The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning.

Project_X

I have seen trailers, gameplay clips an' everything but is this really worth my time and money for a spyro fan?

Stratadrake · Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:21 pm Post subject:

For a Spyro fan? Yes.

The story is basically forget everything you knew about the Dragon Realms and start over again, this time throwing in a pinch of LOTR influence. Elijah Wood does a great job as Spyro, and the other voicework is pretty good (though some of the lines are a bit on the cheesy side).

Gameplaywise . . . the game suffers from a distinct lack of variety in the enemies department -- the most common enemies you face are the same three types in every level. Spyro has a wide variety of attacks and in later levels you can use them in more creative ways (my favorite is using his thunder breath to knock enemies off of cliffs), but considering that all battles are mandatory and the levels are very long, it's pretty tiring.

But the final battles are worth the trouble. If they had thrown in a little more platforming-inspired puzzles (Spyro's dragonbreath is strictly a combat weapon in this game, there are no puzzles that depend on it), and maybe a more free-roaming structure like the familiar Spyro games, then it would have been awesome. It's still pretty good (like I said, it's an excellent story) but getting through to the end will drain you.

Also interesting, there are only six dragons in this game, all of them traditional quadroped dragons, no upright, bipedal-standing dragons like the previous games in this series. That is a refreshing change and I'm interested to see what they can develop from it. Despite how ridiculed the Spyro series has become, Sierra and Krome took the license pretty seriously and did a good job.
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Project_X · Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 7:48 pm Post subject:

long and tireing is exactly what i'm looking for. Hero's Tail was drmaticly short and easy. I did see the LOTR elements and God Of War elements also. By the sound of it it seems that this game is refeashing taste for a spyro fan like me. also all of the dragons being quadpedal is another refreashing element. The fact that all of the elders where bipedal but spyro made this game series seem more and more toony. Now it seems like someone stuck it to the man. pretty hard.
I did see the attacks on IGN.com. They are amazing and fun to watch!

Stratadrake · Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 10:25 pm Post subject:

As for LOTR influence, well, the final level includes some very familiar-looking obstacles to watch out for, and the ending (just after the conclusion of the final battle) strikes of LOTR as well. The final battle has a pretty cool vibe to it as well, since the main antagonist in this game [i]is a dragon[/i] too.
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Project_X · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 7:53 pm Post subject:

Cynder. I looked her up and wow she is well put together along with the four gaurdians. I just have the heaviest feeling i'm going to really like Cryil the most. I also have the feeling that I'm going to have to fight Terrador to proove my awsomeness.
Here's another question. Do the bosses have easy patterns to learn? I hope not, thus the reason I like Megaman (X)'s Bosses because their pattern is extremly hard to learn and every time you fight them they have a new pattern. Keeps the difficulty up and keeps the game upbeat and exciting!

Stratadrake · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:38 pm Post subject:

The bosses, like the games, have a more action-oriented focus. In other words, the only patterns they have is recognizing which attack they're about to do and evading/surviving it while you get ready for another attack.

Without giving away spoilers, tips for some of the bosses:
#1 - Changes his attacks slightly at certain points, generally becoming more aggressive
#2 - Same patterns throughout, also has a blind spot where you can pummel him without getting hit in return.
#3 - Thick armor renders him impervious to most attacks; you can chip away it with Spyro's long-range dragonbreath, otherwise you'll need to find some way to expose his weak point. Long battle. Uses the same attacks throughout, but becomes significantly more aggressive as he starts running low on health.

Cynder - One elemental weakness, one blind spot, otherwise very dangerous to approach and quite damaging with her own attacks.
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Project_X · Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 4:57 am Post subject:

Good God Cynder is like Sigma! I like the sound of this game. I'm about rent it today. By the sound of it's difficulty I may end up buying it!

Stratadrake · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:53 am Post subject:

Nonetheless ,action-based bosses can get pretty easy once you figure out their patterns, blind spots and weaknesses. Cynder is a prime example: Cynder can combo a few of her attacks together, but if you can figure out where her blind spot is and exploit it, you can pretty much strike at her with impunity until it's over.

Nonetheless, expect to die a few times.

...which brings to mind one thing that actually bugged me: The bosses' HP meters are layered (in other words, it's a multi-phase battle) but unlike in most action games, if you get killed, you don't restart at the beginning of the entire battle, just at the beginning of whatever [i]phase[/i] you died at. And since some of the arenas have powerups you can pick up to replenish your HP/dragonbreath midbattle, this significantly weakens the difficulty of the overall fight since on your previous life, you were probably out of powerups by the time you reached the last layer, but after getting killed, all of the powerups are back and the boss still only has one layer (instead of 2 or 3) to go.
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Project_X · Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:37 am Post subject:

Instead of renting it I bought it instead. Yeah it gets easy when you learn everything but when there is a horde of them I cant do much. When I try to use my fury they hit me before I can get it going. I'm stuck at this tower that keeps zappin me. I'll figure it out.
I was pretty stunned when they shown Spyro at an older age but they had two factors that kept me guessing.

1: The Picture was Greyscale (Black & White)

2: His back was turned to me.

Other than that Spyro when he's older is very mesmorizing to look at. I can't get him out my mind!
The startup reminds me of the Bible story of Moses....

Stratadrake · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:38 am Post subject:

Older-age Spyro? Never saw anything like that.

Towers that keep zapping you . . . if you're on Cynder's level, there's one simple rule: Sty out of the light! I was able to avoid them so easily, in fact the only time I got zapped was because I deliberately walked into one.

As for when you get surrounded by a horde of enemies, my favorite tactic is to switch to Spyro's fire element and use his long-range breath up close and personal. Scatters the whole group in a huge explosion.
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Project_X · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 1:44 pm Post subject:

*Gasp* did you pay attention to the cinemas? It shows you tward the beginning (Ironic)

The towers on Dante's Freezer and I got past them. Annoyingly long levels man. I upgraded my thunder to da max and it's to KEWL!!! I'm fighting the ice king who cheats......alot.....i mean alot man....

[size=24] [color=red]SPIOLER WARNING FOR YOU SPECTATORS[/color] [/size]

He uses that stupid forcefeild to block stuff. I saw uh...the electric master what's his name?

Stratadrake · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:20 pm Post subject:

That's not cheating. It's good old platformer style wait-for-the-opening method. You strike him when the shield is down, and you play defense when it's up. Just watch him and learn how to dodge. Oh, and if you need any further help, try attacking those icicles he throws at you.
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Project_X · Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 3:42 am Post subject:

Well that last part didn't make sence but let's try it! *Runs off to play*

Drakengardfan · 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.... Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 108

i really cant see why they keep bringing out spyro games...
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Stratadrake · Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:11 am Post subject:

Because, for one, they sell (most Spyro games, even the horrifying "Enter the Dragonfly", have reached "Greatest Hits" status).

And despite that some of them really stunk, Universal is honestly trying to improve the series. Spyro was a top-class in the PS1 platforming era when Insomniac held the reins, and Universal is trying to match that.
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Project_X · Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:53 pm Post subject:

Now Sierra has taken over and has made the "Megaman X" of the series.

It's quite impressive. You got to see it!

Stratadrake · Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 3:31 pm Post subject:

Sierra has actually been acquired by and operates as a subsidiary of Universal.
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Project_X · Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 5:53 pm Post subject:

hmm...didn't see that universal is still the managers...oh well