Spyro: Shadow Legacy

Spyro: Shadow Legacy is a role-playing game released for the Nintendo DS in the Spyro the Dragon series. It is the fifth handheld game and sixth installment in the original Spyro the Dragon series of video games, taking place after Spyro: A Hero's Tail. It is the final game in the original continuity until Spyro Reignited Trilogy in 2018; as the games released afterward, titled The Legend of Spyro series; serve as a reboot of the series.

Plot
A dark storm have engulfed everyone within the Dragon Realms, Avalar and The Forgotten Realms in a strange dimension known as the Shadow Realm. Its up to Spyro to rescue his trapped friends as he trains in the arts of the dragon-kata to defeat the Sorcerer, the one responsible for the Shadow Realm and his pawn Red, the previous antagonist from A Hero's Tail.

Why It Left a Shadowly Legacy

 * 1) Extremely repetitive, boring gameplay. While it has the isometric elements from the GBA games, it has a RPG system that you will be fighting against enemies over and over again, not to mention very slow and tedious.
 * 2) Bland and boring story, even by Spyro standards.
 * 3) Almost no music, as the game opts for having generic ambience throughout most of the game.
 * 4) Dull graphics, every background appears to be set in the sun that's distorted on purpose.
 * 5) Poor navigation and bad depth perception due to isometric viewpoint. You have no idea where you going most of the time.
 * 6) The new characters, such as Bandit the Armadillo, are bland and forgettable.
 * 7) Overly dark tone with none of the lighthearted charm in the Spyro series. The theme of the "Shadow Realm" is surprisingly creepy and out of place with the series that was made for kids, it should be a worthy note that while some of the past games did have their share of dark moments, those were usually very few and far between.
 * 8) Very limited catalog of enemies, and the few enemy types that are in the game are repeated hundreds of times.
 * 9) Lame and uninspired boss battles. In fact, there are only three bosses in total, and two of them (the Ice King and the Flame King) have the exact same AI and battle strategy, there aren't even any bosses in the levels themselves.
 * 10) The game holds your hand constantly, if something is even remotely challenging it tells you how to do it.
 * 11) Strange, non-believable occurrences that happen with no explanation. For instance, at one point, Bandit the Armadillo falls in love for Ember the Dragon and tasks you a relatively pointless mission to deliver a love letter to her. When you get there, Ember reads the letter and.....instantly forgets about her crush on Spyro and starts fawning over Bandit in the blink of an eye. Wh-what? Well, what was the point of that?!
 * 12) Several things, such as the above-mentioned mission and the Professor not believing in magic, also destroyed established continuity.
 * 13) After defeating the Sorcerer, the game just ends on a cliffhanger, as the antagonist survived the fight against Spyro and retreats, while Spyro and his friends are now preparing for his grand return. It's possible that a sequel might be in the plans for the developers, but since it didn't do well sales wise (as it only sold 15,000 copies in the US) and The Legend of Spyro happened a year later, those plans where scrapped.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) This game does have an interesting concept in its gameplay, as it also mixes in RPG elements as well. Too bad it's excecuted poorly.
 * 2) At least the game has environments from the old games in the series.
 * 3) Both Ember and Red from Spyro: A Hero's Tail make an appearance.

Reception
The game received mixed reviews from critics, but it received a negative reception from veteran Spyro fans and web reviewers for its tone shift and dark story, boring gameplay, and the lack of charm the orignal PS1 trilogy and A Hero's Tail is known for.

Trivia

 * Several concepts of this game, such as Purple Dragons being capable of harnessing special magic, were adapted into The Legend of Spyro trilogy and done better. The final boss of this game also bears some noticeable resemblance to Malefor, the main antagonist of The Legend of Spyro trilogy.

Videos
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