Spyro Reignited Trilogy (2018)

bought this as a Christmas gift for Adelle and Elliot years ago and played it leading up to Christmas. Really enjoyed the small amount i played. I played the shit out of the originals whenever I could (the hair dresser, cousin's houses, etc. I don't think I ever owned any of the trilogy)

mostly watched Ruthie play on PC a couple nights ago. The music wears when going at a slower pace.

Still really dig the level design - in each world it feels like there's an "out of bounds" moment.

We're still working through the first game - I'm excited to see how the sequels expand on the original. The only thing I can really remember is that you can skateboard in the third one.

I'm very frustrated about this game not having an option to delete progress in a single game leaving the other two alone. I have an already started game of Spyro 3 from back when I bought this game and once I finish 2 I would like to restart 3 just so I can appreciate all the progress from beginning to end but the only way of starting a new game would be to use another save slot, which will annoy me until the end of days.

I will complain about it on the Internet and then still do that. But in a very frustrated way. Injustice. Rawr.

(Minute 12:34)

To whoever designed this level: who hurt you? In which dark and cold corner of the known galaxy were you forced to work to come with subquests of position-perfect jumps and broken AI that are as far away of "fun" as the human brain could possibly conceive?

Spyro 2 was already feeling like the low point of the trilogy, but holy heck is this level annoying. And that's without mentioning the damn cows and their getting stuck on walls.

I was in the mood for something light-hearted last night, so I finally got started on this. Previously, I’d only played a demo of Spyro the Dragon back in the late ’90s – not sure why I never got any of the full games, because I loved platformers back then (and contentedly played some inferior ones).

After my first 90 minutes, this seems like good fun and really lifted my spirits. The graphical makeover is quite lovely. So far, I’ve enjoyed going for 100% in each level as I go, although I wonder if spending extra time scouring the environments for a few missed gems will get tedious. And that first Flight level was pretty challenging, so I can imagine that they will get increasingly tough as the game progresses…

Played Spyro 2 to 100% completion

Like Crash 2, the second Spyro game is most likely my favorite so far in the trilogy. I feel like there wasn't much to improve upon from 1 as it was a really solid game, but goddamn! Insomniac did improve.

Despite the lack of world theming like in Spyro 1, Spyro 2 has levels that are much more distinct. Each one with their own species. For example, although there are 2 levels with robots, the robots in Metropolis are different compared to the ones in Robotica Farms. It made the game feel a lot more grand compared to its predecessor due to 1 consisting of mostly dragons. And with more varied levels comes with more varied gameplay. To get orbs, many of them are unlocked through minigames/quests. Most of them are pretty fun like ice hockey(all flawless. get fukt, nerd), but some sucked like escorting the fucking alchemist twice(WHY DO YOU GO AROUND WHEN YOU CAN JUST GO STRAIGHT, YOU FUCKING BUFFOON!?! Luckily, I got both orbs on my second try.) Everything you do has a reason and progresses you. Killing enemies gives you their soul(???). If you have enough souls(???), you can use powerups to help you get orbs/gems. Gems help you purchase stuff from the bastard, Moneybags, such as new moves, levels, and stopping obstructions. Getting enough orbs lets you fight the boss to go to the nest world. What I think is weird, however, are the talisman. In the last world, for finishing the level you get orbs instead and I don't get why since those levels are the most visually interesting in the game. I LOVED the ambience in Spyro 2's hub world. Whereas it felt like a chore in Spyro 1 and feel more like semi-interconnected levels,, there are no enemies, just you, the fodder to gain more lives, and this etherial ambience to let you sink in Avalar. Finding the secret to get to the top of the castle is by far, my favorite moment of the Spyro games. There is nothing like being on top to see what other gems and orbs you have yet to collect. You can just look from atop. Bosses were an improvement over 1's which were just lame and basic. However, Gulp can go screw himself with his jumping attack and his tracking projectiles. I'm surprised that I got the Conservationist achievement for him. I just hated that boss. Ripto was my favorite. You fight him with the orbs that you have collected over your adventure. It felt satisfying after getting every orb and for them to come in use against the big baddie.

Spyro 2 is a noticeable improvement, not as big as Crash 2 over 1, but still an improvement. I could probably say that I think that it is an objectively better game than Crash 2, my favorite game in the Crash trilogy, but my expectations weren't exceeded as much, making it close between which game I love more.

SPYRO 2 RATING: 9/10

Played Spyro 1 to 120% completion I don't have much to say except that Spyro had a much better debut than Crash did. This was a really damn solid game to play. Level design felt really tight and focused which made for a consistently good game. Some little nitpicks like the camera in the flying sections when turning up feel rough when flaming those chests and enemies respawning at hub worlds can be tiring. And the bosses are as rudimentary as any rudimentary thing can get. Especially in Dream Weavers. I'm not in love with it (especially since I didn't have a childhood connection with Spyro and Crash), but I really enjoyed it.

SPYRO 1 RATING: 8/10