The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is the concluding chapter of the darker reboot trilogy about the dragon Spyro, which French studio Etranges Libellules completed after the previous two games. In this trilogy, the series moved away from the lighthearted tone of the original platformers from the late nineties toward a more serious, dramatic approach with a romance between Spyro and the dragoness Cynder, which the player has been following since the previous two installments.

In terms of gameplay, it's a third-person action platformer in which the player alternately controls Spyro and Cynder, each of whom has their own set of elemental breath attacks — from fire and ice to electricity and earth — which can be gradually unlocked over the course of the game and combined into stronger attacks. Great emphasis is placed on flying, which allows for freer exploration of larger levels than in the trilogy's previous installments, including standalone flying passages over expansive landscapes, and on cooperative passages, where the two characters must work together to solve puzzles and in fights against enemies, for example by combining elemental attacks on a single target. Visually, the game benefits from the by-then mature console generation, with more elaborate environments and more cinematic storytelling using both pre-rendered and in-engine sequences that flesh out the story's escalating, apocalyptic finale.

Reviews rated the title as a dignified and visually accomplished conclusion to the trilogy, one that successfully combined action gameplay with a more emotional story, although there were remarks about the occasionally clunky flight controls and the camera in more confined spaces. Dawn of the Dragon is still remembered by series fans today as one of the more emotional chapters in Spyro's history and as the last major installment before the franchise, years later, moved on to differently conceived reboots aimed more at a younger audience, with a markedly different artistic and narrative direction.