Me, Myself, and Enter the Dragonfly

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 05, 2014 6:51 PM

I played the original Spyro trilogy to death as a kid and I still do now. But there are other Spyro games I own that I didn't really give a chance. This is the first of many blogs of me playing these Spyro games more or less blind. I have some experience with this game (like one level), but it will be mostly blind. I hope you guys enjoy it. I am going to dread this (Enter the Dragonfly at least)

Stormy · Aug 05, 2014 7:16 PM

Haha, good luck! Make sure you save often in case you run into any infinite loading screens or other game-breaking glitches. tongue

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 05, 2014 7:41 PM

Edit: Dragon Dojo Part 1/2

Alright, I made it halfway though the Dragon Dojo, I believe that's what it's called. Anyway, first thing I need to mention is the opening cutscene. Everyone is having a celebration for the new Dragonflies. Alright, they got balloons, that's cool. WHY is the Sorceress one of the balloons? That's like having Harry Potter celebrate his birthday with Voldemort streamers. Sorry, just a little thing that bothered me ha. Well, Ripto's back, and he's STRONGER THAN EVAR!! For some reason Gulp speaks now...I guess... Anyway, the game begins and JEEZ the framerate rears its horns right at you as soon as possible. It goes from silky smooth to chunky butter every 3 seconds. In terms of the graphics, there are passable, but I have a question. Does this game have an LOD system, or not? I mean it's hard to tell. Catching Dragonflies sucks, nuff said. Finding gems has become a bit more difficult. In the previous games, gems farther away would sparkle so you would know where they are. In this game, they do not do that. In fact, they pop up when you are about 10 feet away. You could look into an open field from the sky and not see any gems, but come within 10 ft and then they pop in. Not a huge issue, just one of those nitpicky moments. Switching breaths I think would've been better if it was mapped to the d-pad, like press up for fire, down for water, etc. Oh yeah, Sparx will stop you before you come into contact with ANYTHING and tells you what to do. Again, another nitpick. I'm in the Dojo Speedway now, and of course that pesky framerate strikes back. I had 3 seconds left on the timer and I missed the last hang glider... GOOD GOD!! I've stopped there for now, I don't know how I'm going to be able to do this, I feel like skipping this and go on to Hero's Tail...but I must persevere...for Stewart Copeland, who has brought the only redeemable thing to this game, the soundtrack, which is just amazing...Well, I'll see if I can do more later today, hold me...

Last edited by UpDownLeftWrite (Aug 06, 2014 11:46 PM)

RadSpyro · Aug 05, 2014 9:21 PM

Are you playing on Gamecube or PS2? If it's the latter, then I wish you the best of luck. I remember getting this game and being super excited about it, getting to the tank minigame in Dragon Dojo, beating it after a struggled and then it crashed on me. It kept crashing too, which was why I never completed it (but did enjoy the Gamecube version years later... To a degree).

Sheep · Aug 05, 2014 9:45 PM

Maybe they have a Sorceress balloon just to pop it afterwards? smile
(or it's there to emphasis the fact that the game takes place immediately(?) after Spyro 3)

I'm impressed if you get all the way through tongue I got bored and quit around the middle.

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 05, 2014 11:24 PM

I'm playing the PS2 version, but I have a slim now so it shouldn't lock up as much...I hope. I plan on getting 100%.

Dragon Dojo Part 2/2

Alright, I finished Dragon Dojo. Upon looking at the Atlas I noticed this game has a grand total of...NINE LEVELS?!?! I also ran into that delightful Moneybags, who from what i hear, only shows up once, so YIPPEE!! At the end of Dojo I was missing 2 red gems...joys...I finally found them after awhile. I got all the dragonflies except for one I'm assuming you need the Ice breath for? (The one where you get the kites out of the rocks). the tank minigame was meh. Nothing special, it's weird to see Spyro in a tank though. I also love how the Electric breath is just in the lily pond, you know, just sitting there.

Dragon Realms

Used Electric breath on the gate, ADVENTURE HO!! This part of the hubworld is where you can do the very easy swim-in-the-air glitch by swimming into the fish fence. I did it so I can get around the area easier and get the gems, but only in the area I unlocked, I didn't go anywhere else. The electric pole challenge is annoying, but oh well. Another thing quite odd is the yellow gem quantity in the hubworld is 25, NOT 10...uhhh...what?

Crop Circle Country Part 1/2

This is the only other level I kinda remember playing as a kid. First off, you will get bombarded by like 6 Dinosaurs with LAZERS and the framerate is just like NOOOOPE!! I managed to kill one of the Dinosaurs and he didn't do his death animation, he just moved backwards and went up into the air...I still got the gem so whatever. The yellow gem count in this level is 10, NOT 25...why is the yellow gem being a rebel? First it's 25, now it's 10, then it will be 100. This game can't make up its mind. First appearance of the vases in this level. When you flame them, they shake...yeah. The NPCs in this level are also pretty weird looking. Uncanny Valley indeed. What's even crazier is the fact that these NPCs are enemies in one of the speedway levels from Year of the Dragon. That's like taking one of the lobsters from Harbor Speedway (I believe that's what it's called) and making him your sidekick...I don't know, it's just weird. Oh yeah, there are two moons in this level. OK. I just entered the Spaceship minigame and I beat the first part, I stopped at the second part. I'm gonna start again tomorrow and keep you guys and gals updated...

Last edited by UpDownLeftWrite (Aug 06, 2014 11:46 PM)

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 06, 2014 8:13 PM

Crop Circle Country 2/2

Ok, so I finished this level up quicker than I thought. The platforming minigame was pretty cool looking, but was bland gameplay wise. At this point I realized that I didn't even care about the music in this game...DEAR GOD...I'm so sick of this...

Luau Island

I went to Luau Island and...it wasn't bad. The level music is amazing, and it was pretty easy and linear compared to the other levels. I usually don't like Spyro games to be linear, but for this case, I'll make an exception. The framerate wasn't bad either, most of time. But of course, those pesky glitches came full force at me. Stuff like the level environments not loading, so I'm just looking at floating trees and enemies. Enemies were invisible...Yes you heard me right. INVISIBLE ENEMIES!! All I saw of them were the torches they were carrying! There was only one minigame here, and it involves you either trapping more stingrays than Hunter, or getting all of the stingrays WITH Hunter. I skipped through all of the text, I didn't care what I was doing, I just wanted to get on with it. I won so I did something right. Here a weird tidbit, the NPCs in this the level (Bears in tropical shirts) are the same soundclips the Professor uses in previous Spyro games. (When idle they will say "AHA" and "HMMM" just like the Professor). Just a little thing I noticed. I also found another medallion which I thought would give me Ice Breath...nope. It gave me a Wing Shield...I don't think I'll ever use this. I got all the dragonflies no problem, but the gems...DEAR GOD. OK, imagine this, you need one last gem. You search everywhere and you finally find it in a glass vase underwater. You break it open, miss the gem, and it clips though the ground and you can't GET IT!! JEEZ! I could've exited the level and come back...No way, not dealing with the loading...NO WAY. So I managed to do a swim-in-the-air glitch by accident, and used it to get the gem that was on the bottom of the level. Mercy. I'm currently at 40%, I'm almost halfway there...

Cloud 9

I must say, this level gave me a lot of Cloud Spires/Shady Oasis vibes. The music is nice, and the level for the most part is smooth sailing. One thing I don't get though. You can kill the Thunder Cloud enemies with...Lightning...huuhhhhh? The minigame where you shoot down the airships is the easiest thing ever, seriously. The other minigame was a speedway level which I was estatic to see. By the way, the go-karts on the Rainbow Road look a bit familiar (Cough)Mario(Choke). I liked the stars too. I just liked the noise they make when you kill them... I really have no complaints with this one, but I am missing 20 gems and I can't for the life of me find them. If anyone knows where they are, I'd really appreciate the help. This is also where you can get the Ice Breath...Finally! big_smile

EDIT: There was a cutscene with Ripto and his cronies. I guess Gulp told Crush how to talk as well, but I did like Crush's voice for some reason...

Dragon Dojo Revisited

I used the Ice Breath on the dragon kids to get their kites, which they lose a few seconds after you give it back to them. roll Standing on them is so finicky, you can't exactly stand on them, you just keep stuttering on the ice and you just gotta hope you can jump off them to the rock, annoying is the word of the day. mad Oh well, at least I got all the dragonflies in all the levels I've played so far...

PS: I read somewhere that on some versions of the game, there will be a racing minigame you can't win because the game doesn't let you go beyond third place, I hope this doesn't happen to me...SERIOUSLY!!

Last edited by UpDownLeftWrite (Aug 06, 2014 8:16 PM)

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Aug 06, 2014 10:41 PM

finding gems in ETD *is* extremely annoying. some of the levels are just gigantic. which would be good in theory, but it makes it *so* *hard* to find things.

i always liked the platform minigame, too.

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 06, 2014 11:44 PM

Stormy wrote:

Haha, good luck! Make sure you save often in case you run into any infinite loading screens or other game-breaking glitches.

Thanks! I usually only save after I completely finish a level, but I guess I should be more cautious...

RadSpyro wrote:

Are you playing on Gamecube or PS2? If it's the latter, then I wish you the best of luck. I remember getting this game and being super excited about it, getting to the tank minigame in Dragon Dojo, beating it after a struggled and then it crashed on me. It kept crashing too, which was why I never completed it (but did enjoy the Gamecube version years later... To a degree).

I'm playing the PS2 version, but the game actually hasn't locked on me yet. It used to lock up a lot on my old fat PS2, but I recently purchased a slim and no lock ups have occurred, so maybe it was my disc reader that was the problem, who knows. I did play the Gamecube version at a friend's house and I remember the framerate being much smoother. When I went back on PS2, it was like a complete difference, although my memory could be fuzzy. Thanks for the luck. I'm going to need it, badly...

Sheep wrote:

Maybe they have a Sorceress balloon just to pop it afterwards?
(or it's there to emphasis the fact that the game takes place immediately(?) after Spyro 3)
I'm impressed if you get all the way through I got bored and quit around the middle.

Ha, I guess. If that's the case they should put Moneybags with them. lol This is going to be a 100% run even if it kills me. And it will kill me...

36IStillLikeSpyro36 wrote:

finding gems in ETD *is* extremely annoying. some of the levels are just gigantic. which would be good in theory, but it makes it *so* *hard* to find things.
i always liked the platform minigame, too.

Yeah, I was going to mention that in a post, but decided not to because I thought that shouldn't be a complaint towards the game because of people's preferences (People who like big levels or people who like small levels) but yeah, they are pretty big. I'm still looking for 20 gems in Cloud 9. It doesn't help that the framerate keeps chugging the whole time. The platform minigame is cool, but I don't think the controls are tight enough for something like this. I feel Spyro's jump is a bit too floaty and I tend to slip off platforms quite often. Maybe I suck, oh well. It's not a big deal to me. I have to admit, that space tower thing is probably the coolest thing I've seen in the game so far. That's not really saying much though lol

Thanks to everyone for reading these posts. I really appreciate it. I'm currently at 50% completion, so the game is halfway done. I think I can get a level in tonight and 2 or 3 tomorrow morning. Thanks again everyone!

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Aug 07, 2014 4:09 AM

i used to have a lot of troubles with controlling Spyro in ETD because i was using the d-pad instead of L3 to move him around. . i really recommend using L3

but overall the controls could have been a lot better, yeah.

Paranoia · Aug 07, 2014 4:01 PM

100% in Enter the Dragonfly...Godspeed my friend, and good luck. I got pretty close back in the day, but don't think I ever completed the game. Just look at it this way: A Hero's Tail will just be that much better since you had to deal with this game. AHT is a far superior game that is functional, so look forward to that.

I can't imagine how the PS2 version could be worse than the Gamecube one...I played on Gamecube and the loading, framerate, and glitches were all really bad. I remember a glitch in the farm level where everything in the background turned lime green and the only things you could see were Spyro and the enemies.

I'll be checking back in this thread to hear your suffering ;-;

Stormy · Aug 07, 2014 4:05 PM

I have actually heard that the Gamecube version is a lot better for some reason. I don't even want to know how bad the PS2 version is if that's true. o.O

About it being harder to find gems in ETD, I think I do remember having that problem, and now that I know the reason is that you can't see them from far away, it just makes me appreciate the small details in the original games that made them good even more.

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 07, 2014 5:49 PM

Paranoia wrote:

100% in Enter the Dragonfly...Godspeed my friend, and good luck. I got pretty close back in the day, but don't think I ever completed the game. Just look at it this way: A Hero's Tail will just be that much better since you had to deal with this game. AHT is a far superior game that is functional, so look forward to that.
I can't imagine how the PS2 version could be worse than the Gamecube one...I played on Gamecube and the loading, framerate, and glitches were all really bad. I remember a glitch in the farm level where everything in the background turned lime green and the only things you could see were Spyro and the enemies.
I'll be checking back in this thread to hear your suffering ;-;

Thanks for the luck. In regards to the PS2 version being worse, I guess the big factor would be the lock-ups. A lot of early PS2 games did this. It hasn't happened to me yet for this game, but I think I've might have jinxed myself. The same graphical glitch happened to me too, but it was in Luau Island. I have more experience with Hero's Tail so I should be fine with that one, it's MUCH better than this.

Stormy wrote:

I have actually heard that the Gamecube version is a lot better for some reason. I don't even want to know how bad the PS2 version is if that's true. o.O
About it being harder to find gems in ETD, I think I do remember having that problem, and now that I know the reason is that you can't see them from far away, it just makes me appreciate the small details in the original games that made them good even more.

Yeah, it really makes you appreciate the extra mile Insomniac went for the PS1 games.

Ok, so I found those 20 gems I was missing in Cloud 9. Thank God.

Dragon Realm

I used the Ice Breath on the gate, ADVENTURE HO!! I got all the dragonflies in the hubworld so yay! I decided to go to the Monkey Monasteries next...I think that's what it's called.

Monkey Monasteries Part 1/2

Icy Peak/Frozen Altar we meet again. First of all, that elephant enemy from Frozen Altars is back, just like how that Tiki enemy in Luau Island was taken directly from Idol Springs. Secondly, the ice physics are just chaos. You move so quickly and chaotically all over the ice, there is no control over Spyro. Fortunately, you can jump unlike previous games, so you are less likely to fall off the cliff. The enemies are annoying here. Ice is the only breath that kills them 100% of the time. Fire works sometimes, and sometimes not...UUUUGHHH!! We have the return of Bartholomew who looks freaking scary. he looks like he's on a caffeine high. the Yeti that need to be freed are also...SCARY!! The slide minigame is pretty fun, but it doesn't really have anything interesting in it. I'm just so sick of this game. I said I was going to do 2 to 3 levels today, and I'm sorry, but I'm burned out. I'm going to return to this game tomorrow and see where I go from there. Don't worry, I'm getting 100%, but I need a day away from this...thing!

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 14, 2014 2:47 AM

I'm sorry about the delay, I've been playing other games lately (mostly Jak and Daxter), and doing a class for astronomy. I kind of owe the Spyro games for getting me into space and such. The background designs for these games are probably my favorite thing about them. I'm going to get back to this terrific game tomorrow and hopefully finish off Monkey Monasteries. Thank you all for your patience.

P.S. Enter the Dragonfly's backgrounds are...bleh...

Slvr99 · Aug 14, 2014 5:47 PM

UpDownLeftWrite wrote:

I'm sorry about the delay, I've been playing other games lately (mostly Jak and Daxter), and doing a class for astronomy. I kind of owe the Spyro games for getting me into space and such. The background designs for these games are probably my favorite thing about them. I'm going to get back to this terrific game tomorrow and hopefully finish off Monkey Monasteries. Thank you all for your patience.
P.S. Enter the Dragonfly's backgrounds are...bleh...

In my opinion(And my opinion on this game is always 100% opposite of the popular one, EtD is my 2nd favorite game of all time), the backgrounds in EtD are really great. They may look a bit less detailed than the older games due to the method they used to make the skies(The older Vertex Paint vs. EtD's small Gradient Texture with other 3D gradient objects). IMO, EtD made the backgrounds less static. Instead of making a static sky, they added a background and 3D objects to allow moving clouds, real Depth of Field on the clouds, Lightning, and overall easy dynamic manipulation with the skys. I think the way they do the gradients makes it look pretty close to the old PS1 look. As for Monkey Monastery, that's my favorite level in the game. I'd say if you don't enjoy that level, you probably won't really enjoy any more afterwards.

Oh yeah, also everyone else who says the game is horrible to beat 100%, I've beaten it 100% probably 7 or 8 times. It's a great game to me and it's really sad that people don't like it.

Last edited by Slvr99 (Aug 14, 2014 5:49 PM)

RadSpyro · Aug 19, 2014 11:52 AM

Stormy wrote:

I have actually heard that the Gamecube version is a lot better for some reason. I don't even want to know how bad the PS2 version is if that's true. o.O
About it being harder to find gems in ETD, I think I do remember having that problem, and now that I know the reason is that you can't see them from far away, it just makes me appreciate the small details in the original games that made them good even more.

I've got both the PS2 and GameCube versions and it's true - GameCube is better than PS2. It loads faster and isn't quite as much of a glitchfest as PS2.

UpDownLeftWrite · Aug 19, 2014 2:08 PM

Slvr99 wrote:

UpDownLeftWrite wrote:
I'm sorry about the delay, I've been playing other games lately (mostly Jak and Daxter), and doing a class for astronomy. I kind of owe the Spyro games for getting me into space and such. The background designs for these games are probably my favorite thing about them. I'm going to get back to this terrific game tomorrow and hopefully finish off Monkey Monasteries. Thank you all for your patience.
P.S. Enter the Dragonfly's backgrounds are...bleh...
In my opinion(And my opinion on this game is always 100% opposite of the popular one, EtD is my 2nd favorite game of all time), the backgrounds in EtD are really great. They may look a bit less detailed than the older games due to the method they used to make the skies(The older Vertex Paint vs. EtD's small Gradient Texture with other 3D gradient objects). IMO, EtD made the backgrounds less static. Instead of making a static sky, they added a background and 3D objects to allow moving clouds, real Depth of Field on the clouds, Lightning, and overall easy dynamic manipulation with the skys. I think the way they do the gradients makes it look pretty close to the old PS1 look. As for Monkey Monastery, that's my favorite level in the game. I'd say if you don't enjoy that level, you probably won't really enjoy any more afterwards.
Oh yeah, also everyone else who says the game is horrible to beat 100%, I've beaten it 100% probably 7 or 8 times. It's a great game to me and it's really sad that people don't like it.

Different stokes for different folks. We all have different tastes when it comes to games. If there's a game you really like, more power to you. In regards to the backgrounds, they are nice, I'm just used to the static kind I guess. Like I said, the original games gave me a sense of wonder. What is over the horizon, or what's on that one red star over there, you know. As a kid, it just gave me that feeling.

RadSpyro wrote:

Stormy wrote:
I have actually heard that the Gamecube version is a lot better for some reason. I don't even want to know how bad the PS2 version is if that's true. o.O
About it being harder to find gems in ETD, I think I do remember having that problem, and now that I know the reason is that you can't see them from far away, it just makes me appreciate the small details in the original games that made them good even more.
I've got both the PS2 and GameCube versions and it's true - GameCube is better than PS2. It loads faster and isn't quite as much of a glitchfest as PS2.

Yeah, I remember that. If anyone wants this game, the GameCube version is the way to go. I believe it even has widescreen settings.

Jeez sorry guys. I got an insane stomach bug over the weekend and I got nothing done these past few days. I'm going to plow though the rest of this game tonight so I can freaking finish it off and go into A Hero's Tail. I can't get distracted by others things too. (Silently looks over to the PS4). So I should have the rest of the game finished tonight and I'll post my thoughts on everything tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

UpDownLeftWrite · Sep 11, 2014 3:38 AM

GOOD GOD!! I'm so sorry for this inexcusable delay. This will be finished by the end of the week. Sorry again...

UpDownLeftWrite · Sep 27, 2014 3:59 AM

UPDATE: This blog is currently on hiatus due to this game making me seriously exhausted mentally. I am starting a Me, Myself and (insert game here) with A Hero's Tail, you can find it in the A Hero's Tail section...duh.

NOTE: This blog is NOT cancelled, just on hiatus...hopefully...

I also like to thank everyone for sticking with me through this, you guys and gals rock!!

Steinar · Nov 25, 2014 1:42 PM

Its not perfect, but you'll get some fun experience out of some of the levels in the game ^^

MinerDude369 · Apr 27, 2020 7:54 AM

Any updates on your journey through this beautiful game after 5 1/2 years of hiatus?

36IStillLikeSpyro36 · Apr 27, 2020 7:02 PM

MinerDude369 wrote:

Any updates on your journey through this beautiful game after 5 1/2 years of hiatus?

dude hasn't been here since 2018. i doubt he's going to update the thread at this point tongue

#1 Aug 05, 2014 6:51 PM

Me, Myself, and Enter the Dragonfly

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