darkSpyro

Stripes, AND blue stocking markings on his hind legs, in fact!

There's obviously a lot of effort put into Hat Nestor's design, I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to tweak it a bit and reuse it elsewhere in the game (I'd honestly find it rather cute if they decided to give the design to Nils, since the fans like to say he's Nestor's brother).

I'm just really hoping for an art book, with in-between design art in it as well as the lovely final artwork 8D

Ok, Trondo looks great but quite different from his original design, but I won’t complain about it since I’d rather have more bulky dragons than slender ones (unless they are very slender like the one seen in the pin set).
This will indeed make it harder to guess basing on concept arts or merchandise, though.

Don’t heave the time to listen to that part of the panel right now, but it only makes me more excited about the incoming official recap video!

Regarding Nestor it’s indeed clear that was an old version of himself at this point, though now I wonder just ho old the trailer footage is.
Artisans, Lofty Castle, Misty Bog and even Dry Canyon all had pretty substantial changes when we got to see more of them, even to the point of having model completely modified (like Nestor or the Gem Thief).
It almost seems like at one point the art direction was more focused on making each level feel very atmospheric and almost “realistic”, except for the most dream-like ones of course, without giving too much weight to the original colors and lighting: the main example is Artisans’ sunset mood taken dirctly from the skybox, or even Tree Tops being much greener due to the mist surrounding it.

I’m glad they changed their minds, because while I would have liked that approach and would have been curious to see the other levels handled that way, I think vibrant and not-realistic tones are the way to go for Spyro.

One small complaint I have to balance out all those compliments is how they are putting grassy areas in the Peace Keepers’ worlds; even if they just small patches I just never felt like there was grass at all there, though it’s indeed hard to tell with flat textures.
Just hope they won’t go overboard with it where it doesn’t belong or they might end up ruining certain aesthetics.

EDIT: looking at the Spyroscope footage of Dry Canyon on YouTube I noticed how Sparx now goes in front of you when charging, instead of being left behind.
I think it also happened in the latest Gateway to Glimmer clips, but here it’s very noticeable and very welcomed.
The gem counter’s numbers also don’t bounce each time they go up but only after they have stopped increasing, which I think it’s a much less distracting way to handle them.
Hard to say if that’s an improvement or and already old build.

EDIT 2:
my bad, didn’t notice it wasn’t posted before!
Here it is:

I love Stewart Copeland, omg. He is such a genuine and passionate being.

Nothing new, but the official accounts posted this nice comparison.
Looks like we officially entered the Gateway to Glimmer/Ripto’s Rage! phase:



Everything looks gorgeous, but I’m somehow inclined to believe it’s still not final.
I used to think the same about Artisans as well, and each time we see a more recent build I have to change my mind.
The water is particularly phenomenal here, I’m glad they aren’t using the same color for all levels.

the spires dont look ANYTHING like they do in the original 0/10

The combination of the sky box and the spires is giving me a Ratchet and Clank kind of vibe.

A couple of tiny new Spyro 1 clips dotted in here!

I love all these new clips, especially from Magic Crafters which didn’t get the love it deserves in my opinion, but I honestly wish for something more up to date from now on, at least regarding the first game.
We already know Artisans has changed a lot both in terms of lighting and colors, so I can only imagine how the other levels shown there have been improved.

The good part about this is that I won’t have to worry about spoiling myself the look of a level too much, since it might change even more between now and the release.

Sunny Beach looks great.

This is possibly the most well thought opinion I heard about creative freedom in the remake:



I understand complaints when it comes to things considered unanimously iconic, such as the Monks’ chant, or even more subjective stuff which is immediately noticeable such as an overall change of colors or character design.

But then there are nitpicks which come from direct comparison between the original and the remakes, and I just can’t understand them.
Why complaining about something so insignificant that you couldn’t even notice without having the old version next to it?
It’s obviously something which didn’t make an impact on you, and that’s perfectly fine; I can’t remember most of the Elders (except from the most “important” ones such as Nestor, which is why I’m glad he received such a great redesign) so I don’t see why I should complain about them being more diverse and unique here.

I did my comparison as well of course, but mostly out of curiosity and not to find more things to whine about: most of the time I found myself thinking “wow, they even got that detail right!” and when there is something different I just say “huh, that doesn’t looks the same, interesting”.
Crash taught me that lesson very well, and I had to rely on comparison video in that case since I barely remembered those games.

How I feel personally about remakes/remasters is that I like it to be mostly the same, but I'm always glad to see studios add in extra bonus levels or side quests, new details to the environment, etc. I would like there to be some new things to look at that I hadn't seen before. I've played the old games so many times, I don't want to play the same exact game again.

So, there’s a PR event dedicated to the Reignited Trilogy going on now (with a great Spyro ice sculpture):

https://mobile.twitter.com/Spy...632921197436928

I’m not an expert about these kinds of events, is there a possibility of some news coming from it?

Am I the only one who really wants them to change the color of the “5” gems in the second and third game to the color of the ones in the first game? I just really hate that indigo color.

I probably shouldn’t have posted this, considering how every time I give my opinion on anything, someone ***** on it, which is why I left.

The ice sculpture in question:

I'm still not convinced just yet that the gem color thing isn't going to end up being a part of some custom UI color options XP

We’ve seen the first game’s counter having a green gem in the Cliff Town/Lofty Castle clips, but I’m still convinced that was just an early build.
I’d gladly stick to that along with the golden text for the entire trilogy, if possible.

The second game’s counter does look weird with the same color used both for the text and the gem, and there’s also the fact it seems they are treating blue as the third game’s color, with green associated to Spyro the Dragon and red/orange with Gateway to Glimmer.

We do know there is currently no option to change the colors of the HUD thanks to the music comparison footage.

Quote: Sesshomaru75

Quote: spyroid101

I'm still not convinced just yet that the gem color thing isn't going to end up being a part of some custom UI color options XP

We're talking about the in-game gems, not the counter ones.

D'oh! Right, right, my brain almost never registers those gems as being "Blue", so my mind went instantly to the counter I'D

Quote: Drek95

We do know there is currently no option to change the colors of the HUD thanks to the music comparison footage.

I could easily see it not be shown in that pause menu because it's suppose to be something accessed from the Main Menu options or the like, meaning they wouldn't fully plug it in until all three games are tied together on the disk.

Could be, but I’d imagine it to be an option inside of the games themselves as well, possibly carried over from title to title.

Anyway, something did come out from the PR event but it’s nothing exciting.
Seems to be just the E3 demo:





After seeing Town Square I do wonder if they are going to make Toasty’s roofs red too.
I recall it was one of the complaints about the level, and since they both have a very similar skybox I doubt it’s a matter of contrast.

I need to play this game, September is feels very far away.

Quote: spyroid101

The ice sculpture in question:

Reveal Spoiler

(Seems to be based off of the original PS1 Spyro, rather then Reignited's, as it seems to have Spyro 1's painfully funky wing finger structure)

SEASON OF ICE DLC CONFIRMED

Quote:

Spyro Scope allowed Toys for Bob to track countless little variables about the worlds of Spyro, piecing them back together from this unique tool as a foundation on which to build the Reignited Trilogy. And in rebuilding those levels, Toys for Bob did put its own spin on the worlds, expanding on the storytelling of the original games with aesthetic details modern design allows for.

Quote:

"Just having fun with the story that they were hinting at, or that we presume they were hinting at and building that up, bringing it to life," Nadelberg said of their goal in enxpanding on Insomniac's original lore.

source: http://ign.com/articles/2018/0...-original-games


Toys for Bob is expanding the storytelling? I hope they made new cutscenes!
I love TfB's work so much.

I think it might just be exploring a storyline through the levels, extra content is probably just in whatever extra content area they have planned(if there's one). We've seen already how Toasty became Nevin's castle, or how Artisans has its own little realm flags and architecture.

We will see!

Quote: Bolt

Yeah, I think it just may be how they're rethinking the levels? Like how Dark Hollow is a library now.
None the less, it's incredibly exciting to see their take on each level, and how they're repurposed them!

Agree on both, though cutscenes could still be considered just expanding without truly adding new content which would probably be handled as DLC.

I’d also add that they are doing it with extreme care, either by giving rather “bland” levels fitting themes (such as in Toasty or Dark Hollow cases) or by extending the already exsiting ones, like adding more on Idols Spring’s barbecue sub-theme or Colossus’ hockey one.
They just work well with both the original concept and the series’ humour.

They could always make little level intro/outro cutscenes for YotD. I'm pretty sure folks missed them in YotD. Then again, that's a lot of dev time and energy...

They probably didn't have enough budget for both new intro/outro cutscenes and new playable characters.

Some other interesting notes of expanding storytelling
Quote:

"Our philosophy was to try to understand the key style points of the character, and understand what the intention was," Yan said. "We'd ask what was the story Insomniac were trying to tell? Once we felt like we understood that, we'd then try to inject as much new storytelling as we could into both the environments and the characters."

And it's nice to have an statement of TfB to some nitpickers I think we all agreed with them.


Quote:

"There are folks that really don't want things to change. We respect that," concluded Nadelberg. "There's always the original games that they could play and have that experience, but what we've done is we've tried to make the game richer in a way that we feel is honoring the spirit of the originals. We hope that the fans give that a shot and fall in love with the world as much as we did while we were recreating it."

source: https://gamespot.com/articles/...s/1100-6460800/

I hope they had enough budget to make cutscenes for both battles against the Sorceress. The original YoTD game lacked them.

Yes! Its weird that the final boss doesnt have a cutscene and the main protagonist and main antagonist aren't talking with each other.

I am so ready for a big falling out between Bianca and the Sorceress. Like no evil ruler is going to let their prodigy just walk out the door.

Hey, look, it’s Bobby Kotick:



The screenshot comes from the ComiCon panel’s footage, in case you were wondering, I believe it was posted in the previous pages.

Quote: SpyroxCynder

I am so ready for a big falling out between Bianca and the Sorceress. Like no evil ruler is going to let their prodigy just walk out the door.

I am SO ready for this-the story between Bianca and the Sorceress has so much potential to be something bigger and awesome

we arent getting any new cutscenes i can tell you that

(well we could but its better to keep expectations low for these kind of things)

All that is still speculation though, we have no confirmation of any actual new content

Well, what we did see is that they expanded a bit Colossus’ intro cutscene.
The beginning part isn’t in the original version, and I think they also added a couple brief scenes here and there.

This doesn’t mean they will necessarily do the same for all the exsisting cutscenes, but I could see them focusing more on the characters reactions and emotions, that way.

They're not barred from adding a bit of flair rather than just cutscenes. Like, say, have a scripted sequence for Sorceress to say a taunt before the fight starts - not really a cutscene but it ties the transition nicely.

Quote: Bifrost

They're not barred from adding a bit of flair rather than just cutscenes. Like, say, have a scripted sequence for Sorceress to say a taunt before the fight starts - not really a cutscene but it ties the transition nicely.

I second that. I feel like they're adding the same enhancements to the cutscenes as they are the characters, environments, etc. -- just enough to add that said flair but not to subtract from what made the originals great. I just think that if they started inserting brand new cutscenes all together, it would make Reignited feel way too much less like the original.

Quote: Sesshomaru75

Quote: Dreamweaver

I second that. I feel like they're adding the same enhancements to the cutscenes as they are the characters, environments, etc. -- just enough to add that said flair but not to subtract from what made the originals great. I just think that if they started inserting brand new cutscenes all together, it would make Reignited feel way too much less like the original.

I fail to see how adding a cutscene for a villain that Spyro never interacts with makes Reignited "feel way too much less like the original", especially when I feel like Insomniac intended for there to be one.
This is a remake, and cutscenes wouldn't really have any impact on the game depending on how they're implemented, nor would they "subtract" from anything.

If anything, seeing as how this is, once again, a remake, it would add onto it, not "subtract". The Sorceress not interacting with Spyro at all in the original was a bad thing, not a good one that should just simply be left as is because "muh nostalgia".

^This.
It's just more/better storytelling and not great changes in gameplay.

Quote: Drek95

Hey, look, it’s Bobby Kotick:



The screenshot comes from the ComiCon panel’s footage, in case you were wondering, I believe it was posted in the previous pages.

Moneybags: "Ah it's delightful that you found me, most unfortunate for you is that pesky blur of a picture, it's like you captured my bad side!

If you wish to see my High Definition fuzzy bear looks, which by the way makes me a hit with the Avalar ladies, I would require.........ahem..a small fee to fix that little problem of yours?"

While I agree in saying more cutscenes scattered around the trilogy in the right places will improve the storytelling and atmosphere, I also feel like added animations and dialogues during the game itself would be an even better way to handle that concept.

I’ve always felt like the original Spyro trilogy achieved an incredibly high level of immersion despite being cartoony and featuring fantastic and sometimes dream-like locations: the way you enter a portal and follow Spyro during the whole flight to the new realm, the fact there were nearly no loadings when inside a level (or were at least cleverly “hidden”) or even the seamless transitions between a dialogue or cutscene and the regular gameplay.

TfB already shown to have understood that idea looking at how smooth the passage from Elders talking to the actual gameplay is, so I guess they can only improve what’s already there in other situations; not that different from adding idle animations to the enemies, when you think about it.

EDIT:
the Reignited Trilogy will have a playable demo at the South East Asia PlayStation Experience (18th - 19th August):

https://mobile.twitter.com/Spy...896290680299520

I guess it will be focused on the second game, this time.
Would love to see some iconic levels such as Skelos Badlands or even Crush’s battle.
Maybe another speedway too, like they did for the E3.

They've uploaded the entire SDCC panel! This is not a drill! o3o

OH YES.
Can’t watch it right now though, gosh darn it.

I emailed someone from Stewart Copeland's website and asked him if Copeland could bring back the original track for Fracture Hills, instead of just reusing the Idol Springs track. He said he would forward the message to him.