Topic: SWAP Force?

[UncleBob]

Who all is getting this one?  Besides me?

[Oblivion]

Why does pokepal have Unclebob's username?

[Ceric]

I found Giants to be such a huge disappointment.  Though on the flipside I find the 3DS Original to be my person favorite.  So I'm torn.

[UncleBob]

I have a feeling that the 3DS version of SWAP Force will be pretty awesome.

[BranDonk Kong]

Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by you, Oblivion.

[lolmonade]

My wife found out they were doing a Special Dark Edition of Swap Force, so obviously we're getting that edition now.


Probably will get the 3DS version around Christmas.  I'm limiting our family to that much for the time being, for the sake of not ruining our financial situation. 

[UncleBob]

But... there's going to be new FIGURES.... NEW FIGURES!!!!

[pokepal148]

Why does pokepal have Unclebob's username?

don't blame me, I largely detest skylanders

[lolmonade]

Why does pokepal have Unclebob's username?

don't blame me, I largely detest skylanders

LOL, you detest Skylanders?  Why?

[lolmonade]

My local target had piles of Skylanders: Giants figurines 3 days ago.  Came back there tonight and they finally have a Swap-Force display up, but all the figurines are gone.


Have to wonder what they did with all those unsold figurines.  They had a few BOGO deals going on a few weeks back, but they didn't sell as well as the Disney Infinity figures. 


Anyone else have any Swap Force sightings?

[Ceric]

My Wife almost got to by a Swap force figure last week.  When she got to checkout the system said she couldn't have it.  I had to be content with Halloween Occulus.

[UncleBob]

Yeah, they've been cropping up everywhere... but pretty much always denied at the register.  Not sure I've heard any reports of anyone successfully buying them.

[lolmonade]

Ok, so came here to post my haul (I'm sure Unclebob's stash will put mine to shame).


Swap Force Dark Edition Starter Pack (PS3)
3DS Starter Pack


All in all, I have the following characters (Includes ones coming with the starter packs):

• Dark Blast Zone (Swap)
• Dark Stealth Elf
• Dark Spyro
• Dark Slobber Tooth
• Dark Wash Buckler (Swap)
• Rattle Shake (Swap)
• Free Ranger (Swap)
• Volcanic Eruptor
• Pop Thorn (Came with Tower of Time Adventure Pack & power-ups)
• Hoot Loop (Swap)
• Star Strike (Lightcore)
• Smolderdash (Lightcore)
• Hex (Lightcore, free with Gamestop preorder)
• Magna Charge (Swap)

I was just planning on getting by with the dark starter pack

[Ceric]

All in all, I have the following characters:

• Rattle Shake (Swap)
• Legendary Free Ranger (Swap)
• Pop Thorn (Came with Tower of Time Adventure Pack & power-ups)
• Star Strike (Lightcore)
• Smolderdash (Lightcore)
• Nitro Magna Charge (Swap)
• Countdown
• Roller Brawl
• Bumble Blast
• Legendary Grim Creeper

I didn't mean to buy any of them today which made it interesting because I started the Day with my LEAF having less than a 50% charge.  We had to make a Detour to a charger while we got groceries just so we could still hit everywhere and make it home.  In fact I was going to hold off till Nov. 15th when I get the game but my wife wanted to go now remember how Giants was.  That why you mostly see the exclusive variants.  We are going to pick up Slobber Tooth and Zoo Lou when I get the game. (Hopefully on sale.)

[UncleBob]

Total spent.  $601.
GameStop   Wii U Dark Starter
   Dark Blast Zone
   Dark Wash Buckler
   Dark Slobber Tooth
   Dark Mega Ram Spryo
   Dark Ninja Stealth Elf
   Lightcore Hex (Giants)
   
Target   2-Pack
   Nitro Magna Charge
   Rattle Shake
   2-Pack
   Nitro Magna Charge
   Free Ranger
   2-Pack
   Nitro Magna Charge
   Rattle Shake
   
Walmart   Enchanted Hoot Loop
   Enchanted Hoot Loop
   
Toys R Us   Wii Starter
   Blast Zone
   Wash Buckler
   Ninja Stealth Elf
   3DS Starter
   Free Ranger
   Rattle Shake
   Volcanic Eruptor
   Adventure Pack
   Pop Thorn
   Battle Pack
   Bumble Blast
   Knockout Terrafin
   Magna Charge
   Magna Charge
   Rattle Shake
   Hoot Loop
   Hoot Loop
   Legendary Free Ranger
   Legendary Free Ranger
   Free Ranger
   Flashwing
   Grim Creeper
   Smolderdash
   Star Strike
   Warnado
   Legendary Grim Creeper
   Countdown
   Roller Brawl
   Slobber Tooth
   Zoo Lou
   Blizzard Chill
   Lava Barf Eruptor
   Super Gulp Pop Fizz
   Mega Ram Spyro
   Lightcore Hex (Giants)
   Lightcore Hex (Giants)

[Ceric]

Why so many Dupes?

[pokepal148]

Why so many Dupes?

one year they will just rehash spyro's classic design and slap it on one of those ugly plastic stands

[UncleBob]

Why so many Dupes?

Basically, wanted one of each SWAPper to open.

[lolmonade]

Why so many Dupes?

one year they will just rehash spyro's classic design and slap it on one of those ugly plastic stands

I'll repeat myself, why such disdain for a game you've most likely never played, and openly lament about being a money-grab despite not purchasing it?


Don't bother saying they ruined Spyro.  Spyro was murdered by those "The Legend of Spyro" games, that made him look like a pig more than a dragon, and were overall pretty garbage games.  Spyro actually rebooted him in a positive way.

[lolmonade]

Why so many Dupes?

Basically, wanted one of each SWAPper to open.

Wow, that'll up the cost of this habit....Do you have a display area/case you put your unopened ones in?  I have to imagine that takes up a lot of space.

[lolmonade]

Thought I'd chime in with a few impressions:


The game looks GREAT.  It appears a lot of work was put into the game looking more detailed, the environments more lush, and everything more colorful.  The characters also look a bit more detailed, with the swap characters being particularly neat.  Only drawback of all this is that it's sometimes a bit more difficult to find breakable crates on the ground than it was before.


Most of the characters I've played with so far are pretty good, only exception being Slobber Tooth, who not only seems completely generic but fairly useless.  I haven't tinkered that much with the swapping feature, but the few times I have I've noticed that it does actually change quite a bit what I can do with the character.  The way upgrading works for the swap characters is that you can spend money on upgrades for the upper half and lower half of the character, and those are tied specifically to that half.  Nice way to smooth out the upgrade purchase process.


The game is pretty easy so far, and they've made adjustments to make it easier, such as giving both players life when food is eaten, and a lifebar that seems like it doesn't deplete too much.  We've only played two levels so far, but if it doesn't ratchet up the difficulty soon, I'm afraid I might find myself a bit disinterested in it. 


I won't delve into story much, as to not spoil it for anyone, but it's more of the saturday morning cartoon fare.  Light, enjoyable, and approachable.


I do notice an increase in load time for switching characters, which is frustrating given that's a big feature of the game. Not enough to ruin the experience, but it is a minor complaint of mine.

[Ceric]

Not Surprising because Giants seemed to have one too.  Part of the reason I'm holding out for the PS4 version.  Also because that is the one they are demoing for everyone as well.

[Master Chief]

Never Liked Skylanders.

[Oblivion]

lolmonade, did you seriously call Skylanders NOT a money grab? You've got to be joking.

[pokepal148]

heres my thing, i prefer the dead to be treated with respect and not reanimated into some plastic action figure abomination

[UncleBob]

lolmonade, did you seriously call Skylanders NOT a money grab? You've got to be joking.

Isn't virtually every video game consumer product a money grab?

heres my thing, i prefer the dead to be treated with respect and not reanimated into some plastic action figure abomination

Curious what you think about Ted Price's statements on Skylanders?

[pokepal148]

heres my thing, i prefer the dead to be treated with respect and not reanimated into some plastic action figure abomination

Curious what you think about Ted Price's statements on Skylanders?

I respectfully disagree, I grew up with Spyro... to see him just shoved into some blatant cash grab stupidity is absolutely insulting to me.  if someone manages to hack the portal of power nfc system I may consider picking up a used copy... my disdain rests more with the sales model then the game itself.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/01/talking_point_the_blurred_lines_of_collectables_and_on_disc_dlc

[lolmonade]

lolmonade, did you seriously call Skylanders NOT a money grab? You've got to be joking.

That wasn't what I said at all.  I was suggesting it was a bit ridiculous for Pokepal to suggest Skylanders is nothing but a shameless cash grab when he's clearly never touched the game.
 
But I'll play devil's advocate: I personally don't think it's as shameless as detractors make it out to be.  There's nothing requiring you to purchase a bunch of additional characters, and you can get through the core game with just the starter pack.  You can expand your character set as you deem necessary, and if you don't care about the stickers/codes that come with them, you can usually get them used for a reasonable price.  If you like games that are akin to Gauntlet set in a more cartoon setting, then there's no better game out there right now than this.
 
For Pokepal, YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO PLAY AS SPYRO!!!  Although I still don't see how having Spyro as a playable character in Skylanders tarnishes the character.  Did it Devalue Link to be playable in Soul Calibur II?

[pokepal148]

I'm just gonna put this out there, I wanted to stay out of this debate but you guys managed to pull me in,

lolmonade, did you seriously call Skylanders NOT a money grab? You've got to be joking.

That wasn't what I said at all.  I was suggesting it was a bit ridiculous for Pokepal to suggest Skylanders is nothing but a shameless cash grab when he's clearly never touched the game.

Not really given that the main premise of the game comes down to "buy more toys"

But I'll play devil's advocate: I personally don't think it's as shameless as detractors make it out to be.  There's nothing requiring you to purchase a bunch of additional characters, and you can get through the core game with just the starter pack.  You can expand your character set as you deem necessary, and if you don't care about the stickers/codes that come with them, you can usually get them used for a reasonable price.

except the character data is already on the disc, you are literally paying eight dollars(or whatever other deal you get your hands on) for a cheap nfc chip

For Pokepal, YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO PLAY AS SPYRO!!!  Although I still don't see how having Spyro as a playable character in Skylanders tarnishes the character.  Did it Devalue Link to be playable in Soul Calibur II?

It is just my opinion, although I think there is an obvious difference between Link in SC2 and spyro in skylanders

[UncleBob]

heres my thing, i prefer the dead to be treated with respect and not reanimated into some plastic action figure abomination

Curious what you think about Ted Price's statements on Skylanders?

I respectfully disagree, I grew up with Spyro... to see him just shoved into some blatant cash grab [...]

Again, aren't virtually all video games cash grabs?  I don't recall anyone giving out any good free games of late.

[lolmonade]

Anyone else had enough time to play through a decent portion of the game?  I'm curious to hear other's thoughts on Swap Force compared to Giants.

[Ceric]

Anyone else had enough time to play through a decent portion of the game?  I'm curious to hear other's thoughts on Swap Force compared to Giants.

I just picked it up the 15th with my PS4.  Its gorgeous on the PS4 and I'll stream it some more some time.  I've only played through 2 areas.  I like it more than Giants.  It feels more like the original Skylander 3DS game but, with the massively longer level of Giants.  They are huge.

Yeah, I haven't recorded any of the streaming I did of it but, I'll probably stream some this week of people are interested.

[UncleBob]

It feels more like the original Skylander 3DS game but, with the massively longer level of Giants.  They are huge.

For what it's worth, VV did the 3DS version of Spyro's Adventure and took the lead on the console version of SWAP Force...

[Ceric]

It feels more like the original Skylander 3DS game but, with the massively longer level of Giants.  They are huge.

For what it's worth, VV did the 3DS version of Spyro's Adventure and took the lead on the console version of SWAP Force...

I know.
Also that Swap force was actually being worked on while the original 3DS version was made.

[lolmonade]

Ceric, have you noticed anything about the time delay between putting a Skylander on the portal and when they display and make them playable?  The game looks gorgeous on PS3 as well, so I'm not able to gather whether the PS4 would have a noticable visual improvement, but if the loading times are dramatically improved, I may consider looking into a PS4 copy once I take the next-gen plunge.

[Ceric]

The delay isn't like the PS3 Delay on the other games.  I'll have to see the PS3 Version to make a real call.  I know their are suppose to be different areas where they used the extra horsepower to animate faces and the like.