Is any game worth 1,000 USD? The single-most expensive standalone Sega Saturn game and one of my Sega Saturn ‘grail’ games.
Spanning 4 discs that bring a unique game world that involves a rider and their dragon taking the fight to an empire that was only peripherally hinted at in the first 2 games, one with its own lore, landscape and language to life - the game clocks in at a relatively modest 25-30 hours (despite the 4-discs) to really flesh out the world-building with cinematics and voiced speech - in the game’s fantasy language.
The semi real-time battle system is my favorite aspect of the game, which smartly adapts and turns the radial camera system from the main Panzer Dragoon series on its head, into one that focuses on positioning your character to avoid enemy hit zones while waiting for your turn to act, reminiscent of Final Fantasy’s ATB system.
Originally conceived as a Final Fantasy killer for the Sega Saturn (that was a term that was thrown around a lot in the 32-bit era), the game faced multiple delays in development and by the time it made it out in the West, the Sega Saturn was on its last legs and thus only 20,000+ copies were printed - as a result driving the current prices for the game beyond 1,000 USD.
Perhaps no game is worth 1,000 dollars, but for 32-bit era JRPG fans, Panzer Dragoon Saga still stands as an interesting testament of that era with a setting and battle system still unique - even by modern RPG standards.
Spanning 4 discs that bring a unique game world that involves a rider and their dragon taking the fight to an empire that was only peripherally hinted at in the first 2 games, one with its own lore, landscape and language to life - the game clocks in at a relatively modest 25-30 hours (despite the 4-discs) to really flesh out the world-building with cinematics and voiced speech - in the game’s fantasy language.
The semi real-time battle system is my favorite aspect of the game, which smartly adapts and turns the radial camera system from the main Panzer Dragoon series on its head, into one that focuses on positioning your character to avoid enemy hit zones while waiting for your turn to act, reminiscent of Final Fantasy’s ATB system.
Originally conceived as a Final Fantasy killer for the Sega Saturn (that was a term that was thrown around a lot in the 32-bit era), the game faced multiple delays in development and by the time it made it out in the West, the Sega Saturn was on its last legs and thus only 20,000+ copies were printed - as a result driving the current prices for the game beyond 1,000 USD.
Perhaps no game is worth 1,000 dollars, but for 32-bit era JRPG fans, Panzer Dragoon Saga still stands as an interesting testament of that era with a setting and battle system still unique - even by modern RPG standards.