Nostalgia Factor:
I am familiar with both Panzer Dragoon and its sequel for the Sega Saturn, Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei. I rented and played through both of these games back in the late 90s at some point. While I liked the games, I was never too crazy about them. I preferred other rail shooters like Star Fox and Solar Eclipse instead.
After the Sega Saturn’s unceremonious death, I thought that the Panzer Dragoon series was gone forever. I really, REALLY wanted to play Panzer Dragoon Saga (a much heralded RPG released at the end of the Saturn’s lifespan), but limited copies were shipped out, and I was never able to get my hands on it. I still haven’t been able to play the game, and now copies of it are selling for over a thousand dollars online. No thanks, I don’t want to play it that bad!
Much to my surprise, Panzer Dragoon Saga would not be the last game released in the series. In 2003, Panzer Dragoon Orta was released for the Xbox. I would end up finding a used copy of this game a few years later when I was dating my ex-girlfriend, Jessica. While I never owned an Xbox myself, she did. We lived together, so I figured I’d buy the game and give it a shot.
I played through the game and I beat it, but I never gave it much of a second thought. I’d say this was back in 2006 or 2007. Jessica and I ended up separating. She took her Xbox with her. I kept my copy of Panzer Dragoon Orta. Up until just recently, I haven’t had an opportunity to replay this game, because I didn’t own an Xbox.
Well, now I do own one – as of a few years ago. I always knew I would get around to replaying Panzer Dragoon Orta at some point, it was just a matter of time. Well, now that time has come! What would I think about the game? Let us begin.
Story:
I’ve always struggled understanding the storylines in Panzer Dragoon games, and this one is no exception. Let’s just say it is very abstract. I’ll do my best to break it down for you.
This game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world filled with fantastic creatures, mystical technology, and flying dragons engineered for the purpose of being living weapons. There is some kind of evil Empire controlling all the technology and trying to take over the world. Everyone speaks German and moves in slow motion from time to time. The whole tone of the game is very surreal and dream-like, and for some reason this makes it very hard for me to understand what the heck is supposed to be happening on the screen. It is hard to put into words. Best description I can come up with is David Lynch meets Mad Max, but with flying dragons instead of cars.
Panzer Dragoon Orta begins with a girl locked up in a tower. The tower is attacked and the girl is about to be killed when a giant attack dragon swoops in and annihilates her attackers. She hops on the dragon’s back and blasts her way to freedom. You play as this girl (Orta) and her dragon.
After escaping, Orta meets up with a pack of hunters and helps them kill a giant creature. They take her back to their city to show her gratitude. The Empire attacks the city to get their hands on Orta, and she attacks the enemy fleet head-on. She’s shot down, her dragon badly hurt. There’s a level where you run on the ground (like a tank) and shoot your enemies before jumping off a cliff just in time for your wings to heal up and allow you to fly again.
You fight the Empire. A creepy bad guy takes you into an ancient computerized relic where you learn secrets about your creation and your past. You have some kind of destiny. I don’t know. The game had lost me at this point. I can’t even tell you what happens at the end of the game. Surreal and dream-like is a bit of an understatement.
You fight a bunch of giant monsters. There’s cutscenes, there’s credits. Game over.
I wish I could recap things better, but like I said I’ve always struggled to understand the story in Panzer Dragoon games. You kind of just play them for the experience. Or maybe that is just me.
Gameplay:
Panzer Dragoon Orta is a rail-shooter, so its gameplay is make or break. You’re going to constantly be locking-on and firing at enemies as they streak across the screen. If the controls suck and are sluggish or unresponsive, it will break the whole game.
Luckily, Orta’s overall gameplay is about as smooth as you can get. The aiming reticle is accurate. Controls are responsive and crisp. This game is very easy to pick up and play, but very difficult to master. When I first started playing, I came in expecting Star Fox, only to quickly learn that Star Fox is a walk in the park compared to Panzer Dragoon Orta. Not only is this game more difficult, there are so many more intricacies to be found here. For example: the camera. You mainly fly on a fixed course, but enemies will attack you from all directions, not just from in front of you. As a result, you have to constantly swivel around and look in different directions. Make no mistake, they are coming at you from every angle.
Like I said, this game is challenging. You have to be alert and on your feet from the very first level on. When I first started playing this game, I struggled a bit to adapt to this game’s style and I died a bunch of times. Your dragon has three different attack modes, and knowing when to switch back and forth between these modes is critical if you want to do well with this game.
Standard attack mode is what I would tend to use the most. You have a regular gun, you have missiles that can lock on to your enemies. You have a boost meter of two. Boost gives you a burst of speed you can use to dodge enemy attacks or gain angles on bosses.
You have Glide mode, which showcases a very weak rapid-fire attack. It has a boost meter of four. Mainly you want to use Glide to shoot down enemy projectiles since it locks on to them and fires so quickly. It is so weak though, it is pretty much useless against bosses and tougher standard enemies. The boost meter of four comes in great handy, however.
Then you have a heavy attack mode with strong weapons, but no ability to boost whatsoever.
Like I said before, switching back and forth between attack modes is key. Say you are fighting a boss who fires homing missiles. Switch to Glide mode to quickly shoot down the missiles. Switch to heavy attack mode to pummel the boss while his defenses are down. The boss starts to accelerate, so you switch to regular mode to boost a couple times. Then you switch back to heavy mode to continue the beat down. It fires homing missiles at you. Switch to Glide mode to take the missiles down.
Etc.
Master the strategies of the game, master the game.
Panzer Dragoon Orta is challenging, but balanced and fair. Whenever I died, I knew it was because I wasn’t alert or fast enough and I had let my defenses down. I struggled mightily with the first few levels of this game when I first started playing, but that is because I wasn’t switching attack modes appropriately at all. Once everything clicked and I started to understand the strategies involved. I began to enjoy the game much, much more.
Graphics:
This game is over 15 years old, but it still looks really good. Being an Xbox game, its graphics completely annihilate the Saturn games. Bright, vibrant colors. Unique, mystifying creatures. Stunning and surreal game environments. What really makes this game tick is the dream-like atmosphere it creates.
Sure if you look really close, there are aspects of this game’s graphics that appear outdated. I’m sure a remaster or an updated HD version of the game could smooth out of its some rough edges. But I think these rough edges add to the game’s gritty charm. I may not understand this game’s story, but I fully appreciate the work that went into giving its world such a unique look and feel.
Sound:
Panzer Dragoon games have always had strong soundtracks, and Orta follows suit. Nothing is too iconic or memorable here, but the grand orchestral scope of the game’s music is impressive and gets the blood pumping in battle.
Like I said about this game’s graphics – Panzer Dragoon Orta creates a stunning and surreal dream-like world for the player to inhabit. This game’s music and sound effects play a massive part in bringing that vision to life. The battle sound effects, the distorted voices, the otherworldly whirring and wooshing magical sound effects – they all play their part.
Overall:
My journey with this game was weird. I came into it with high hopes, carrying mainly fond (but very vague) memories of enjoying this game back in 2005 or 2006. I actually didn’t care for it at first, and nearly turned it off so I could play something else. But I stuck with it. Once I figured out the intricacies of the game, I was able to relax and really enjoy it.
I played this game off and on over the course of a couple weekends (why did no one tell me how much having a baby would cut into my video game playing time???) before finally beating it and combing through the extra chapters just a few nights ago. The extra chapters add a few hours of gameplay. Some bonus missions that fill in the story blanks. An extra mode where you play as a kid who fights for the Empire. But the most important extra, for me anyway, is that the entire version of the original Panzer Dragoon for the Sega Saturn is unlockable. Sweet! I shall have to play through it and review it in the near future.
So this game is truly worth the 15 bucks or whatever I paid for it back in 2006. It doesn’t have the personality or the heart and soul of Star Fox. It is not as fun as Star Fox. But its not Star Fox. Panzer Dragoon does its own thing. It feels a bit serious and overly challenging at times, but it is rewarding if you stick with it. The graphics are beautiful. The music and sound effects help create a very eerie and different fantasy universe. The story: who knows what is going on here, but I am sure some people like it.
This game may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed it. I am not necessarily jumping up and down for it, but I understand it is a unique and very well-crafted game. Could it have been more fun? Yeah. Sometimes it felt like a chore to play, particularly on challenging levels where you’d repeatedly die and have to play the level over and over again. It’s missing that certain fun and joyful element that Star Fox has – that would have put it over the top. Instead of a great game, I simply look at this as a good game. And there is nothing wrong with that.
This is a good game. But that’s it.
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