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Originally recorded: November 17, 2020
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And so begins my final game of the year. KI is still confident that I'll be able to finish by my Thanksgiving deadline, but even if I don't, I've got a plan for how to continue the game after the holiday if need be. Hopefully, if I can't beat it by next Wednesday, it won't end up bleed into December... or at least not that far into it.

So, Year of the Dragon. First impressions are a bit mixed. I think it's kind of weird that Spyro starts with all of the abilities he unlocks by the end of Ripto's Rage... while certain abilities that were available from the start last time are apparently gated. Losing the Gem Radar is going to make progressing to the point where I actually unlock it relatively quick, but I just can't help myself: I'm still grabbing up every Gem I can see in the meantime, which is still slowing me down. Regardless, I managed to make it through the first world in my usual stream time -- and with a majority of the eggs collected.

My first impressions of the game are a bit mixed. It feels like Year of the Dragon decided to mix elements from the first two games -- almost at random, without really analysing whether it would make for a better game or not -- resulting in a title that feels just a tiny bit weaker than Ripto's Rage, simply because of just how thoroughly the second game blew the original Spyro out of the water. The game almost seems to lampshade this combination with the cast I've seen so far: the dragons I rescued in the original game are chilling with Hunter and Moneybags from the second.

Oh well, at the very least, the game didn't decide to bring back the first game's wonky controls. The Speedway I played this time seems to have more challenges than last time, which is kind of fun. I hope it's more than just ring races though. The first boss fight was... okay. Maybe it's because I just came off of the fight with Ripto in my last stream, but it felt a little more simplistic than even the Crush fight. It wasn't nearly as bad as any of the first game's fights, but it was still kind of a letdown.

I guess I'm just worried that that's going to become a theme with Year of the Dragon. I know that streaming the entire DKC trilogy this year gave me a greater appreciation for the often overlooked (and despised) Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, but I'm feeling like while YotD is clearly not as bad as the first game, having the series peak with Ripto's Rage isn't exactly a good thing either... especially given what I know about Spyro post-PS1.