Sunday, December 22, 2019

Dragon Daddies - Spyro the Dragon (PS4) - Finale

At last, we have arrived at the end of our quest, and every Dragon Daddy has been rescued from their crystal prison. And after a tense, thrilling, and difficult fight against Gnasty Gnorc, we save the day.

But more than that, we managed to find Gnasty's secret meme collection. No, this is not a joke.



As we've talked about repeatedly on stream, the "boss fights" in the first Spyro game are notoriously weak. They feel less like battles against strong opponents and more like extremely light platforming challenges that barely compete with any of the other levels. On one hand, I can appreciate a desire to double down on the design aspects that best highlight the strength of Spyro's kit.

But then I think about the fact that Gnasty Gnorc is supposed to be the grand finale. He's the big threat that set us on our journey in the first place. Having him hide behind a couple of nameless thieves, only to run away from us the moment we rise to his platform is just more than a bit disappointing. Despite his immense size and stature, he barely even attacks us.

Thankfully, once we achieve 100%, Gnasty's Loot is a much more fitting finale. One of the coolest things a Spyro level can allow us to do is engage in free flight, and that level is fully dedicated to it. Even better, they give us the satisfaction of being able to increase our maximum flight height by torching thieves and using the keys they drop to rise even higher. Even better is the feeling of seeing the gem count rise so extraordinarily high.

Definitely a good way to send off our favorite purple dragon for a time, even if it's only a short time.

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