I think you're wildly underestimating how much info kids know about this game and how many shits they give. My son is 6 and won't shut up about it, I think many GameStop moms will be well briefed as to what they need to buy. : )
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The 'Skylanders Giants' |OT|
- Thread starter fernoca
- Start date
I think you're wildly underestimating how much info kids know about this game and how many shits they give. My son is 6 and won't shut up about it, I think many GameStop moms will be well briefed as to what they need to buy. : )
I hadn't played this for a couple months. This past week, my daughter and I dusted it off and have been playing battle mode. We used to always turn off all the hazards, items, food, and set it to fair fight. Now that all the figures are approximately the same level, and she is better at the game, we just leave everything at default.
We finally realized that certain elements give elemental damage against other elements in battle mode. That's nifty, since it allows her to have a handicap if we wish. I re-arranged my Skylanders display to have the elements in ascending order to make it easy for us to remember which is stronger than which.
We also started a "tournament". We shuffle the cards and draw two to see who is battling. Winner goes into a pile to fight again in the future.
I finally completed nightmare difficulty after sitting at the final chapter for months. Now, I am trying to 100% the game. I don't even know if it will be possible. I'll have to get my characters to level 15 I suppose. The final chapter seems impossible to complete without death. It was easy in the first game, because the chapter completed before the final battle. In this game, it is part of the final chapter.
We finally realized that certain elements give elemental damage against other elements in battle mode. That's nifty, since it allows her to have a handicap if we wish. I re-arranged my Skylanders display to have the elements in ascending order to make it easy for us to remember which is stronger than which.
We also started a "tournament". We shuffle the cards and draw two to see who is battling. Winner goes into a pile to fight again in the future.
I finally completed nightmare difficulty after sitting at the final chapter for months. Now, I am trying to 100% the game. I don't even know if it will be possible. I'll have to get my characters to level 15 I suppose. The final chapter seems impossible to complete without death. It was easy in the first game, because the chapter completed before the final battle. In this game, it is part of the final chapter.
Monday night I found a good price at WalMart on the adventure and Giants starter packs for PS3. I am not going to collect them all and I don't feel like buying all the color variants or buying a series 2 if I have a series 1. I know you get slightly better stats and powers as Series 2, but there are enough characters available for both that I feel fine having 1 unique of a character. I may get a LightCore or two of a character I don't own. I just don't find the collecting everything appealing to me, but I won't criticize people who love it. That is the beauty of this game, play it the way you want.
I did get the Darklight Crypt on eBay because that pack sounded cool. I picked up a 3 pack of Series 2 characters I didn't own that work in Adventure and Giants. I also picked up Pearl Whirlwind at GameStop, so I don't personally need regular Whirlwind now.
I am liking buying toys now, it is cool to see them come to life and then be there when I'm not playing.
I did get the Darklight Crypt on eBay because that pack sounded cool. I picked up a 3 pack of Series 2 characters I didn't own that work in Adventure and Giants. I also picked up Pearl Whirlwind at GameStop, so I don't personally need regular Whirlwind now.
I am liking buying toys now, it is cool to see them come to life and then be there when I'm not playing.
It was far more interesting to collect the full set in the first game. The game encouraged this, with the soul gem previews and the explicit elemental bonus given for having multiple characters of the same element. Even the way the Skylanders were presented in the collection screen encouraged a full set.
Giants just dumps all figures into one scrolling screen. You can't see what you are missing. There are no soul gem previews for anything beyond the eight new figures. Hell, the game can't even count how many you have correctly. It also counts the series 1 items as "Skylanders", but not the series 2 items, so your count is never accurate. There are so many variants that collecting everything is an absurd idea. Buying the occasional Legendary or Blue figure for the first game was fine, but right out the gate, Giants had triplicates of many characters (regular, legendary, lightcore), not to mention the other day one variants like Rock Zook et al.
I have been considering what I will do with all these figures in the future. There is a lot of sentimental value in the initial collection from the first game. That game was very well written and designed. The total number of figures toed the line but didn't go overboard. I feel overall, it is one of the best games of that generation. I would be proud to someday watch my daughter play the game with her child, along with the other greats from previous generations.
Conversely, Giants felt rushed. The writing is poor and there is much less of it. Despite the game clearly being targeted at those who had played the first, The first quarter of the game is spent rehashing how to push buttons, aim laser beams, and play Skystones. The tutorial effective consumes a quarter of the full game. They allow you to use the adventure packs from the first game, but made almost no changes to them, and didn't even bother giving a thematic reason for them to exist as in the first game. No cool pirate ships sailing in, or dragon horn to blow. Instead, a wall of text appears when you place the adventure item on the portal, and you simply teleport there.
I understand that they probably only had eight months or so to complete the game, but it should have just been delayed a year and fleshed out better. Nightmare mode is more frustrating than challenging. The Giants are simply slower Skylanders that can break walls. While I have enjoyed the game, overall it feels cheap to me, and I won't care if it never gets played again. I'll probably sell off all the Giants related figures this fall, and keep the original set forever. It will be kind of funny to have this sort of thing be a family heirloom.
Giants just dumps all figures into one scrolling screen. You can't see what you are missing. There are no soul gem previews for anything beyond the eight new figures. Hell, the game can't even count how many you have correctly. It also counts the series 1 items as "Skylanders", but not the series 2 items, so your count is never accurate. There are so many variants that collecting everything is an absurd idea. Buying the occasional Legendary or Blue figure for the first game was fine, but right out the gate, Giants had triplicates of many characters (regular, legendary, lightcore), not to mention the other day one variants like Rock Zook et al.
I have been considering what I will do with all these figures in the future. There is a lot of sentimental value in the initial collection from the first game. That game was very well written and designed. The total number of figures toed the line but didn't go overboard. I feel overall, it is one of the best games of that generation. I would be proud to someday watch my daughter play the game with her child, along with the other greats from previous generations.
Conversely, Giants felt rushed. The writing is poor and there is much less of it. Despite the game clearly being targeted at those who had played the first, The first quarter of the game is spent rehashing how to push buttons, aim laser beams, and play Skystones. The tutorial effective consumes a quarter of the full game. They allow you to use the adventure packs from the first game, but made almost no changes to them, and didn't even bother giving a thematic reason for them to exist as in the first game. No cool pirate ships sailing in, or dragon horn to blow. Instead, a wall of text appears when you place the adventure item on the portal, and you simply teleport there.
I understand that they probably only had eight months or so to complete the game, but it should have just been delayed a year and fleshed out better. Nightmare mode is more frustrating than challenging. The Giants are simply slower Skylanders that can break walls. While I have enjoyed the game, overall it feels cheap to me, and I won't care if it never gets played again. I'll probably sell off all the Giants related figures this fall, and keep the original set forever. It will be kind of funny to have this sort of thing be a family heirloom.
Infinitemadness
Member
I'll never understand why Skylanders, but from one collector to another, props. Impressive collection, bud.
Well, it is a 6 year old. They give shits about everything!
My kids could care less about the game now (7 & 10), haven't played it in months. My next door neighbor is 6 and comes over and wants to play it all the time.....of course he doesn't have the game at his house.
My kids are just as happy playing with whatever the newest game is (3DS, Android, or PC). Even though they finished the game months ago, they still want the characters when they come out - they don't play with them, they just want them......and I think that just about sums up kids in general......they want things.
GameMaster78
Neo Member
Don't know what it is. This game just came and grabbed me by the you know what.
Hi guys! Finally I've got this game (for Wii U!)
I was waiting for a good deal, because I already had the first episode for 3DS, so I didn't want to pay for the base, but there is a lack of booster pack for wii u was holding me from buying the starter pack (I wanted it for Wii U because after the portable one I'd prefer to try the home console version, and the offtv assure me a good amount of play time at home)
Yesterday I've found a brand new starter pack for Wii U at 29.99 and sooooo...here I am!
Suggestion about the MUST HAVE new figures (in terms of in-game features)?
I was waiting for a good deal, because I already had the first episode for 3DS, so I didn't want to pay for the base, but there is a lack of booster pack for wii u was holding me from buying the starter pack (I wanted it for Wii U because after the portable one I'd prefer to try the home console version, and the offtv assure me a good amount of play time at home)
Yesterday I've found a brand new starter pack for Wii U at 29.99 and sooooo...here I am!
Suggestion about the MUST HAVE new figures (in terms of in-game features)?
I enjoy playing the first game a lot more even though it doesnt have as many things to do as Giants. My 7 year old nephew loves playing Giants a lot more and doesnt like playing the first game very often. He really likes Brocks Battle Arena. I prefer doing Cali challenges in the first game. I think Giants has more Cali challenges, but he was explaining something about green base/orange base skylanders and I got very confused. Im sure someone can clear up how Cali challenge work in the Giants game.
Green-based series 1 figures do not enable their heroic challenges. Only the series 2 orange base figures do. This means that figures which do not work in the first game do not have access to the old heroic challenges unless you buy the series 2 figures, even if you own the complete series 1 set.
Rocket Punch
Member
Soo I've gone full retard on Skylanders this last month.
I have managed to acquired complete collections of all figures for the first two games including sidekicks, lightcores and many rares. Curse my collecting OCD gene.
I think it's kind of a blessing that I skipped the figure hunting aspect of the game. I got mostly completed adult owned collections off eBay. That has allowed me to appreciate the game aspect of the game. Imagine that! I feel comfortable saying that the first game is an instant classic in every way. I'm glad Activision had the foresight to allow the developers to go full on with the concept and not hold out on features. The end result turned out to be absolutely captivating and enthralling in a way that only Nintendo manages to do on a consistent basis. And on a new IP for all things!
I have yet to start Giants (I have been playing heroic challenges on SA) and it sucks that people are down on the game as of the later posts so I don't know that I will like it as much but Swap Force looks to be incredibly innovative in the variety of game play allowed by figure swapping.
Anyways, I will probably join the hunt come October when Swap Force comes out. Here's hopping that Activision nurtures Slylanders into a lasting franchise and not another Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk.
Now let me look for something to put all these toys on....
I have managed to acquired complete collections of all figures for the first two games including sidekicks, lightcores and many rares. Curse my collecting OCD gene.
I think it's kind of a blessing that I skipped the figure hunting aspect of the game. I got mostly completed adult owned collections off eBay. That has allowed me to appreciate the game aspect of the game. Imagine that! I feel comfortable saying that the first game is an instant classic in every way. I'm glad Activision had the foresight to allow the developers to go full on with the concept and not hold out on features. The end result turned out to be absolutely captivating and enthralling in a way that only Nintendo manages to do on a consistent basis. And on a new IP for all things!
I have yet to start Giants (I have been playing heroic challenges on SA) and it sucks that people are down on the game as of the later posts so I don't know that I will like it as much but Swap Force looks to be incredibly innovative in the variety of game play allowed by figure swapping.
Anyways, I will probably join the hunt come October when Swap Force comes out. Here's hopping that Activision nurtures Slylanders into a lasting franchise and not another Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk.
Now let me look for something to put all these toys on....
I never had to strain to get any of the figures. The only one that took effort was the first Whirlwind, and that was due to it being USA Target exclusive. My girlfriend visited her family in Kansas that holiday and brought one home. Otherwise, every single figure was purchased at either my local
Toys R Us, Walmart, or EB Games. All three are within walking distance of my home. I would just stop in when I was going by on my bike, or specifically head there when the folks on the DarkSpyro forums gave a heads up.
This Christmas, I plan to sell off all my orange-base Giants figures and game. The Spyro's Adventure stuff, however, will be staying in the family forever.
PS: This is what I use for my collection, and it would hold everything perfectly. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90176839/
Toys R Us, Walmart, or EB Games. All three are within walking distance of my home. I would just stop in when I was going by on my bike, or specifically head there when the folks on the DarkSpyro forums gave a heads up.
This Christmas, I plan to sell off all my orange-base Giants figures and game. The Spyro's Adventure stuff, however, will be staying in the family forever.
PS: This is what I use for my collection, and it would hold everything perfectly. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90176839/
Gnarly Tree Rex is now available as a single figure.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Skyland...+3DS/1540373.p?id=1219054918694&skuId=1540373
Best Buy is running a buy 2, get 1 free.........for those that need to get 3 of everything
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Skyland...+3DS/1540373.p?id=1219054918694&skuId=1540373
Best Buy is running a buy 2, get 1 free.........for those that need to get 3 of everything
oneils
Member
Anyone here know of a decent guide on how to maximise the game without going crazy on figures?
I guess by that I mean, what figures are best so that you can access all levels or aspects of the game?
I'm not too familiar with this game but I watched the Classic Game Room review recently, and now I feel compelled to try it out.
I guess by that I mean, what figures are best so that you can access all levels or aspects of the game?
I'm not too familiar with this game but I watched the Classic Game Room review recently, and now I feel compelled to try it out.
For the first game, I always suggested two of each element, so both players can get to every area. That mostly applies to the second game, except water and lava have been effectively removed from the game, so there are no areas unavailable to any Skylander. As long as you have one of each element, and one giant, you can access everything. It doesn't matter which ones, since flying/swimming/lava walking means nothing in the second game.
pock3tmonster
Banned
Hey guys, I just picked up Skylanders: Giants (PS3) and I'm having an absolute blast. The multiple difficulties and skippable text are a huge improvement on the first game. As much as I enjoyed the first game, I'm loving the second more. It feels more well-rounded.
That aside, I have been researching the new models/reposes and as one of my favourite characters of the first game, have fallen in love with Legendary Stealth Elf. I'm based in Australia though and local Toys'R'Us stores are no longer stocking it. I have checked eBay and I'm not prepared to pay marked-up prices.
Does anyone have an extra Legendary Stealth Elf, or access to one via a local Toys'R'Us store? I'd be happy to pay shipping and retail costs, pending totals. Please PM me. Thanks.
That aside, I have been researching the new models/reposes and as one of my favourite characters of the first game, have fallen in love with Legendary Stealth Elf. I'm based in Australia though and local Toys'R'Us stores are no longer stocking it. I have checked eBay and I'm not prepared to pay marked-up prices.
Does anyone have an extra Legendary Stealth Elf, or access to one via a local Toys'R'Us store? I'd be happy to pay shipping and retail costs, pending totals. Please PM me. Thanks.
I might have one...
n8NMONSTER
Member
Those looking for Series 2 Spyro, Wrecking Ball, or Drobot, I was able to find them at Target.
Also selling my Skylander's set. Everything included in this Google Document is included in the set. I can level up additional figures if need be, but there are a couple at level 10. Have the packaging for the 3DS Giants game, and the two PS3 games. You'll get each version on PS3 and 3DS, as well as 4 Portals of Power.
Looking for $300 for the set
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnzM3JWwyGZbdDFJaUpjUnQydkNiQW1FRGVfbVI5ZXc#gid=0
Looking for $300 for the set
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AnzM3JWwyGZbdDFJaUpjUnQydkNiQW1FRGVfbVI5ZXc#gid=0
Chiaroscuro
Member
Quite impressive set. I cannot find the googledoc.
If you decided to split the lot, I may have interested in some itens (like the sidekicks).
Chiaroscuro
Member
Canada has a exclusive halloween Eye brawl:
Infinitemadness
Member
Also selling my Skylander's set. Everything included in this Google Document is included in the set. I can level up additional figures if need be, but there are a couple at level 10. Have the packaging for the 3DS Giants game, and the two PS3 games. You'll get each version on PS3 and 3DS, as well as 4 Portals of Power.
Looking for $300 for the set
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...fbVI5ZXc#gid=0
I think you can get a little more for this than you're asking. I sold what appears to be less than that for $450 just last night. Had it set as a 30 day buy it now and it sold. The majority of my stuff was unopened though.
Saw that at Walmart and thought it was pretty cute. The kids had no interest though, they're solidly aimed at Swap Force now haha