Operation Backlog Completion 2025
Sep 032018
 

So aside from download concerns, reception to the Spyro Reignited Trilogy has been pretty positive. When it was first announced, I saw lots of praise for the level design and Spyro’s appearance in particular.

Toys For Bob had seemingly accomplished the impressive feat of creating a remake that looks the way we remember the originals.

But the reception to other redesigned characters hasn’t been as good. The star of this blog post is Sheila.

I didn’t pay too much attention to the early redesigns. I don’t remember what most of the common enemies looked like, and while the dragons from the original game have definitely become more fancy, they still look in line with the original.

Sheila, though… looks like a completely different character.

After seeing Sheila’s redesign, I started looking at some of the others. And you know, most of them are fine. They updated Ripto and now he looks great, I think Moneybags also looks fantastic, they’ve definitely made changes to Hunter but he’s still recognizably the same character, and while there’s been a lot of fuss over Elora, I think a few adjustments are all she needs. I’m not crazy about Zoe’s redesign, but it’s not terrible.

(If I missed any major ones, let me know.)

So what happened to Sheila?

My guess is that since Sheila’s original design was so plain to start with, they couldn’t just spruce her up like they could with someone like Moneybags… and so what we ended up with was way different. Of course, we haven’t seen Sgt. Byrd and the others yet, so who knows what they’ll look like.

The good news is that Toys For Bob seems to be taking fan feedback into account and making adjustments. Personally, I hope Sheila’s redesign sees a redesign.

How do you feel about the redesigned characters in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy? Are there any you particularly like or dislike?

Aug 172018
 

After the controversy about the required downloads, we got some more bad (or possibly good) news about the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.

Instead of releasing on September 21 as planned, it has been delayed until November 13.

The official word from Toys for Bob just says it “needs more love and care.”

Delays to polish up a game that isn’t quite ready yet happen often enough, but this raises questions about whether or not it will affect the download situation.

Once it became clear that the Spyro Reignited Trilogy wouldn’t have download codes, just a mandatory update to make the game playable, the prevailing theory was that Ripto’s Rage and Year of the Dragon wouldn’t be finished in time for the game to go gold ahead of September 21. The idea was that they would get the disks ready without the final content, and then finish up the rest in time for the required day-one download.

Therefore, if they’ve delayed the Trilogy because the games aren’t ready yet, isn’t it possible that this delay will allow them to put all three games on the disk?

Of course, we don’t actually know why they made the decision to require downloads. Activision told IGN that a download will still be required, but maybe it will at least be smaller?

(Or, even better, maybe it will now be a normal day-one patch to fix some issues, but the games will all be playable without it.)

Do you think the delay is related at all to the download controversy? Do you think it will affect it? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Aug 032018
 

I’ve been excited for the Spyro Reignited Trilogy ever since it was announced.

I love the original three Spyro games, the Reignited Trilogy looks fantastic, and seems to be an ideal remake.

Then people noticed that the box art for both the PS4 and Xbox One versions say “requires content download.” Content download? What content do we have to download?

According to the official website, the second and third games.

The Spyro Reignited Trilogy will ship with Spyro the Dragon playable immediately, but you’ll need a download to play Ripto’s Rage and Year of the Dragon.

Activision told Game Informer that this will be a required update (so it shouldn’t be a download code; used copies should still be able to play all three games), but it’s unclear if you’ll be downloading the entire games or not.

(Note: This is not the same as how the N. Sane Trilogy handled it. Crash 2 & 3 needed to be installed, not downloaded. You didn’t need an Internet connection.)

I’m not fond of this decision. People without Internet access will only be able to play one of the three games, and for people with slow Internet connections (like me), the size of the download matters a lot. And of course, some people are worried that many years from now, you won’t be able to get them at all.

Patches are fine. I have nothing against day-one patches that make last-minute improvements or fix issues… but the games should be playable without an Internet connection. It’s a weird mix where you’re getting a physical copy, yet it’s partly like a digital-only game.

This does make me less inclined to get the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, depending on how big the downloads are. And that’s a shame, because I was really looking forward to it. But what do you think about this decision? If you’re getting the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, how do you feel about needing a download to play the second and third games?