On behalf of the team, thank-you so much for putting this video out. It was a short development time project, and required reusing code and assets. It should have been an in-and-out sequel project, but the full-team wanted to make something special. Looking back I can't work out exactly when or why we decided to do that, but forever thankful, grateful and proud that the team did. Forever grateful for the management layers above, that let us do the dumb thing and go in the direction we did. It had more support from the companies and suppliers involved than I can ever explain. We also put a huge amount on an engine team to push new things down the pipe backwards to support some new ideas, and a huge amount on the QA team. Loss aversion theoy sort of sums it up for at the time. The pain of reading a negative review was twice-as-hard as joy of reading a positive-review. At the time, it was also a lot harder to find a positive review. It's been so long now, that its the opposite. Seeing your video, and reading the comments is like 100 positive magazine reviews from 2007. I didn't have my own kids when we made this; to be honest I look back on this time as most of us workong on this, we were barely not kids ourselves. Trust me... the most critical I have ever been of the jumps, the ramping, the difficulty... was when I first proudly showed it to my kids and it sunk flat. If that's the game you rented, yeah... that's the game, and you're right. Wish we had caught that and heard the clear signals we were getting louder before saying 'yes' to send the gold master. If it's the game you fought thru the flaws and loved for the combat, the puzzles, the wonderful story, the amazing music, the hidden easter eggs (the last one was found about 6yrs ago, you found them all!) and got what it was we wanted to do .... thank-you. Thank-you so much. To everyone who watches this video, who as a kid wrote us a hand-written letter, and sent in a drawing. To let you know we had those on the walls for years. To most of the fans who have been drawing their own pictures of the dragons, and writing their own views of the story, it's been a privledge over the last 15+ years to see you become masters of the craft, and how much tighter and better you have gotten! ... I would love to one day play the next chapter in this series when you're able to keep it going, in whatever form of media that is - there are so so many narrative moments and beats you've picked up on and run with. You always get a salute from the top of a late night coffee mug from us. To everyone who has made a video-games for kids, or wants to -- one of the important things to do is read the reviews 15yrs later, when your target audience has to the tools to express how it made them feeel. They are the best hugs. There are so few perfect video games, and so so many perfect hugs. Thank-you for this video hug. .... To the folks here looking back on this project because they miss their partner and their friends who made this game, I miss them too.
I'm really sorry that you had to sit through a bunch of negative reviews for a game you and the team clearly worked so hard on, despite the low budget, if I remember correctly. I played a little of A New Beginning when I was a kid, but never finished it. After Reignited I was left with tons of questions and not a lot of answers as to who Spyro was, and I remembered the Legend Trilogy, went back, watched all the cutscenes and that's how I've been a fan for the past 6 years. I only found The Eternal Night and a PS2 in Newcastle in September last year and I was able to play through the first two games. Experiencing them again as someone grown to my full measure was magical. I was always told the gameplay was bad or mediocre, but I really enjoyed the both of them, especially The Eternal Night. I still whip out the PS2 for it when I feel like it. I really hope the game and your work gets recognised for what it is one day, because it still remains one of the best PS2 games ever made to me.
I'm really sorry that you had to endure that kind of reception back then. Critics can be really harsh sometimes with even the simpliest of matters. I didn't play the trilogy until mid 2010's. When I played it for the first time I was very shocked with the spike of difficulty compared to A New Beginning, but still has a great time til the end. I was used to think that sequels ara harder but it was one of the few times I really had to be much more intense and patient, and that made me appreciate the game even more. I love The Legend of Spyro, and It's been really a pleasure and endless joy that these last years the games are finally recieving all the love they deserved, and more that the people behind it are getting recognized for the wonderful work they're done.
Also would like to thank you for making this game. While it had it flaws (pirate section overstayed its welcome) it continued an epic story thats stood with me to this very day even after 17 years since its release. I loved the first game and when I saw commercials for Eternal Night I knew exactly what I wanted for Christmas that year..... And then it kicked my butt and I got stuck on the Scorpion brothers boss fight cause I didn't remember the horn dive attack that squashes them and defeats them cause they would just get back up with restored HP infinitely if you didn't. This move gets introduced in the tutorial but never is required until you get to this point of the game. Would later come back to Eternal night and beat it once Dawn the Dragon released But hey after that I beat this game easily 5 more times just on replays. Always finding more hidden things and honestly appreciating the small improvements from A new Beginning. (like the way better lighting in dark areas)
I needed this video, bro. Everyone dumped on this game as awful, then I played it and it was one of the best PS2 games ever made. I was expecting something negative on the combat, but you actually have a functioning brain. You actually wanted to learn, where so many people gave up and wrote the game off as bad. This is the best game in the trilogy to me. It's criminally underrated. I always compare this game to Ninja Gaiden 2, where they pump everything to the max, and make it so that both the enemies and you are pumped full of steroids in comparison to the last game. Every setpiece is a thrill. Legend blows the original games out the water imo. I just wish we had even harder difficulties.
Didn't really care for the GBA version, The DS versions were somewhat decent but I'd prefer the full home console games. Still it's nice to have the variety of portable versions bigger games being a trend back in the Early 2000s.
The Ancient Grove has always felt so mysterious and endless to me- I'd love to boundary break it and poke around. Like where the hell is this located, how far out is it?? It's in the middle of some enormous pink ocean made of POISON, it's a forest but also simultaneously it's overhung by a massive stone ceiling on the shoreline?? God the vibes are immaculate there! The only thing that came pretty close for me in DOTD was the mysterious windy passage that was behind the Valley of Avalar.
Yeah I think, dawn of the dragon changed the world a bit too much to my liking, seeing the swamp area would at the very least connected the dawn of the dragon world and new beginning world a bit more.
@@DemiCape I agree. They could have brought areas back in an updated form, it would have even been sick to explore the remnants of Cynder’s original fortress from ANB and a few of the locations from TEN. They kinda dropped the ball with the third game, in some ways, and had some new neat things like crystals that steal your mana, flying, and armor sets. I really hope we see these games remade some day ❤️
For me, Eternal Night is the weakest of the trilogy by a not inconsiquentual margain, however that doesn't make the game bad since I believe a new begginning is exceptional and Dawn of the Dragon is my favorate game of all time. Generally I think the game is infinately improved when applying a little fan theory, or what might not even be fan theory. It's simply applying the idea that what Malefor says in the confrontation in dawn of the dragon was true, and seeing where it applies, that being that Cynder lured Spyro to the well of souls. I made a whole video on it, but it basically takes things that could previously be seen as contrivances, and makes them great storytelling, IE: Cynder leaving right before the Apes attack wasn't a coincidence, but a deliberrate move, her showing up on the pirate ship wasn't a coincidence, but her making sure Spyro didn't lose her trail, and the Apes that capture her so easily were summonned by her. It even makes sense with in game details like Cynder's eyes being open when she's supposedly knocked out by Ghaul, all Ghaul's guards dissapearing, and holds up to scrutiny since the plan would have worked even more smoothly had the Chronecler not been a factor, since Spyro would have followed Cynder directly after sue left, the guardians would have died in the attack since Spyro wouldn't be there, and he would have followed her to the well of souls if she just had a dreadwing grab her directly from the swamp. It works so well that I'm left to wonder if Krome intented it, or if (the studio that made DoTD) saw the same thing I did and inserted a hint to it into Malefor's dialogue to fix some of eternal night's holes. Sadly though, if it was intented, it seems to have flown over most people's heads. It also improves Cynder's journey IMO since instead of just having the evil beaten out of her, she goes on an actual arc of coming to care about Spyro, and doesn't turn on Malefor until she saves Spyro at the end of the game, which also makes her fear of him throughout DoTD make more sense.
eternal night may have had tons of game breaking bugs that I sometimes experienced, but the combat and gameplay still to this day remains to be the best out of the three the legend of spyro games in my opinion.
@@DemiCape Have to disagree there, Eternal night's gameplay is mostly more of the same from A new begginning, it might be slightly better than ANB's, but bot as good aa DoTD's, plus the sideways movement and fire shooting sections are some of the worst gameplay I've ever experianced. A lot of the game's core combat is solid, but the difficulty spikes mean that ice ia the only good option half the time.
I'm not someone who plays hard/difficult games most of the time. But The Eternal Night is one of the few exceptions and with reason. I still remember when I saw the game for the first time, for a sequel that looks almost the same as A New Beginning, it is brutal indeed, but not horrible. I always had this nagging feeling about why many people disliked The Eternal Night, and that most of that it's because of the difficulty, okay I can understand but not totally agree. The Eternal Night from the beginning presents a much darker tone and progression, not only in the plot and the stages, also in the characters. The eerie and somber nature of the game feels so intimidating but also spot-on. Spyro starts to struggle with what is his role, and Cynder starts to doubt about her destiny, all while the impending demise is getting closer. So, the fact that the game gets much more difficult and tense in both action and platforming makes sense, it's the way to say that the world is about to face its greatest menace and Spyro must fight it even if It's too much for him. But I also know that sometimes the game becomes simply unfair, either by broken mechanics or overpowered/mispositioned enemies, or in the platforms that they get more and more precise and tense, asking you to be very calculative and careful, and there still makes you think on a better strategy or approach that actually helps into fast thinking and careful planning. I think the Eternal Night is simply misunderstood. It was a rushed game yes, but just like the trilogy itself. It doesn't deserve to be treated that bad. I really like how you made clear that The Eternal Night is, even with its problems, a good game. It may be the weakest entry, but just for a margin that can be suppassed with enough practice. An amazing analysis and review! You really understood the game to its core.
thanks for this video. I've never tried the pyros past the original trilogy just due to never buying them but heard a lot of negativity from several of them. Glad to hear that spyro can do a dark and moody story well
Could you recommend some good/mechanically interesting 3D beat-em-up platformers? I'm asking since you're always incredibly thoughful and well-spoken on this genre and its mechanics
The Legend of Kay manages to use familiar mechanics in new ways that I haven't seen in any other 3D action-platformer. It's challenging, but worth the investment I think. Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures (WiiU/PS3/360) also utilizes a unique combination of a Sonic-style homing attack and a "scare meter" which creates interesting flow opportunities
@@AddyLovestar Also REALLY thank you for this video. I dropped The Eternal Night because I found it too hard half a year ago and now picking it up, it's scratching my itch for hard and mechanically demanding 3D platformers
@@AddyLovestar, I'm kind of wondering now do you actually like crash of the Titans and mind over mutant. They are Crash Bandicoot games that are considered the black sheep of crash games. Some people actually like crash of the Titans and some people even prefers mind over mutant over Titans.
Just finished the eternal night week ago the unforgiven difficulty combat can annoying and frustrating due to properly enjoying the OP power of NB able to kill enemies faster rather than doing crowd control just to kill enemies one by one (Shout out to ICE BEING ABSOLUTE SAVIOUR) but MAN The atmosphere and dark fantasy is what makes it worth playing the fortress mountain art and malefor action ost just give absolute Malice Bosses were unique not great and the pirate level were the worst thing that might make anyone quit the game Fuck blunder scorps And the platform is harsh very difficult until I realised fire triangle to make it easier
While Eternal Night is the most atmospheric of the trilogy and it made some great additions to the overall story, I do feel like it is the weakest entry due to its rushed development hurting the game with its overeliance on reused assets and gameplay.
I'm sure the story, atmosphere and characters are great, but my experience was muddied by the boring, repetitive combat and how ugly spyro himself looked. I basically button mashed the game to completion. You can't really appreciate the story if the gameplay itself is dull because it feels like a visual novel when you intended to play an adventure game.
Nah it is not generic, it is a purple dragon doing platforming and beating the shit out of monkies, that is a bit more interesting than one guy beating the shit out of other guys.
![The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night is a DISAPPOINTMENT [Review]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/E3bLkWj6reM/mqdefault.jpg)
On behalf of the team, thank-you so much for putting this video out.
It was a short development time project, and required reusing code and assets. It should have been an in-and-out sequel project, but the full-team wanted to make something special. Looking back I can't work out exactly when or why we decided to do that, but forever thankful, grateful and proud that the team did. Forever grateful for the management layers above, that let us do the dumb thing and go in the direction we did. It had more support from the companies and suppliers involved than I can ever explain. We also put a huge amount on an engine team to push new things down the pipe backwards to support some new ideas, and a huge amount on the QA team.
Loss aversion theoy sort of sums it up for at the time. The pain of reading a negative review was twice-as-hard as joy of reading a positive-review. At the time, it was also a lot harder to find a positive review. It's been so long now, that its the opposite. Seeing your video, and reading the comments is like 100 positive magazine reviews from 2007.
I didn't have my own kids when we made this; to be honest I look back on this time as most of us workong on this, we were barely not kids ourselves. Trust me... the most critical I have ever been of the jumps, the ramping, the difficulty... was when I first proudly showed it to my kids and it sunk flat. If that's the game you rented, yeah... that's the game, and you're right. Wish we had caught that and heard the clear signals we were getting louder before saying 'yes' to send the gold master. If it's the game you fought thru the flaws and loved for the combat, the puzzles, the wonderful story, the amazing music, the hidden easter eggs (the last one was found about 6yrs ago, you found them all!) and got what it was we wanted to do .... thank-you. Thank-you so much.
To everyone who watches this video, who as a kid wrote us a hand-written letter, and sent in a drawing. To let you know we had those on the walls for years. To most of the fans who have been drawing their own pictures of the dragons, and writing their own views of the story, it's been a privledge over the last 15+ years to see you become masters of the craft, and how much tighter and better you have gotten! ... I would love to one day play the next chapter in this series when you're able to keep it going, in whatever form of media that is - there are so so many narrative moments and beats you've picked up on and run with. You always get a salute from the top of a late night coffee mug from us.
To everyone who has made a video-games for kids, or wants to -- one of the important things to do is read the reviews 15yrs later, when your target audience has to the tools to express how it made them feeel. They are the best hugs. There are so few perfect video games, and so so many perfect hugs. Thank-you for this video hug.
....
To the folks here looking back on this project because they miss their partner and their friends who made this game, I miss them too.
I'm really sorry that you had to sit through a bunch of negative reviews for a game you and the team clearly worked so hard on, despite the low budget, if I remember correctly. I played a little of A New Beginning when I was a kid, but never finished it. After Reignited I was left with tons of questions and not a lot of answers as to who Spyro was, and I remembered the Legend Trilogy, went back, watched all the cutscenes and that's how I've been a fan for the past 6 years. I only found The Eternal Night and a PS2 in Newcastle in September last year and I was able to play through the first two games. Experiencing them again as someone grown to my full measure was magical. I was always told the gameplay was bad or mediocre, but I really enjoyed the both of them, especially The Eternal Night. I still whip out the PS2 for it when I feel like it. I really hope the game and your work gets recognised for what it is one day, because it still remains one of the best PS2 games ever made to me.
@@bigboispyro Thank-you bud. Means a lot.
I'm really sorry that you had to endure that kind of reception back then. Critics can be really harsh sometimes with even the simpliest of matters.
I didn't play the trilogy until mid 2010's. When I played it for the first time I was very shocked with the spike of difficulty compared to A New Beginning, but still has a great time til the end. I was used to think that sequels ara harder but it was one of the few times I really had to be much more intense and patient, and that made me appreciate the game even more.
I love The Legend of Spyro, and It's been really a pleasure and endless joy that these last years the games are finally recieving all the love they deserved, and more that the people behind it are getting recognized for the wonderful work they're done.
is it true that these games also had a smaller budget? Like I've heard that they each got about $1 millions dollars to make them
Also would like to thank you for making this game. While it had it flaws (pirate section overstayed its welcome) it continued an epic story thats stood with me to this very day even after 17 years since its release. I loved the first game and when I saw commercials for Eternal Night I knew exactly what I wanted for Christmas that year.....
And then it kicked my butt and I got stuck on the Scorpion brothers boss fight cause I didn't remember the horn dive attack that squashes them and defeats them cause they would just get back up with restored HP infinitely if you didn't. This move gets introduced in the tutorial but never is required until you get to this point of the game. Would later come back to Eternal night and beat it once Dawn the Dragon released
But hey after that I beat this game easily 5 more times just on replays. Always finding more hidden things and honestly appreciating the small improvements from A new Beginning. (like the way better lighting in dark areas)
I needed this video, bro. Everyone dumped on this game as awful, then I played it and it was one of the best PS2 games ever made. I was expecting something negative on the combat, but you actually have a functioning brain. You actually wanted to learn, where so many people gave up and wrote the game off as bad.
This is the best game in the trilogy to me. It's criminally underrated. I always compare this game to Ninja Gaiden 2, where they pump everything to the max, and make it so that both the enemies and you are pumped full of steroids in comparison to the last game. Every setpiece is a thrill. Legend blows the original games out the water imo.
I just wish we had even harder difficulties.
I'm glad I could offer a fresh perspective!
For any of you that are interested the gba version is straight fire
Didn't really care for the GBA version, The DS versions were somewhat decent but I'd prefer the full home console games. Still it's nice to have the variety of portable versions bigger games being a trend back in the Early 2000s.
The Ancient Grove has always felt so mysterious and endless to me- I'd love to boundary break it and poke around.
Like where the hell is this located, how far out is it?? It's in the middle of some enormous pink ocean made of POISON, it's a forest but also simultaneously it's overhung by a massive stone ceiling on the shoreline??
God the vibes are immaculate there! The only thing that came pretty close for me in DOTD was the mysterious windy passage that was behind the Valley of Avalar.
I loved the new environments we were introduced to in Eternal Night and I wish we could have revisited previous locales in Dawn of the Dragon ❤
Yeah I think, dawn of the dragon changed the world a bit too much to my liking, seeing the swamp area would at the very least connected the dawn of the dragon world and new beginning world a bit more.
@@DemiCape I agree. They could have brought areas back in an updated form, it would have even been sick to explore the remnants of Cynder’s original fortress from ANB and a few of the locations from TEN. They kinda dropped the ball with the third game, in some ways, and had some new neat things like crystals that steal your mana, flying, and armor sets. I really hope we see these games remade some day ❤️
For me, Eternal Night is the weakest of the trilogy by a not inconsiquentual margain, however that doesn't make the game bad since I believe a new begginning is exceptional and Dawn of the Dragon is my favorate game of all time. Generally I think the game is infinately improved when applying a little fan theory, or what might not even be fan theory. It's simply applying the idea that what Malefor says in the confrontation in dawn of the dragon was true, and seeing where it applies, that being that Cynder lured Spyro to the well of souls. I made a whole video on it, but it basically takes things that could previously be seen as contrivances, and makes them great storytelling, IE: Cynder leaving right before the Apes attack wasn't a coincidence, but a deliberrate move, her showing up on the pirate ship wasn't a coincidence, but her making sure Spyro didn't lose her trail, and the Apes that capture her so easily were summonned by her. It even makes sense with in game details like Cynder's eyes being open when she's supposedly knocked out by Ghaul, all Ghaul's guards dissapearing, and holds up to scrutiny since the plan would have worked even more smoothly had the Chronecler not been a factor, since Spyro would have followed Cynder directly after sue left, the guardians would have died in the attack since Spyro wouldn't be there, and he would have followed her to the well of souls if she just had a dreadwing grab her directly from the swamp. It works so well that I'm left to wonder if Krome intented it, or if (the studio that made DoTD) saw the same thing I did and inserted a hint to it into Malefor's dialogue to fix some of eternal night's holes. Sadly though, if it was intented, it seems to have flown over most people's heads. It also improves Cynder's journey IMO since instead of just having the evil beaten out of her, she goes on an actual arc of coming to care about Spyro, and doesn't turn on Malefor until she saves Spyro at the end of the game, which also makes her fear of him throughout DoTD make more sense.
eternal night may have had tons of game breaking bugs that I sometimes experienced, but the combat and gameplay still to this day remains to be the best out of the three the legend of spyro games in my opinion.
@@DemiCape Have to disagree there, Eternal night's gameplay is mostly more of the same from A new begginning, it might be slightly better than ANB's, but bot as good aa DoTD's, plus the sideways movement and fire shooting sections are some of the worst gameplay I've ever experianced. A lot of the game's core combat is solid, but the difficulty spikes mean that ice ia the only good option half the time.
i remember getting these games to play a a friends house.
I remember getting so bored n fed up with the combat, especiall when I ended up on some ship
THANK YOU! Someone gets it!
I played through it once as a kid and I enjoyed it I think I still have a copy somewhere I'll have to find it and give it a play sometime
I'm not someone who plays hard/difficult games most of the time. But The Eternal Night is one of the few exceptions and with reason.
I still remember when I saw the game for the first time, for a sequel that looks almost the same as A New Beginning, it is brutal indeed, but not horrible.
I always had this nagging feeling about why many people disliked The Eternal Night, and that most of that it's because of the difficulty, okay I can understand but not totally agree.
The Eternal Night from the beginning presents a much darker tone and progression, not only in the plot and the stages, also in the characters.
The eerie and somber nature of the game feels so intimidating but also spot-on. Spyro starts to struggle with what is his role, and Cynder starts to doubt about her destiny, all while the impending demise is getting closer.
So, the fact that the game gets much more difficult and tense in both action and platforming makes sense, it's the way to say that the world is about to face its greatest menace and Spyro must fight it even if It's too much for him.
But I also know that sometimes the game becomes simply unfair, either by broken mechanics or overpowered/mispositioned enemies, or in the platforms that they get more and more precise and tense, asking you to be very calculative and careful, and there still makes you think on a better strategy or approach that actually helps into fast thinking and careful planning.
I think the Eternal Night is simply misunderstood. It was a rushed game yes, but just like the trilogy itself. It doesn't deserve to be treated that bad.
I really like how you made clear that The Eternal Night is, even with its problems, a good game.
It may be the weakest entry, but just for a margin that can be suppassed with enough practice.
An amazing analysis and review! You really understood the game to its core.
Should have called this : Spryo May Cry!
thanks for this video. I've never tried the pyros past the original trilogy just due to never buying them but heard a lot of negativity from several of them. Glad to hear that spyro can do a dark and moody story well
Could you recommend some good/mechanically interesting 3D beat-em-up platformers? I'm asking since you're always incredibly thoughful and well-spoken on this genre and its mechanics
The Legend of Kay manages to use familiar mechanics in new ways that I haven't seen in any other 3D action-platformer. It's challenging, but worth the investment I think. Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures (WiiU/PS3/360) also utilizes a unique combination of a Sonic-style homing attack and a "scare meter" which creates interesting flow opportunities
@@AddyLovestar Also REALLY thank you for this video. I dropped The Eternal Night because I found it too hard half a year ago and now picking it up, it's scratching my itch for hard and mechanically demanding 3D platformers
@@AddyLovestar, I'm kind of wondering now do you actually like crash of the Titans and mind over mutant. They are Crash Bandicoot games that are considered the black sheep of crash games. Some people actually like crash of the Titans and some people even prefers mind over mutant over Titans.
I feel like I played this game, but I literally don't remember anything from it.
i come from the best way to count video
Just finished the eternal night week ago the unforgiven difficulty combat can annoying and frustrating due to properly enjoying the OP power of NB able to kill enemies faster rather than doing crowd control just to kill enemies one by one (Shout out to ICE BEING ABSOLUTE SAVIOUR)
but MAN The atmosphere and dark fantasy is what makes it worth playing the fortress mountain art and malefor action ost just give absolute Malice
Bosses were unique not great and the pirate level were the worst thing that might make anyone quit the game Fuck blunder scorps
And the platform is harsh very difficult until I realised fire triangle to make it easier
i played this game for 1 hour and yes it was somewhat decent compared to it's predecessor...
Why don't make a review of Indigo Park or The WereCleaner?
I love you.
as long when you play eternal night NOT directly after "a new beginning" its ok.
else, it causes severe deperession...
While Eternal Night is the most atmospheric of the trilogy and it made some great additions to the overall story, I do feel like it is the weakest entry due to its rushed development hurting the game with its overeliance on reused assets and gameplay.
Very hard and fun game, but you do spend way too long on that stupid pirate ship.
also this is just but muh themes
Hate the final boss in eternal night
I wasn't a big fan either, I thought he was a real push-over
hi :D UwU
I'm sure the story, atmosphere and characters are great, but my experience was muddied by the boring, repetitive combat and how ugly spyro himself looked. I basically button mashed the game to completion. You can't really appreciate the story if the gameplay itself is dull because it feels like a visual novel when you intended to play an adventure game.
I would desperately like to see how you managed to button-mash your way through Eternal Night
Post your play through or just some clips, flat out lying about a game because your prefer the original trilogy is baffling 🤣
booo
generic beat em up that takes from god of war no thanks stay a collect game
Nah it is not generic, it is a purple dragon doing platforming and beating the shit out of monkies, that is a bit more interesting than one guy beating the shit out of other guys.
Why are you upset that we like this game lmaoo 🤣