There’s something exciting about playing obscure or rare games, especially when you’ve been aware of them for a long time. Many years ago I played Tempo for 32X, a platformer developed by Red. Soon after, I discovered that it has a Saturn sequel called Super Tempo, boasting more of the amazing animation from the original in a more refined, straightforward title. Unfortunately, I didn’t exactly have a powerful computer and Saturn emulation wasn’t quite there to begin with, so I couldn’t play the game. Despite this, I would go online to watch the intro on-loop and listen to the soundtrack a bunch. It seemed like such a strange game, one that would be forever out of the reach of my quaint little world. I am now a mildly fat man who owns a Sega Saturn so I can now speak to the quality of the game… er, I can speak to the quality of the first fifteen minutes of the game, and it is, uh, definitely a game. It exists. If you couldn’t tell, this is a convoluted way of illustrating how big of a deal that playing fucking Panzer Dragoon Saga is to me. THE illusive hidden masterpiece of the medium… and I’ve played it! If you’ll forgive my pretentiousness (and forget your jealousy of my now endless street cred), I can’t help but look back on not only that Super Tempo experience but also my entire history with games. It feels like I’ve gone so far playing something that there was simply no chance for me to play earlier.
Panzer Dragoon Saga itself reflects its legendary, mythical legacy perfectly. I’m not sure if I would call this one of the best games ever made, but it is certainly one of the most exemplary pieces of the art form out there. You can feel every bit of blood, sweat, and tears that were poured into this game at every level.
The Panzer Dragoon series started with adapting an overtly direct, arcade-y genre to a concept album art show. Despite this, it was still quite a humble game; 6 stages, average in length, decently challenging. Zwei would expand significantly with a far more mechanically robust game that relied less on the original’s innovative perspective-based turning and beautiful environments which had driven the experience. Saga sticks out in this regard because it was made from the ground-up in a genre that is better suited to this kind-of experience.
The previous titles had always laid their inspirations bare, but Saga is the most explicit in that regard. It often feels like a direct adaptation of the ideas and images depicted by the likes of Dune, Star Wars, Evangelion, et cetera, with the freedom to do whatever the hell it wants with it to best suit this medium. The game cuts down their ideas to only the bare essentials, expands on them in wonderfully gamey ways, and allows the rest to exist by implication. I am especially fond of the reticle system carried over from the other Panzer Dragoon games. Super unique for a game like this and it offers a very tangible, interactive element to the world without being disruptive or confusing like many other games that do something similar. It supports the atmosphere and beautiful visuals perfectly. Speaking of which…
The original Panzer Dragoon had set an amazing first impression with a beefy FMV intro and beautiful visuals. Zwei boosts the frame rate and environmental detail even further, and Saga is probably the most impressive game of the generation. The Sega Saturn is often derided for being weaker in terms of general 3D rendering than the PlayStation and N64, which I can now say is kinda bogus. Yes, it is different, but just like the other two consoles of the generation, your impression of the machine’s capabilities are dependent on what games you play for it. The first two Panzer Dragoon games perfectly utilize the system’s infinitely-scrolling background layers to create vast stages that do a great deal in selling the atmosphere. Saga is interesting in this regard because it is the kind-of game that the system is simply not made to run, yet it still manages to not only compete with games on other platforms but even outmatch them in several ways. The lighting in particular stands out as something that likely isn’t possible on other platforms. The world features the vastness of the previous Panzer Dragoon series while being navigated on a much smaller scale. Other Saturn games tend to have a weird problem where objects layered on top of the background/floor layer tend to look like they are floating when the camera moves, and sometimes this is noticeable with 2D elements in Panzer Dragoon Saga, but for the most part weird anomalies like this are entirely absent.
Before I mentioned that someone’s impression of a platform’s capabilities is dependent on what games they associate with said platforms, and a luxury the PlayStation and N64 had was a long enough lifespan to where late releases could truly take advantage of their power. I bring this up because Panzer Dragoon Saga released in January of 1998. For reference, N64 classics like Banjo Kazooie and Ocarina of Time were still many months away. I suppose I don’t really have a point here outside of pointing out how astonishing it is that a game released before the competing platforms’ biggest heavy hitters dropped still managed to technically outpace them in several ways.
The soundtrack follows suit, though I’m even less equipped to speak on the matter and to be honest a lot of it just didn’t resonate with me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the instrumentation and general tone of it; it supports the game superbly. I think that it is mostly that I hold it to the standard that the original game established, which it wouldn’t ever be able to match anyway. I imagine this will change on subsequent playthroughs, and for all I know that is the only reason why the music from the previous games left a bit more of an impression on me. The final dungeon features a very grating piece which may be why I’ve walked away from it with a lesser impression than others.
One of the most unique features of the original Panzer Dragoon is the innovative turning system that took full advantage of the wide-open 3D environments. Saga being a fully 3D RPG where the player can freely explore their surroundings, so the novelty is diminished. Saga compensates with a strategic, movement-based battle system.
The game features a charging mechanic comparable to that of Chrono Trigger (and probably Final Fantasy, though I haven’t played any of them to know). The player has three gauges that will automatically charge when staying still. When one is filled, the player can expend it to open the menu and select one of several actions. The player has a standard Laser attack which will lock-on to multiple foes. There is also a Gun attack that will target a specific enemy. Some enemies are immune to one or the other, which creates an interesting dynamic in more complex fights. The Laser is stronger overall, but you might want to focus your attack on one specific target to prevent enemies from reflecting it. Laser attacks are also upgraded by simply leveling up, whereas the Gun is upgraded by purchasing equipment at Item shops. Guns are much more specific in their application, particularly the one that will deal massive damage to a single weak spot but lackluster damage otherwise.
The Berserk ability from Zwei is expanded here to become limited-resource actions ranging from elemental attacks to healing. The Berserk abilities that the player earns are dictated by the Class that your dragon is in, which is another inventive mechanic. Basically, the player can customize their dragon to emphasize Attack, Defense, Agility, and Spiritual Power, each of which directly takes away from another class. Other games have similar customization options, but Panzer Dragoon Saga’s confidence in its sheer breadth can’t help but encourage the player to experiment as much as possible.
What really tips the battle system over the edge is how movement around the enemy is tied into charging. Basically, the player can rotate around the enemy in four different increments to aim attacks. Enemies can sometimes only be attacked from specific directions, or are weaker in different directions. The enemies will attack the player in patterns, forcing you to move around to dodge incoming fire. A radar is displayed at the bottom of the screen to help with this.
I am particularly fond of the Drone enemies, who will spin an oval-shaped… thing around themselves that prevents attacks from certain directions. The oval thing is thin, so the player has to pay close attention to the rotation to determine how to attack the enemy. Thoughtful enemy design like this is littered throughout the game. It always feels so considered and meticulous, despite how many possibilities are rendered with the customization system.
Even though the battle system is as engaging as it is, I would be lying if I said that it didn’t partially fizzle out in the final fourth or so of the game. The back half of the game in general has been criticized for featuring far more basic dungeon design than the earlier parts of the game, which is understandable. I think that the more straightforward design works given the tone and pace of this part of the game, but that doesn’t mean that the battles within the dungeons don’t get a little uninteresting after a while.
It is unfortunate that the level design gets more bland in the late game because Panzer Dragoon Saga otherwise appeals to non-RPG fans as well as you could hope. My description of the battle system may make it seem more convoluted than it actually is, as the game forgoes many tropes of other RPGs. While it is technically turn-based, the heavy reactionary elements give it an action game-like flair that many will find attractive.
The game also doesn’t fall into the trapping of overly long openings that these kinds of games usually fall into. The opens on with protagonist Edge, a “hunter,” asking one of his commanders (question mark?) why they are guarding some random excavation site on the outskirts of nowhere. And suddenly they are attacked by a leader of their own Empire by the name of Craymen, who went rogue to capture a mysterious girl who has ties to ancient times. After being knocked unconscious by Craymen, Edge wakes up to find all of his friends dead. After trying to chase after Craymen’s ship, he is shot into a canyon and supposedly killed, but is somehow resurrected and finds himself alive in a cave. In said cave he comes across a powerful dragon who helps him escape and has some sort-of strange bond to Edge. He then sets out to find Craymen and enact revenge for his fallen comrades.
Outside of the action-packed opening, the presentation of the story in Saga is surprisingly subdued. That isn’t to imply that there is any lesser production value than other, more bombastic games. Far from it! The animation, both in-game and in the 90 minutes of FMV cutscenes are great, though I can’t help but feel like the decision to mostly have the dialogue voiced in Japanese is unfortunate. The fictional language is featured for the opening and ending, and I’d honestly rather them just stick to that or the actual language. Despite this blemish, the voice acting is phenomenal across the board and most impressively, the game features voices for every piece of dialogue exchanged between characters.
Edge’s quest for vengeance is overtly morally questionable, which applies to all of the other characters as well. The plot revolves around an ancient macguffin known as the Tower, a great, uh, tower that can bring peace or destruction or whatever else to the world. The two main parties looking for the Tower, Craymen’s fleet and the Empire, are really interesting to contend with in the story. Little details like logs mentioning Craymen from the Empire that Edge obtains, to the different fleet’s progress towards finding the tower being displayed on the World Map really sell the idea that you are navigating all of these different morally ambiguous parties to untangle a big conspiracy.
(This would be the point to click off to avoid spoilers!)
In the late game, once all of these have been dealt with and Edge is left unsatisfied after fulfilling his original mission, the grander plot begins to reveal itself. Removed from all of the extraneous elements, the character dynamics and suspense that the game had built up for the last fifteen hours is unleashed in a beautiful display. It perfectly sets up the final dungeon, where the player must tumble down the location that the entire plot had revolved around, with the only character that Edge can place his full trust in. Yeah, the romantic subtext is laid on pretty thick in the late game, and I think it’s fine. It gives a certain distinctly human purity and heart to the game that helps propel the back half’s pace.
That is, until the final (for real this time) ending segment where Edge confronts Sestren, an ancient being held within the center of the Tower. Edge is subjected to 20 doses of hallucinogens and must fight Sestren. It is implied that he stops him, but well… Sestren explains that the “Divine Visitor” has brought a human along with him. Turns out the human is not Edge, but the player!
I understand that the twist here might come across as pretentious or corny, or lazy given how well the game otherwise establishes its world, but I think that this doesn’t really apply to this situation in particular. The rise of risky, pulpy indie games has left the act of fourth wall-breaking in games to be predictable and lazy. The thing is though that I don’t really feel like this game is just acknowledging “oh, isn’t it quirky that this is a video game?” It is more like the game acknowledging the player’s place in the game; the player’s place in the art. How you interpret the story is challenged by the game recognizing that you are just as much a part of this interactive work as the work itself is. It even makes perfect sense from an in-universe perspective, so it can’t just be written off as a cop-out. I’d say that it is brilliant and I highly respect the confidence in its execution.
When I play Panzer Dragoon Saga, I feel like I’m playing a classic. Not just a classic, but one of the defining games of the entire genre or medium. Something like this just feels made to be an all-time classic that is held up as “one of those games that you need to play before you die,” yet it isn’t. In an alternate world, the Saturn might have sold gangbusters in the states and Saga would be remembered as one of the greats. We do not live in that world. In a way, the game’s inaccessibility makes it even more special. There is something almost bittersweet about knowing that I played a game that, if released in a just ever so slightly different landscape, would have become one of the most legendary ever made.
Panzer Dragoon Saga itself reflects its legendary, mythical legacy perfectly. I’m not sure if I would call this one of the best games ever made, but it is certainly one of the most exemplary pieces of the art form out there. You can feel every bit of blood, sweat, and tears that were poured into this game at every level.
The Panzer Dragoon series started with adapting an overtly direct, arcade-y genre to a concept album art show. Despite this, it was still quite a humble game; 6 stages, average in length, decently challenging. Zwei would expand significantly with a far more mechanically robust game that relied less on the original’s innovative perspective-based turning and beautiful environments which had driven the experience. Saga sticks out in this regard because it was made from the ground-up in a genre that is better suited to this kind-of experience.
The previous titles had always laid their inspirations bare, but Saga is the most explicit in that regard. It often feels like a direct adaptation of the ideas and images depicted by the likes of Dune, Star Wars, Evangelion, et cetera, with the freedom to do whatever the hell it wants with it to best suit this medium. The game cuts down their ideas to only the bare essentials, expands on them in wonderfully gamey ways, and allows the rest to exist by implication. I am especially fond of the reticle system carried over from the other Panzer Dragoon games. Super unique for a game like this and it offers a very tangible, interactive element to the world without being disruptive or confusing like many other games that do something similar. It supports the atmosphere and beautiful visuals perfectly. Speaking of which…
The original Panzer Dragoon had set an amazing first impression with a beefy FMV intro and beautiful visuals. Zwei boosts the frame rate and environmental detail even further, and Saga is probably the most impressive game of the generation. The Sega Saturn is often derided for being weaker in terms of general 3D rendering than the PlayStation and N64, which I can now say is kinda bogus. Yes, it is different, but just like the other two consoles of the generation, your impression of the machine’s capabilities are dependent on what games you play for it. The first two Panzer Dragoon games perfectly utilize the system’s infinitely-scrolling background layers to create vast stages that do a great deal in selling the atmosphere. Saga is interesting in this regard because it is the kind-of game that the system is simply not made to run, yet it still manages to not only compete with games on other platforms but even outmatch them in several ways. The lighting in particular stands out as something that likely isn’t possible on other platforms. The world features the vastness of the previous Panzer Dragoon series while being navigated on a much smaller scale. Other Saturn games tend to have a weird problem where objects layered on top of the background/floor layer tend to look like they are floating when the camera moves, and sometimes this is noticeable with 2D elements in Panzer Dragoon Saga, but for the most part weird anomalies like this are entirely absent.
Before I mentioned that someone’s impression of a platform’s capabilities is dependent on what games they associate with said platforms, and a luxury the PlayStation and N64 had was a long enough lifespan to where late releases could truly take advantage of their power. I bring this up because Panzer Dragoon Saga released in January of 1998. For reference, N64 classics like Banjo Kazooie and Ocarina of Time were still many months away. I suppose I don’t really have a point here outside of pointing out how astonishing it is that a game released before the competing platforms’ biggest heavy hitters dropped still managed to technically outpace them in several ways.
The soundtrack follows suit, though I’m even less equipped to speak on the matter and to be honest a lot of it just didn’t resonate with me. Don’t get me wrong, I love the instrumentation and general tone of it; it supports the game superbly. I think that it is mostly that I hold it to the standard that the original game established, which it wouldn’t ever be able to match anyway. I imagine this will change on subsequent playthroughs, and for all I know that is the only reason why the music from the previous games left a bit more of an impression on me. The final dungeon features a very grating piece which may be why I’ve walked away from it with a lesser impression than others.
One of the most unique features of the original Panzer Dragoon is the innovative turning system that took full advantage of the wide-open 3D environments. Saga being a fully 3D RPG where the player can freely explore their surroundings, so the novelty is diminished. Saga compensates with a strategic, movement-based battle system.
The game features a charging mechanic comparable to that of Chrono Trigger (and probably Final Fantasy, though I haven’t played any of them to know). The player has three gauges that will automatically charge when staying still. When one is filled, the player can expend it to open the menu and select one of several actions. The player has a standard Laser attack which will lock-on to multiple foes. There is also a Gun attack that will target a specific enemy. Some enemies are immune to one or the other, which creates an interesting dynamic in more complex fights. The Laser is stronger overall, but you might want to focus your attack on one specific target to prevent enemies from reflecting it. Laser attacks are also upgraded by simply leveling up, whereas the Gun is upgraded by purchasing equipment at Item shops. Guns are much more specific in their application, particularly the one that will deal massive damage to a single weak spot but lackluster damage otherwise.
The Berserk ability from Zwei is expanded here to become limited-resource actions ranging from elemental attacks to healing. The Berserk abilities that the player earns are dictated by the Class that your dragon is in, which is another inventive mechanic. Basically, the player can customize their dragon to emphasize Attack, Defense, Agility, and Spiritual Power, each of which directly takes away from another class. Other games have similar customization options, but Panzer Dragoon Saga’s confidence in its sheer breadth can’t help but encourage the player to experiment as much as possible.
What really tips the battle system over the edge is how movement around the enemy is tied into charging. Basically, the player can rotate around the enemy in four different increments to aim attacks. Enemies can sometimes only be attacked from specific directions, or are weaker in different directions. The enemies will attack the player in patterns, forcing you to move around to dodge incoming fire. A radar is displayed at the bottom of the screen to help with this.
I am particularly fond of the Drone enemies, who will spin an oval-shaped… thing around themselves that prevents attacks from certain directions. The oval thing is thin, so the player has to pay close attention to the rotation to determine how to attack the enemy. Thoughtful enemy design like this is littered throughout the game. It always feels so considered and meticulous, despite how many possibilities are rendered with the customization system.
Even though the battle system is as engaging as it is, I would be lying if I said that it didn’t partially fizzle out in the final fourth or so of the game. The back half of the game in general has been criticized for featuring far more basic dungeon design than the earlier parts of the game, which is understandable. I think that the more straightforward design works given the tone and pace of this part of the game, but that doesn’t mean that the battles within the dungeons don’t get a little uninteresting after a while.
It is unfortunate that the level design gets more bland in the late game because Panzer Dragoon Saga otherwise appeals to non-RPG fans as well as you could hope. My description of the battle system may make it seem more convoluted than it actually is, as the game forgoes many tropes of other RPGs. While it is technically turn-based, the heavy reactionary elements give it an action game-like flair that many will find attractive.
The game also doesn’t fall into the trapping of overly long openings that these kinds of games usually fall into. The opens on with protagonist Edge, a “hunter,” asking one of his commanders (question mark?) why they are guarding some random excavation site on the outskirts of nowhere. And suddenly they are attacked by a leader of their own Empire by the name of Craymen, who went rogue to capture a mysterious girl who has ties to ancient times. After being knocked unconscious by Craymen, Edge wakes up to find all of his friends dead. After trying to chase after Craymen’s ship, he is shot into a canyon and supposedly killed, but is somehow resurrected and finds himself alive in a cave. In said cave he comes across a powerful dragon who helps him escape and has some sort-of strange bond to Edge. He then sets out to find Craymen and enact revenge for his fallen comrades.
Outside of the action-packed opening, the presentation of the story in Saga is surprisingly subdued. That isn’t to imply that there is any lesser production value than other, more bombastic games. Far from it! The animation, both in-game and in the 90 minutes of FMV cutscenes are great, though I can’t help but feel like the decision to mostly have the dialogue voiced in Japanese is unfortunate. The fictional language is featured for the opening and ending, and I’d honestly rather them just stick to that or the actual language. Despite this blemish, the voice acting is phenomenal across the board and most impressively, the game features voices for every piece of dialogue exchanged between characters.
Edge’s quest for vengeance is overtly morally questionable, which applies to all of the other characters as well. The plot revolves around an ancient macguffin known as the Tower, a great, uh, tower that can bring peace or destruction or whatever else to the world. The two main parties looking for the Tower, Craymen’s fleet and the Empire, are really interesting to contend with in the story. Little details like logs mentioning Craymen from the Empire that Edge obtains, to the different fleet’s progress towards finding the tower being displayed on the World Map really sell the idea that you are navigating all of these different morally ambiguous parties to untangle a big conspiracy.
(This would be the point to click off to avoid spoilers!)
In the late game, once all of these have been dealt with and Edge is left unsatisfied after fulfilling his original mission, the grander plot begins to reveal itself. Removed from all of the extraneous elements, the character dynamics and suspense that the game had built up for the last fifteen hours is unleashed in a beautiful display. It perfectly sets up the final dungeon, where the player must tumble down the location that the entire plot had revolved around, with the only character that Edge can place his full trust in. Yeah, the romantic subtext is laid on pretty thick in the late game, and I think it’s fine. It gives a certain distinctly human purity and heart to the game that helps propel the back half’s pace.
That is, until the final (for real this time) ending segment where Edge confronts Sestren, an ancient being held within the center of the Tower. Edge is subjected to 20 doses of hallucinogens and must fight Sestren. It is implied that he stops him, but well… Sestren explains that the “Divine Visitor” has brought a human along with him. Turns out the human is not Edge, but the player!
I understand that the twist here might come across as pretentious or corny, or lazy given how well the game otherwise establishes its world, but I think that this doesn’t really apply to this situation in particular. The rise of risky, pulpy indie games has left the act of fourth wall-breaking in games to be predictable and lazy. The thing is though that I don’t really feel like this game is just acknowledging “oh, isn’t it quirky that this is a video game?” It is more like the game acknowledging the player’s place in the game; the player’s place in the art. How you interpret the story is challenged by the game recognizing that you are just as much a part of this interactive work as the work itself is. It even makes perfect sense from an in-universe perspective, so it can’t just be written off as a cop-out. I’d say that it is brilliant and I highly respect the confidence in its execution.
When I play Panzer Dragoon Saga, I feel like I’m playing a classic. Not just a classic, but one of the defining games of the entire genre or medium. Something like this just feels made to be an all-time classic that is held up as “one of those games that you need to play before you die,” yet it isn’t. In an alternate world, the Saturn might have sold gangbusters in the states and Saga would be remembered as one of the greats. We do not live in that world. In a way, the game’s inaccessibility makes it even more special. There is something almost bittersweet about knowing that I played a game that, if released in a just ever so slightly different landscape, would have become one of the most legendary ever made.