Individual Reflection
2103GFS: Critical Games Studies 1
Choosing the game
After discussing and rejecting a series of other games and deciding to swede Insomniac Studio’s Spyro the Dragon, we reminisced about (most of) our childhoods playing Spyro and watched some playthroughs (crash41596, 2011) together to refresh our memory. As we primarily watched videos from the first and last Homeworlds, we naturally gravitated towards a swede that focused on the beginning tutorial stages and the final boss fight. We immediately started noting down all the features we remembered from Spyro or saw in the videos, regardless of whether they were integral enough to be featured in our swede. Once that was done we determined the things that absolutely had to be in the swede, such as the crystal statue dragons, gem collection, Egg Thief, and Gnasty Gnorc. We then roughly came up with an outline for the swede, and left it to our script and storyboard people to whittle it down to the vitals so we could all approve it and add our own suggestions and critique.
With five members in the group and most of us having played Spyro, we had a decent number of people to judge what parts of Spyro were most memorable and integral in Spyro, which made figuring out what to put in the swede easier; if we all distinctly remembered chasing an Egg Thief for a long time, then it deserved to be filmed. It also meant more brains working together to analyse the game and offer different perspectives.
Reflection
During the process of sweding, and as also said in the sweding discussion in the group documentation, I came to fully realise just how much running was involved in Spyro, particularly when looking at the final storyboard. Most scenes outside of interacting with other characters involved Spyro chasing down enemies and defeating them in one hit. This was convenient as we only had a few minutes to work with, so wrapping up each scene quickly ended up not being only necessary, but truthful to the game. Gameplay in Spyro revolves around platforming elements rather than complex combat; enemies are treated as obstacles to be cleared in order to gain more treasure as opposed to providing a challenge or giving Spyro any experience for levelling up. The emphasis on level exploration, collection, and easy combat also reinforced that Spyro is intended to be enjoyed by all ages, particularly children (Rushing, 2014).
Tying in to Spyro’s appeal to a younger audience and belonging to the platforming genre, as we came up with the script and storyboard it became apparent how much of Spyro’s gameplay and recognisability stemmed from Spyro’s limited moveset. Throughout the game Spyro can only run, jump, glide, charge, and breath fire, all of which he can do from the opening level. After we had finalised our swede, it was obvious that while Spyro’s levels are memorable, it’s Spyro’s actions that are more integral to the game. It also became clear just how repetitive Spyro was, whether it be due to facing the Egg Thief every level, listening to the same advice from crystal dragon statues, or even listening to Spyro talk. While the levels differ and grow increasingly hard, no gameplay mechanics or objectives change in any particularly drastic way. Spyro is essentially the same game from beginning to end, with only the scenery and music changing.
Reflection on team process
Our group worked incredibly well together. We assigned our duties early on and had no difficulty in forcing anybody to do the work – everybody pitched in and volunteered when needed. If one member couldn’t bring or complete something, another person stepped in to help out. Everybody also made sure the workload was spread as evenly as possible. I was in charge of the documentation and playing Gnasty Gnorc. Steff played Spyro and maintained the wordpress blog and worked on the script; Ashleigh played the Egg Thief and was the group’s video editor; Kyle played the crystal dragon statues and a gnorc, created the storyboard and script, and worked as film director on the day of shooting; Adrienne created props and was our cameraman for the day. We all created our own costumes, with Ashleigh pitching in for the spare Gnorc costume (as we decided who would play him on the day after failing to reel anyone in to help us out)
We stayed in contact via a Facebook group where we were generally all available at any time of the day, making communication easy, which was vital as we were a large group (to the point where meeting in class was hardly needed). Being in a large group was advantageous, as we had more than enough people to play the roles, and for the most part each person only had to create their own costume and its accompanying props. Overall my experience with the group was excellent.
References
Spyro the Dragon | 120% Speed Run | 1hr 55m [Ntsc] by Crash41596, Game Recording, Youtube, Posted by crash41596 (2011). Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubD8jXEjpik
Rushing, J. (2014), Nostalgia Game Review: Spyro the Dragon. Viewed on 10/06/2014. Retrieved from:http://lasttokengaming.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/459/
