I vote for Enter the Dragonfly Reignited, based on the game Enter should have been featuring all the lost content, being complete instead of rushed and buggy, and with the updated gameplay and graphics of the Reignited Trilogy; I want to know if they'll double down on their Skylanders-looking character redesign for Ripto that looks way too much like a dragon for a dinosaur that hates dragons or go back to the original design and give it the same remastery as the reused classic era character designs in the Reignited Trilogy such as Spyro and Sparx.
@@autobotstarscream765 most likely it will be an actual continuation of the story,a brand new game the same way Crash 4 is. One thing that worries me a bit is how are they going to implement new mechanics, and is it going to be a catch with the community? I hope its just as difficult to beat as Crash 4... very exciting to think about
I don't want it if it's gonna be filled with the Amount of Out of Hand Completnist hell that this game had Seriously There is challenge, and then there is just Add shit ontop of shit over and over again until you have a tower of it
I loved it too. But when crash bash got released, crash and spyro have been scarred by mediocrity and have been barely staying alive in the 6th generation, laid dormant in the 7th & made a big comback in the 8th...though I'm a bit questionable about the 9th generation. As a side note: I see that the (true) 4th game (soft reboot) undid the mediocrity much to the divisive fanbase...i think. And for the record universal interactive studios did a crappy job (with the exception of crash twinsanity & spyro a heroes tail and the gba exclusives) with crash and spyro.
I got so burned out of original trilogy, that N. Sane only fix that just a tad bit, but once I got out of the honeymoon phase, it still felt like something was missing. Crash 4 oddly brought that nostalgia back, all the childhood rage, hairpulling because of missing boxes, dropping from the easiest platform, finger slip in a tense moment etc. Tldr; Crash 4 is the best Crash since the trilogy, dare I say it's the best out of the three & I'm a Naughty Dog era purist (I might as well build a church for it). I don't even care if it took a long time & a child sacrifice to do the completion, that only means I gotta spend more time with Crash & hone my skill crash-ing (?). If it's too hard, that's 100% on me, speedrunner exist & I want at least a fraction or half of their power, life is too short, I love me some challenge. Halfway through your video, nice work so far, that intro is God tier🎉👍👍
Almost forgot; I prefer this art style over N. Sane too, it's what the original Crash was designed to, cartoony polygon, working with the limitation back then. Making it "hyper realistic" in N. Sane was a weird choice. Even furries from Pixar movies aren't that furry.
Oh man, that intro's the best thing I've seen all week! Nice job basically summarizing the Crash series, but also the world itself in roughly 3-minutes. XD.
this just donned on me but dingodile being apart of the good guys is that a sneaky little reference to crash bash where dingodile was forced onto the side of good in the story mode of the game
It does kinda come off that way! Though, Ripper Roo was apparently considered as a playable character as well, and it'd make sense for him to be somewhat reformed as well.
Man, I wish I could figure out ways to talk about things where the point to be made is more than "This product is good" or "This aspect of a product is so bad" much like how you can. Watching your videos, I never stop ceasing to be amazed by the sheer variety of what can be said about.... anything, really, it's all way more interesting than half of what I've seen from other channels (even the stuff I do really like). Never stop being part of the discussion, B-Mask. (Side Note, still gonna wait patiently in the corner for that video on Kirby's Judaism, expecting a full 2-hour thesis for that one.)
It's gotta be the way he looks at games within a larger context. Really makes his points more profound than just "gee this game is hard". It's about the context of the entire franchise and the trajectory this entry sets-up
I swear, it's the little things you slip in your videos that makes you one of my favorite youtubers. I'm barely typing this comment in the beginning montage and hearing Stewart Copeland's snippet from his Spyro interview "I wanna live in this century" really amused me.
This is definitely one of the best "reviews" on YT. Its much more as a nice staging piece retrospective and review all in one without bloating into a 2 or longer hour video, nice work.
when i first saw n gin and n brio, after knowing about the dimension-hopping plot line and the concept behind tawna, i really thought they were gonna do something where the n brio you fight was from a dimension where n gin was cortex's original assistant and betrayed him instead. i still think that would've been really fun, two evil henchmen forced to work with their traitor counterpart from a timeline where the other replaced them
This is my favourite Crash ever. In design, personality, humour, story and game. I appreciate the game being challenging, and the guy who said ‘it’s casually fun, but not for 100%’ is totally right. I don’t believe this means the levels are too hard, but that the requirements need to be adjusted for 100%. Hidden/offscreen crates and fiery crates need to go, and the Cortex levels are honestly boring. Food Run is a perfect example of fantastic level design and excellent balance.
I really wish Activision gave Crash the Mario treatment. If they invested in titles with smaller scopes (á la 3D land and the wii u marios) and new, experimental gameplay types (with a possible focus on the side characters) they wouldn't need to put their eggs in one premium, triple A basket every time, and worry if it makes bank or not. Crash and its characters are so malleable, the franchise itself is much larger than the individual games. It just speaks to the narrow minded, high-budget, triple A game publisher market that they have such a popular character, and a blueprint for success, but they're still not willing to put the resources in. Hope Wumpa League is a sign of change
Made me wish Sony owned them. I feel they would've milked him like Sega milks Sonic. Crash Bandicoot can make wacky spin offs. Like Super Crash Bandicoot RPG would be cool. Or Crash Bandicoot Maker like Mario Maker.
@@ci7210 Crash Bandicoot Maker would be straight up fire. But I would also take just a 2D or 2.5D Crash in general, they would be cheaper to produce and we need more Crash out there.
What a masterclass of editing and writing, I'm exceptionally grateful that UA-cam recommended this to me. I basically agree with (nearly) all of your points!
You did it. You saved video game essays. Sorry, couldn't help myself. I'm never going to complete Crash 4 106% (and I completed Crash Bash 200% back in the day), but man, I finally feel the bandicoot is back where he belongs and I'm overjoyed with the game we got from Toys for Bob. Here's hoping Crash 5 can do even better, and even top Twinsanity's writing and creativity aswell (that game is still king in my eyes story-wise). Now with the new status quo, I feel Crash 5 can bring the series even more experimental and new exciting things to see, aswell as fixing previous flaws, kinda like Crash 2 took a major step forward from Crash 1. Merry Christmas! Hope you're doing well! 🎅✨
I watched all your crash/spyro videos in preparation to this. I'm not regretting anything. From the opening scene I knew you put all your love and passion into this. Crash Bandicoot 4 might not be the best Crash game but is the one we needed the most in this age of remakes and remastered games. I love this game, the characters, the story, the designs, the levels, the music, the twists, the secrets, the collectibles, the bosses, the interactions, the new powers up(the masks), the music, I love them all. Even the difficulty (for the most part) I enjoyed. If the difficulty is the biggest criticism that we can take from this game then Crash is indeed in good hands. I love that orange marsupial with all my heart and I never want to see him vanish from our consoles ever again. Your video was inspiring and I love every second of it. And the answer to the ultimate question: did Crash manage to save video games? Was the most cathartic thing I ever heard. I jumped and screamed YES for some reason because yes Crash has many ups and downs in his video game career but the only thing always present with him was the love and expirimentation with his games. So yes in my heart and many fans "He never stopped saving them" and I hope he will continue saving them for years to come. Thank you so much for this video. Keep being awesome!!!
As somebody who just likes beating crash games and dosent go for 100% Crash 4 was by far my favourite platformer of all time. I don’t have any emotional attachments to platformer a as a kid. I played every single 3D Mario game (besides galaxy 2) and all the original crash game’s in the last 6 months and I had so much more fun with crash 4 than any else
It was the perfect amount of keeping things the same and doing something new. I think that's why it's so unique. They hit that perfect balance that few ever do with this kind of thing.
Came back after beating Crash 4 for the first time. Video is REALLY depressing after Activision gave Toys 4 Bob Call of Duty... duties. REALLY hoping they make a five; although I'm not sure if that would be likely. At least we still got Beenox... *for now.*
@@psicopato2460 no, but Toys For Bob and most other Activision studios got dragged into development for the Call of Duty games in the works a short while ago - but with Vanguard tanking and the series skipping 2023 (the first year-skip for COD in some 15 years IIRC), not to mention the various lawsuits & crap hitting the fan and the possible buyout by Microsoft, hopefully those devs are getting to make more games for Crash and other series
51:40 this quote has become really important to me. i keep thinking about it all the time and how i can apply it to my life. it's made me come to an understanding of a lot of things in the past few months, and i am thankful for that. even after almost 3 years, still a fantastic video.
New channel to binge, this was awesome! Can't wait to jump into your other videos. Crash 4 is a pretty perfect game to me honestly especially on switch. Whenever I get annoyed I normally just put it down for a bit and come back and I end up losing hours to it. I cant wait to see the next one
Amazing video! I was looking forward to your opinion on the game, since you were one of the first as far as I know, to bring up the art style issue of N.Sane. On the issue of N.Brio going back to working with Cortex, I actually had a discussion about this with friends a while ago and we all kinda realized, Cortex never really found out WHO destroyed his space station in 2, heck, given he and Brio didn't interact at all on the game, he had no reason to assume Brio, who he clearly had a low opinion of, would manage to do such thing, thus in 4, with the hints they gave us, it feels like Cortex is just unaware of Brio's betrayal, with the other doctor still acting on his own and planning to get back at Cortex once more while pretending to be the same subordinate he's always been. As for his design, I think the main issue is that all other doctors had redesigns that softened their uglier features, even N.Gin, while Brio looks like a more exaggerated version of his older design, contrasting hard with the rest of the doctors. Whew, sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to add to the discussion I guess. Anyways, loved the video!
@Rock Golem I do agree that Tennesee and Galleth were neat, but I think thw corw gameplay was all over the place. Too many unfocused minigames and the worlds, yes big, but oh so confusing, and it felt we were way too short of a time in each to make them memorable and easy to navigate with. Id say Galleth map is the exeption of that. But yes the tone and characterization was so dissapointing and I felt the plot lacking not to mention tge real ending we never truly got, which was just big slap of a cherry on top.
As someone who did 106% twinsanity back in the day, I'm loving the mentions of it. It is honestly one of my favorite games once you get past the bugs/jank.
My hope going forward is that Toys for Bob end up making this sort of a modern version of the original trilogy and while 4 seems to have a lot in common with the original game, from being unwaveringly difficult to the return of having a map for progression, Bob will go for an experience more like Crash 2 with the next game, building on what made this one work and either working on or canning what made it not work to provide basically a different game compared to 4. Then after that they can build on whatever they improved and do even more with a 6th game like what Warped did for Cortex strikes back. Dunno what would happen after that, though, honestly even if Toys for Bob had already planned exactly what i just described before even starting on About time that they would even have any idea what to do when they get to 7 just yet, that is like four years away at least after all, but i guess ideally they just do what should have been done with Crash since Naughty stopped working on Crash. Continue working on Crash to deliver bigger and better games while still remaining consistent with Crash's quality and never loosing focus of what made him so appealing. Anyway, My point is that Crash 4 is a lot like Crash 1 and in the future when we have Crash 6, We will look back on this game as maybe being a bit too difficult but still being a fun time to come back to as long as you're only planning on beating the story and not actually completing the game, as well as having laid the groundwork for the sequels.
Okay nevermind, i guess with every activision studio being forced to work solely on COD now, we aren't getting a new crash or spyro game now until the year 2030 and when we do, it will be some completely different studio.
Crash 5 was canceled way before crash team rumble ever came out . Be optimistic that Activision even made crash team rumble . It means crash 4 was enough of a success for them to garner people to make crash team rumble . I don’t doubt this will be the end of the crash series .
Dang son! Just discovered your channel coming from Shammy's recommendation video and ... wow! Is this love at first sight. Your style is super entertaining and well thought out. Keep up the good work. You got yourself another subscriber. Now for my favorite part about discovering a great new channel, time for some BINGE WATCHING!
I agree that this was the best depiction of N.Tropy, at least character wise I wish he was more prevalent in the game and story with how much build up they gave him, rather than just one world and boss fight
If all goes well, Crash 4 will be the springboard needed to make this series relevant again. I may not have grown up with it myself, but I definitely recognize the unique charm it brings to the table. There isn't anything else quite like it, and even just for that reason, I believe it deserved this second chance. This feels like the Sonic Colors of the Crash Bandicoot series, and I couldn't be happier for it.
Funny you say that since a lot of Sonic fans are suddenly turning on Sonic Colors and its influence on games after it. Though I'm sure Crash 4 will positively influence the games after it in terms of gameplay and everything outside of that.
@@MattTheHuman9 It's cause Sonic Colors while not bad, was seen as a holy grail not necessarily because of its quality, but due to the context of the fandom at the time, being a Sonic game that only had Sonic as a playable character with no gimmicks. Today that isn't seen as a differential, because every mainline game after that tried to put heavy emphasizes on Sonic himself and the fandom is getting tried of the formula that Colors popularized. Not to mention that Colors is really fucking weird when it comes to actual level design, a huge part of the game is actually 2D, and the level design has a "blocky" and empty feel to it, it almost feels like half the game was made with a level editor, while the series always had a more "natural" feeling to the levels.
>This feels like the Sonic Colors of the Crash Bandicoot series If Sonic Colors had better writting, better jokes, better characters, better level design, better understanding.
Regarding two points: -The linear map feels like a deliberate choice to me, both to allow for a smoother difficulty curve, and moreso to emphasize that the levels are connected ala Crash 1 (often one can notice a level ends where the next begins). IAT and Crash 4 are structurally more of a journey than 2 and 3’s grab bag looser structure. -I think viewing the art style as ‘these characters need to evolve, how can we move forward’ is overthinking it a bit. This crew had a style and it’s simply more fulfilling, more fulfilling, as an artist, to be able to present your unique take on established characters, than mere copy-and-pasting of previous models (and I’m pleasantly surprised Activision apparently allows different aesthetic takes, be it this or the mobile game, rather than insisting different crews stick to the same design forever ala Mario in any game. The art style is what it is simply because that’s the established TfB style at this point. In turn, those early drawings are theoretically them getting a hang on how these characters work before conforming them to their own artistic sensibilities...speaking from the position of a recurring Dingodile fanartist. xS
I see your first point for sure, but I think we're actually in agreement on the second. In moving forward, I mean exactly that, seeing that artists can put their stamp on established characters and continue the idea that it's okay to do so. The art book also goes into detail on this trail of thought, how they had to adapt their style to Crash (Kole talks specifically about having to adjust to doing something more comedic and change his usual quirks). they were very clear on the process of 'how much do we want to stick to the past, and how much do we want to innovate.' It's definitely more than simply being how TFB's artists draw characters. If it wasn't explicitly talked about, I definitely wouldn't have brought it up!
Crash 4 is really a game to take your time with. I've seen reviewers have an awful time with all the collectables and what not but that's because they're trying to blaze through it as quick as possible when it clearly wasn't designed for that. I just take my time beating levels/going back for skins whenever I feel like playing crash and the amount of things to do just gives me more reasons to play.
Yeah, I saw that Nitro Rad video too- and as I said here, even when not trying to rush through, it's *exhausting* to try and complete the game no matter how much time you take. I was very conscious of both sides of the issue and wanted to put it to the test, and sure enough, there's truth to what both are saying.
I actually had a dream of a snowboarding downhill level with Dingodile before the game came out, like some proper time before, and those snow levels occasionally look exactly like that dream, uncanney
My brother and I grew up playing these games, and we played through this one together. I think we lucked out: Because we were trading off the controller and taking the 100% challenge together, we never felt burned out. Frustrated here and there, sure, but it was never painful. If we each tried to do it on our own, then I'm sure we'd feel differently.
@@islandboy9381 It's OK but flawed, has some clear weaknesses and one very divisive story element, and some people think 3's ending should have remained the definitive final end of the series narratively.
@B- Mask I love it how you show Sly Cooper at 28:03 and talk about the developers paying attention to their remakes the same day I ask on the Sly Cooper reddit community what they would think if Toys For Bob took on the Sly Cooper franchise 😂 keep up the good work, love your videos and your approach on the commentaries, always nice to chill and watch your content man
Amazing video man. The very first crash game was the first game I ever played. This series holds a special place in my heart as it does with many others, and it feels good to see you do it justice, and take the care the series ends into your hands. Thank you. Kick ass video
I was always more of a Spyro fan as a kid. And when that sequel inevitably hits the shelves, I am going to be much more critical with it than I ever would be with Crash.
This is such a good video!! It feels so much more substantial than other videos on this game! Talking about the flaws in a constructive way rather than a "This is the worst and ruins the whole experience!" way, I can understand the "It's fun to play not fun to complete" opinion but for me even though the game felt padded going for 100% (I've never enjoyed time trials so I'm not going to 106%) I never felt like I was not having fun, and I put that down to the games strong art direction and gameplay. Crash feels inherently fun to move so I never felt too frustrated.
I haven't been able to buy it yet (a combo of moving and... 2020), but goddamn, do I ever wanna play this! It looks like all the parts of Crash I liked, with new stuff added in. Thank you for the excellently written and edited video essay, B.
Never seen a bit of the game, and jesus, never thought pretty much anything would look so good and I thought Reignited looked perfect - but Crash 4 actually looks and feels even better to watch ... and seriously, dude, the work you did for this video is AMAZING! Always love watching your videos c:
I know that not everyone agree with me, but, at least for me, ‘Crash 4’ is the best in the series. The best way to describe it is: ‘Everything that was good in the original ‘Naughty Dog’’s games crammed into one very long and varied package, with a lot of modern twist to make it in line with modern platformers’. Oh, and I also didn’t mind it being difficult. In fact, quite the opposite: The difficulty is one of the reasons I enjoyed the game so much, it challenged me and pushed me to the limit, without feeling unfair
I mad respect that you didn't mention Skylander. Because I know if you did then everyone would be going crazy in the comments talking about how it "Ruined" the Spyro Franchise and how it made Crash Look like a joke. As a fan of the series myself, it's hard sharing my opinion of the series since I know it will only be talked down upon.
Thanks, I get what you mean more than I maybe used to. I remember being one of the people very upset at the Skylanders news at the time, and I wouldn't call myself a fan of the games even now- but with the benefit of hindsight it absolutely did what it needed to for Activision, and I think it's a significant moment in the history of what was hot in video games. I had a little cousin who collected all the toys and even got himself a skylanders cake for his birthday, so I got to experience its effect first hand. It totally didn't ruin Spyro or crash or anything. For a huge amount of people it was their series of choice and the hard numbers prove its existence was worthwhile. It even got Toys for Bob into the arena, so its legacy is pretty positive.
On the subject of "difficulty", I personally was in love with it... but that doesn't necessarily mean it was the right level _in general,_ just the right level _for me._ Since I've got a lot of crazy gaming accomplishments under my belt (full completion of Super Meat Boy, of IWBTG, of non-DLC Sonic Unleashed, of non-DLC (minus two S ranks) of Sonic '06, all Platinum Relics in all prior Crash games, a 102% run of DKC2 in 1:36 IGT, etc.)... yeah, that's a high bar. The only straight difficulty aspect I didn't like was the Dev Times, which... well, they're Dev Times, they aren't meant to have a proper difficulty scale. However, compounding this fact was the thrice-damned Triple Spin, which when combined with sliding for its maximum effect, was absolute _murder_ on my thumbs! Enough so that I _gave up_ on getting all the Dev Times (though I did manage five of them while going for Platinums)! While I would love to test my abilities against new levels in the future, they really should return to just having a run button like Warped introduced.
amazing video and really sold me on checking this game out sooner rather than later! i played and enjoyed crash 2 and 3 so much as a kid, and while i enjoyed the n sane trilogy enough to get its plat, i did feel that there was still something missing there. i'm really excited to see what this game offers. great video. also 26:36 sounds very much like a plinkett delivery to me
Amazing review B-mask wonderful video. Truly a WOH Really though I had a big dumb grin on my face through most of the video, really fun and funny to watch.
I don't think Ive ever felt more vindicated by an intro to a crash video. That whole into was like a summation of my whole life waiting patiently for Crash to finally come back. I felt 1:50-2:20 so hard. I remember every reference every conspiracy every leak every rumor, all of it.
Absolute masterpiece, you’ve summed up everything perfect about this game and the series in general. I’m excited for 5 to come out just to see your opinion
I can honestly say that if the INTRO you made recaping all failures was in the actual game during the "skate" sequence before the battle with Tropy.. it would have been MAGIC
@@ndJssFlurt As much as I love TwinSanity, I don't want another N.Sane Trilogy. 16 years have passed. Those ideas are gone now, this team is gone. This already won't be the game, that was intended to be in 2004.
Honestly, thanks to this game, I really hope that Spyro gets his “real” fourth game in the future.
i mean the logo for spyro 4 is teased by tfb so im 99.99% sure its being announced next year
I vote for Enter the Dragonfly Reignited, based on the game Enter should have been featuring all the lost content, being complete instead of rushed and buggy, and with the updated gameplay and graphics of the Reignited Trilogy; I want to know if they'll double down on their Skylanders-looking character redesign for Ripto that looks way too much like a dragon for a dinosaur that hates dragons or go back to the original design and give it the same remastery as the reused classic era character designs in the Reignited Trilogy such as Spyro and Sparx.
@@autobotstarscream765 most likely it will be an actual continuation of the story,a brand new game the same way Crash 4 is. One thing that worries me a bit is how are they going to implement new mechanics, and is it going to be a catch with the community?
I hope its just as difficult to beat as Crash 4... very exciting to think about
I don't want it if it's gonna be filled with the Amount of Out of Hand Completnist hell that this game had
Seriously
There is challenge, and then there is just Add shit ontop of shit over and over again until you have a tower of it
@@quinnholloway5400 Yea I mean main issue for me tbh is the polar sections, theyre so unbelievably bad compared to original crash polar sections
Love crash sitting in the audience, looks so hurt.
Imagine walking in on your dad's lecture as a joke only to find the lecture is about whether or not you should exist
I love how the woman next to him just.. turns to look at him lol.
"Bro, are you hearing this?!"
The editing on this was fantastic the whole way through. Terrific job on this, definitely worth the wait.
Nicktendo you care about a game other than sonic?
I only made it through the intro and I'm already demanding the name of who edited this. That montage was some of the best stuff I've seen in years.
I loved it too. But when crash bash got released, crash and spyro have been scarred by mediocrity and have been barely staying alive in the 6th generation, laid dormant in the 7th & made a big comback in the 8th...though I'm a bit questionable about the 9th generation.
As a side note: I see that the (true) 4th game (soft reboot) undid the mediocrity much to the divisive fanbase...i think.
And for the record universal interactive studios did a crappy job (with the exception of crash twinsanity & spyro a heroes tail and the gba exclusives) with crash and spyro.
That's really nice of you Nick, thanks! Hope I can keep it going...
waw nicktendooo
I got so burned out of original trilogy, that N. Sane only fix that just a tad bit, but once I got out of the honeymoon phase, it still felt like something was missing. Crash 4 oddly brought that nostalgia back, all the childhood rage, hairpulling because of missing boxes, dropping from the easiest platform, finger slip in a tense moment etc. Tldr; Crash 4 is the best Crash since the trilogy, dare I say it's the best out of the three & I'm a Naughty Dog era purist (I might as well build a church for it). I don't even care if it took a long time & a child sacrifice to do the completion, that only means I gotta spend more time with Crash & hone my skill crash-ing (?). If it's too hard, that's 100% on me, speedrunner exist & I want at least a fraction or half of their power, life is too short, I love me some challenge. Halfway through your video, nice work so far, that intro is God tier🎉👍👍
Almost forgot; I prefer this art style over N. Sane too, it's what the original Crash was designed to, cartoony polygon, working with the limitation back then. Making it "hyper realistic" in N. Sane was a weird choice. Even furries from Pixar movies aren't that furry.
Oh man, that intro's the best thing I've seen all week! Nice job basically summarizing the Crash series, but also the world itself in roughly 3-minutes. XD.
this just donned on me but dingodile being apart of the good guys is that a sneaky little reference to crash bash where dingodile was forced onto the side of good in the story mode of the game
Tiny confirmed good also? Lol
It does kinda come off that way! Though, Ripper Roo was apparently considered as a playable character as well, and it'd make sense for him to be somewhat reformed as well.
@@2401blue no he was supposed to be a miniboss at the end of run it bayou you can tell by the music
This man said "donned on me"
@@JayAreAitch absolute dawn
In the event we get a Crash 5, i hope Crunch becomes an actual playable character and not stuck in a rolling ball
I hope they come back to the multiverse thing, so we can get crunch and nina on the game
Man, I wish I could figure out ways to talk about things where the point to be made is more than "This product is good" or "This aspect of a product is so bad" much like how you can. Watching your videos, I never stop ceasing to be amazed by the sheer variety of what can be said about.... anything, really, it's all way more interesting than half of what I've seen from other channels (even the stuff I do really like). Never stop being part of the discussion, B-Mask.
(Side Note, still gonna wait patiently in the corner for that video on Kirby's Judaism, expecting a full 2-hour thesis for that one.)
It's gotta be the way he looks at games within a larger context. Really makes his points more profound than just "gee this game is hard". It's about the context of the entire franchise and the trajectory this entry sets-up
@@screenwatcher949 tfw your fans are more intelligent/articulate at breaking down how you do what you do
thanks fellas!
>I never stop ceasing to be amazed
American Education(TM) or ESL?
Read. Just read books. You'll begin speaking more eloquently without even realizing.
I swear, it's the little things you slip in your videos that makes you one of my favorite youtubers. I'm barely typing this comment in the beginning montage and hearing Stewart Copeland's snippet from his Spyro interview "I wanna live in this century" really amused me.
The opening of the video alone reminded me of why your content is so inspiring.
Like for real, had a goofy smile on my face the whole way through!
Three years later and I still cannot find a more majestic opening than this video's intro.
This is definitely one of the best "reviews" on YT. Its much more as a nice staging piece retrospective and review all in one without bloating into a 2 or longer hour video, nice work.
B, my guy. I had the shittiest day at work, haven't even watched yet, but thank you for the video.
when i first saw n gin and n brio, after knowing about the dimension-hopping plot line and the concept behind tawna, i really thought they were gonna do something where the n brio you fight was from a dimension where n gin was cortex's original assistant and betrayed him instead. i still think that would've been really fun, two evil henchmen forced to work with their traitor counterpart from a timeline where the other replaced them
Great idea
This is officially the best Crash 4 review I have ever seen. Well done!
B-Mask this video was so good I didn’t even notice it was almost an hour long until it finished
Same tbh
The editing that went into that opening. Know that the work that went into that is APPRECIATED, holy moly.
Thank God, the Villainous video is finally out
underrated comment
This is my favourite Crash ever. In design, personality, humour, story and game. I appreciate the game being challenging, and the guy who said ‘it’s casually fun, but not for 100%’ is totally right. I don’t believe this means the levels are too hard, but that the requirements need to be adjusted for 100%. Hidden/offscreen crates and fiery crates need to go, and the Cortex levels are honestly boring. Food Run is a perfect example of fantastic level design and excellent balance.
What's wrong with the fire crates?
@@crashbandicoot430 they’re pointless, crash. Just inconvenient, monotonous, things to drag out level time
@@memesauce9410 then the same can be said about iron crates
I really wish Activision gave Crash the Mario treatment. If they invested in titles with smaller scopes (á la 3D land and the wii u marios) and new, experimental gameplay types (with a possible focus on the side characters) they wouldn't need to put their eggs in one premium, triple A basket every time, and worry if it makes bank or not. Crash and its characters are so malleable, the franchise itself is much larger than the individual games. It just speaks to the narrow minded, high-budget, triple A game publisher market that they have such a popular character, and a blueprint for success, but they're still not willing to put the resources in. Hope Wumpa League is a sign of change
This is a very, very good take. I may credit you on this one day.
@@BMask I'd be honored! :D
Made me wish Sony owned them. I feel they would've milked him like Sega milks Sonic.
Crash Bandicoot can make wacky spin offs. Like Super Crash Bandicoot RPG would be cool. Or Crash Bandicoot Maker like Mario Maker.
@@ci7210 Crash Bandicoot Maker would be straight up fire. But I would also take just a 2D or 2.5D Crash in general, they would be cheaper to produce and we need more Crash out there.
The analyses was spot on, but made all the better by acknowledging that Twinsanity despite its flaws is still a gem of a game.
What a masterclass of editing and writing, I'm exceptionally grateful that UA-cam recommended this to me. I basically agree with (nearly) all of your points!
That opening was "mwah" perfect
Yes
I didn’t even know someone could make a review like this. Here’s my review:
it’s a really good game, 9/10. Thanks for reading
Good review lad
@@BMask even better than yours lol
@@ygobe2 really got me there chief
That was one of the most incredible montages I've ever seen, holy crash
You did it. You saved video game essays.
Sorry, couldn't help myself. I'm never going to complete Crash 4 106% (and I completed Crash Bash 200% back in the day), but man, I finally feel the bandicoot is back where he belongs and I'm overjoyed with the game we got from Toys for Bob. Here's hoping Crash 5 can do even better, and even top Twinsanity's writing and creativity aswell (that game is still king in my eyes story-wise). Now with the new status quo, I feel Crash 5 can bring the series even more experimental and new exciting things to see, aswell as fixing previous flaws, kinda like Crash 2 took a major step forward from Crash 1.
Merry Christmas! Hope you're doing well! 🎅✨
200%!
I watched all your crash/spyro videos in preparation to this. I'm not regretting anything. From the opening scene I knew you put all your love and passion into this. Crash Bandicoot 4 might not be the best Crash game but is the one we needed the most in this age of remakes and remastered games. I love this game, the characters, the story, the designs, the levels, the music, the twists, the secrets, the collectibles, the bosses, the interactions, the new powers up(the masks), the music, I love them all. Even the difficulty (for the most part) I enjoyed. If the difficulty is the biggest criticism that we can take from this game then Crash is indeed in good hands. I love that orange marsupial with all my heart and I never want to see him vanish from our consoles ever again. Your video was inspiring and I love every second of it. And the answer to the ultimate question: did Crash manage to save video games? Was the most cathartic thing I ever heard. I jumped and screamed YES for some reason because yes Crash has many ups and downs in his video game career but the only thing always present with him was the love and expirimentation with his games. So yes in my heart and many fans "He never stopped saving them" and I hope he will continue saving them for years to come. Thank you so much for this video. Keep being awesome!!!
describing wrath's music as "an assault" had me doubled over lol what a fantastic description of that ost
It also perfectly describes the visuals too. I mean, Coco looks like a balding, middle-aged man.
A sign of an absolutely awful taste in music.
@@genyakozlov1316 Look, I love the Wrath ost and the Toy Story 2 ps1 ost by the same guys but it really is *an assault* haha
Wraths soundtrack was the best part of wrath, that and the atlas ball.... shame it had to rely on the 3s warped room music.
@@genyakozlov1316 You do, indeed.
As somebody who just likes beating crash games and dosent go for 100% Crash 4 was by far my favourite platformer of all time. I don’t have any emotional attachments to platformer a as a kid. I played every single 3D Mario game (besides galaxy 2) and all the original crash game’s in the last 6 months and I had so much more fun with crash 4 than any else
What an intro, 10/10
It was the perfect amount of keeping things the same and doing something new. I think that's why it's so unique. They hit that perfect balance that few ever do with this kind of thing.
Very excited to watch this as crash 4 was great and your longer more essay style videos are some of my favourite on the platform!
I'm astonished by your in-depth examination of visual designs. So few channels are capable of it.
26:13
Are you kidding me
For two months I've had this game
And I only now find out about this
It's amazing
Came back after beating Crash 4 for the first time. Video is REALLY depressing after Activision gave Toys 4 Bob Call of Duty... duties. REALLY hoping they make a five; although I'm not sure if that would be likely. At least we still got Beenox... *for now.*
Toys for Bob closed?
@@psicopato2460 no, but Toys For Bob and most other Activision studios got dragged into development for the Call of Duty games in the works a short while ago - but with Vanguard tanking and the series skipping 2023 (the first year-skip for COD in some 15 years IIRC), not to mention the various lawsuits & crap hitting the fan and the possible buyout by Microsoft, hopefully those devs are getting to make more games for Crash and other series
Dear lord... that intro!
Intro alone is well worth it!
51:40
this quote has become really important to me. i keep thinking about it all the time and how i can apply it to my life. it's made me come to an understanding of a lot of things in the past few months, and i am thankful for that. even after almost 3 years, still a fantastic video.
New channel to binge, this was awesome! Can't wait to jump into your other videos. Crash 4 is a pretty perfect game to me honestly especially on switch. Whenever I get annoyed I normally just put it down for a bit and come back and I end up losing hours to it. I cant wait to see the next one
Amazing video! I was looking forward to your opinion on the game, since you were one of the first as far as I know, to bring up the art style issue of N.Sane.
On the issue of N.Brio going back to working with Cortex, I actually had a discussion about this with friends a while ago and we all kinda realized, Cortex never really found out WHO destroyed his space station in 2, heck, given he and Brio didn't interact at all on the game, he had no reason to assume Brio, who he clearly had a low opinion of, would manage to do such thing, thus in 4, with the hints they gave us, it feels like Cortex is just unaware of Brio's betrayal, with the other doctor still acting on his own and planning to get back at Cortex once more while pretending to be the same subordinate he's always been.
As for his design, I think the main issue is that all other doctors had redesigns that softened their uglier features, even N.Gin, while Brio looks like a more exaggerated version of his older design, contrasting hard with the rest of the doctors.
Whew, sorry for the wall of text, just wanted to add to the discussion I guess. Anyways, loved the video!
This kinda reminds me of another “4th” game built around time travel that he needs to make a video on...
Wrath of Cortex
Maybe we can go back in time and make it so it never happened.
Oh god yes
@Rock Golem I do agree that Tennesee and Galleth were neat, but I think thw corw gameplay was all over the place. Too many unfocused minigames and the worlds, yes big, but oh so confusing, and it felt we were way too short of a time in each to make them memorable and easy to navigate with. Id say Galleth map is the exeption of that. But yes the tone and characterization was so dissapointing and I felt the plot lacking not to mention tge real ending we never truly got, which was just big slap of a cherry on top.
@@kuppikahvikeisari9120 The only truly redeeming thing Sly 4 gave us was Bentley's Hackpack
Yo. Algorithm. Take a look at this. It’s pretty good
Loved Twin Sanity, had some of the funniest voice acting in it bar none. Pissed myself laughing at Cortex in that.
I fucking love that intro lmao
As someone who did 106% twinsanity back in the day, I'm loving the mentions of it. It is honestly one of my favorite games once you get past the bugs/jank.
My hope going forward is that Toys for Bob end up making this sort of a modern version of the original trilogy and while 4 seems to have a lot in common with the original game, from being unwaveringly difficult to the return of having a map for progression, Bob will go for an experience more like Crash 2 with the next game, building on what made this one work and either working on or canning what made it not work to provide basically a different game compared to 4. Then after that they can build on whatever they improved and do even more with a 6th game like what Warped did for Cortex strikes back. Dunno what would happen after that, though, honestly even if Toys for Bob had already planned exactly what i just described before even starting on About time that they would even have any idea what to do when they get to 7 just yet, that is like four years away at least after all, but i guess ideally they just do what should have been done with Crash since Naughty stopped working on Crash. Continue working on Crash to deliver bigger and better games while still remaining consistent with Crash's quality and never loosing focus of what made him so appealing.
Anyway, My point is that Crash 4 is a lot like Crash 1 and in the future when we have Crash 6, We will look back on this game as maybe being a bit too difficult but still being a fun time to come back to as long as you're only planning on beating the story and not actually completing the game, as well as having laid the groundwork for the sequels.
Okay nevermind, i guess with every activision studio being forced to work solely on COD now, we aren't getting a new crash or spyro game now until the year 2030 and when we do, it will be some completely different studio.
"To tell you that story, I have to tell you this one."
And that, is when I subscribed.
"Even if I suck and I will never get N. Tropy."
Eh, it's good to know one's own limits. I, for one, settled at the Velo trials
always the absolute best content here. so happy you did this game! best vid I've seen of it so far
you’re gonna go far man, I love every vid you’ve made so far
With the recent news of Crash 5, at least we had a good run from the N. Sane trilogy to Crash Team Rumble 🥲
Crash 5 was canceled way before crash team rumble ever came out . Be optimistic that Activision even made crash team rumble . It means crash 4 was enough of a success for them to garner people to make crash team rumble . I don’t doubt this will be the end of the crash series .
Dang son! Just discovered your channel coming from Shammy's recommendation video and ... wow! Is this love at first sight. Your style is super entertaining and well thought out. Keep up the good work. You got yourself another subscriber. Now for my favorite part about discovering a great new channel, time for some BINGE WATCHING!
Man....what a fantastic video, great editing, good script, and the video never got boring. Keep it up you definitely deserve wayyyyy more subs.
Crash bandicoot as a dragon is the thing i never knew i didn't wanted to see.Thank you for the nightmares theatre boy.
I agree that this was the best depiction of N.Tropy, at least character wise
I wish he was more prevalent in the game and story with how much build up they gave him, rather than just one world and boss fight
If all goes well, Crash 4 will be the springboard needed to make this series relevant again. I may not have grown up with it myself, but I definitely recognize the unique charm it brings to the table. There isn't anything else quite like it, and even just for that reason, I believe it deserved this second chance. This feels like the Sonic Colors of the Crash Bandicoot series, and I couldn't be happier for it.
Funny you say that since a lot of Sonic fans are suddenly turning on Sonic Colors and its influence on games after it. Though I'm sure Crash 4 will positively influence the games after it in terms of gameplay and everything outside of that.
@@MattTheHuman9 It's cause Sonic Colors while not bad, was seen as a holy grail not necessarily because of its quality, but due to the context of the fandom at the time, being a Sonic game that only had Sonic as a playable character with no gimmicks. Today that isn't seen as a differential, because every mainline game after that tried to put heavy emphasizes on Sonic himself and the fandom is getting tried of the formula that Colors popularized.
Not to mention that Colors is really fucking weird when it comes to actual level design, a huge part of the game is actually 2D, and the level design has a "blocky" and empty feel to it, it almost feels like half the game was made with a level editor, while the series always had a more "natural" feeling to the levels.
>This feels like the Sonic Colors of the Crash Bandicoot series
If Sonic Colors had better writting, better jokes, better characters, better level design, better understanding.
More like Sonic Mania right? Back to the gameplay and style of the first three beloved games? Has got the time travel and everything lol
@@Kriss_ch. No. Sonic Mania is just nostalgia pandering. If anything, Crash 4's gameplay style looks more like TwinSanity than the trilogy.
Regarding two points:
-The linear map feels like a deliberate choice to me, both to allow for a smoother difficulty curve, and moreso to emphasize that the levels are connected ala Crash 1 (often one can notice a level ends where the next begins). IAT and Crash 4 are structurally more of a journey than 2 and 3’s grab bag looser structure.
-I think viewing the art style as ‘these characters need to evolve, how can we move forward’ is overthinking it a bit. This crew had a style and it’s simply more fulfilling, more fulfilling, as an artist, to be able to present your unique take on established characters, than mere copy-and-pasting of previous models (and I’m pleasantly surprised Activision apparently allows different aesthetic takes, be it this or the mobile game, rather than insisting different crews stick to the same design forever ala Mario in any game. The art style is what it is simply because that’s the established TfB style at this point. In turn, those early drawings are theoretically them getting a hang on how these characters work before conforming them to their own artistic sensibilities...speaking from the position of a recurring Dingodile fanartist. xS
I see your first point for sure, but I think we're actually in agreement on the second. In moving forward, I mean exactly that, seeing that artists can put their stamp on established characters and continue the idea that it's okay to do so. The art book also goes into detail on this trail of thought, how they had to adapt their style to Crash (Kole talks specifically about having to adjust to doing something more comedic and change his usual quirks). they were very clear on the process of 'how much do we want to stick to the past, and how much do we want to innovate.' It's definitely more than simply being how TFB's artists draw characters.
If it wasn't explicitly talked about, I definitely wouldn't have brought it up!
B- Mask Aw phooey. That’s what I get for not reading the art book (yet). I’ll just see myself out..
B- Mask ...also I meant to type ‘Crash 1 and 4 are more of a journey’, good lawsie , don’t drink and type, kids!
@@ripyouanewone All good, I defo got where you were coming from! And I think you'll love the book, some fantastic Dingodile takes in there...
B- Mask I’m tempted to buy it (despite the price) solely for delicious Dingo drawings. Actually, just make the next book all about him, please!
Crash 4 is really a game to take your time with. I've seen reviewers have an awful time with all the collectables and what not but that's because they're trying to blaze through it as quick as possible when it clearly wasn't designed for that. I just take my time beating levels/going back for skins whenever I feel like playing crash and the amount of things to do just gives me more reasons to play.
Yeah, I saw that Nitro Rad video too- and as I said here, even when not trying to rush through, it's *exhausting* to try and complete the game no matter how much time you take. I was very conscious of both sides of the issue and wanted to put it to the test, and sure enough, there's truth to what both are saying.
I actually had a dream of a snowboarding downhill level with Dingodile before the game came out, like some proper time before, and those snow levels occasionally look exactly like that dream, uncanney
My brother and I grew up playing these games, and we played through this one together. I think we lucked out: Because we were trading off the controller and taking the 100% challenge together, we never felt burned out. Frustrated here and there, sure, but it was never painful. If we each tried to do it on our own, then I'm sure we'd feel differently.
The intro should have it's own video to send to newcomers of this franchise.
I'm glad that this game wasn't another Sly 4 case :D
Speaking of which I wonder if he’ll still do a video analysis of sly 4 overall.
Is that game really that bad?
@@islandboy9381 I still thought it was pretty good but not as great as the original ps2 trilogy.
@@islandboy9381 It's OK but flawed, has some clear weaknesses and one very divisive story element, and some people think 3's ending should have remained the definitive final end of the series narratively.
@B- Mask I love it how you show Sly Cooper at 28:03 and talk about the developers paying attention to their remakes the same day I ask on the Sly Cooper reddit community what they would think if Toys For Bob took on the Sly Cooper franchise 😂 keep up the good work, love your videos and your approach on the commentaries, always nice to chill and watch your content man
That opening montage may have been the quickest I ever gave a video a like.
This is a great birthday present, thanks B mask
"Hey Plumberboy, Mustasheman! Your worst nightmare has arrived" These quotes are still being uttered to this very day.
Amazing video man. The very first crash game was the first game I ever played. This series holds a special place in my heart as it does with many others, and it feels good to see you do it justice, and take the care the series ends into your hands. Thank you. Kick ass video
I was always more of a Spyro fan as a kid. And when that sequel inevitably hits the shelves, I am going to be much more critical with it than I ever would be with Crash.
This is such a good video!! It feels so much more substantial than other videos on this game! Talking about the flaws in a constructive way rather than a "This is the worst and ruins the whole experience!" way, I can understand the "It's fun to play not fun to complete" opinion but for me even though the game felt padded going for 100% (I've never enjoyed time trials so I'm not going to 106%) I never felt like I was not having fun, and I put that down to the games strong art direction and gameplay. Crash feels inherently fun to move so I never felt too frustrated.
I haven't been able to buy it yet (a combo of moving and... 2020), but goddamn, do I ever wanna play this! It looks like all the parts of Crash I liked, with new stuff added in.
Thank you for the excellently written and edited video essay, B.
I wonder what toys for bob do if they would ever get their hands on Sonic.
That's something they should try
Ruin it if this garbage is any indication.
@@PikminandOatchi I hope u are joking. Game's solid kid
@@PikminandOatchi “nooo my Orange rat game isn’t some lazy regurgitation or some half assed “remake””
Never seen a bit of the game, and jesus, never thought pretty much anything would look so good
and I thought Reignited looked perfect - but Crash 4 actually looks and feels even better to watch
... and seriously, dude, the work you did for this video is AMAZING! Always love watching your videos c:
I just stumbled across this in my recommended and could not be happier
I know that not everyone agree with me, but, at least for me, ‘Crash 4’ is the best in the series. The best way to describe it is: ‘Everything that was good in the original ‘Naughty Dog’’s games crammed into one very long and varied package, with a lot of modern twist to make it in line with modern platformers’. Oh, and I also didn’t mind it being difficult. In fact, quite the opposite: The difficulty is one of the reasons I enjoyed the game so much, it challenged me and pushed me to the limit, without feeling unfair
Dude, I love your video essays, and even when I dont agree with them I never find your points obtuse
alternate dimension Cortex focusing the Evolvo-Ray on Tawna's thighs
Missing tail was a side effect. Most people don't mind.
My favourite joke you ever made tbh
The intro what the hell!? Glad I found your channel, my man
I mad respect that you didn't mention Skylander. Because I know if you did then everyone would be going crazy in the comments talking about how it "Ruined" the Spyro Franchise and how it made Crash Look like a joke. As a fan of the series myself, it's hard sharing my opinion of the series since I know it will only be talked down upon.
Thanks, I get what you mean more than I maybe used to. I remember being one of the people very upset at the Skylanders news at the time, and I wouldn't call myself a fan of the games even now- but with the benefit of hindsight it absolutely did what it needed to for Activision, and I think it's a significant moment in the history of what was hot in video games. I had a little cousin who collected all the toys and even got himself a skylanders cake for his birthday, so I got to experience its effect first hand.
It totally didn't ruin Spyro or crash or anything. For a huge amount of people it was their series of choice and the hard numbers prove its existence was worthwhile. It even got Toys for Bob into the arena, so its legacy is pretty positive.
15:50 I had no idea you could spin those enemies of the grind rail. Good to know!
On the subject of "difficulty", I personally was in love with it... but that doesn't necessarily mean it was the right level _in general,_ just the right level _for me._ Since I've got a lot of crazy gaming accomplishments under my belt (full completion of Super Meat Boy, of IWBTG, of non-DLC Sonic Unleashed, of non-DLC (minus two S ranks) of Sonic '06, all Platinum Relics in all prior Crash games, a 102% run of DKC2 in 1:36 IGT, etc.)... yeah, that's a high bar.
The only straight difficulty aspect I didn't like was the Dev Times, which... well, they're Dev Times, they aren't meant to have a proper difficulty scale. However, compounding this fact was the thrice-damned Triple Spin, which when combined with sliding for its maximum effect, was absolute _murder_ on my thumbs! Enough so that I _gave up_ on getting all the Dev Times (though I did manage five of them while going for Platinums)! While I would love to test my abilities against new levels in the future, they really should return to just having a run button like Warped introduced.
WOW!! I can't believe they hinted at It's About Time with putting Tupuna-Wa in one of CTRNF's trailers!!!
"Even after this series continues"
Activision: *Laughing while holding a comically over-sized mug labeled "Toys for Bob's tears"*
Microsoft: *Shatters mug *
@@BMask Yea they’ll likely be one of the teams brought out of the mines.
@@BMask Crash and Spyro being saved by Banjo.
amazing video and really sold me on checking this game out sooner rather than later! i played and enjoyed crash 2 and 3 so much as a kid, and while i enjoyed the n sane trilogy enough to get its plat, i did feel that there was still something missing there. i'm really excited to see what this game offers. great video.
also 26:36 sounds very much like a plinkett delivery to me
* Watches the intro *
ALRIGHT I GET IT YOU'RE VERY TALENTED!
I wonder when the inevitable oddworld video will happen? I mean, come on, Munch is practically asking for the "Fish people" joke...
bmask this video captivated me entire way- completely glued to the screen, pausing at every joke and hidden detail. you write seriously TIGHT scripts
your editing and commentary is awesome, wishing you the best champ
Amazing review B-mask wonderful video. Truly a WOH
Really though I had a big dumb grin on my face through most of the video, really fun and funny to watch.
Hey I just wanna say this is a frickin' fantastic video, super well constructed and performed and totally justifies the length. Awesome job man!
I don't think Ive ever felt more vindicated by an intro to a crash video. That whole into was like a summation of my whole life waiting patiently for Crash to finally come back. I felt 1:50-2:20 so hard. I remember every reference every conspiracy every leak every rumor, all of it.
Wow, the quality of this is amazing. Instant subscribe and bell ring!
I’m incredibly impressed with the amount of time and effort you put into this
Absolute masterpiece, you’ve summed up everything perfect about this game and the series in general. I’m excited for 5 to come out just to see your opinion
Very high praise, Thank you!
Amazing video! I like how you took notes from the other sequels as well! Best video on Crash 4 I have watched yet!
That 3 minute intro alone is reason for everyone to subcribe to your channel.
it really is amazing
ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT! Can't wait to steal these points the next time i'm discussing video games with a friend.
I can honestly say that if the INTRO you made recaping all failures was in the actual game during the "skate" sequence before the battle with Tropy.. it would have been MAGIC
What we got of twinsanity was so good tho. If it wasnt rushed and released incomplete it wouldve had the potential to be the best crash game to date
@@ndJssFlurt As much as I love TwinSanity, I don't want another N.Sane Trilogy. 16 years have passed. Those ideas are gone now, this team is gone. This already won't be the game, that was intended to be in 2004.
I think this is the best crash game. I asbolutely LOVED it
That intro alone got a sub man that was a legendary edit