The MO for Sega at this time was refining the formulas for many of their classic franchises. We got the ideal version of their arcade racing franchises (OutRun 2 and Crazy Taxi 3) and this represents the absolute refinement of the Panzer Dragoon formula.
The production in this game is pretty stunning. It looks and runs fantastic on the original hardware. The frame rate remains smooth and consistent even when there's a ton of shit happening on screen. My mind was blown playing this at a demo kiosk back in the day and it's still impressive today. No doubt it looks even better running on the Series X. The music is pretty fantastic too and there's an occasional appearance of tracks from previous games which is great.
The gameplay is also very satisfying. There's a high skill ceiling to it and it's one of those games that feels good to get better at. Managing the different dragon forms can be tricky at first, but once you get into the zone on this game zapping between forms to defend and attack feels incredible. Even when you know the trick to beating the bosses they still feel fun to fight. This is one of the few score attack style games that I enjoy to play.
In addition there's a ton of unlockables in the Pandora's Box. These include some bonus missions and scenarios which are nice (especially the entirety of the original Panzer Dragoon). The world encyclopedia is especially cool to browse through.
I only have a few complaints for this game. Leveling up your dragon forms can be tricky as they occur by collecting power ups mid gameplay. I felt like sometimes these power ups were very hard to see and as someone who has played this game multiple times I still find myself powering up the wrong form all the time. I wish you could just bank all of the power ups and then distribute them the way you want at the end of the level.
It also feels like there are portions of the game with mandatory damage. I've played this game multiple times and have it pretty well mapped out but there are certain segments where I get hit and I don't know why. I've always struggled a little bit with dodging in Panzer Dragoon games - attacks don't feel as telegraphed as they do in a game like Starfox 64 - and I feel like it is really noticeable in this game given the expanded offensive and defensive vocabulary you have access to compared to the older games.
Panzer Dragoon Orta is a great swan song to the Panzer Dragoon franchise. It's a cinematic and technical spectacle that feels incredible to master and play.
The production in this game is pretty stunning. It looks and runs fantastic on the original hardware. The frame rate remains smooth and consistent even when there's a ton of shit happening on screen. My mind was blown playing this at a demo kiosk back in the day and it's still impressive today. No doubt it looks even better running on the Series X. The music is pretty fantastic too and there's an occasional appearance of tracks from previous games which is great.
The gameplay is also very satisfying. There's a high skill ceiling to it and it's one of those games that feels good to get better at. Managing the different dragon forms can be tricky at first, but once you get into the zone on this game zapping between forms to defend and attack feels incredible. Even when you know the trick to beating the bosses they still feel fun to fight. This is one of the few score attack style games that I enjoy to play.
In addition there's a ton of unlockables in the Pandora's Box. These include some bonus missions and scenarios which are nice (especially the entirety of the original Panzer Dragoon). The world encyclopedia is especially cool to browse through.
I only have a few complaints for this game. Leveling up your dragon forms can be tricky as they occur by collecting power ups mid gameplay. I felt like sometimes these power ups were very hard to see and as someone who has played this game multiple times I still find myself powering up the wrong form all the time. I wish you could just bank all of the power ups and then distribute them the way you want at the end of the level.
It also feels like there are portions of the game with mandatory damage. I've played this game multiple times and have it pretty well mapped out but there are certain segments where I get hit and I don't know why. I've always struggled a little bit with dodging in Panzer Dragoon games - attacks don't feel as telegraphed as they do in a game like Starfox 64 - and I feel like it is really noticeable in this game given the expanded offensive and defensive vocabulary you have access to compared to the older games.
Panzer Dragoon Orta is a great swan song to the Panzer Dragoon franchise. It's a cinematic and technical spectacle that feels incredible to master and play.