Filled with the fire of a thousand suns: It's The Legend Of Spyro: A New Beginning!

Oh man, that was amazing in all the worst ways.

And here we begin the long, long, long journey across the Mystical World of Electric Shards or whatever. Luckily, we get into a commentary groove to help while away the time that video-me spent ramming my purple ass into wacky primates and electric marbles.


I'd like to warn everyone that it's at this point the game itself becomes an unreasonable grind; with no new breath powers to discover and very few cutscenes between the start of this area and the climactic finale, the game has nothing to do but toss wave after wave of white baboons at me in a probably-unintentional test of endurance. It doesn't help that the music is yet another 15-second loop, either. If it gets to you, you can probably skip the next video without any negative repercussions.

After editing this video, I think I've decided to polish up my recording process for The Eternal Night -- if only because the games are bad enough without me tripping and stumbling all over them.

This video depicts the game repeatedly testing my ability to surpass the same enemies over and over in marginally different settings, and collectively testing our patience as commentators, challenging us to come up with new things to say about the same stuff for around thirty minutes in a row. DemoWeasel in particular was so frustrated by this game's inability to show us something new that I had to edit out a mess of his exasperated groans; fortunately, he accidentally hit the Mute button on his headset near the end of the video and saved me a bit of trouble.


We're into the home stretch, dudes! We can make it! And then we'll celebrate with something well-designed, instead of something "well, designed"!

And now we face...

(yawn)
(take a nap)
(wake up)
(have breakfast)
(remember I was typing a description)

...Cynder, at the top of her dark, evil fortress of clichés. Check it out, plot-important stuff actually happens in this video!


DemoWeasel, an animation student, suffers a painful inflammation of the retina, and a bunch of hot, sexy exposition occurs as we make our way to the game's final, FINAL battle. Stay tuned!

Stopping this show with a showstopper, our crew of commentators finally meet their match as they face off against the diabolical Cynder, in the game's single mildly-creative area! Twists, turns, and surprises lay ahead after the credits, and we finally come to a greatly-deserved resting place.


However, that is not the end of our story! In this thread, we will continue to journey through the Legend Of Spyro series, leading up to (and including) Skylanders -- but before we jump from Krome Studios Entry A to Krome Studios Entry B, I feel like it's warranted that we take respite from contract-obligated creativity and briefly visit something that fancies itself less a poorly-paced brawler and more an fun, whimsical exercise in exploration. Sit back and relax, because we're just getting started!


In addition to my friends Phenwah and DemoWeasel (who I couldn't have done this without), I'd like to thank everyone here who has stuck with this the whole way through! Though we've appeared in various LPs ourselves, this was the very first one where I've personally taken the helm. It was certainly a learning experience, but I now feel like I have a far greater understanding of how to engineer good videos and commentary; the future is certainly looking bright. So, thanks again, and I'll see you all when our next video is edited and ready!

I want to make sure you know that you're not shouting into a void! When the time comes for our next legend of Spyro, I'll be rea

I watched the last half-dozen of these videos all in a row, and since you all made me laugh, I didn't have to decide whether to laugh or cry.

I'll have to play one of the Insomniac Spyros again to clear out my brain before Eternal Night, though...

You mentioned there were two "normal" Spyro games before A New Beginning came out--I've played (most of) Enter the Dragonfly, which made an amazing first impression on me by having freaky spiky-ray graphics glitches in the first two minutes. What was the other one?

This one! It looks terrible.

"Spyro also gains the ability to jump off of walls and swing from poles, similar to other platforming game series such as Prince of Persia and Jak and Daxter"

Yep, these are the first things I would consider for new abilities for a DRAGON character.

As a lead-in to the LP of the second Legend of Spyro game, we've decided to take a quick look -- a Momentary Glance, if you will -- at the progenitor of the Spyro The Dragon saga! This is where it all starts, with an incredibly brief introduction tinged with a shot of purple.


This was recorded late last year, and marks the first video in which I've switched up my recording style to be more like Phenwah's Let's Play of Work Time Fun. This means I will no longer be befuddled by questions about what game mechanics are like, since everything's done in real time.

Coming soon: THE LEGEND OF SPYRO: THE ETERNAL NIGHT. Don't say we didn't warn you!

*gasp* This is back! Hooray! =D

"We're recording in real time. Oh, shit..."

This video reminds me of the days nine or ten years ago when I was unemployed and had nothing better to do with my time than 100% Spyro the Dragon, Ripto's Revenge, and the first Ratchet & Clank. Loved 'em all.

The composer of the PS1 Spyro games (and Enter the Dragonfly) is Stewart Copeland.

Seeing the sweetness that is the first Spyro will make the following videos all the more painful. Well done!

So, here’s a familiar story: a reboot of a once-popular license shipped a product that received middling critical scores, but the name alone was more than enough to propel it to financial success, thus justifying a sequel that ended up being just as (if not more) poorly-received by critics. What am I talking about, here? Well, the Transformers film series, for one, but also The Legend Of Spyro, and the second game in its series The Eternal Night (which I’ve made a video of, which you can feel free to watch if you like).

This video starts with a somewhat-redressed final cutscene of the original Legend Of Spyro game, and propels us facefirst into another introductory sequence where we run around a dingy bog while relearning how to slice toadweeds all over again. It’ll seem like we’re entering familiar territory, but there’s a twist: things are tinted blue this time around! Can you handle the excitement?!?


In addition to these shenanigans, I've assembled together two recaps of the first game's plot: this one is a full-on Theater Mode of the uncommented cutscenes in full 720p, while this one is a painstakingly-assembled seven-minute synopsis that goes over all you need to know to jump into the second part of this world-spanning epic:

Man, why is there a love interest dragon. That is dumb. So dumb. Spyro's like what, five? He looks five. You can trust my opinion on dragons, I'm an expert.

I watched all 90 or so minutes of this, believe it or not! Random comments:

• I didn't realize how much commentary distracts from paying attention to the story, before I watched the uncommented video. This is not to say that full attention ended up being a good thing
• every time Sparks opens his stupid snarky mouth, I want to tell him to shut it. (Kansas? Karaoke? what are those things?) He serves no purpose in the story. He and Spyro have no camaraderie at all
• glossy eyes! derpy elder dragons! nostrils that move independently of anything else that's going on with the characters' faces!
• the fourth elder dragon is freed and EVERYTHING is glossy in a few cut scenes after that
• clots! I mean... clouds! this looks like a Flash game in 3D, though there are the occasional impressive moments
• Boyitzbig? Manweersmall? and... uh... variants on Moliere and "exhume"? The monster names were run through a generator; the names in the mine section were phoned in by drunk people, some who maybe had BAs
• The Portal of Convexity? (holds head in hands)
• the flying/chase sequences do seem like a homage to the PS1 Spyro games, but that only makes me want to maim this game's perpetrators at Krome for making me remember Spyro as he used to be
• "I could have stayed with the llama people." Llama, as in Emperor's New Groove? Why, why why does Sparks have the last word? <sob>

This video marks the debut of several exciting new (old) game mechanics: Tail Striking spiders until they explode into piles of stringy entrails, pushing statues into place to open dragon-temple doors, and Spyro accidentally getting stuck against a wall in midair due to a collision mishap, which the game then punishes you for. It's like the first game all over again! Except way darker, and way bluer.


God, look at that shot. Roughly 80% of the game is about as cheerful-looking as this, and even the bright bits are faded. If nothing else, at least this game is true to its title.

Very astute list, here! This sums up the laziness in the writing and the wasted talent in the team pretty adequately, I think. It's a real shame that they attempted to adapt that story in particular into the first entry in a feature-length movie series:

I'm going to pretend like I didn't see that last picture/link. No offense. (goes off to sob quietly)

To my mild dismay, I've watched your first two videos of the second game now.

Billy West is less overtly offensive than David Spade as Sparks, which is not to say he's any fun to listen to or that Sparks has a role in this story, either. Even as a butterfly gatherer-upper, he was useful in the platforming games. And there are plenty of examples of a companion character gathering/hitting distant objects, or whatnot, that Krome could have played off that somehow to make the puzzles in these games a tad more interesting. But no!

Spyro loses his power, and regains some of them, and some new ones, through the help of a disembodied voice. This game has barely a plot of its own as of yet, but I'm sure it'll be awesome whenever it gets going for real.

The lack of a plot to mock in the second segment really shows as the crew runs out of new insults to sling. I actually think some of the monsters, like the snail rider, hold more interest as enemies than the baboons (or whatever they are), but it seems like everything has way too much health.

Complementary colors are colors that are on opposite sides of a color wheel from each other. That's about all I know about the subject. But it's not like you need to be an artist to know when your eyeballs are being gouged out. I, er, look forward to the "color clashing" sections.

The only Krome game I've played is Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, another example of good intentions gone wrong. Some beautiful setting work, and some fun exploration and challenges, bogged down by overly large levels where all too often there's nothing going on aside from gathering widgets.

This video marks the end of the Dragon Temple Grounds section of the game, which hopefully means we'll be on to some new territory in the next one! Bridging the gap is a smattering of cutscenes that mark the beginning (and end) of Gary Oldman's entire speaking role in this game, which was apparently enough to give him third billing on the back of the box. (They had the decency to not put him ahead of Billy West, at least.)


If this is the case, I'm surprised they took such a resounding step backward with this series! Though that may just be my own personal tastes talking -- I'd gladly take brightly-colored by-the-numbers 3D platforming over mind-numbing combat in dreary environments like these.

For this video (and every Spyro video from here on out), I hot-rodded up the editing style to minimize the segments where we can’t think of anything to talk about because of a severe lack of interesting things happening onscreen! If you’re worried about missing anything, don’t be, since I would only ever chop out footage if it’s just the same traversal and combat we experienced to death in the first game.


The song at about six minutes in is “Man About Town” by Laurie Johnson.

Billy West's voice coming out of Sparx freaks me out more every time I hear it. He sounds like he's been reading lines for days on end and just wants to go home.

This video marks the end of Spyro's visit to the Enchanted Radioactive Swamp! We're currently two-fifths of the way through the game, with Spyro and Sparx no closer to Cynder or the Chronicler than they were when they started. It's also home to a series of stupidly cheap fights (including the one on Jellyfish Ridge and another inside Spooky Tree Hollow), walking woodcreatures that are strong against fire, the first appearance of Skurvywing (a reskinned arrrrrt asset), and the return of those loathsome jellyfish platforms with invisible edges that make you nervous you're going to slip off and fall and die. Mario Galaxy this ain't, people, and this was released at the same time for the same price.


On the bright side, at least we get to see Spyro ride a boat for two seconds! And I promise you, comparable thrills will appear in forthcoming TLoS videos -- just you wait!

Comparing his performance here to others he's done, Billy West sounds like he was handled by someone whose job is to provide C-list celebrities a $5,000 check, a ring-bound script, and two hours' worth of booth space by himself.

*Falls into pit*

"Why don't you try shooting some magic out of your face?"

Sparx is helping!

That certainly sums up playing LoS: A New Beginning in a nutshell!

Well, on a totally somewhat relevant note, I have just finished playing through Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, and with that, I have now completed the full Legend of Spyro Trilogy! The gameplay in this one sucks considerably less than the previous two games, even!

Okay, it's better than that. I actually think it's pretty above-average overall. The combat certainly seems to lack a certain punch I think it should have--it also seems to have less flow to the combos than the last games did, but I found the game overall just way more fun.

There are some really cool ideas and a ton of flawed ones. Cynder actually being playable and rubber-banded to Spyro like Chaotix means you get to switch up instantly during play and occasionally use the other dragon for help in platforming. Although a lot of times until you learn the tricks to controls, it can be a hindrance.

The soundtrack is as good as any of the previous games, and if you don't mind your tons of vague latin-ish chanting and orchestra-esque scores in what is obstensively a kids' game, you can get really drawn in. I thought the level design was better, but the game had a habit of making the levels look bigger than they were, putting in invisible walls, and often not letting you control the camera when you might want.

I really like the way the game looks overall. When I first went into the wide-open Valley of Avalar, which had a remix of the main ANB theme, I was very, very happy. I don't know if it should really impress me on a graphical level, but all of this wide open, lush greenery, little non-hostile lifeforms buzzing around..it's something you rarely see in modern games with their shades of brown and gray.

It seems at this point in the game they kind of gave up on Sparx as comic relief. He barely does anything, doesn't seem to even try to be funny, and disappears about 3/4 into the game to do something totally important, we're assured. He's voiced by Wayne Brady, FWIW.

One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the flying. You can fly or glide almost anywhere, although generally you're at the mercy of the air currents in the open sky. This effectively eliminates death by bottomless pit! Yes, one of the staple horrors of the LoS series is gone. I truly missed it. Like I miss the pain of being kicked in the groin.

Seriously, though, this game seemed to do a better job of taking the potential that a fairly charming spin on the series was attempting and making a fun game out of it. I imagine I may have liked it even more if I could have managed to find someone who would man another cutesy cartoon dragon throughout the game. C'est la vie.

Those aren't present in Dawn of the Dragon, but there is wall-running!

Wow, that evil mountain is eye-searing. Are we going to have an entire zone like that later on?

It's kind of sad to see how little there is to the game aside from aggravating, same-y battles.

Update time! And a hell of an update it is, too, since we have not one but 1.25 new videos in this post!

This video marks the beginning of this game's third area: a fleet of inexplicably-airborne pirate ships led by the cold-blooded bipedal air-sea-canine Skabb and his symmetrically scarred owlbat pauldron-mounts! We can also consider this Spyro's lowest moment in this game's dramatic arc: he ends up imprisoned and forced into violence against his will, ferried further away from his goal with each passing minute -- and I'm sure it would stay that way into his old age, but fortunately an FMV happens that allows him to escape!


Also, I ended up deciding that video #1's audio quality gave off an absolutely awful first impression -- so I took matters into my own hands and recorded a whole new solo commentary track over it, taking care to let the game's somewhat-serviceable voiceacting breathe:


Also also, I was going to release a wallpaper-size of the new titlecard but I just noticed I fucked up the placement of his horns -- which I intend to fix, which is an amount of redrawing/recoloring/recompressing/reuploading so massive I don't want to think about it right now. Use more than one reference in your fanart, kids! :v


Having finished DotD as well in my preparatory playthrough for my post-TEN Let's Play, I concur with just about all of this. It definitely has its faults, but it's a shame that Metacritic wasn't any kinder to it than the first two games, since the design studios behind it clearly looked at what Krome did with a critical eye and cut out anything they didn't like.

Christina Ricci's role as Cynder, though? Yeesh!

The Well Of Souls is the game's final zone, but the ingame version commits a different amateur design sin than mere color-clashing issues.

And the sameiness is even worse than in the first game, since here they didn't even bother to add flight segments this time around.

Not only is the Ravage Rider a clone of the train boss... it even still uses all the same sound effects. Even if it's not actually a train, or on rails.

Given the state of the game in general, I expect it was just pure laziness, but I guess it could have been a clue to how to actually fight it...!

moved to 'on Hiatus'

Oh, we'll be back.

We'll be back.

OH GAWD NO hooray!

Happened to see that the seventh video for Eternal Night has been posted. here!