darkSpyro

After many years on this planet, this is the first game where I've tried to pick up any and all information months before release. I've come to admit that I'm very fond of this series, the bond that we have that allows me to share this with my sons, and the typical ups and downs of sharing my thoughts and comparing notes with fellow Skyfans like yourselves.

So, as we reflect on the last six months, what was both the best/worst piece of information you've discovered about the game, and what are some of your best "a ha" moments here?

For me:

1. Best - Seeing the high res graphics and seeing the upgrading mechanism of the skylander, courtesy of both FGTV and Skylander Boy/Girl.
2. Worst - After being somewhat bait/switch on this information, seeing that the content of 17 chapters is "qualified" and our method of upgrading skylanders is at risk.

My thanks goes out to those who brought us the "latest" information in the "All We Know" thread, especially the discovery of the in game variants.

Share your moments here as the final countdown continues.

How is upgrading of Skylanders at risk?

^ Ah, yes mate. Weve waited 6months and here were are. I am proud for not breaking down in hype
Here are som eof my best moments...and yes, the worst ones too.

~BEZT~
~ The ending of Giants had a bigger meaning then we thought.
~ Magic Skylanders never dissapoint, especially in this game!
~They didn't go overboard with the prices

~WORZT~
~Smaller than I thought.
~The prices did go kind of higher. Hence one of my bezt points
~WAY TO MANY VARIENTS.

DONE.

Edit: Ninja'd! Lol

Varients.

Quote: Mrmorrises

How is upgrading of Skylanders at risk?

With Heroics gone, there are some in game challenges (perhaps they save to the same Heroic data element on the figure) that help contribute to upgrades (as well as the standard leveling abilities) but the "heavy lifting/work" has been removed from portal masters in favor of global in game modifiers. So instead of grinding through 50 heroics, you'll do ~20 challenges and the rest will be modified and applied to ALL skylanders with things you do in game. These stat tweaks are done via what's going on in the GAME SAVE file, not with information stored on the figure.

Imagine what they did in Giants with tweaking with Elemental aspect...but now it will impact all stats and on a more grander level.

+The demo stand. I actually managed to see a demo stand at a Target and saw Blast Zone and Wash Buckler's figures. Swapping them was fun.
+The new characters I actually like, I like quite a bit: Wind Up, Zoo Lou, Slobber Tooth, Fire Kraken, Wash Buckler, Blast Zone, and Magna Charge.
+I like the story better this time.
+Better hub.
+Survival mode(finally...).
?The figure paint work. While I admire them being more ambitious with it this time... I'm not sure if this will be better in practice but the Blast Zone and Wash Buckler figures I saw at the demo stand had paint as bad as some of the later Giants figures, with several errors, scratches, overpainting and underpainting. It worries me about what the figures they make later on will look like this time.
?The new graphics engine... I love some parts of it and it's solid all around, but some stuff just looks hideous. The character animations seem noticeably choppy in several areas and a couple of redesigns in this engine look awful. I'm looking at you, Legendaries, Chompies and Sheep...
?Jumping. It feels tacked on. They haven't shown us any exciting platforming segments which are really tricky to get through with it, and the jumping physics look strange. I'm glad about free jumping being in, but I'm not glad about how it's been used, and that's what counts. Honestly, it looks like jump pads would be more comfortable and really, not take away that much.
-19 chapters, 5 are just boss fights, 2 are overpriced Adventure Packs I'll never end up playing again.
-Hearing that Battle Packs were back. I don't like these at all.
-SWAP Force Zones. I know it's meant to be a big gimmick this time, but I hate how they restricted these to SWAP characters. It would have been so much more interesting and fun to play with so many different characters if regulars could do them. Heck, we see Zoo Lou on that rainbow rail, why can't he enter Spin zones? This is just as annoyingly inconsistent as having jumping not be useable in the past two games, but seen in cutscenes.
-Loss of Heroics and shift to in-game over on-figure content... I've gone over this several times and explained how it is killing my interest.

To be honest as deeply as I love these little dudes and collecting them...a part of me wants this to be the end. To be the point where the series either stops or takes a year off to regroup before it turns into Guitar Hero and so forth and Activision feels they can't stretch it any further.

It's an amazing series, but I don't feel that 'gotta catch em all' urge I did before. I'm content to wait, buy the rares and pick up the results of people's buyer's remorse.

I guess its my turn.

BEST:
-The Magic Skylanders are almost perfect.
-To see the new graphics
-Skylanders can JUMP!!!!
-Adventure Packs are back
-Camo got a remodel!!
-2 of the faceless 4 are female!!
- and are in wave one.

Worst:
-No female Swappers
-Regular is in wave 3
-Completet Heroics may arent worth anything
-Not all forgotten are getting remodels
-Too many variants
-FREEZE BLADE WONT BE OUT TILL WAVE 4!!!!!!

Quote:

No female Swappers

This makes sense when you consider the top half could be a chick and the bottom a dude. For people like us, that's not out of the ordinary...for eight year olds, that would lead to some questions.

Quote: Kung Fu Man

Quote:

No female Swappers

This makes sense when you consider the top half could be a chick and the bottom a dude. For people like us, that's not out of the ordinary...for eight year olds, that would lead to some questions.

They dont have to look girly like. Mabey in a battle suit like Chill.A lot of us thought that Star Strike was a Swapper and only a few had a problen with that. And the thing with the 8 year olds. Some of them would find it funny.

Next time I want to only see the reposes and battle/advenuture pack characters before the game. I want the surprise of looking at the poster or finding their soul gem. It will allow me not to judge them based on looks.
+ Cool new characters.
+ Bringing back Camo, Warnado, Wham Shell, Sprocket, and Pop Fizz (The S2/3 and LightCores I don't have)
+ Power Pods Replace Persephone
+ Finally got rid of the Dread-Yact!
- Only really 14 levels.
- No heroic challenges
- Tessa
- No online battle mode
- Countdown. 'nuf said.

Quote: Takadox360

Quote: Kung Fu Man

Quote:

No female Swappers

This makes sense when you consider the top half could be a chick and the bottom a dude. For people like us, that's not out of the ordinary...for eight year olds, that would lead to some questions.

They dont have to look girly like. Mabey in a battle suit like Chill.A lot of us thought that Star Strike was a Swapper and only a few had a problen with that. And the thing with the 8 year olds. Some of them would find it funny.

Not to start a war but I don't think that the issue was with kids. Back when African Americans were segregated little white kids didn't care because in a kids eyes there not mature enough to see all the problems (not saying there was one) that others see or think they see. In other words littler kids aren't mature enough to know why there is a problem even though parents think there are.

I'm sorry if this sounded racist because I am totally not racist and while not gay I think that there is no problems with homosexuality.

With the problem about the '5 levels are boss fights', I think they would be sort of like 'Bringing Order to Kaos!' in Giants. There would be level involving the boss, with the main boss fight at the end.

Best: choice
Worst: Wii version, so normal graphics

What I Like:

+ Adventure packs return!

+ There are some really cool designs. The world looks great, the portal master rank could be interesting, and I'm looking forward to trying out all the swap zones. (Well, the six I'll be able to at launch, but I'll see the other two eventually!)

+ VV is aware of the lack of female swappers. This is apparent to me in the effort they've made to ensure that there are plenty of new core characters and returning characters who are female. (And who look cool / look fun to play. This is essential.)

+ A strong wave one line up with some really interesting new characters to play as, plus an adventure pack and battle pack for their respective fans.

+ I think the new graphics look really nice.

+ Anything replacing Persephone. I'll see whether I like it tomorrow, but Persephone drove me nuts.

What I Don't:

- Cali being replaced by Tessa. (And she gets kidnapped in the 3DS game, according to the summary.
What happened to this fun, fierce character?!)

- No Female Swappers. I understand the rationale that had to go into this decision. Act and VV don't want / need parents storming their headquarters with pitchforks or trying to get Skylanders banned. However, it is a shame that we live in a society that thinks this way.

- Heroic challenges being gone. To me this takes away part of the reward of buying each individual and should have *at least* been replaced with something that ties into the value of buying each character. On the other hand, though, it removes a DLC / buy-to-try barrier from start increases, which will likely be welcome for those who can't afford as many figures.

- Too many variants / variant heavy 3 packs. I can understand the reasoning ("Hmm... Do I buy Zoo Lou now or get him with Spyro and Pop Fizz for $5 less a little later?" *or* "I'm new and this is a great deal! Yay!") It just makes a muck up of everything for me tomorrow, which makes me a little grumpy.

Pros-
****ing swap force, b****es!
the swappers are almost as large as giants.

cons-
Too much wallet drain
barely any levels, seriously, this is a larger problem than anyone is accounting it for.
levels again, because a game should have character variability as a second priority, not the first.

^Still have Breaking Bad on the brain

Trust me, I'll be holding VV/Activision accountable for the level problem over time here. I'm sure the #2 request behind the #1 Jump has to be MORE content. I've been speaking to the balance between characters and the content for a while now, so me and you are on the very same wavelength on this important topic.

(The logic inside me is screaming SO WHAT we have 256 combinations....if we only have 12 levels...no online play...etc)

Now, if levels are triple the length of Giants...I might cut them some slack.

I gotta say, 256+ characters to use is amazing, i love it. jumping is nice. but whats the point of great game mechanics if the game is so short?

im glad someone finally agrees!

I haven't played swap force, but I do think we're missing some levels.

If we had 50 levels, i'd be content. 12? PFFFFT

+Loads of Variants (i know, I'm weird...)
+Graphics!
+Swappers are awesome
+Great character designs
+Loads of new stuff
+No more annoying heroics
+Survival!
+Kaos's mom (who is obviously Hex's alter ego-*shot*)
-Still not a whole lot of levels.
-Really takes a lot of money to get all zones.
-Darkstarter only comes with 2 Darkswappers.