Panzer Dragoon Saga

Developer: Team Andromeda	Graphics:
Publisher: Sega	Sounds:
Year: 1998	Difficulty:
Genre: RPG	Replay value:
Number of players: 1	My overall rating:	9/10

For those who don't know, Panzer Dragoon is originally a 3D shooter released for the Saturn in 1995 in which you ride a dragon in the middle of dreamlike landscapes.
Despite a fairly repetitive gameplay (basically shoot at everything), it was distinguished by its extraordinary graphics and music. The long FMV intro was also memorable. A sequel was released the following year, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, still on Saturn, still a shooter but graphically more advanced.

The series met its moment of glory with its third episode, Panzer Dragoon Saga which takes place in the same universe, but with a gameplay radically different: it's a RPG with long phases of exploration interspersed with random turn-based battles. The game is on four CDs which is very unusual for the time. The FMV sequences are ubiquitous and the music always sublime.

If you compare this game objectively with other RPGs, you can find it faulty on some aspects, especially the technicality of battles or the lack of variety in the equipment. Beside, exploration phases get a bit boring at times . . . Whatever! What we remember is its unique atmosphere. The ambition of a good RPG is to make you forget all the others. To me, it's a success!

Places to download:
Emuparadise
Mondemul

Other sites of interest:
The Will of the Ancients

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