darkSpyro

Actually...

While in previous games variants enjoyed a slight stats advantage, they do not in Swap Force. The only difference they have in this game is cosmetic distinction from the regular versions. Hopefully this will be restored in the next Skylanders game (amongst other things).

Quote: GamerGroovenik

Actually...

While in previous games variants enjoyed a slight stats advantage, they do not in Swap Force. The only difference they have in this game is cosmetic distinction from the regular versions. Hopefully this will be restored in the next Skylanders game (amongst other things).

They've actually started to kill toys to life with this type of lack of modification of characters stats, removing character stats themselves in favor of legendary treasures etc. I don't mind the Swap Force model as long as they kept the previous model...blending the two would be a great compromise and give both camps what they want.

But somehow I have a feeling they are going to seriously change it up next time.

I heard once that Dark Slobber Tooth had an extra 10 Crit than the regular version but none of the other new ingame variants do. I haven't tested this, though.

@GhostRoaster

I see companies go into "panic mode" after fan backlash and try to make huge changes to try and gain a totally new audience sometimes. I hope that TFB/VV don't do that and instead try to understand where the criticisms are coming from and then try working on it. When I think over it I'm actually pretty disappointed with SWAP Force in what I think are certain really important aspects- they said it would be "what the fans wanted" at the reveal presentation, when in reality, it ruined major things that made the last games great: toys to life and the story.

I do appreciate it for what it is which is a game with great level design and some really clever character ideas, but it just ruined the things I enjoyed about Skylanders most and made tons of little stupid mistakes (dialogue, unbalance between old & new characters ruined power of choice) and I don't really like anything about it besides level design/some of the new characters so all the storytelling and stuff feels like extra fat. And it just feels so different from the last games- saying it's what the fans have wanted is a lie, in my own eyes- it's too different from the past games. And while I didn't want it to stay exactly the same(in fact, I think Giants was a good sequel but only for a rush-job and I wouldn't want to see them keep making sequels like that because it really just feels like an expanded/epilogue version of SA), it really does seem too different to me and that's not good either. People play a franchise and buy sequels because the franchise's strong points appeal to them. A good sequel keeps what made its predecessors great while expanding on it and changing little things here and there and adding its own twist to the franchise's basic premise. In SF the story is weak and there is so little connection with the toys. Once you've changed those two things so much, you've changed two major aspects the franchise used to have, and then it really doesn't feel like- what I personally think is- a "good sequel".

In retrospect I should have seen this coming- VV tried avoiding the issue of story in the 3DS version of SSA by including minimal story and focusing more on fast-paced gameplay, which worked great because they touted that as a different experience and it was just one of the side-games. Now they seem to be trying to emulate the console version of SA and Giants and advertised SF as something that would appeal to the fans the franchise had, but still don't seem to have a good grasp on what really made them great and seemed to be trying to get an entirely new audience instead. I did want to see certain things change and just get omitted but they made some important things too far from what they used to be, in my opinion.

Basically: I agree the way to go is adding the SF formula to that of the old one. If they're not going to bring back the old formula they should at least decide on a new one and work on making it the best they can instead of flipflopping around with new concepts to the point it becomes an inconsistent mess.

Speaking of which, this is really off-topic, so I don't think it's wise to keep ranting about it. Whoops.

I like what VV tried to do and don't find major fault with most of it - but them trying to separate 'speed runs' from 'points' from 'collections' from 'stars' with no heroic challenges, felt like a poor an's way of extending playablity.

As for original topic - I actually wish they handled it a bit more like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. These 'clones' should be similar, but have some game changing differences that fall outside the realm of 'stats'. What if Legendary Free Ranger had different blades (in game only) that had a stun component built in, but as a trade off (because I' not talking imbalance), the eye attacks have a shorter range and duration.
-Unreall

I like what VV tried to do and don't find major fault with most of it - but them trying to separate 'speed runs' from 'points' from 'collections' from 'stars' with no heroic challenges, felt like a poor an's way of extending playablity.

As for original topic - I actually wish they handled it a bit more like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. These 'clones' should be similar, but have some game changing differences that fall outside the realm of 'stats'. What if Legendary Free Ranger had different blades (in game only) that had a stun component built in, but as a trade off (because I' not talking imbalance), the eye attacks have a shorter range and duration.
-Unreall