Skylander Giants: First Impressions

Hello Portal Masters,

so on Friday the 19th of October, the long wait for me was over and I got to open my Skylanders Giants game and some characters.
For those who are interesested I got a lot (please note, I already work, so I am able to spend money on this kind of things! Don't get upset if you don't get as many characters. I do not have a family so if you parents do not buy you EVERY Skylander, it does not mean they do not love you... Money is a limited thing, and there are soooo much more important things than Skylanders... but now let's get back to what this is all about).

Giants:
Tree Rex (Starter Pack)
Bouncer
Crusher
Swarm

Lightcore:
Prism Break
Drobot
Eruptor

New Skylanders:
Chill (Triple Pack)
Fright Rider
Pop Fizz (Triple Pack)
Shroomboom (Battle Pack)
Jet-Vac(Starter Pack)

Series 2:
Whirlwind (Triple Pack)
Trigger Happy (Triple Pack)
Zook (Triple Pack)
Eruptor (Triple Pack)
Chop Chop (Battle Pack)
Cynder (Starter Pack)

The reason I bought the starter pack (PS3) is easy: I wanted a Portal without bateries and Jet-Vac.

Now I will review the game and the characters I got.

Review: Skylanders Giants

I love the game! The characters and the story are lovely.
The gameplay is a lot of fun.
Compared to Spyro's adventure it has all the benefits of the first game, but some great improvements.
I will make a short list of Pros and Cons:

Pros:
The Giants add a really cool new element.
The difficulty settings make the game really difficult (I play on hard and it is really tricky!)
It is trickier to solve all the levels completely (I still have only made it to three stars in the first level)
I love the quests for each Skylander.
The heroic challenges seems more versatile.
I love the new arena challenges, although they are quiet tough.
I like that the Skylanders speak now, gives them more personality.

Cons:
There could be more levels.
I would love them to get into the backstories of the characters more (they have nice stories, why not use them in the game...)
no heroice challenges for Series 1 (but at least they get to do the quests)

I have play a few levels so far (about 6) and they were all nice and a lot of fun plus great design, so I was very pleased with that.

So, for me the game is a great game with lots of things to explore.

Characters:

I have not used any Series 2 yet, so I cannot say much, but I will post the wow pows soon.
The same about Light Core, but I want to say one thing:
Lightcore Drobot is a JOKE! His Lightcore is just a little bit on his back. Compared to Prism Break or Eruptor it is horrible and borring. Sorry.

The Giants:

Tree Rex: He looks a little boring without the light, but when his eyes glow he is awesome.
Playwise, he is not my favourite Giants, but still alright.
Since everyone has to get him, he is fine.
I have not chosen his upgrade path yet (but I have to now) (oh, another thing I really have to post here soon!)

Bouncer: I like Bouncer. He is not my favourite but he is a nice shooter. Out of the four Giants I have he and Tree Rex a probably my least favourite, but I still like him. And as all the Giants, his light up figure looks quiet cool.

Crusher: I liked Crusher from the begining, although he is slow and sometimes a good target for the other monsters. His toy is massive and really cool.

Swarm: The suprise for me, since he is really fun to play and his upgrade path for the swarm form looks like fun (have to chosen any paths yet, but will keep you updated). His toy is nice, although probably my least favourite light up effect of the giants (still much better than Drobot and even Eruptor).

So, if someone would like to buy one Giant (apart from Tree Rex), I would probably recommend Swarm because Crusher is a little similar to Tree Rex playwise.

The new Characters:

Pop Fizz: I love Pop Fizz but I already know that it will be very difficult for me to decide which path to take with him (but since there will be a Light Core One, I can manage :)).

Jet-Vac: Of the new ones, probably my least favourite (close to Shroomboom). Don't get me wrong, I like both of them and I think all new Characters have a lot to offer, but not a fun for me to play as the others.

Shroomboom: He is a nice little mushroom, but I tend to play other characters more. I still try to get him upgraded to really judge him as soon as he is done.

Fright Rider: I love his looks and the concept, so I enjoy him and cannot judge him. I don't think his skills are overly inovative, but I like this one soooo much that I do not care.

Chill: I think she is really strong. Pushing the blocks does a descent amount of damage, so I like her. But I am happy that the lightcore will spare me from only getting one upgrade path :)

So, for Players of the old game who want something new, I would definetely recomend Pop Fizz or Chill.

So, I hope my first overview of the game helped some of you.

I will keep you updated!

CU soon!

Charon