there's a bit of a disparity between what was my favourite forms and what I spent most time in
spent most time as list:
1) energy: this was a necessity for combat and shopping for ingredients
2) normal: to a degree this was just a switch form until I got the jelly costume
3) beast: only way to travel
4) sun: lots of maps needed this form
5) nature: was mostly a switch form until I got more savy with it as the game went on
6) fish: very good discreet travel form and getting to fishy areas
7) spirit: purely a switch form
8 ) dual: didn't get it till soooo late in the game
favourite forms:
normal: loved being her with just her arsenal of songs and a growing closet of cool outfits. getting a new outfit was as fun as getting a new form! wore the Krotite Armor until I got the Urchin costume, then the Crab armor, then the Jelly costume. the other outfits tried them on and messed around with them but didn't wear anything just for cosmetic reasons.
beast: this was the 2nd form I got ( yes I went right into Mithalis, urrrggg ) and was so happy to have beaten that boss. always used her to nosh up on health after fishing for ingredients was done and was a super power way to travel through maps quickly. if someone got in the way while she was commuting, well I pity that foo.
nature: by the end of the game nature form totally grew on me ( see what I did there? ) she had a completely different relationship to the game environment then any other form and kept finding out new ways to utilize her. when I play the game through again I'm going to shoot for her early on. from what I can tell, you can only launch off the spikes when in air? also found her quick effective when dealing with those creepy colourful tentacle creatures that you had to herd with Naija's song to make a path. in open water combat she is useless, but in tight areas she can really be a menace.
sun: I was so happy to finally figure that puzzle out, the sun temple took a few trips and figuring out new skills to puzzle it all out. lighting up all those dark places was cathartic. I actually went through the abyss from a top entrance ~ all the way down to the turtle bus ~ in energy form, no light. I kept thinking, ok, there must be some light down here somewhere. I was trying to herd those little jellyfish with me ( didn't have fish form then so couldn't have done the bubble/bind trick even if I could ) and made gf scream when that angler came out of nowhere, totally thought it was a health. basically made it down using echo location from energy form blasts hitting horribly spiky walls. I liked how the abyss was not necessarily as a combative an environment, more psychologically awful and using your flashlight and dwindling sunburst to chart the waters was extremely effective for creating a powerful mood.
dual form: totally neat form and fun to experiment with. I went and swam around the game in dual form before the final boss and did some quality fishing. *that's* how you take out octopus! really wish that form was available either earlier or there was more to the game after you got it.
energy: I wouldn't go anywhere new without her, did almost all my fishing as her, took out basically all the bosses as her. couldn't have finished the game without being her. maybe it was I felt I was just too dependent on being her, not sure. as soon as I got her form, boy was I happy about how the tables had turned and was glad I had her auto target and spicy rolls to take care of business. maybe I'll try auto aim off next time around and I'll appreciate her more? I love the character design, and everything about her, but the other forms felt as if I had won them or wrestled them loose from the jaws of a boss or a puzzle.
fish: great, now I can go in small places. this is basically the comic relief form. I didn't know about the bubble trap 'attack' until very late in the game, and used it on occasion in the veil to scoot from section to section to avoid the starfish. using the bubbles is a great way to trap a whole bunch of Moneyes in stasis and then swap out to an offensive form and increase your chances on stocking up on yummy eyeballs!
spirit: just a switch form really. I had no idea about the whole swallow projectiles till after I was done the game, and didn't notice the blue crystals in the seahorse race ( not sure if I even had spirit form at that point either ) so didn't use it there either. it would have have been neat if there was other things you could only see or do as a spirit, sort of like twilight nazguls when wearing the ring.
one thing I liked about Spyro games was the continuity of abilities throughout the titles. once Spyro got swim or super headbash, he had it in all subsequent game titles. I'm sure the sequel ( please make one, eventually, I'll dutifully wait ) will have an innovative interface that may or may not include song spells at all, or maybe if and when you 'unlock' Naija you can switch to her and use her toolkit of abilities, but it would be great to be able to have all of her skills somehow again, and toggle through characters to access different areas.
