Panzer Dragoon Saga (SEGA Saturn)

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Description

Edge is one of the soldiers in the service of the mighty Empire. The Empire has recently ordered some excavations at ancient ruins, trying to discover the secret of an old technology that is much superior to that of present time. During the excavation works, Edge encounters a mysterious young girl. He then witnesses the murder of his captain and other soldiers by Crayden, one of the Empire's officers. Coming into contact with an ancient dragon, Edge begins to roam the world, determined to find Crayden and avenge the death of his comrades. Nobody helps him but his faithful dragon. But the Empire is also after Crayden, so there appear to be at least three sides in the conflict - or are there more?

Panzer Dragoon Saga is set in the same universe as the other Panzer Dragoon games, but differs from the rest of the series by being a role-playing game with elements of a shooter. There is no party in the game: the player only controls Edge on the back of his dragon, who is in fact the playable character in battles. Edge moves around through the game's fully 3D world by riding the dragon. In towns and some dungeons Edge can also move on foot. During battles, the player can either choose to shoot with Edge's gun, or use one of the many special attacks of the dragons.

The battles do not work exactly like in an action game, but occur in real time: the player has to quickly choose an ability to use, and also move around to attack enemies from the sides or from the back, at the same time trying to avoid their attacks. The dragon receives experience points for fighting and also gains levels. The player is able to customize the dragon by assigning to him one of the four available dragon classes, that will determine his attack power, speed, etc.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "アゼル　パンツァードラグーンRPG" -- Japanese spelling
• "Azel Panzer Dragoon RPG" -- Japanese title

Part of the Following Groups

• Fantasy Creatures: Dragons
• Gameplay feature: Dragon flying / riding
• Panzer Dragoon series

User Reviews

Visuals triumph while gameplay suffers	Oleg Roschin (181737)
Amazing and a unique expericence.	Dwin1118 (34)
The End Of The Saga	MasterMegid (902)
A wonderfully crafted and beautiful tapestry	Mario Rodgers (5)
A Breathtaking experience	Richard Daives (9)

Critic Reviews

Digital Extremes	1998	10 out of 10	100
Game Revolution	Dec 01, 1998	A	100
Defunct Games	Jul 17, 2005	98 out of 100	98
Jeuxvideo.com	Aug 07, 2013	19 out of 20	95
RPGFan	Jun 16, 1998	94 out of 100	94
Shin Force	May 27, 1998	9.3 out of 10	93
RPGFan	Jun 22, 2000	91 out of 100	91
SegaFan.com	Dec 18, 2001	9 out of 10	90
Electric Playground	1998	9 out of 10	90
Mega Fun	Apr, 1998	87 out of 100	87

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Trivia

1001 Video Games

Panzer Dragoon Saga appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Rarity

The US and PAL releases of Panzer Dragoon Saga were almost canceled by Sega, since in 1998 Saturn was already near extinction outside of Japan. At the last moment, the game was translated and released in US and for PAL countries, but only a few thousands copies were produced. As a result, Panzer Dragoon Saga became one of the rarest and most expensive console RPGs in history: it is hard to find a used non-Japanese copy of this game for less than $100..

Saved game file

It is possible to start the game from a saved game file from Panzer Dragoon Zwei. You will then be able to find some rare items and have access to extra conversations in the game.

Voice overs

The game has full voice-overs for dialogues. The spoken language is Japanese in all versions of the game, but the intro and the ending sequences are spoken in a Panzer Dragoon fictional language.

Awards

• EGM
  • February.2006(Issue #200) - named #80 out of 200 of the "Greatest Games of Their Time"
• Game Informer Magazine
  • August 2001 (Issue #100) - voted #78 in the Top 100 Games of All Time poll

Information also contributed by Big John WV and PCGamer77

Related Web Sites

• Panzer Dragoon Saga (official website)