Jump to content

Poll: Is Bionicle 2015 (so far) better than Hero Factory?


fishers64

What that topic title said.   

65 members have voted

You do not have permission to vote in this poll, or see the poll results. Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

Recommended Posts

Yes, this is probably an invalid comparison on some level. I'm doing it anyway. :P

 

Right now this an oddball idea - but not six months ago, much rejoicing seemed to be had among all that Hero Factory was gone and that Bionicle had made its glorious triumphant return. Anything that promised relief from ugly sets and tales of genocide (:P) was welcomed by the Bionicle-starved citizens of this place. 

 

Now that Bionicle has returned, that perspective has been lost in the rush to compare Bionicle G1 and G2. But comparing G2 with Hero Factory is perhaps a more valid comparison. After all, they both use the same building system, and are slated to run a similar length of time, and they seem to have a similar amount of story material. 

 

I'm putting this here because it compares the two themes. If it needs to go somewhere else, move away. 

 

And vooooooooooooooooooooote!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it's certainly not a very valid comparison, but ok let's run with it.

 

Far as sets go, even from the comparatively smaller pool of new Bionicle sets, I think it is clear that they're head and shoulders above most Hero Factory sets. Not all of them, of course, but in general. They are an improvement.

 

The story...definitely the wonkiest point of comparison. Bionicle so far really only has the ten animations, which I personally found disappointing. Whereas Hero Factory had a good number of also disappointing-to-mediocre-to-bad, more full-length episodes. So I don't know, HF had more in that regard but it was worse than even the little Bionicle has. If HF was just limited to those episodes, I'd give Bionicle the point. But, HF did have the secret mission novels. Which, marginal though they may have been, were still part of the story, and I've enjoyed the ones I've managed to read quite a bit. Plus, I found the media in HF's first year to be rather more engaging in general. So I will say HF is stronger in this regard, for the moment. Hopefully the summer animations and the upcoming books will strengthen this aspect of the new Bionicle.

 

All in all, I do currently prefer HF, if only slightly. I always did like it, mediocre though it often was, and it had more than enough time to grow on me and leave a positive impression over the years during which it ran. But the new Bionicle has started strong, on the sets if nothing else, and I think given a year or two it will quickly overtake HF in most areas. At least, I hope so. 

AXKP5KC.png


 


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bionicle 2015 has turned out an amazing set lineup that is far beyond anything Hero Factory has ever produced. It's certainly given us the best Toa wave in Bionicle in general. No super amazing titan or vehicle sets yet, but on the standard level, it has turned out truly great sets.

 

The story...it's too early to tell. At the moment I'd rank Bionicle 2015 and Hero Factory's stories as equal. That is actually extremely sad, considering how good the original Bionicle's story was.

 

Now, which do I prefer overall? Bionicle 2015. Equal story, better sets, the edge goes to Bionicle.

Pk57sNJ.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I null voted. The sets are a lot better. I feel you get more value out of them than you would with Hero Factory sets due to building complexity, functions and overall appearances. However, we're only halfway through this year's story, which I feel has some potential to reach. Because of this, I'm not going state which one's full story is better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bionicle has better sets but Hero Factory had a better story.

The first half of the 2015 story can literally be summed up in one sentence. 

"Skull spiders attack, Tahu arrives, Tahu gets golden mask, Toa fight big spider and go to ancient city"

That's it. The HF episodes were better than the 90 second clips too. 

Edited by -Chronix Master of Stuff-

bzpower selfmoc smiley.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't feel like I'm yet in a position to vote on this. Like the G1 to G2 comparisons, you're basically judging a theme's entire lifespan against its first five months. In terms of sets, that judgment is possible (the new Bionicle sets are largely superior), but in terms of story? The most significant criticisms of HF's story applied largely to the later half of its run. The first year's story was largely inoffensive, with decent worldbuilding and a simple but effective plot. At this point, I might consider that better than what we've gotten of the new Bionicle, but I don't think that's a fair judgment considering the new Bionicle's story is only just getting started.

Formerly Lyichir: Rachira of Influence

Aanchir's and Meiko's brother

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think the stories are all that comparable because they're very different types of stories. Obviously the BIONICLE story has a more epic, legendary, and mysterious tone. But the Hero Factory story generally had much more volume of story media, even in its first year. Also, Hero Factory's more sci-fi storytelling approach meant it had more technical details about the characters and world than the G2 BIONICLE story, which we're discovering much more slowly through the eyes of the amnesiac Toa. But I don't think any of those things are enough to say one story is better or worse than the other. Especially since the Hero Factory story's quality could be fairly inconsistent.

 

And in terms of sets, it's still really hard to say. The Hero Factory sets in its final year were a lot more diverse than the new BIONICLE sets in terms of their actual structure (far fewer of them were conventional humanoid builds). But the BIONICLE sets offer a lot more in the way of play value. Generally the humanoid BIONICLE characters like the Toa feel more refined than the humanoid heroes and villains of the Hero Factory theme. However, they are also more expensive than typical Hero Factory heroes and villains, so it's hard to call that a fair comparison. Also, of course, there are some things that are better suited to one theme or the other — BIONICLE's masks feel more tribal and ornate, but obviously that's not a strike against Hero Factory's masks because those had no reason to feel tribal or ornate.

 

Overall, I'm not a huge fan of pitting the things I like against each other, and even if I were I think it might be too early to really make a fair comparison between BIONICLE G2 and Hero Factory.

Edited by Aanchir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it's a little early to tell, I feel like the Bionicle story is genuinely better so far. Crummy voice acting aside (and, really, HF's wasn't that much better),I've gotten more enjoyment from the new animations than I ever have from any HF-related media. What little information we have on Okoto is already more than we ever had on any of Hero Factory's settings, with the possible exception of the factory building itself, and they're setting up cliffhangers that look as if they'll actually be resolved. Combine that with the objectively superior sets (which, considering HF was no slouch in the sets department, is no mean feat), and G2 Bionicle already has Hero Factory beaten by a considerable margin. 

bionicle_2017_banner_3c.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bionicle has better sets but Hero Factory had a better story.

The first half of the 2015 story can literally be summed up in one sentence. 

"Skull spiders attack, Tahu arrives, Tahu gets golden mask, Toa fight big spider and go to ancient city"

That's it. The HF episodes were better than the 90 second clips too. 

 

that's uh, not actually a full, single sentence there. just sorta thought i'd point that out. :0

 

(and i am in agreement with others in that this story so far is still too short-lived to compare to five years of robots blasting slightly eviler robots...)

bnnrimg1.pngbnnrimg2.pngbnnrimg3.pngbnnrimg4.pngbnnrimg5.pngbnnrimg8.png

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that Bionicle so far is making all the same mistakes as HF, but oddly enough, is making them to an even greater extent. There's so little characterisation, we don't even know the Protectors' names, let alone personality, gender, etc. There's no demonstration of why the Skull Spiders are bad or why it's okay for the heroes to kill hundreds of them, and their boss is defeated far too quickly. The characters never struggle with any problem for more than 30 seconds. When you give the audience only the bare bones of the story's events, you miss a lot of potential for thrills, drama, laughs and heart.

 

Hero Factory kind of had that problem, too, with certain characters being shilled beyond what seemed deserved, while others were shoved to the sidelines, but there was still quite a bit of supplementary material to round it out, and the Hero Factory FM podcast was gold.

 

It seems that LEGO is much less inclined to take risks or spend money on its constraction themes nowadays, so it becomes sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy when the audience loses interest.

  • Upvote 2

3DS Friend Code: 0018-0767-4231

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The sets so far are a lot better than anything HF had to offer over its lifespan. As for the story, as much as I complain about its simplicity, it looks a lot more interesting than HF's did in 2010. Comparing it year-by-year, I would say the only HF story year I found more interesting than the half-year we've gotten so far is 2012 because I liked where Breakout was going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Storywise, absolutely.

 

I'll admit I was hesitant about the sets, but only for color-scheme-related issues. The set designs themselves are much more attractive, personally. I haven't wanted to actually buy any HF sets, but now even though I really have no room, I want to actually buy some of the new Bionicle sets.

 

Of course, being a Bionicle fan first undoubtedly is involved with these preferences. :P

  • Upvote 1

The Destiny of Bionicle (chronological retelling of Bionicle original series, 9 PDFs of 10 chapters each on Google Drive)Part 1 - Warring with Fate | Part 2 - Year of Change | Part 3 - The Exploration Trap | Part 4 - Rise of the Warlords | Part 5 - A Busy Matoran | Part 6 - The Dark Time | Part 7 - Proving Grounds | Part 8 - A Rude Awakening | Part 9 - The Battle of Giants

My Bionicle Fanfiction  (Google Drive folder, eventually planned to have PDFs of all of it)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...