When Activision and Toys for Bob first announced the Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, fans were ecstatic. For the most part, the closely-related Crash Bandicoot: N.Sane Trilogy was a high-quality remake, even if it didn’t do much to fix some of the issues that plagued the originals, like frustrating difficulty spikes and no subtitles.
Reignited hit all the right notes and brought Spyro firmly into the modern gaming world in all but one area: accessibility. Many players were outraged to find the game had no subtitles in it. However, Activision is finally fixing the problem with a new patch that goes live today.
The patch introduces subtitles in all languages for the cinematic scenes in all three games. The developer is also adding some additional basics to the added subtitles, including headings to identify characters, colored text to match dialogue with characters, and line splits to improve readability.
Equally noteworthy is the addition of a motion blur toggle to turn off the blurring effect the remake included when Spyro would charge.
Those who wish to experience the games in a form closer to their original iterations can simply toggle the subtitles and motion blur off in the options menu.
The lack of subtitles in games with important dialogue was always a problem in Spyro’s early days. For those who couldn’t have the volume turned up or weren’t playing right next to their TV set, it was annoying. But it was flat out unconscionable for the hearing impaired.
When Activision and Toys for Bob first addressed fans’ outcries, the companies simply said the goal was preserving the games’ original integrity.
However, accessibility is key in modern gaming, and many of the most popular games go above and beyond to ensure their products match the needs of all their gamers.
Naturally, then, Activision’s initial response didn’t sit well with fans, and it also begged the question of why include motion blur as a new feature when it didn’t exist in the originals.
It was a serious problem, and many gamers found they couldn’t tolerate Reignited for long periods of time.
