My Skylanders Giants adventure actually started awhile ago when Toys R Us put the new Battle Pack (Chop Chop, Shroomboom and the Cannon battle piece) up for order on their website... then shipped the order! I've had it for awhile now, but nothing to do with it. :D
As for today... It was a fun day. I got up super early so I could get showed and dressed and make the hour drive to get to Toys R Us before they opened. And my awesome wife went with me - I had a special mission for her. :D
In spite of previous dealings with Toys R Us, I chose them because A) My local-ish TRU actually rocks and B) They had Buy One, Get One 40% off *and* they tempted me by mailing me a coupon for an additional 25% off my entire purchase. Oh, and I had a $5 rewards coupon.
We pulled onto the lot at about 7 o'clock. Some employee cars were there along with one other vehicle with someone in it. My wife wanted something to snack on, so I drove over to the Panera Bread, then came back. The occupants of the other vehicle had now moved to the door - turns out it was a guy and his son who were also there for a previous Skylanders release (I believe it was the Zook assortment). At about 7:30, I was still in my car with my wife and we were the only ones there... I went ahead and sent my wife on to Target to complete her mission - Picking me up a Granite Crusher. I armed her with a copy of the Target flyer so she'd know what she was looking for. :D
I went up to the door and made some small talk with the other guy - by the time the store opened at 8, there was a crowd of about 15-20 people. We made our way to the huge Skylanders Giants display towards the front of the store. Although I was second in line, my politeness ended up with several people between me and the loot - I managed to grab a Legendary Bouncer and a Flashwing.... Grabbed that one because I didn't even know it was out yet. Weird.
I stepped away and realized... I bet they have some of these over by the video games too... and NO ONE was going that way. So, I made my way over there, where I was given free roam of the entire counter. :D At this point, I noticed they had an additional Giant, an additional Light Core and several singles - all of which I didn't know was out yet. By the time I had mostly finished picking through the figures, the guy I was waiting with and a few others had made their way over into my space... and I had no cart! Curse me and my lack of foresight! Lucky for me, other guy had a cart and allowed me to use the top basket in his cart while I went and got my own. Then, the two of us started the process of comparing figures to make sure we both got everything.
Total, I had: Giants Swarm Crusher Hot Head Bouncer Legendary Bouncer
Light Cores Prism Break Drobot Jet-Vac Euptorr
3-Packs Pop Fizz, Whirlwind, Trigger Happy Ignitor, Chill, Zook
Also, I grabbed two of the Legendary 3-Packs - but this is where the issue came up. A few weeks ago, TRU had a thing where you could put a deposit down and "Pre-order" items from their "Hot Toy List" - I put two of these on pre-order, one for me, one for a co-worker. When I got to the counter, I mentioned it and the lady said they hadn't put any aside (ick), but that I could just get those... however, she wouldn't be able to ring them up with everything else - so I wouldn't get the extra 25% off on them. Oh well, no biggie. But then, she couldn't get the system to give me my 40% off the second figure because it was a pre-order. After trying a few things, I suggested we just ring everything up together and I go up front to get a refund on the pre-order. That was fine. I checked out, saved something like $150, then went back to the service desk to get my $10... which, between me and the customer in front of me (who was having a similar problem with her pre-order on the games), was just a giant nightmare that took us up until 9:30 to resolve. Fun times.
By this time, my wife had returned, wondered what the hold up was and came in to make sure I didn't get trampled or something. She was successful in her mission with no issues. If only I could say the same... about Toys R Us or the rest of my day.
Speaking of the games, you'll notice I haven't yet purchased them. Knowing that Walmart had the superior version of the bundle (with cool glow-in-the-dark figures packed in), I went there. First, I looked at their figures... because I *knew* Toys R Us was missing some. Sure enough, I found the new Slam Bamn and Fright Rider. Grabbed those off the shelf, then got someone to open the cases and get me the Wii and 3DS versions out. As we got to the check out, I explained that Toys R Us had the two bundles in their ad for $74.99 *and* Buy One, Get One 40% off and that I wanted to price match. Cashier said "No, we don't price match percents off." "You do if the original price is shown in the ad." "No, we don't." "Manager Please".
Waited for a manager. She came. Told her I wanted to price match. "No, We don't price match percents off."
::face palm::
Let me assure you, as long as the original price is shown in the ad, Walmart policy is to price match percents off. This lady wouldn't budge. So, I thanked her and made a phone call. Mystery person on the other end of the phone suggested I pull up Walmart's price match policy directly from their website...
http://corporate.walmart.com/ad-match-guarantee
Now, here's the thing... the policy doesn't specify that we'd match something that's BOGO 40% off. But it does say:
Quote
We gladly match the price in the following types of ads:* Buy one, get one free ads with a specified price
Example: Buy one for $2.49, get one free (BOGO)
Which is what I was saying all along. So I asked them to call that manager back over... She came over, looked at my phone, then said that I was reading the ad wrong and that the games weren't BOGO 40% off. I explained that they were and showed her the part of the ad that said *all* video games. She still insisted that they weren't. I suggested she call them.
She snatched the ad off the counter and walked away.... only to come back shortly later and instruct the employee to do the price match. :D Man, it's awesome to know how things are supposed to work. Had I not been worried about my own store selling out before I got back into town, I would have just gave up and bought it at home... but we didn't get a lot of copies in, so I didn't want to risk it.
Anyway, as I was *finally* checking out, the cashier started to ring up my figures with the second one being 40% off. Being the good guy I am, I mentioned that I wasn't allowed to price match that because the figures did not have specific prices in the ad (although they're all virtually the same price everywhere anyway). If I was trying to be a jerk, I wouldn't have clarified that, but I'm a nice guy. :D
Then, it was on to eat some real breakfast. It was tasty, but they messed up my order and sent me out biscuits instead of sourdough toast. Easy fix though.
Next, to Best Buy. There was a CD my wife wanted and I figured I'd look to see if they had anything different. They did have the new Terrafin, so I grabbed him and the strategy guide. We went to check out... and the figure wouldn't ring up. The register was refusing to sell it! Serious!
Cashier rang up the guide and the CD and sent us back to the game center where they were going to take care of it. Four associates later, they finally just scanned a different figure and called it a day. We where joking around the entire time and at the end, the manager who was there apologized. I said "That's fine, but can I have one of those pre-order kits for my trouble?" in a joking manner. He looked to one of the other associates who said they weren't in the inventory, so he grabbed one and tossed it to me. Yay! :D
Then, one final stop... GameStop. I had pre-ordered their exclusive version of the Battle Pack the week it opened for pre-orders. I paid the full price down. I just *knew* I wasn't going to have any issues here, right?
Well... Went in and started looking at the figures. Guy asked if I needed help. I mentioned that I had a pre-order to pick up. He looked up my account and saw it was the Battle Pack. "Why didn't you pre-order the game here?" "Eh, I wanted the exclusive Walmart version." "Oh, all because the figure is painted a little different." umm... Yeah?
He asked if there were any other figures I needed - I looked and said that I had already gotten them all this morning. "Really? Because I was told by several customers we had more than even Toys R Us had." "That's probably because Toys R Us was wiped out first thing this morning..." "Yeah, that's because they're keeping 80 boxes in the back that they're not putting out until tomorrow because they're a toy store, not a game store."
Yeah... just give me my stuff so I can go. It's funny, last year when Skylanders came out, I went into this same store to see if they had anything exclusive - they didn't, but I got grilled there about where I bought stuff. I mentioned I got most of it at Toys R Us because they were doing a Buy-Two, Get-One Free then. The guy (probably a different guy, I don't remember much) claimed they were doing that to clear out their stock because they weren't going to sell video games anymore. :D
Anyway, so what should have been a simple "Take my money" transaction turned into entire on-going morning of fun and excitement. :D
And I haven't even opened the games yet!
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: NWR_Neal on October 21, 2012, 08:33:40 PM
Wait, what the ****? Flashwing, Hot Head, and Sprocket are out? Where did you get them?
I just went to a GameStop today and got Bouncer (had most of the others from my review copy). The Target I checked only had single LightCores and Granite Crusher. The GameStop had nearly everything except the Golden Cannon Pack.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: ejamer on October 22, 2012, 09:13:59 AM
I mentioned in the review that I didn't want to get started with Skylanders. This report (as much fun as it was to read) is exactly why. I simply can't afford the time or money that I would be dropping on it. :)
When do photos of your entire Skylanders collection go up? I'm jealous and want live vicariously.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 22, 2012, 09:26:43 AM
Yeah, seriously I was at Target, Toys'R'Us, Gamestop, and Best Buy when they opened and I didn't see Flashwing, Hot Head, and Sprocket.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: UncleBob on October 22, 2012, 09:31:51 AM
Apparently, Wave 2 (which includes those) is a Toys R Us exclusive for 30 days and comes out today (Monday). Guess I just got lucky and mine put them out early. :D
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Oblivion on October 22, 2012, 10:09:34 AM
I don't understand you guys...
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 22, 2012, 10:52:30 AM
Apparently, Wave 2 (which includes those) is a Toys R Us exclusive for 30 days and comes out today (Monday). Guess I just got lucky and mine put them out early. :D
I wish I would have known that I would have Stopped by my Toys'R'Us this morning...
This is nothing compared to Hotwheel and Transformers Collectors.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: NWR_Neal on October 22, 2012, 11:15:09 AM
I WILL BE AT TOYS R US IN LIKE AN HOUR HOLYHELLI'MSOEXCITED
I have a problem. I keep telling my wife that "hey, at least I don't get every variation and legendary." Also, I own Legendary Trigger Happy and Uncle Bob's Drill Sergeant. So I'm slightly full of ****.
The whole Skylanders reminds me of a high school incident where my parents thought I was smoking pot all the time. I just replied "I buy too many video games and stuff to ever be able to afford a drug addiction." They never accused me of any foul play from there on out.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 22, 2012, 01:22:30 PM
I WILL BE AT TOYS R US IN LIKE AN HOUR HOLYHELLI'MSOEXCITED
I have a problem. I keep telling my wife that "hey, at least I don't get every variation and legendary." Also, I own Legendary Trigger Happy and Uncle Bob's Drill Sergeant. So I'm slightly full of ****.
The whole Skylanders reminds me of a high school incident where my parents thought I was smoking pot all the time. I just replied "I buy too many video games and stuff to ever be able to afford a drug addiction." They never accused me of any foul play from there on out.
I was there about 20 minutes after you post Neal and I got the distinguished honor of watching the last of Wave 2 walk out the door.
Personally I wasn't going to buy variants to save money & not be on the Wife's bad side. I'm actually pretty happy to play all the different styles, if a variant played different Dark Spyro in the 3DS if memory serves then yeah I Probably miss them. I came home one day and my Wife asked why we didn't have any of the Variants...
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Morari on October 22, 2012, 01:54:09 PM
I bet your kids will be thrilled to receive those toys. It's nice to see parents going out of their way for stuff like that.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 22, 2012, 02:25:28 PM
Why is it that folks on a site for video games are bemoaning folks who like to play?
I ask that a lot at different times.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: NWR_Neal on October 22, 2012, 03:44:59 PM
Read my reviews. I think Skylanders Giants is one of the best games of the year. I could have put together an argument for why I thought Spyro's Adventure was better than Skyward Sword last year during awards season.
It's wonderful that kids and adults can play such an awesome game with such fantastic characters.
Currently, NWR's Patrick Barnett is checking his local TRU for Flashwing, Sprocket, and Hot Head. It has begun.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 22, 2012, 04:18:18 PM
Well in about 3 weeks everyone can hear my thoughts on these games in Audio Format . I'm hoping something happens between now and then because if you had me give a review right this second. It wouldn't be overly favorable to these being better then the original two. Especially the 3DS game.
Probably before on the Telethon actually...
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: NWR_Neal on October 22, 2012, 04:47:29 PM
I should finally get our 3DS review copy in today (funny story: Activision sent us the 3DS starter pack...but there was no game inside :X ), but the early buzz I've heard about it is worrisome. Seems like it's a step down from last year's 3DS game.
Good news: Patrick got me Sprocket! I will trade him a dupe I have for it. Yay.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: UncleBob on October 22, 2012, 05:35:04 PM
Really? On DarkSpyro.net, the new 3DS version ihas had better reviews than the previous release...
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 22, 2012, 05:37:09 PM
I should finally get our 3DS review copy in today (funny story: Activision sent us the 3DS starter pack...but there was no game inside :X ), but the early buzz I've heard about it is worrisome. Seems like it's a step down from last year's 3DS game.
Good news: Patrick got me Sprocket! I will trade him a dupe I have for it. Yay.
I hate to say it but it is so far. Also if you only played the 3DS Version you'll start a little confused.
Really? On DarkSpyro.net, the new 3DS version ihas had better reviews than the previous release...
So far I'm going to have to disagree with them. Note I really enjoyed the original 3DS game but, their is plenty of game for me to go through.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Louieturkey on October 22, 2012, 05:50:20 PM
So is anyone going out of their way to get the PS3 exclusive one?
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Oblivion on October 22, 2012, 05:55:45 PM
Actually, I think both Skylanders games have a pretty bland storyline and gameplay. Don't know why anyone with a sane mind would call either game better than Skyward sword.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: NWR_Neal on October 22, 2012, 07:27:20 PM
Actually, I think both Skylanders games have a pretty bland storyline and gameplay. Don't know why anyone with a sane mind would call either game better than Skyward sword.
I was playing Skylanders pretty regularly until the early summer. That's why. It's like Gauntlet with really great characters. And I loved Gauntlet when I was younger.
At the end of the day, Skyward Sword is the better game, but for me, Skylanders was worth bringing up in conversation on my personal list of favorite games of 2011.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Oblivion on October 22, 2012, 08:02:02 PM
Ah, I see. To each their own. :)
I was actually working when they came out on Sunday, and I was the one that put them up all nice and pretty. We had two different 3-packs, one starter pack for each system (two for Xbox, for some reason), three different Giants, two different lightcores, and...five or six different standard figures. By the time I got off, we only managed to sell one Giant figurine.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: NWR_Neal on October 22, 2012, 08:03:11 PM
Where do you work?
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Oblivion on October 22, 2012, 08:17:41 PM
Kmart. I was doing the Ad Setting that day (getting up at 4 in the morning every Sunday to put the 6000 sale signs up by 8 in the morning), and had time to put the stuff out before we opened.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: UncleBob on October 22, 2012, 08:26:14 PM
A) KMart had no exclusives - Toys R Us, Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop and Target all did. B) TRU had BOGO 40% off and Best Buy had B2G1Free.
I'm surprised you even sold one. :D
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Oblivion on October 22, 2012, 08:29:37 PM
I really don't care, and it doesn't surprise me. Kmart is always the last to get in on technology, and we usually have the lower end stuff. Hell, we don't even sell Apple products.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Kytim89 on October 22, 2012, 10:47:39 PM
I went to a Wal-mart today to pick up a few Skylanders and the shelving for the figures was completely bare. It looked as a if a hurricane had swept through the aisles and took every figure on the racks. The area was also a mess like a mass stampede had went through the aisle and demolished everything in sight. I am surprised the store did not shut that part of the store down for repairs.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Morari on October 22, 2012, 11:14:00 PM
I went to a Wal-mart today to pick up a few Skylanders and the shelving for the figures was completely bare. It looked as a if a hurricane had swept through the aisles and took every figure on the racks. The area was also a mess like a mass stampede had went through the aisle and demolished everything in sight. I am surprised the store did not shut that part of the store down for repairs.
That is how it looked for months after Christmas last year when they got popular.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: lolmonade on October 23, 2012, 11:34:33 PM
I went to a Wal-mart today to pick up a few Skylanders and the shelving for the figures was completely bare. It looked as a if a hurricane had swept through the aisles and took every figure on the racks. The area was also a mess like a mass stampede had went through the aisle and demolished everything in sight. I am surprised the store did not shut that part of the store down for repairs.
That is how it looked for months after Christmas last year when they got popular.
That's funny, where I'm at (outside Raleigh, NC), there isn't much of a shortage with the exception of some of the store exclusives.
My wife and I are having a blast with the game. Levels are much more substantive and varied than Spyro's Adventure, and it feels like everything has more polish to it.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 24, 2012, 12:19:10 AM
I went to a Wal-mart today to pick up a few Skylanders and the shelving for the figures was completely bare. It looked as a if a hurricane had swept through the aisles and took every figure on the racks. The area was also a mess like a mass stampede had went through the aisle and demolished everything in sight. I am surprised the store did not shut that part of the store down for repairs.
That is how it looked for months after Christmas last year when they got popular.
That's funny, where I'm at (outside Raleigh, NC), there isn't much of a shortage with the exception of some of the store exclusives.
My wife and I are having a blast with the game. Levels are much more substantive and varied than Spyro's Adventure, and it feels like everything has more polish to it.
I feel the Exact Opposite about 3DS and Console Version of Giants compared to the original. The only thing I can really say improved are its harder to find everything.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: UncleBob on October 24, 2012, 12:36:58 AM
I haven't played much (any) of the console version yet... but I'm loving the 3DS version. The lack of the timer anytime you finish a challenge - allowing you to easily explore and complete multiple challenges at once and the complete lack of Radiance "Challenges" is amazingly awesome.
The sheep love room is... creepy though.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 24, 2012, 09:55:27 AM
I haven't played much (any) of the console version yet... but I'm loving the 3DS version. The lack of the timer anytime you finish a challenge - allowing you to easily explore and complete multiple challenges at once and the complete lack of Radiance "Challenges" is amazingly awesome.
The sheep love room is... creepy though.
You see I feel the exact opposite about that. I enjoyed the timer after finishing the challenge and Radiance challenges from the first one. I found I could always explore on a different run through. Even in the first one I complete multiple objective at once plenty of times.
The Sheep is a hold over because they are using the same model from the Console Version. That's Persephone's room and they needed to do something with it.
Also feel the Ship is restrictive and not as interesting as the island in the first one.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: lolmonade on October 24, 2012, 12:13:27 PM
I went to a Wal-mart today to pick up a few Skylanders and the shelving for the figures was completely bare. It looked as a if a hurricane had swept through the aisles and took every figure on the racks. The area was also a mess like a mass stampede had went through the aisle and demolished everything in sight. I am surprised the store did not shut that part of the store down for repairs.
That is how it looked for months after Christmas last year when they got popular.
That's funny, where I'm at (outside Raleigh, NC), there isn't much of a shortage with the exception of some of the store exclusives.
My wife and I are having a blast with the game. Levels are much more substantive and varied than Spyro's Adventure, and it feels like everything has more polish to it.
I feel the Exact Opposite about 3DS and Console Version of Giants compared to the original. The only thing I can really say improved are its harder to find everything.
I can only speak to the PS3 version, as I have not opened the 3DS version, but one of my biggest complaints of the original (despite the fact that my wife and I loved the game) was that the majority of the levels were pretty cookie-cutter in terms of the level structure and how to progress through the levels, with the exception of the background/theme. Nearly all of the levels also felt pretty short, as well.
For Giants, the levels are definitely longer (at least they take us longer to progress through when we play them, as we're usually exploring them more thoroughly). I find myself having to actually employ strategies when approaching a mob in this game to effectively dispatch them, whereas in Spyro's Adventure it was basically:
A) approach mob B) mash favorite move for skylander C) kill everything in mob
I also feel that the new Skylanders have much more varied movesets, which makes the experience completely different depending on which one you're playing as.
And not that this point is as important to me as everything else, but I think the humor and story is greatly improved over the first. Everything looks to have better flow and character design (IMO). I've never had my game crash once, whereas Spyro's Adventure has crashed on us a handful of times. To me, that all makes it a much more polished and enjoyable experience.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: lolmonade on October 24, 2012, 12:15:00 PM
I haven't played much (any) of the console version yet... but I'm loving the 3DS version. The lack of the timer anytime you finish a challenge - allowing you to easily explore and complete multiple challenges at once and the complete lack of Radiance "Challenges" is amazingly awesome.
The sheep love room is... creepy though.
You see I feel the exact opposite about that. I enjoyed the timer after finishing the challenge and Radiance challenges from the first one. I found I could always explore on a different run through. Even in the first one I complete multiple objective at once plenty of times.
The Sheep is a hold over because they are using the same model from the Console Version. That's Persephone's room and they needed to do something with it.
Also feel the Ship is restrictive and not as interesting as the island in the first one.
I'll agree the ship seems much more constrained, but when you figure much of the island is excess empty space, and made it arduous to walk back-and-forth between Persephone, the mole nerd, and the next level, I think the ship works much better if they decided they still needed a hub world.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 24, 2012, 12:41:41 PM
I went to a Wal-mart today to pick up a few Skylanders and the shelving for the figures was completely bare. It looked as a if a hurricane had swept through the aisles and took every figure on the racks. The area was also a mess like a mass stampede had went through the aisle and demolished everything in sight. I am surprised the store did not shut that part of the store down for repairs.
That is how it looked for months after Christmas last year when they got popular.
That's funny, where I'm at (outside Raleigh, NC), there isn't much of a shortage with the exception of some of the store exclusives.
My wife and I are having a blast with the game. Levels are much more substantive and varied than Spyro's Adventure, and it feels like everything has more polish to it.
I feel the Exact Opposite about 3DS and Console Version of Giants compared to the original. The only thing I can really say improved are its harder to find everything.
I can only speak to the PS3 version, as I have not opened the 3DS version, but one of my biggest complaints of the original (despite the fact that my wife and I loved the game) was that the majority of the levels were pretty cookie-cutter in terms of the level structure and how to progress through the levels, with the exception of the background/theme. Nearly all of the levels also felt pretty short, as well.
For Giants, the levels are definitely longer (at least they take us longer to progress through when we play them, as we're usually exploring them more thoroughly). I find myself having to actually employ strategies when approaching a mob in this game to effectively dispatch them, whereas in Spyro's Adventure it was basically:
A) approach mob B) mash favorite move for skylander C) kill everything in mob
I also feel that the new Skylanders have much more varied movesets, which makes the experience completely different depending on which one you're playing as.
And not that this point is as important to me as everything else, but I think the humor and story is greatly improved over the first. Everything looks to have better flow and character design (IMO). I've never had my game crash once, whereas Spyro's Adventure has crashed on us a handful of times. To me, that all makes it a much more polished and enjoyable experience.
Are we playing the same game my experience was a lot different. Ironically enough we our playing the exact same version with our Wives respectively.
I've got a lot of hours logged in the PS3 version of the original game and I can't remember it crashing. Now the Portal getting glitchy and eating batteries is another story.
The first one I found the story good and the humor to be entertaining. Plus their was always a little something. Like the enemy Descriptions. This time around they just tell you the new enemies name with no amusing descriptions.
The Script are less lore and more help tips.
While the levels are larger they feel a little to long especially if you are trying to find everything.
The new Skylanders Moveset are in-line with the variety in the first 32.
I do not like how they changed the items from manipulating the right analog to tapping the triangle.
The first one I felt was more challenging enemies wise. I had to crank this one to hard to get a similar feeling and I'm using my Newbie Series 2 figures.
I am little peeved that my Series 1 don't Register as my figures automatically in Giants.
Portal is easier to confuse this time for some reason.
I little disappointed they didn't bring in the dashing from the 3DS games (Would have really liked the jumping but that's another story.)
Its just doesn't feel like this was crafted with as much passion as the first games. That this is just more or less an iteration. I put the expansions on last night and jumped into them because I was excited they worked. Lo and Behold they are exactly the same... No new story for the Pie Eating Ghosts. They might have well just kept them as uber items.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: lolmonade on October 25, 2012, 12:46:49 PM
Ceric, I'm cutting out the older quotes to keep the conversation streamlined. My comments are in red:
Are we playing the same game my experience was a lot different. Ironically enough we our playing the exact same version with our Wives respectively.
I've got a lot of hours logged in the PS3 version of the original game and I can't remember it crashing. Now the Portal getting glitchy and eating batteries is another story. Battery life was terrible on the old portal. Ours was on the fritz (didn't always recognize the skylanders), so we bought a portal pack for Giants, and we're loving the fact that the new portal is USB cord, so we don't have to bother with batteries anymore.
The first one I found the story good and the humor to be entertaining. Plus their was always a little something. Like the enemy Descriptions. This time around they just tell you the new enemies name with no amusing descriptions. Again, I didn't have a problem with the original story, and I thought the original had funny moments, but I find myself laughing out loud more often while playing this one. It helps that most of the characters are already established. I personally have no qualms about them leaving out the enemy descriptions, but that's a personal preference issue.
The Script are less lore and more help tips. I suppose the lore is less important to me, as it's more a backdrop to the gameplay for my experience.
While the levels are larger they feel a little to long especially if you are trying to find everything. I agree that if you like the levels to be 5-10 minute bite-sized levels for the most part, you're going to be disappointed with the length of each level. I think it'll be tougher for some kids to get into the game because of this, as well.
The new Skylanders Moveset are in-line with the variety in the first 32. I suppose this may be true to an extent, but again, from personal experience, the characters i've been playing with (potion guy and the hawk with an air gun) seem at least relatively varied in comparison to the ones I played the most as in the original.
I do not like how they changed the items from manipulating the right analog to tapping the triangle. This one took me a bit to get used to as well, but I prefer this method, as I was always concerned about wearing out my analog stick playing the game before.
The first one I felt was more challenging enemies wise. I had to crank this one to hard to get a similar feeling and I'm using my Newbie Series 2 figures. I've been only playing with series 2 figurines, and have been playing on normal so far. I'd disagree that it's too easy on this setting, as my wife and I see ourselves getting mauled once or twice, but I'll agree we haven't hit any brick walls yet. But don't you like that they actually provided a difficulty option in this game?
I am little peeved that my Series 1 don't Register as my figures automatically in Giants. I can't speak for this, as mentioned above, I haven't tried using series one skylanders.
Portal is easier to confuse this time for some reason. (See above, I ended up getting the new portal with Giants, which is another big improvement over the original IMO)
I little disappointed they didn't bring in the dashing from the 3DS games (Would have really liked the jumping but that's another story.) I agree they could have implemented some things from the 3DS version of Spyro's adventure, but I do like that you can fall off cliffs in Giants. Makes you have to pay better attention to your surroundings. But this isn't a big enough disappointment for my experience.
Its just doesn't feel like this was crafted with as much passion as the first games. That this is just more or less an iteration. I put the expansions on last night and jumped into them because I was excited they worked. Lo and Behold they are exactly the same... No new story for the Pie Eating Ghosts. They might have well just kept them as uber items.
I'm not sure what you mean by it not being crafted with as much passion. I think a lot of care was taken when they designed the new characters, worked on the level environments, and new gameplay mechanics. Maybe we were just looking for two different things in a sequel to Spyro's Adventure, because most of what I wanted was similar gameplay with new characters, more detail in environments and character designs, and more varied gameplay options, and I think between the interactive moments with the Giants, SkyStones, and what feels like more variety in boss battles, this game feels much more robust in my opinion.
Maybe you were looking for them to try something that would radically change the game?
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 25, 2012, 03:36:07 PM
Parsing the Quote just going to take to long.
I'm glad the new one has a USB Cord. Maybe I can eventually find one cheap. I got the 3DS Starter pack because it had a Variant in it.
As of yet I haven't really ran into as many funny moments in this game as I did the original. As for the Environments I just don't see it. It feels as varied or maybe even less then the first one so far. I might change my opinion as I get further along so far though been to more than a couple of areas and they just don't feel as different as the first. Granted part of that may be I haven't hit anything that I couldn't think of a solid analog to the first game for really.
Skystones is a better card game then the one from the original one. Though you have to ask yourselves why do Pirates like Card Games so much in the Skylander Universe?
On the Difficulty, having setting I don't mind but, I was expecting Normal to feel as hard as The first game. Original plan was to go with my Son on Easy, we go a pass through on Normal wife and I. Then do Hard to finish things out.
I don't feel like the little things are there like the first game. Take Pop Fizz. In the first game you can recolor the sheep with different characters or make them frizzy. I was really thinking that throwing a potion on one of them would at the least change their color; at best transform them. But it just like hitting them with any normal hit. The ship doesn't feel like their is as much to tool around.
Also Luckitron Wheels can go take I hike. We've got chapters of everything but finding the Luckitron Wheel.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: lolmonade on October 26, 2012, 02:50:14 PM
I'm glad the new one has a USB Cord. Maybe I can eventually find one cheap. I got the 3DS Starter pack because it had a Variant in it.
Skystones is a better card game then the one from the original one.
Also Luckitron Wheels can go take I hike. We've got chapters of everything but finding the Luckitron Wheel.
Here are some things we can both agree on :D
Can I ask how far you are in the game? My wife and I completed it last night. I would be disappointed in the length, but I enjoyed it enough to re-play it on nightmare mode a few times.
Title: Re: My Skylanders Adventure...
Post by: Ceric on October 26, 2012, 02:58:18 PM
I'm glad the new one has a USB Cord. Maybe I can eventually find one cheap. I got the 3DS Starter pack because it had a Variant in it.
Skystones is a better card game then the one from the original one.
Also Luckitron Wheels can go take I hike. We've got chapters of everything but finding the Luckitron Wheel.
Here are some things we can both agree on :D
Can I ask how far you are in the game? My wife and I completed it last night. I would be disappointed in the length, but I enjoyed it enough to re-play it on nightmare mode a few times.
We're not that far. I haven't been able to dedicate as much time for varying reason. Some of which actual sprang from this forum. We are at the Cardboard Town.
Most places so far look like the island from the original. (Brown Paths and Green Grass.)
