Dragnix.Net

I don't usually cross-post reviews here since they are readily accessible from the website and because while it is easy to like or dislike a movie or a game, there is usually not a lot to say about them to really sustain a discussion.

There are exceptions however, and I think The Legend of Spyro fits the bill for various reasons but mainly because of its dark undertone. I have heard a while back that these games were more focused on fighting so it didn't really piqued my interest and I kept putting it off until a few months ago where after playing Drakan - The Ancients' Gates on PS2, I just knew I had make time for that. But I can say that I didn't expect this kind of story from a game about a cute purple dragon collecting gems.

As I point out in my review of A New Beginning, a whole brood of dragon's eggs get smashed by the mandrill monkeys army which would be in itself a very gruesome sight. This is pretty much the first thing that happens in this trilogy and it sets the tone for the rest of the games with (I don't think I need to put spoiler warnings here since the game is more than a decade old) the finale devastation being of such a scale that it would easily put a Warhammer 40k fleet's orbital bombardment to shame. Not only that but the official ending (if we disregard the post-credits scene) is just dreadful for both Spyro and Cynder.

You can read the review in the links below with my comments in the greyed-out spoilers sections:
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon (I will take and upload screenshots and concept arts of the PS3 version of this game in a few weeks)

And if you feel like discussing those games or commenting my theories/gripes, feel free to post a reply below.

I have finished the game on PS3. Fortunately, it was fully playable on RPCS3 (can't say the same for other games I want to review) but there is no functional quick save/load on this emulator so taking screenshots of interesting scenes and parts of the game was... laborious. Nevertheless, the concepts arts and new screenshots were uploaded today to the website.

Also, this is the most in-depth review I have made so far and this is more what I would like to do in the future rather than just skimping over the details and having this section more as a list of dragon related movies and games than an proper analysis of those movies and games.

I know that there is some people who like the trilogy and others who dislike it or disagree with it for being too focused on fighting. True, this is not like a typical Spyro game but I still think it's an interesting and appealing world with a lot of different levels, especially in the last game that focuses a lot more on adventuring and exploring. It is also in this final installment where Cynder finally grows not to be a mere sidekick or a damsel-in-distress but to be a heroine in her own right. There is a remarkable dynamic between her and Spyro that evolves over time and ultimately they fit together harmoniously as if they were both necessary parts of the Spyro's Universe.

The story had a compelling premise and in the hands of a good writer, a lot could have been done with it. I even had high hopes about the conclusion of this series since I read somewhere that the developers intended the story in first two games to be direful (maybe a bit too much for my taste for a Spyro game) but this would set the stage for the climax in the third installment that presumably would turn things around. Unfortunately, this never happened. The story remains a major disappointment as the more the game progresses, the less sense it makes. Not to mention that Spyro and Cynder really get no respite for all the bad things that happened during their short lives.

So I am left to ponder what would have been the game if they had a little more time to plan a descent story that didn't involve something straight out of Warhammer 40k. Or take the time to really plan out what was Malefor's true intentions and motivations. And maybe they could have made a link between this and Spyro's tendency to lose control and turn into Dark Spyro when his negative emotions take the better of him instead of throwing a huge amount of unpredictable nonsense at the player at the very end of the game.

Sadly we will never know; the conclusion of the last installment of this trilogy is what we got and it's simply bad.