Topic: Can anyone help a Skylanders newbie?

[ejamer]

So I'm finally drinking the kool-aid. Expected it to be a cool game, but didn't want to collect the figures. But we've got two young kids at home and saw a great deal on a second-hand copy of Giants.  Why not give it a shot?


The trick is, I'm still only looking for a minimal investment. I don't care about collecting all of the figures and frankly can't afford it anyway. So what should I be looking for?  Giants is basically compatible with the first and second series, and all that you really need to experience all in-game content is one Skylander figure from each category... right?  Local stores still have some Giants stock, so that's probably the cheapest/best way to proceed?


Help me out here guys: I know there are Skylanders fans in the forums, your opinion will be valued!

[NWR_insanolord]

Yeah, you can see everything in the game as long as you have one of each elemental type.

[Ceric]

The original is the Superior game in almost every way.  With that out of the way.

You just need 1 of every type and a giant.
I found the best way to figures if your starting is to watch Craigslist and just buy them used.

Remember you can use any of the figures from the previous game with the new game.

[ejamer]

Fantastic. Thanks guys!


I'm curious why the first game is considered better. Story, gameplay, characters? Is it worth owning both if one becomes available on the cheap?  Since we are hoping to pick up a couple of figures later, maybe I should watch for the older ones since they would work in both games.


From what little we played, the game seemed very solid. On higher difficulties, it could be a neat Gauntlet clone with plenty of variability due to many different characters being available.  Shame there is no multiplayer mode for the main adventure though.

[Ceric]

That's more my personal opinion.  I found when they expanded things in Giants they took away a few of the points that I found charming in the first game.  I really like the hub world and I thought the levels were of a good size.

Giants I didn't feel as much of a connection too and I found the levels really too large, I feel the same about the new ones Levels as well.  I'm not in the majority.  Neal and UncleBob liked Giants more.

[UncleBob]

I did?

Firstly, if you want the most bang-for-your-buck, get all three games (Spyro's Adventure, Giants, and Swap Force) on the console of your choice.  Then, if you have a 3DS, get the 3DS versions of all three.  The 3DS version is a completely different game (and, in my opinion, more enjoyable than the Console versions).  For the first two titles, you can get the games used (game-only) for under $10.  Sometimes, you can find them new that cheap.

All Spyro's Adventure (SSA) figures work in Giants.
All SSA and Giants figures work in SWAP Force.
Some SWAP Force figures work in SSA/Giants and some Giants figures work in SSA.
The basic thing is - if the character existed in some form when the game was released, the figure will work in the game.

As has been said, to access everything in SSA, you need one of every element - 8 figures total.
To access everything in Giants, you need each of those 8 elements and 1 Giant character.
To access everything in SWAP Force, you need the 8 elements, the 1 Giant, and the 8 movement types of SWAPpable Characters.  Your SWAPpable characters have elemental types as well, so you can overlap those with your elements, but you can't use the SWAP characters in the older games anyway - so if you have all 3 (6, if you count the 3DS) games, you'll need a total of 17 characters in all.

Now, aside from that, there are four Adventure Packs that were released for SSA.  These packs include a figure that unlocks a new level in both SSA and Giants.  The level unlocked is virtually the same in both games (with a few things tweaked in Giants to accommodate the new characters and such).  There are two Adventure Pack items released with SWAP Force that also unlock two new levels, only in SWAP Force.  The nice thing about the Adventure Pack items is that if you only want to unlock the level, you just have to put it on the portal once and it's unlocked - this means you can usually find the location piece (the part of the adventure pack that unlocks the level) second hand pretty cheap.

All that aside - you're not missing a whole lot by not having one of each element.  Really.  The side paths are nice, but the main reason to get the other figures is to play with their various movesets and battle mode.  And, of course, to have a crazy collection of 200+ figures.

So, basically, don't feel like you need to go out and buy everything RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IT'S THERE just to play the game.  Unless you plan on getting all 200+ figures, just take your time, get new figures as they go on sale or you find them second-hand cheap.

[ejamer]

Once again, thanks very much guys. 

Right now the kids are happy with the Giants game and the 4 characters we have (Tree Rex, Jet Vac, glow in the dark Cynder, and their favorite: Ninjini) so we'll probably play "as is" for a while based on the feedback everyone has offered.

If I had lots of space and money, I could totally see getting into collecting the figures. They are nice little toys and the game has impressed more than expected. Just very well done all around. No wonder Disney is keen to cash in on the same idea.

[UncleBob]

By the way, the main reason I mentioned getting the other games in the series is to maximize your investment.  If you bought Giants at, say, $40 (rough estimate of new price) and, say, $40 worth of figures, you spent $80 on one game.  But, if you score a copy of SSA at about the same price ($40), the 3DS version of SSA ($30ish) and a copy of SWAP Force at full retail ($80), you just bought four games for an average of $57 each.

Another bonus - right now, you have a Magic, Life, Air and Undead character.  If you bought SSA (console), you'd get a Magic (Spyro, so he'd replace the Magic Giant you can't use in SSA), Water (Gill Grunt) and Tech (Trigger Happy) - helping to eliminate the need to buy extra characters.

SSA (Console)	Magic	Water	Tech
SSA (3DS)	Magic	Life	Fire
Giants (Console)	Undead	Air	Life	Giant
Giants (3DS)	Undead	Magic	Life	Giant
SWAP Force (Console)	Life	Fire	Rocket	Water	Climb
SWAP Force (Dark)	Life	Fire	Rocket	Water	Climb	Magic	Earth
SWAP Force (3DS)	Fire	Undead	Bounce	Air	Spin

Bold'd elements represent characters that will work in any game with no restrictions.  So, basically, both SSA games and the Giants you already have will give you 6/8 elements for any game.  Considering how cheap you can find the SSA titles (Amazon has the 3DS version for $25 - http://www.amazon.com/Skylanders-Spyros-Adventure-Starter-Pack-Nintendo/dp/B004VQEOHY), they're almost a better investment than more figures.

[Ceric]

I haven't played the Newest 3DS game but the Original 3DS game is my Personal Favorite of the series.

[broodwars]

I really need to get back to playing Skylanders: Swap Force on my PS4 now that I have all the figures (save one of the adventure sets, which I can never find) I need to unlock all the content in the game. I just can't justify the time for it right now with all the other stuff out right now. Thankfully, the next few months are pretty light in terms of releases. I should be able to squeeze it in before E3.

[UncleBob]

I didn't know you were a fellow portal master.  Figured you'd be against the game and everything it stood for (i.e.: the money sink it is).

[lolmonade]

I'll be the dissenting opinion: Giants is the best Skylanders game out so far. 


That said, if you're looking for a good introduction, then playing them in chronological order is your best bet.  I bet you can get a good load of figurines with Spyro's Adventure fairly cheap at this point, and that's not to say it isn't a good game, just that Giants is a lot more polished, has a a more epic adventure feel, and has the cool giant characters.


All of Unclebob & Ceric's opinions on getting the bang for your buck is otherwise valid. 

[Ceric]

...
Giants is the best Skylanders game out so far. 
...

Burn the Witch.

Carry On.

[broodwars]

I didn't know you were a fellow portal master.  Figured you'd be against the game and everything it stood for (i.e.: the money sink it is).

Ceric there talks a good game about it and the game showed well in his live streams, so I figured I'd give the game a fair shot. The last time I played, I'd only played through a few stages and I had my issues with it (largely the tedious way each individual Skylander levels-up and the arbitrary nature of the area elements, leading to me having to constantly swap out my characters to min-max), but I liked what I played. It's bright, colorful, and full of character. It's like Ratchet & Clank-meets-Diablo, and I can get down with that.

But yes, it is an insane money sink, and I did note that when we originally discussed Swap Force in the PS4 launch episode of NFR.

[ejamer]

Yay! Found a second-hand Thumpback for cheap, which made the kids super happy.


I'm thinking seriously about getting the original game 3DS; as suggested above, seems to offer good value at $25 for a game with figures and portal included. How does that portal work though?  Obviously not USB, and I'm seeing different report about compatibility/functionality online.

[Ceric]

Yay! Found a second-hand Thumpback for cheap, which made the kids super happy.


I'm thinking seriously about getting the original game 3DS; as suggested above, seems to offer good value at $25 for a game with figures and portal included. How does that portal work though?  Obviously not USB, and I'm seeing different report about compatibility/functionality online.

The 3DS Portal works by IR.  Also its well known my love for the original 3DS game.

[UncleBob]

Both SSA and Giants for the 3DS are great games.  Check your local TRU.  I don't know how you crazy Canadians do things, but here, I think it's green-tagged for either $39 or $49 and Green Tag stuff is a minimum of 50% off right now.

[ResettisCousin]

I've played the original on Wii and Swap Force on PS3. As far as I know, every do-dad is forward compatible, but only a handful are backward compatible. Overall, I like the games more than I thought, and I did break down and buy more than I expected. The light up ones are especially nifty. I think Toys R US has them on sale this weekend, too.

[broodwars]

Finally found one of those Sheepwreck Adventure sets for Swap Force that I've been looking for since the game launched. Maybe Activision only just released it, but my local Wal-Mart had them so I picked it up. That finally completes all the "content-unlocking" figures I've been picking up for Swap Force. Now to find time to actually play more than an hour or two of the game.

[Ceric]

I need to pick up Sheepwreck Adventure.  I hope they force you to use the different types sheep effects.