Panzer Dragoon series

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grolt
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Panzer Dragoon series

Post by grolt »

I've recently been replaying the first two games (still haven't found Saga cheep enough on eBay yet) and what a world they immerse you in. Even if the plot is simple, those few great FMV sequences really help cement the awe of the whole future environment. You can really see how the series naturally progressed into an RPG; they did such a good job setting up the situation, surroundings and characters the first two times, that you find yourself really wanting more than just straight shmups.

For a launch game, Dragoon has some amazing graphics - that opening level in the water has some beautiful textures, some nice transparency effects (remember though, the Saturn can't do those :wink: ) and great character design. In ways, the first looks better than the second, which had a lot of drab and almost illegible characters and textures. Sega got it right, right from the get go!

Zwei though, is a much better game on the whole though, with far more replay with the save function (the first feels like an arcade port with those "credits") and more importantly, a vastly smoothed-out gameplay engine. Zwei really benefits from the addition of analog control with the 3D pad, making it a much smoother experience than the at-times frustrating PD control (although the first plays better on the mission stick). The 360 degree turning is also much more effective the second time around, without those awkward perspective shifts that plagued the function in PD. Add in the addictive dragon growth element, and you really feel like your skills evolve with the dragon's.

In theory this game should be little different from the likes of Virtua Cop, but in the way the story is presented, and the world the Panzer team creates, this is a series that really resonates.

I'd love to hear what you all think of this flagship Saturn franchise.
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Cidus
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Post by Cidus »

These games are fantastic. :D

Out of the two, I'd have to give the nod to Zwei. I mean not only does it run at a higher frame rate, but it also uses the Saturn's VDP2 effect really well (for the transparent water of the Episode 4 boss), and I know I was in shock when I found out that the great soundtrack was actually coming off the Saturn's MIDI chip! :shock:

Speaking of which, there's one part in Zwei that I will never forget. In Episode 4 - Route 1, there's this section where you're rising up on this platform in a dark chasm and then all of a sudden these GIGANTIC bio-mechanical robot things swoop down and actually grab the platform to stop it from moving while they try and take you out. This part, even now, is phenomenal!

But at the end of the day, it's not even the technical prowess that these games displayed (well at the time anyway) that's so impressive, it's more the art direction / atmosphere. The Panzer world is incredibly convincing. Everything from the music, to the storyline, to the graphics just comes together flawlessly.

Honestly, I'm more a fan of the PSO high-tech futuristic type setting myself. But after 10 or so minutes of play on either the original or Zwei, I was hooked, and came to the conclusion that someone would have to be made of stone not to feel anything while playing these games.
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grolt
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Post by grolt »

Zwei definitely looks a lot sharper, and you are right, the water effects in level four are great. At the same time though, I think the colors are so much more vivid and distinctive in the first one. The first level in those drowned-out ruins, and the one over the trees, they make such good use of the color palette possible on the Saturn.

My favorite moment comes from Zwei too, and I think it is the second level, where you are running through a cave and then all of a sudden...flight. You leave the cave and go on this beautifully open free fall. Such a beautiful contrast, and a moment where all action in the game stops in the name of beauty.

I still haven't really played Orta, I know I should though. My brother rented it once when it first came out, unbeknown to me, and by the time I discovered it it was time to go back. Still, what a beautiful game, and such a surprise, since almost all of Saturn's other series remain lost in the annals of history.
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Scooter
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Post by Scooter »

Pay what you have to to get a copy of PD Saga. As good as the first two are, Saga is a far, far superior game. It's an RPG not a shooter and a completely different game but the story line is rich, the game play is very strong, it is challenging and a very deep, deep game. Get it.
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