Razz's Thoughts

Razz · Oct 26, 2008 7:18 AM

This is copied from my post at the Sierra Forums because I'm too lazy to re-type all of that. big_smile

Okay, I just finished DotD, as in, literally, I finished the game five minutes ago. My general impression: wonderful! What a great way to end the story. ^_^ The rest of this post is spoiler intensive, so if you haven't finished the game, I highly recommend that you do first.

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And that, my dears, is how we make a proper thread with spoilers. Better get some popcorn, because this is a long one.

First things first: everyone in this fandom who's been giving me grief all year owes me an apology because I was right! XD Spyro/Cynder is CANON (if anyone even thinks about disputing this, I am not kidding, I will totally rub your nose in Cynder's last line of the game). Malefor's entire goal was to re-make the world. Cynder is a wind dragon and she only has other powers because of Malefor's influence on her (I TOLD you! *shakes fist*). Malefor was good in the beginning and people did worship him. Dragons are sustained by their elements. And Spyro was the one who made the ultimate sacrifice (along with Cynder; that was so sweet, I almost cried).

Now that that's off my chest, I'll get rid of the bad stuff first. There wasn't much bad about this game, though. In fact, I only have two complaints:

1. Why is Cynder the only girl in the entire series? WHY?! That really got on my nerves. (No, Nina doesn't count. She had half a minute of dialogue in the entire trilogy. >( )

2. My biggest complaint is with the voice acting. It. Was. Terrible. The actors who have been with the series all along (Elijah Wood, Gary Oldman, Kevin Michael Richardson and the professional voice actors who did Cyril and the Chronicler) were all up to par. But Wayne Brady and Christini Ricci were awful. I can't fault them entirely, though; they're actors by trade, not voice actors. And this is a distinction I think it would do future games well to learn. A professional voice actor is someone who's job it is to give a good vocal performance, whereas actors rely on their bodies more than their voices to get their meaning across. It was very clear to me that Wayne Brady had never done this sort of performance before. He's a funny man, but he's worse than David Spade when it comes to voice work of this nature. It didn't help that he has a deep voice, which is entirely unsuited to a character of Sparx's stature. In fact, throughtout the entire game, every time Sparx spoke, I kept thinking he was Hunter or one of the Guardians. The same is true of Christian Ricci. She's a good actress, but she can't voice act her way out of a paper bag. Her entire performance was very flat and one scene which would have made me cry if anyone else had been voicing Cynder did not because of Ricci's emotionless and bland voice work. Sparx and Cynder were voiced much better by Billy West and Cree Summer/Mae Whitman. And as for Mark Hamil...why did you even hire him if you were going to distort and shift his voice so badly that I had to turn on the subtitles to understand what he was saying? This was the greatest vocal disappointment for me in the entire game. I love Mark Hamil's voice work; he's an incredible voice actor. But Malefor's voice could have been done just as well with Bob from accounting with how altered it was. That was a serious let-down.

Please, Mike and Chris, if you heed no other fan request, heed this one: use professional voice actors in your games, not big name celebrities! Not only is it cheaper (which will allow you to use your budget for other things), but you will get a lot more bang for your buck. As nice as it is to have Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman in LoS and as good as they are, actors like Ron Pearlman would dance circles around them in the vocal department.

Whew. Okay, that's all the bad stuff I had to say. Now for the good (and there's lots of it)!

I have the PS2 version of the game and I found it quite wonderful. The graphics were lovely (so many bright colors! *heart*) and the character animation was very well executed. ELB did a marvelous job with this game, especially considering how little time they had. The gameplay was fun and thank you so much for making it easy on us button mashers. XD I'll never get that 150 hit combo, but at least I beat the game, and that's what counts. big_smile I loved the puzzles, too, and how the environments added to the story and made things so much fun. Though the exploration was limited, I still had a lot of fun running all over those beautiful levels.

As for the story. Oh. Em. Gee. What an excellent ending! I almost cried, especially with that little punch in the end with the stars haloed in the purple nebula. Bwaugh! ;_; The twist at the end that revealed Cynder to have been evil all along (until about the time when she knocked Spyro out of the Well of Souls) was rather unexpected and cool, as was the revelation that this is not the first world of dragons to have existed (so...awesome...!). I almost cried when Ignitus gave all his power to Spyro and Cynder (but Ricci's emotionless dialogue ruined it; also, Spyro's evil moment freaked the sad right out of me...and then the whole rest of the Burning Lands brought it back). I squealed like the fangirl that I am when Ignitus became the new Chronicler (I so knew he wasn't dead; unless you see them die in games like this, it means they aren't). XD

All in all, I loved this game! It was an excellent story, very well executed from start to finish. And it wasn't your typical epic; I really loved some of the twists that were thrown in. I can't wait to see what happens next and to start exploring the new world Spyro made when he broke the cycle of the purple dragon. Chris, Mike, everyone at ELB and Krome, Sierra and Activision, bravo! You guys did a wonderful job and I can't wait for more!

And all of you who visit my gallery, keep your eyes peeled for tons of new art and maybe a ficlet or two from me. DotD is a gold mine for fan art inspiration.

Volteer32 · Oct 26, 2008 7:24 AM

10 days until I get mine .. PS2 version of course ... DON'T have a PS3 yet otherwise I would have got it for that instead.

Hmmmm so Cynder was evil all along ? *shakes his head* nooooo nu-uh no way ... grrrrrr I shouldn't have peeked in here now that's gone and ruined it for me lol ... well I'll just have to play the game which I am indeed looking forward to ... and seeing what happens where ...

Razz · Oct 26, 2008 7:40 AM

The PS2 version is lovely, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Regarding Cynder...

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Stormy · Oct 26, 2008 2:45 PM

Am I the only one who feels like Spyro x Cynder only happened because the fansites would have beaten the crap out of the developers if it hadn't?

Geez, you SxC-mongers are starting to scare me. "SPYRO X CYNDER WAS CANON ALL ALONG, HAH! YOU ALL OWE ME AN APOLOGY!" -__-

I knew it was going to happen, but I'm still not gonna like it.

minredd · Oct 26, 2008 2:56 PM

I enjoyed the game a great extent too <3 But, I feel bad I had to use cheats to beat it. You can't blame me, I'm sick D; I can hardly eat but I couldn't sleep soundly until I beat the game XD I only used cheats at the very end, though. Right before Malefor world.

But I LOVE the credits song. I heard it just in time for an English assignment about analyzing a song or poem.

Playing as Cynder was fun, but her moves felt... Weak. I could get more enemies down with Spyro's fire then any of Cynder's elements. Although the big areas gave you leeway to fly away, get some health and magic, then come back and fight.

Interactive cut scenes were fun, but I had trouble with a few of them.

And Stormy, I'm pretty sure SxC was planned from the beginning. Remember that last scene in ANB? It was obviously the start of it.

Stormy · Oct 26, 2008 3:08 PM

I chose not to interpret it that way because I'm cynical. =P

Yeah, I was pretty sure SxC was going to happen, too, but I just didn't feel like people needed to start making such a big deal of it with only the subtlest of cheesy little hints.

I watched the last cutscene on Youtube, and I have to admit that the ending wasn't quite as terrible as I'd heard it was. Pretty good for TLoS, I guess. XD Might I also add that I'm so glad the SxC thing wasn't overdone; introduced in that way, I don't mind it so much.

Godzilla750 · Oct 26, 2008 3:13 PM

Yes, your last line was very accurate. Also, Cynder ran from the temple because the guilt that she did so out of was most likely brought by what influence Malefor had left. That was probably the type of influence she was under, subtle nudges because that's all he had left. And they picked Ricci to do Cynder not for voice, but to send us a message. She was Elijah Wood's first onscreen kiss. It had nothing to do with acting, they were making a point. And I understood it loud and clear, you all should have gotten it too.

Rurikredwolf · Oct 26, 2008 3:22 PM

I agree with about everything you said on htere. However, I could understand Malefor. Mostly becuase I have done a voice almost exactly the same. Colors were kinda...bright IMO lol. As for SxC...well, it was bound to happen, yet I am not throwing fireworks or something.

Razz, fi you have time, I so want to race you through the game.

minredd · Oct 26, 2008 3:23 PM

*fistpalm* Now I get it! It seemed a little out of character for Cynder to break down and flee, but if she was under Malefor's influence...

But the dark Spyro/Cynder moments seemed anticlimactic.

And I liked all the voice acting o-o Maybe I'm just not exposed to enough voice acting?

Godzilla750 · Oct 26, 2008 3:25 PM

Read my above post about the voice acting with Ricci.

Spyroiskewl · Oct 26, 2008 4:29 PM

Yeah, I thought the ending was pretty good. It good ending 2 the triology. However, I think Sparx's voice could have been better. I mean, Wayne Brady just doesn't suit him, it's too deep. Anyway, Spyro and Cynder's voice actors are good, and now we know why the picked Christina Ricci for Cynder.....Anyway, all in all, a good game. Awesome graphics. Luved the flight mechanics! The big question is, are they going forward or backward in the production of Spyro for there next game?......

TornWings · Oct 26, 2008 4:35 PM

Godzilla750 wrote:

And they picked Ricci to do Cynder not for voice, but to send us a message. She was Elijah Wood's first onscreen kiss. It had nothing to do with acting, they were making a point. And I understood it loud and clear, you all should have gotten it too.

....I don't think so. Seems a bit far-fetched.

Nikore · Oct 26, 2008 4:36 PM

new....chronicler.....YIPPEEEE!!!

*cries* I thought it was over, but YAY!!! LOL

I havent seen any of it XD (spoilers REALLY dont bother me) but if I ever get the game, I will cry my EYES out. I dont care if the voicing was done horribly, I'll cry anyway XD They had evil momments to?? thats a must see, lol. although I figured that would happen anyway XD

**hugs Gary Oldman** FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR CAREER, YOU DONT DIE big_smile ...completely...seriousely, I thought he was cursed or something LOL

John Man 1234 · Oct 26, 2008 4:37 PM

I think Sparx's voice was awasome. The reason why they made him sound like that was beacuase they wanted to show how much he matured because of those three years in the crystal. He sounded alright to me.

Rurikredwolf · Oct 26, 2008 4:52 PM

@Nikore: Gary Oldman doesn't die int he batman movies.

Aicebo · Oct 26, 2008 4:55 PM

Ugh, I still hate SXC to the core, so don't get me started "OH WE WERE RIGHT" and stuff. That's just immature.

Kazoobie64 · Oct 26, 2008 5:23 PM

minredd wrote:

And Stormy, I'm pretty sure SxC was planned from the beginning. Remember that last scene in ANB? It was obviously the start of it.

I'm getting a bit sick of this statement, it's kind of telling me and LOTS of other people, including my friends, that we are blind if we don't see it because gosh it's soooo obvious.

Whether they intended it or not doesn't mean it's obvious, it's all on how they execute it and to me they executed it quite poorly because ANB planted the thought of the possibility of them being related in most people's heads. I don't want to hear "that's crazy! THEY'RE NOT RELATED" because it doesn't matter, they didn't think ahead of time to realize what some of their lines might be saying to the audience. There are review sites that call Cynder "his sister" by mistake, there were lots of discussions taking place around ANB's release on the issue of their relation, lots of my friends got the impression that they were siblings, (In fact lots of my friends are still in this train of thought after seeing Dawn of the Dragon's ending and think they're pulling a Lion King on us) my younger cousin who was 9 when she played ANB thought they were brother and sister too. In fact, it was so bad that even the people in charge of the GBA game thought they were siblings.

Are they all blind? Or maybe it's just because they don't look for the romance and instead decide to overestimate the clichéd story and think differently?

Honestly, the last scene in ANB isn't a hint if you're not looking at them romantically. Removing the fact that I thought they were siblings at the time, I don't see "the last scene in ANB" as an implication of romance, I just see the fact that "Cynder is the girl and Spyro is the boy" as the hint. Then after that is in mind, EVERYTHING is a hint.

TornWings · Oct 26, 2008 5:33 PM

...I'm getting sick of you ranting about this...which is saying something because I agree with you that's it's open for interpretation.

I'm actually sick of the argument period.

Kazoobie64 · Oct 26, 2008 5:39 PM

Getting sick of the ranting? Don't read it. I'm not even arguing about anything I'm just letting everyone know that saying "this and that is obvious and you should have seen it because it was SO OBVIOUS" is ridiculous.

Aicebo · Oct 26, 2008 5:45 PM

The last scene in ANB is NOTHING.
Wouldn't you save your sibling from dying? Or your best friend?

Kazoobie64 · Oct 26, 2008 5:48 PM

Oh I thought they were referring to the scene in the palace, where they exchange the worried conversation, haha.

TornWings · Oct 26, 2008 5:49 PM

Kazoobie64 wrote:

Getting sick of the ranting? Don't read it. I'm not even arguing about anything I'm just letting everyone know that saying "this and that is obvious and you should have seen it because it was SO OBVIOUS" is ridiculous.

Hey, I'm just complaining about something, the same as you are. Though you are right about the 2nd part.

Red-n-Aqua · Oct 26, 2008 6:14 PM

@Christina Ricci
Thank Goodness I'm not the only one who thought her voice was bland.

At first when I heard she was voicing Cynder, I was so excited! I've watched some of her old movies (Casper, That Darn Cat) when I was younger, and I thought she would do a wonderful job for Cynder!

...

But I was wrong. Dead wrong. ._. I've grown to Mae Whitman's voice from TEN, she should have been Cynder's VA. I like Cree Summers too, but I think she would make a better adult. XD

If I had to actually choose a new voice actress for Cynder; it would be Rachael MacFalerane. *points to avvie* She does wonderful VAing of Numbuh 362 of Codename: Kids Next Door, emotion, acting, everything! I thought her 362 voice would be a perfect match for Cynder.

But Christina Ricci... Why? I hate it when people don't have enough in VAing, they need to scream, and SHOUT! Emotions, Ricci, EMOTIONS! big_smile

"Spyro, stop... don't do this."

If Mae Whitman was there:

"Spyro, STOP! Don't do this!!!"

I really liked her "Spyro, STOP!" line in TEN.

I have the DS version, I thought it was quite a game. I beat it in two days, and I've already started a new game. Already at Dragon City, heh. ^_^ I'm getting the PS2 version for Christmas.

Darn it, Razz! You're making me want it even more. :3

Razz · Oct 26, 2008 7:12 PM

You want it. You know you do! Buy it! big_smile

re:SxC
This wasn't the most important thing in the game for me, I was just happy to be proved right because, I'm not kidding, this entire fandom gives me SO much grief over everything I say. I'm not above gloating when I get the chance, especially after a year and a half of being harassed by hundreds of people. big_smile

I was a lot more thrilled by being proved right about Malefor's intentions, Cynder's element, and what dragons really are. That was super awesome (and it means I don't have to scrap "Hand of Darkness" and that most of what I wrote in the Cynder 100 was accurate, woo!). Can I call 'em or what? big_smile *continues doing the I Told You So dance*

Godzilla750 · Oct 26, 2008 9:08 PM

don't worry razz, I always held your thoughts with high value since my screen name was c-teck and have loves your artwork for almost 2 years now (really, wow where did time go, i'll ask ignitus later.) anyhow I always knew they were lovers and supported your work accordingly on forums, though I doubt u remember me.

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