same with Trap Team. So can someone please explain to me why you think shorter levels are better for the game and the overall experience?...I just don't get it. Especially when you consider the $$ investment in this game.

Quote: spyrocrash

Isn't Last of Us open world though?

No the levels/chapter areas were all self contained.

The one level that I played was on the semi-short side. It was about the same length as.. I'd say Drill-X's Big Rig from Giants. It did have a few large fights and a few secret areas dotted about (I saw a Soul Gem for a character, but I couldn't get to it).

Quote: Tigorus

Quote: GhostRoaster

All you whiners talking about length of levels don't come here and complain it took you 20 min to beat the game. Most of the levels in Swap Force were length appropriate. Take your ADHD medicine if it bothers you.

By the way, it's already confirmed that the level length will be Giants length, which is "ok" but I like SOME of my levels to be decent length.

This times infinity.

I will never understand the gripe of "oh the levels are just too long". That's like complaining that the steak you bought was bigger than you asked for. The only way I could see this is if you were talking about the duration in relation to younger kids being able to endure the longer levels. That being said if kids are having their interest peaked they will stay...most of the time. I loved the longer levels. If I enjoy a game I want to keep playing it. When it's done it's done. I guess I'm more of a journey guy and not so much the destination. After I beat Pokemon Y I was like "wait that's it"? I was so disappointed with the game length when compared to other Pokemon games. It sounds like I'm going to be experiencing the same with Trap Team. So can someone please explain to me why you think shorter levels are better for the game and the overall experience?...I just don't get it. Especially when you consider the $$ investment in this game.

I wsa an avid complainer of level length, I wanted the amount of content, but chopped up better. The issue really isn't 'length' - it's pacing. I mentioned it in another thread, my first trip through the game was 'meh', I'd swap characters in and out trying to get close to 3 stars without killing myself to get 3-stars. My mom was down in NC to see her grandbaby, and I convinced her on a whim to scoop the PS3 version so we'd have two copies (I bought dark at launch, wanted normal Blast Zone and Wash Buckler, and it was on sale for like $30). I started replaying the game recently, but since it was down stairs AWAY from my collection, I only had the newer figure I had just purchased with me - Jade Fire Kraken...so I played the game with just him (for about 66%), and the game was infinitely better.

In SAS you would randomly come up on one or two element gates in a level.
In Giants you would come up on one or two element gates with possibly an area only accessible by giants.
In Swap Force you had 2 element gates, at least 1 mixed element gate, and 2 swap gates.

That also doesn't take into consideration the nooks and crannies for hiding stuff...something the previous two games didn't quite whore out.

So the levels went from 5-10 minute romps to 30 minute plus play throughs, with constant breaks in action from switching characters, with unskippable dialog, and long paths with no action.

That is a problem. Reducing the amount of things to search for and the number of 'gates', and can't forget a reduction in 'encouraged switching' would go a LONG WAY towards making the level length enjoyable. In Giants, you didn't need the Boss fight to be a separate part of the level, but the levels felt so long in SF, that it was necessary.

I would rather have something that is SF in length - in totality - just chopped up better or with fewer gates IN-GAME. I'd be perfectly fine with all those gates as side games, but forcing me to run through 6+ side missions inside of a level can really drop the joy of it all. It becomes more a chore to get 3 stars than the previous titles.
- Unreall

Even if I agree with most of what you have said (same content, better placed), there is still one thing I cannot get:
how are sidequests, gates and hidden areas "mandatory"?
You cannot say they force you to collect them all in one run.
Those are extras.

Even with all of the sidebar content Swap Force levels are very decent brisk levels--especially if you are speed running. I doubt few people go to EVERY sidebar location on subsequent playthroughs. I sure don't.

Quote: Drek95

Even if I agree with most of what you have said (same content, better placed), there is still one thing I cannot get:
how are sidequests, gates and hidden areas "mandatory"?
You cannot say they force you to collect them all in one run.
Those are extras.

No, they aren't mandatory, and that's what the second play through for me yielded...

Skipping that content made it funner...

If skipping content makes it 'funner', then it needs to be re-examined. In neither SAS or SG, did I force myself to skip gates or areas unless I was doing a time run. The pace was great in those two. I'm not sitting here saying I had no enjoyment in any gates, they need to disappear, yadda yadda yadda. Just in SF, the side quest/puzzles/missions were cranked past ten, it was too much of a good thing.

Also, lets be honest with ourselves, I'm not a unique person with Skylanders - when I play a level, I typically try to get close to 3 Star-ing it. I odn't kill myself trying to get every last thing, but there is 'content' behind those gates. OH! And we can't forget! No matter what, you HAVE to go through that content in the level FIRST before its accessible fro the hub, so you can either play through the level once for 30+ minutes or replay the level multiple times to still unlock it. On my aforementioned PS3 copy, I finally beat it a couple weeks ago, but because of how I played through it, I now need to play through it again to unlock anything that isn't a fire gate or bounce gate. That content isn't available because I beat 'Supah Kaos'.
- Unreall

Wow, at people bashing others because these like small levels... Maybe, there's a possibility of a different opinion, and MAYBE you're not right about calling people entitled over it?

I haven't played Swap Force, so here's a similar example - in Bayonetta, there are boss levels which take 4-5 minutes, some levels in between that are 10ish, and then city and exploration(and the one boss/shooter) levels which take over 25 minutes. I can not go for these last ones for collectibles and trophies for more than 4 times in a row; it's tiring, it's sometimes boring if it's a simple mistake that keeps me from getting Pure Platinum, and it's not fun - the first time it was, not anymore. The boss levels and smaller levels? Always fun, always engaging, and I have no problem in spending over 2 hours to get a big score on one. Because I know I can stop in just a bit if I'm tired. With the big levels, if you stop before that amount of time, you lose everything, and all that progress that is probably 10 minutes or more is a waste of time. Which IS a big problem because I live with other people in the house and 3 hours playing videogames is sometimes more than I can ask for, and if that time was spent repeating a bad level, I feel even less inclined to go back to it.
And it's a genre thing, not a personal thing. Beat-em-ups are supposed to be quick and fun and you don't need to invest tons of time in it per sitting, with some rare exceptions. Bayonetta and Skylanders are very different games, but in that they should be similar, because both are beat-em-ups.

Just hope I'm exaggerating in comparing a Swap Force level to Isla Del Sol(and the possibility of sore thumbs).

Swap Force levels, the first go round, can easily be 30-40 minutes. I recall a few one hour levels the first go round. I remember on a few going "is it going to end anytime soon" so I "get" the complaints. However, outside of the first time getting all of the collectables...levels can be played in 10 minutes or so.

Either have more checkpoints or break up the levels to make everyone happy. I am NOT happy with 5 minute levels, though. SSA was notorious for that. Fun levels, granted. Just too short for my tastes. The first level seems to indicate we are in the 10 min range for a level, which is fine for me personally.

Quote: GhostRoaster

Swap Force levels, the first go round, can easily be 30-40 minutes. I recall a few one hour levels the first go round. I remember on a few going "is it going to end anytime soon" so I "get" the complaints. However, outside of the first time getting all of the collectables...levels can be played in 10 minutes or so.

Either have more checkpoints or break up the levels to make everyone happy. I am NOT happy with 5 minute levels, though. SSA was notorious for that. Fun levels, granted. Just too short for my tastes. The first level seems to indicate we are in the 10 min range for a level, which is fine for me personally.

Yeah, all arrows point to "This is going where it should go", which is honestly why they are getting 'some' of my money now.

And you are 100% correct, you can go through a level in 10-15 minutes not doing any sidebars. Its just that its so prefered to do it this way that the levels needed to be looked at again. I'd MUCH rather the levels of Swap Force be broken into thirds (they are usually 3 stages anyway), with a little more added into to make it feel like a 'level'. Remember the first MArio game on NES - you would do World 1 - Level 1? That's what SF should have been like with the levels being 'worlds', or simply having better defined 'breaks'.

But I digress, because 'm not trying to bash SF and it seems like they adjusted in TT.

I think they just need to watch how they 'balance' the content.
- Unreall

Having worlds with many levels instead of just one big amount of chapters would be pretty cool, but until they actually make a story that fits multiple places it wouldn't really work unless they renamed it something else.
The closest that got to it was Giants with the amount of different parts of Skylands they went to(SSA apparently was all places close to the Citadel somewhat,except the Outlands), while the rest are stuck to one place and that's it: The Cloudbreak Islands, the Lost Islands, the Radiant Isles, etc etc etc. Even Trap Team seems to be all around one region of Skylands since the Doom Raiders couldn't have gone too far after the events before the game.

I'd be fine with shorter levels if they add more levels to counter balance (Or make regular levels better in general puzzle-wise)

Quote: HippyGuy

I'd be fine with shorter levels if they add more levels to counter balance (Or make regular levels better in general puzzle-wise)

Which is what appears to have happened, so we should be good.

I would definitely prefer shorter levels than the ones in Swap Force. My boyfriend and I would get so frustrated trying to finish a stage if we were both tired or whatnot... I didn't even know about checkpoints until we were at the end of the game.

I'm happier to hear about the shorter levels. Although I'm enjoying re-visiting Swap Force to do as much as I can before Trap Team, working a full-time job and a very limited amount of free time doesn't lend itself to playing the longer levels (I'm currently trying to do a Nightmare playthrough and 100% my original file).