WorthPlaying Review on DotD

RedDragonX · Nov 16, 2008 1:54 AM

http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=57537

I'm again impressed by this one. I like WorthPlaying's review staff...and they are pretty spot on in this review. Read and tell what you think.

TornWings · Nov 16, 2008 2:32 AM

Cynder has "poor elemental abilities"?

Shadow Strike anyone?
Or how about twister -> massive combo -> easy fury bar fill up?
Maybe they didn't try them enough...I didn't even know Fear could be lethal until after I beat the game.

Also, more remarks about stability on consoles...did they only optimize the PS2 version or something?

RedDragonX · Nov 16, 2008 2:34 AM

I'm not sure about that...the only breath I found advantagous with Cynder the entire time was Shadow....until I could fully upgrade the abilities at least...then just about all of them were deadly as sin.

Volteer32 · Nov 16, 2008 5:25 AM

Cynder's Phantom Fright and Siren Scream at full blast are a devastating combination at their very best ... release a few Fright bolts ... then scream at them for a few seconds, just stand there ... they're quaking in their "boots" as to what's about to happen to them next ...

Then basically close in for the kill ... easy smile

Her fear attack works best on those flying creatures that Sparx mistakes for dragons back in The Valley of Avalar ... whatever they are!

RedDragonX · Nov 16, 2008 5:29 AM

The Wavyrns lol.....those screwed up looking things lol...I just used Spyro's ice attacks to take care of them....Cynder was awesome for dealing with those annoying Grublin Heroes...those things were realllly annoying.

Volteer32 · Nov 16, 2008 6:37 AM

I'd basically have a 50 to 60 hit combo up with her, flying around grabbing them and then taking them up in the air and do Cynder's Barrel Roll O' Death (the one where you see her basically roll over her enemy midair and nothing but a whir of her claws) or the one how she picks them up and kicks them in the guts with both hind legs ....

Then it was simply a piledriver from either side and it's lights out for those lil critters!

YellowBananas · Nov 16, 2008 8:38 AM

that review is screwed!!!

i played Cynder 9 times outta 10!!! on 2 player i'd grab the 2nd controller just to play as cynder!! i found her the easiest to fight with! her breaths paralyz the enemies while her combat kills em!

i never found the tether to be annoying in 1 player mode either... only in 2 player mode where mah bro wouldnt follow me

it so does tell you how to land! it says in the first level!!! hold and hen release x! (for ps2)
the reason why it doesnt let you fly everywhere is so you don't miss anything!!! spyro isnt suppossed to fly everywhere!! and wheres the fun in just flying all the way to malefor??

well no ones perfect!! u reviewers get a new job!

RedDragonX · Nov 16, 2008 4:30 PM

Well it's the reviewers job to be really technical over this stuff lol...that's just what they do.

I agree with you on Cynder though...playing her throughout most of the game was the easiest because most of her moves could either disable or paralyze an enemy for a good amount of time...while the only thing I really needed Spyro for was to get rid of those stupid Ogres....and the Wavyrns...

The tether would be easier on two player since you can both cotrol the movements yourself...therefore you can stay near each other and not get held up. On the AI..that really gets screwy....and you get stuck in some places.

As for the flying thing..I can see what your saying...but the free flight concept was gonna be limited since the beginning..but they used "free flight" very often..thus giving everyone the feeling of.."Oh we can just go up and fly to any spot we want."....so no wonder they felt betrayed by the fact you couldn't reach some areas.

Kodar · Nov 17, 2008 3:56 AM

Yet another rushed out clueless review like all the others sad

* Cynder is in fact has superior elemental combat abilties, you will most likely end up using her over Spyro all the time. Especially since the experience crystals from monsters are going to the one dragon you control at the moment, you would like to power up the most suitable character first would you? In the end they will both fill out the elements though.

* Camera lockup is a widely spread and common thing. See DMC and MGS as the most popular examples. ..with exactly the same problems. And nobody is kicking those two for it. Biased, eh?

* Framerate issue. What would you want on a rusty retarded console like PS-2 from a game which has been built around nextgen? Be grateful that they were able to make it go as is. Not to mention that from my experience there is no constant frame rate issues. I might have seen them in a couple single spots through all the game only.

* Flight. Come on folks. Read the *bleep* tutorial, why wouldn't those reviewers read what game says? This is not the only review bashing the game because the reviewer missed a line on a move of a kind. There were a note that you should press and hold X to land.

* Tether. You NEVER miss another character. Ever. He(she) is always nearby. If you don't see the tether then that means he(she) is close. Why do you care then? Just go and do your stuff. I've only had a problem with the tether once, in the valley of avalar where you had to jump over the river with a weight in your mouth. That's it. I wonder if i have played the same game as those "reviewers" did >.<

* Loading screens during a climbup.. ..? Lolwhat?? There is no such a thing. Even in PS2 version.

Too bad we can't put our score back on those reviews.. In this case the review would have gotten a far below average, for all the disinformation and ignorance down there. I mean.. Cmon, a reviewer is supposed to play the title to REview it, not just peek in then jump out with a rushed wall of text making up things out of the air.

RedDragonX · Nov 17, 2008 4:04 AM

Good points. The reviewers are given the game and they judge it on gameplay alone and in their own context.

I found this review to be better then most out there...go surf on google for awhile if you want to see some pretty bad ones. Overall yes I found many of the points you said pretty much spot on during my experience.

Reviewers for these individual companies draw all their conclusions through a simple run through of the game in their point of view. Most would not have played or cared about a Spyro game..so they wouldn't share the average fan's appreciation for them.

All in all it was one of the better ones out there...but your views are highly correct from the perspective of an LoS fan.

Thundersoul · Nov 17, 2008 4:08 AM

Kodar wrote:

Yet another rushed out clueless review like all the others
* Cynder is in fact has superior elemental combat abilties, you will most likely end up using her over Spyro all the time. Especially since the experience crystals from monsters are going to the one dragon you control at the moment, you would like to power up the most suitable character first would you? In the end they will both fill out the elements though.
* Camera lockup is a widely spread and common thing. See DMC and MGS as the most popular examples. ..with exactly the same problems. And nobody is kicking those two for it. Biased, eh?
* Framerate issue. What would you want on a rusty retarded console like PS-2 from a game which has been built around nextgen? Be grateful that they were able to make it go as is. Not to mention that from my experience there is no constant frame rate issues. I might have seen them in a couple single spots through all the game only.
* Flight. Come on folks. Read the *bleep* tutorial, why wouldn't those reviewers read what game says? This is not the only review bashing the game because the reviewer missed a line on a move of a kind. There were a note that you should press and hold X to land.
* Tether. You NEVER miss another character. Ever. He(she) is always nearby. If you don't see the tether then that means he(she) is close. Why do you care then? Just go and do your stuff. I've only had a problem with the tether once, in the valley of avalar where you had to jump over the river with a weight in your mouth. That's it. I wonder if i have played the same game as those "reviewers" did >.<
* Loading screens during a climbup.. ..? Lolwhat?? There is no such a thing. Even in PS2 version.
Too bad we can't put our score back on those reviews.. In this case the review would have gotten a far below average, for all the disinformation and ignorance down there. I mean.. Cmon, a reviewer is supposed to play the title to REview it, not just peek in then jump out with a rushed wall of text making up things out of the air.

I agree with u on mst of it other than the Load screen it does pop in there randomly but its not alot and only if you play the level long enough. It ment too help the game from locking up and freezing

RedDragonX · Nov 17, 2008 4:11 AM

Idk...maybe it was the PS3 version...but the only time my load screen came up was when I switched to the second phase of a level....It never happened randomly.....I guess I'm glad I have that thing lol...

Kodar · Nov 17, 2008 4:28 AM

XRedDragonX wrote:

Good points. The reviewers are given the game and they judge it on gameplay alone and in their own context.
I found this review to be better then most out there...go surf on google for awhile if you want to see some pretty bad ones. Overall yes I found many of the points you said pretty much spot on during my experience.
Reviewers for these individual companies draw all their conclusions through a simple run through of the game in their point of view. Most would not have played or cared about a Spyro game..so they wouldn't share the average fan's appreciation for them.
All in all it was one of the better ones out there...but your views are highly correct from the perspective of an LoS fan.

I have seen quite a lot of them.. This was a frustrating read, especially with all the impression from fresh finish which has really touched me deep.. I think they have really become biased, they expected the game to suck, after the first two LoS games especially TEN it might be justified, but still, they've missed a redemption of the series, it does not deserve such a low scores.. At the very least it should have gotten higher score than TEN, don't you think?

I agree with u on mst of it other than the Load screen it does pop in there randomly but its not alot and only if you play the level long enough. It ment too help the game from locking up and freezing

Yes, it happens during a transition from one part of a level to another but never unexpected, like the reviewer said, durign a climb up on a wall - it has never happened. While the levels might be not that big i do understand loading transitions between caves and such, because, honestly, this game surpasses the abilities of playstation-2, show me other game which looks better there, im perfectly happy that it works as is.

RedDragonX · Nov 17, 2008 4:34 AM

Well again I have to point out that the reviewers in the market today will not see Spyro in the same light that they once did...even if they were around for the old ones.

Most of today's market does not revolve around games like Spyro....as you can prolly tell if you go into any Gamestop or Best Buy....and the game itself could have been dramitically improved.

The game was plagued by slight developer flaws. The cutscenes and voice acting could have been slightly better...and the action play itself was rather clunky in spots.

Again I am not a reviewer...I am just a loyal Spyro fan...and that feeling I share with the rest of you keeps my love for the series alive even if the game is trashed by reviewers and such...but if I was a reviewer...this one would have been at best a high average score.

It's just much harder to find someone who can take a character like Spyro and perfect the gameplay to a degree where reviewers will see it in the same regard to games like Gears of War or Grand Theft Auto and such. It's a hard formula to perfect....but they def took some large leaps forward with this instalment no doubt.

TornWings · Nov 17, 2008 4:39 AM

I'd like to point out that they're reviewing the 360 version, not the PS2 version, so you can't argue the framerate problems are due to console limitations, especially considering it runs like a dream on the PS2, your so-called "Rusty retarded console".

RedDragonX · Nov 17, 2008 4:44 AM

I have to second that...the game runs like a complete dream on my PS3...so I have not really seen the problems that everyone else seems to be dealing with...

Kazoobie64 · Nov 17, 2008 4:56 AM

Kodar wrote:

* Cynder is in fact has superior elemental combat abilties, you will most likely end up using her over Spyro all the time. Especially since the experience crystals from monsters are going to the one dragon you control at the moment, you would like to power up the most suitable character first would you? In the end they will both fill out the elements though.

What about her poor defense? Also, if you're playing in co-op, this doesn't apply as your experience is shared with both players. I never played this game in one player, so I wouldn't know. Personally, I thought Spyro's elements packed more of a punch rather than Cynder doing little damage but hindering them.

* Camera lockup is a widely spread and common thing. See DMC and MGS as the most popular examples. ..with exactly the same problems. And nobody is kicking those two for it. Biased, eh?

I don't know what DMC is but MGS uses what is called the "cinematic camera" which is also an optional choice in some games like GTA. When a game is supposedly "free-roaming" and they spend much time on environments, having the camera lock in certain places where it's not needed is bothersome. I understand for things like riding gust of winds, but otherwise I actually want to look around to see where I want to go.

My friend and I had a lot of problems with this in that when we were wondering what to do in some places, and we tried to rotate the camera to see ahead of us but couldn't. So then she had to do the basic "ok, jump down and I'll stay here to pull you back up" and I did and there was nothing there and we kept wasting time like this.

* Framerate issue. What would you want on a rusty retarded console like PS-2 from a game which has been built around nextgen? Be grateful that they were able to make it go as is. Not to mention that from my experience there is no constant frame rate issues. I might have seen them in a couple single spots through all the game only.

Actually, I played it on the PS2 and it was very smooth moving.

* Flight. Come on folks. Read the *bleep* tutorial, why wouldn't those reviewers read what game says? This is not the only review bashing the game because the reviewer missed a line on a move of a kind. There were a note that you should press and hold X to land.

That option doesn't work 100% of the time. Landing can be really bothersome because a dragon sometimes decides "well, the player is holding X but I'm just going to come down reaaaal smooth-like for some reason."

* Tether. You NEVER miss another character. Ever. He(she) is always nearby. If you don't see the tether then that means he(she) is close. Why do you care then? Just go and do your stuff. I've only had a problem with the tether once, in the valley of avalar where you had to jump over the river with a weight in your mouth. That's it. I wonder if i have played the same game as those "reviewers" did >.<

Just because you didn't have problems, doesn't mean other people did. I've heard from people on this forum itself their problems during one player, such as their CPU partner getting stuck behind things or falling off a ledge and hindering the player by pulling on the tether, to the point where the player couldn't move forward until they themselves leapt to where the CPU player was and continued from there.

* Loading screens during a climbup.. ..? Lolwhat?? There is no such a thing. Even in PS2 version.

Uh, I think they meant the general "loading" that is done when you are going to a certain area in gameplay, but I guess you realized this.

This isn't really much of a problem anyway, it's just kind of odd because usually in games where they want to load stuff in the middle of gameplay, they make the area you are going to longer to reach. For example, if Spyro and Cynder are moving ahead to a different area by climbing on a rooftop, the wall they are climbing is made longer, taking them a while to get up there, and while they are climbing, the game takes the chance to load the next area.

A good example of this is in Star Fox Adventures. When you are going to Thorntail Hollow from the icy area, or the other way around, it always makes you do this annoying thing where you have to activate a switch to change the currents in the water, and you have to do it every time you want to move from one of the areas to the other. People often wondered why they would put such a thing, but it was merely so they could load the next area while you are occupied.

RedDragonX · Nov 17, 2008 5:05 AM

Idk...but the only time I ever got a loading screen was when it was loading the next big area...for example when you went to the second stage of the Destoyer...or after you flew down the lava river to get to the next stage of the Burning Plains.

I have never played the game on two player...but I did have tether issues...once in awhile the other character would get stuck in the dumbest spots....but I did manage to work around it without throwing something at the screen lol...

Cynder's defense was very very poor...while Spyro's was rather strong. Cynder's abilities were as you said more focused at stunning and delaying an opponent. You didn't want to use her against the stronger foes...unless you could really use her shadow strike effectively...in which case you could keep downing them with her pretty steady.

Spyro was slow...but much more powerful on defense and offense...while Cynder was faster with weaker power...but her elemental abilities were also much more better to make up for it.

Again...I had PS3...and I didn't have any frame issues...

Other then that not much else to say about it....it could have been much worse...

Kodar · Nov 17, 2008 5:09 AM

I just read behind the lines of what you say is that they catter to shooters and overall empty but polished promo-titles, and use them as a matter of measure. Well, that might be true, and it is sad news, that means you can't trust them anymore..

As about the flaws in the game.. There is no perfect game.. Flaws should not ruin the title that way unless they cripple the thing down somehow, which is obviously not the case.. As about voice acting.. Only sparx was a failure of a kind - rofl. And it didn't bother me much because i honestly don't care about him and he did not play a noticeable role in DotD anyways. Cynder was perfect imo, i really loved the voice and lines, and i wasn't a Cynder fan before which could possibly blind my eyes/ears somehow.

Again I am not a reviewer...I am just a loyal Spyro fan...and that feeling I share with the rest of you keeps my love for the series alive even if the game is trashed by reviewers and such...but if I was a reviewer...this one would have been at best a high average score.

Well, if i wasn't a spyro fan, i would surelly point out a few flaws there and there, and i would probably end up with like 7.5-8 out of 10. If there were absolutely no flaws, it would be 10 out of 10, don't you think? smile

I was actually a reviewer before, on a local site, english isn't my first.. I've had a fair share of writing long articles about games that i've played.. And the main challenge for me was to put down my first impressions and take an unbiased look at games. And honestly, i would put middle average on LoS ANB, absolutely destroy LoS TEN but put a fairly high score on LoS DotD.

Kazoobie64 · Nov 17, 2008 5:17 AM

It's not so much as the "little flaws" hindering the game but rather the little flaws adding up into a bigger detail. The game's overall low scores from other critics comes from its length and limits in gameplay, and of course, the un-strategized combat system.

Kodar · Nov 17, 2008 5:20 AM

What about her poor defense? Also, if you're playing in co-op, this doesn't apply as your experience is shared with both players. I never played this game in one player, so I wouldn't know. Personally, I thought Spyro's elements packed more of a punch rather than Cynder doing little damage but hindering them.

I've played single. I haven't noticed any huge difference in defense, in fact, Cynder has a lot of magic to control enemies which works better than straight up mitigation. In other words, as Spyro i was losing health faster. And elite enemies hurt them both the same way.

I don't know what DMC is

Devil may Cry

My friend and I had a lot of problems with this in that when we were wondering what to do in some places, and we tried to rotate the camera to see ahead of us but couldn't. So then she had to do the basic "ok, jump down and I'll stay here to pull you back up" and I did and there was nothing there and we kept wasting time like this.

Well, you also could've guessed that if the camera does not show it, there is nothing to see wink I played solo btw..

Also unlike, say, DMC you can't fall into trouble because of camera. You can't fall and suffer in this game, period..

Just because you didn't have problems, doesn't mean other people did. I've heard from people on this forum itself their problems during one player, such as their CPU partner getting stuck behind things or falling off a ledge and hindering the player by pulling on the tether, to the point where the player couldn't move forward until they themselves leapt to where the CPU player was and continued from there.

The CPU never falls down, it cheats the game actually to stay close to you, it does not follow your path. The only way you can cause CPU to cripple you by the tether if you have switched during a climb up scenario and let him lose. Why would you want to do this anyways? Just let him hang around as he likes and everything will be fine. The only location where it might possible get stuck is the river in avalar, that's it..

RedDragonX · Nov 17, 2008 5:21 AM

Well unfortunetly I don't review games lol...I review NFL teams lol.....but yes being a fan greatly affects how you see a game....in many different ways.

Yes there is no perfect game and their never will be...but the only problem that LoS has done is effectively split the fanbase between this series and the old series. Those flaws don't matter to us per say...but to the reviewers they do...that's just the way they do it and it's not gonna change.

I'm happy that the game turned out how it did...could it have been better...heck yes...but I give credit to EL for their efforts. In my mind ANB was better then TEN...but DotD still blew them both away.

Either way it's a different market with different reviewers...all we can do is continue to support the series.

Kodar · Nov 17, 2008 5:23 AM

Kazoobie64 wrote:

It's not so much as the "little flaws" hindering the game but rather the little flaws adding up into a bigger detail. The game's overall low scores from other critics comes from its length and limits in gameplay, and of course, the un-strategized combat system.

They are just biased, they expected the game to suck, they've made a "review" in their mind long before the game came out, that's it. i can't explain overall poor quality of the reviews themselves other way.

RedDragonX · Nov 17, 2008 5:26 AM

Kodar wrote:

Kazoobie64 wrote:
It's not so much as the "little flaws" hindering the game but rather the little flaws adding up into a bigger detail. The game's overall low scores from other critics comes from its length and limits in gameplay, and of course, the un-strategized combat system.
They are just biased, they expected the game to suck, they've made a "review" in their mind long before the game came out, that's it. i can't explain overall poor quality of the reviews themselves other way.

I do agree with Kazoobie on this one...the reviewers did their job how they have always done it...and I don't know about you but I found this review to be much more open then the others...check out some of the other ones I posted up on here....overall they are not bad at all.

Kazoobie64 · Nov 17, 2008 5:29 AM

Kodar wrote:

They are just biased, they expected the game to suck, they've made a "review" in their mind long before the game came out, that's it. i can't explain overall poor quality of the reviews themselves other way.

How do you know this? Have they been clamoring on about how much it will suck before they played it?

A lot of reviewers have commented stuff along the lines of "well, while we had high hopes for this game" or "they gave it their best effort" or "they were hoping the trilogy would go off with a bang" and still gave it low scores.

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