I love Skylanders. The concept appalled me, but the games are actually more refreshing then many 'AAA' titles at the moment. I've tried Swap Force for a few levels and I love it. But the one thing that puts me off is the TALKING which gets away from the game part. I feel that this actually might ruin the games. Is Trap Team better than Swap Force? Which game allows me to skip the bullshit more quickly and on which platform?
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Swap Force or Trap Team?
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Cybrwzrd
Banned
I think Trap Team was a step back for the worse in many ways. Toys For Bob ignored all of the great improvements that Vicarious Visions put into Swap Force from a gameplay standpoint and turned Trap Team into "Giants 2 Cashgrab Edition". Swap Force has so much more replayability - time trials, score mode, bonus missions, etc. I could buy a new character 6 months after release and still have stuff to do.
And Trap Team ruined 2 player by eliminating the battle arenas and reverted back to the terrible co op character linking that makes it very hard to play together.
Don't get me wrong, Trap Team is still a good game for what it is, but I can't wait to see what VV will do to innovate in the next installment.
One thing I can give TFB credit for is they have much better character designs.
And Trap Team ruined 2 player by eliminating the battle arenas and reverted back to the terrible co op character linking that makes it very hard to play together.
Don't get me wrong, Trap Team is still a good game for what it is, but I can't wait to see what VV will do to innovate in the next installment.
One thing I can give TFB credit for is they have much better character designs.
me0wish
Member
Haven't played TT yet, but I still have a sealed limited edition, I love SF, I have all the SF figures and I had a lot of fun playing the game, if I remember correctly, only the first two levels were "talking" heavy.
Reason why I didn't start TT yet, is because I think I've had enough of spending money on those figures, its annoying how much options you have especially with all the "slightly different" re-releases, and then you have to provide the space to keep them.
Reason why I didn't start TT yet, is because I think I've had enough of spending money on those figures, its annoying how much options you have especially with all the "slightly different" re-releases, and then you have to provide the space to keep them.
Industrialist
Member
The same as with Trap Team, then.
doniewhalberg
Member
I'd say Trap Team for sure. I play through each of the games with my kid every year, and I liked the plot & level design more for TT than giants or swap force. You can still use swap force guys in the game and swamp them etc. so you still get those benefits, but I thought TT was the best actual game so far.
Swap Force definitely has a slightly different feel than the three TFB-developed titles -- the level design is a bit more akin what you'd find in a normal mascot action/adventure game than a dungeon crawler, and the stages are longer and more sprawling that TFBs more compact designs. I like both Swap Force and Trap Team a lot, although they both have their own distinct pros and cons.
That said, OP, one thing that both SF and TT definitely have in common is plenty o' talking. All the Skylanders console games have a ton of in-level dialogue scenes, most of 'em unskippable. (Presumably so young players don't do so accidentally.) "Heavens to Betsy, Skylander! Kaos has stolen all the blisterberry juice from the Wizwuzzle Festival! To get it back, you need to unscrew the three valves and release the juice back into the barrels!" CAMERA SLOWLY PASSES OVER ALL THREE VALVES
I think the humour is a little sharper in TT, but we're still talking about copious quantities of super-simplistic dialogue that is going to feel unnecessarily slow and over-explanatory to most adult players. But it's not written for adults! It's written for kids. I think the Skylanders games have a lot to offer -- the most recent ones are big, well-crafted, unapologetically goofy big budget cartoon playgrounds -- but you definitely need to be able to get in the mindset of your inner 8-year-old. (Or play with an external one.)
That said, OP, one thing that both SF and TT definitely have in common is plenty o' talking. All the Skylanders console games have a ton of in-level dialogue scenes, most of 'em unskippable. (Presumably so young players don't do so accidentally.) "Heavens to Betsy, Skylander! Kaos has stolen all the blisterberry juice from the Wizwuzzle Festival! To get it back, you need to unscrew the three valves and release the juice back into the barrels!" CAMERA SLOWLY PASSES OVER ALL THREE VALVES
I think the humour is a little sharper in TT, but we're still talking about copious quantities of super-simplistic dialogue that is going to feel unnecessarily slow and over-explanatory to most adult players. But it's not written for adults! It's written for kids. I think the Skylanders games have a lot to offer -- the most recent ones are big, well-crafted, unapologetically goofy big budget cartoon playgrounds -- but you definitely need to be able to get in the mindset of your inner 8-year-old. (Or play with an external one.)
I prefer Swap Force but I think Trap Team might be better with skipping dialogue. Most annoying thing about Swap Force is how the town crier ALWAYS pauses the game when you start up to remind you of stuff he's reminded you of a thousand times before.
They're both great though. I just prefer Swap Force because it often feels the stretches of time between running into any enemies in Trap Team are just far too long.
They're both great though. I just prefer Swap Force because it often feels the stretches of time between running into any enemies in Trap Team are just far too long.
We have all the games , and most of the figures.
Trap Team has the Kaos modes, for sorta tower defense, which is good. Boy likes to play the skeletones rhythm modes.
Skytones returns in TT , albeit in 'Smash' variant, which I don't like quite so much, but boy likes it.
We do miss the PvP arenas in Trap Team though, swap force did that better.
The fact that the elemental gates only activate for trap masters is a bit of a problem. Still can't find a Magic trap master in the UK at retail.
The levels are much harder to get *** on in Trap Team, because of the 'Unknown Element' gates which block off areas, and hats, for completion. We don't have any 'Unknown Element' skylanders.
We do have Trap Team on digital download for Wii-U though, which is excellent. Can dip in and out without swapping the discs, so we have Wii-U Swap Force on disc in the console, and Trap Team on digital. Works well.
Trap Team and Swap Force both look really good on the Wii-U. Probably the same as PS360, but our earlier games are on Wii which doesn't look as good.
Overall, I think I'd rather play Trap Team than Swap Force.
One thing though, I really miss the Giants figures, there were some great 'Light Core' ones, I miss the light-up elements from the figures in Trap Team. Even the Eon's Elite figures, and the Trap Masters don't have light up elements any more. I wonder why they dropped that?
Trap Team has the Kaos modes, for sorta tower defense, which is good. Boy likes to play the skeletones rhythm modes.
Skytones returns in TT , albeit in 'Smash' variant, which I don't like quite so much, but boy likes it.
We do miss the PvP arenas in Trap Team though, swap force did that better.
The fact that the elemental gates only activate for trap masters is a bit of a problem. Still can't find a Magic trap master in the UK at retail.
The levels are much harder to get *** on in Trap Team, because of the 'Unknown Element' gates which block off areas, and hats, for completion. We don't have any 'Unknown Element' skylanders.
We do have Trap Team on digital download for Wii-U though, which is excellent. Can dip in and out without swapping the discs, so we have Wii-U Swap Force on disc in the console, and Trap Team on digital. Works well.
Trap Team and Swap Force both look really good on the Wii-U. Probably the same as PS360, but our earlier games are on Wii which doesn't look as good.
Overall, I think I'd rather play Trap Team than Swap Force.
One thing though, I really miss the Giants figures, there were some great 'Light Core' ones, I miss the light-up elements from the figures in Trap Team. Even the Eon's Elite figures, and the Trap Masters don't have light up elements any more. I wonder why they dropped that?
Trap Team is really weird about what dialogue you can skip. I replayed a few levels and there didnt seem to be any reason why some npcs had unskippable dialogue. I dont remember if thats an issue in Swap Force too.
I do think Swap Force has better level design and more engaging elemental gates, but I prefer platformers and VV swings closer to that side of the pendelum with their Skylander games. Both are fun though.
I do think Swap Force has better level design and more engaging elemental gates, but I prefer platformers and VV swings closer to that side of the pendelum with their Skylander games. Both are fun though.
Yeah, that was a bit of a bummer. Traptanium weapons seem like they'd be perfect for that light up feature and they even start glowing in game when you're near a trappable villain. A little disappointing that they skimped out on that.
Cybrwzrd
Banned
It looks gorgeous on my PS4 - a huge step up from the PS3 version.
Yes, that's what I read everywhere (and it's clear even from youtube vids), I'm justwondering if it's the same between PS4 and Xbone (if so I can choose which console to buy it for based on other criterias).
It's not exactly the kind of game that Digital Foundry makes "face-off" for so I can't really find this info
Cybrwzrd
Banned
Yes, that's what I read everywhere (and it's clear even from youtube vids), I'm justwondering if it's the same between PS4 and Xbone (if so I can choose which console to buy it for based on other criterias).
It's not exactly the kind of game that Digital Foundry makes "face-off" for so I can't really find this info
I want to say that PS4 was the lead next gen platform - I think I remember reading it in Kotaku or on the Dark Spyro Skylander forums, but I can't be sure. Never noticed any slowdown on the PS4 version.
Yes, that's what I read everywhere (and it's clear even from youtube vids), I'm justwondering if it's the same between PS4 and Xbone (if so I can choose which console to buy it for based on other criterias).
It's not exactly the kind of game that Digital Foundry makes "face-off" for so I can't really find this info
I wouldn't worry too much: it's clearly the 360/PS3 version with just tons of AA and AF layered on top, it looks super clean and doesn't really push the current-gen systems much at all.