As of today, the world is in the midst of preventing and combating the coronavirus (COVID-19). This means self-isolation to stop the spread of the virus. People are trying to make the best of the situation, and I wanted to do the same by playing and reviewing a very wholesome and nostalgic game from my childhood.

Story

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy consists of the original three games: Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! and Spyro: Year of the Dragon. The story between all three of them is kind of hard to separate. They all follow the same (and extremely simple) plot of Spyro on a quest to defeat a baddie. The first game does not develop much in the way of story, but things became a little more interesting once new characters were introduced in the second game. Cutscenes have still been kept really short like they were originally on the Playstation. When I was little, it was enough to satisfy me, but I was left wanting a lot more this time around. I understand that the Spyro Reignited Trilogy is more of a graphical overhaul than a complete game overhaul, but it could use some extra story bits. However, I chose to play and review this trilogy because of its simplicity in this troubling time. I had to remind myself that an innocent and simple story like this is just what I need in a game right now.

Gameplay

I could run around as Spyro and spit fireballs ALL DAY. His new running animation looks and feels like a puppy scrambling around and is so satisfying to play. As soon as I gained control of Spyro, it was like a blast to my five-year-old past, but not in the best of ways. I had gamer rage as a child because of how loose the controls were. What I mean by that is how easy it was to accidentally fall off ledges, fly into walls, and barely miss a landing due to controls. Either I have not improved as a gamer in 16 years (which is likely), or the developers did not improve the controls in this trilogy that much. I got the most satisfaction from interacting with the environments and the puzzles spread throughout each world/level. All three games are pretty non-linear and tackling levels and bosses at my own pace was freeing.

Graphics

This trilogy is absolutely gorgeous and definitely benefitted from being developed using Unreal Engine 4. I was not prepared for how lush it would look. The cartoon-like art style translated really well from the original games to this trilogy. Even when I was little, I thought the environments were so cool, but now they are perfected. The updated character animations are where it really shines. One of the dragons that Spyro rescues early in the first game has the cutest fat tummy jiggle physics (watch out boob physics 0_0). It is so fun to see the different enemy animations when you attack them and watch character’s faces during dialogue sequences. All three games run really well, but I did notice some graphic hiccups when entering a new world or when floating up fast on a whirlwind. Nothing major, just me being picky.

Soundtrack

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy’s soundtrack keeps the original game’s soul intact. Every time I entered a new world, I had deja vu from the soundtrack. Each world’s track fits it perfectly. Magical xylophones in the wizard-themed worlds, whistles in the western desert worlds, you get the idea. It all added to that sweet nostalgia.

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Overall Freeze Score