Video Game Review #247: Panzer Dragoon

Panzer Dragoon

Sega Saturn

Nostalgia Factor:

This is kind of sad. I've now played through each and every game in my Sega Saturn library. After I finalize this post, I will officially have no more Sega Saturn games to review. I'm not an emulator person and I haven't seen any used Saturn games at the local replay stores in literally years. But if this is my last ever Sega Saturn review, it is a pretty darn good one to end on.

I first played Panzer Dragoon back in 1995. I had a demo disc for the Saturn that had a level of this game on it. I played that one level over and over again many times. I never did end up buying the actual game, but I did rent it and its sequel (Panzer Dragoon II Zwei) a few times. Outside of that, it has been literally over twenty years since I have played this game. My recent playthrough of Panzer Dragoon Orta made me want to return to this title to see how the two compared.

While Orta has the prettier graphics and a more varied playing style, I found that I actually enjoyed the old outdated original better. How could this happen? Let's explore.

Story:

    

There's really not much to see here. I've never been interested in the storyline of ANY Panzer Dragoon game, and this one is no exception. The game's plot is razor thin. You hop aboard a blue dragon who tells you that you have to stop another dragon (an evil one) from reaching a distant tower. So off you go, fighting through a bunch of levels until you face off with this dragon at the end of the game. The end.

While the plot may be a bit thin, the mysterious world of the game is what keeps things interesting. It's part apocalyptic ruin, part bleak future, part fantasy, part sci-fi. It is hard to explain, but for the most part it works. It doesn't make the story any better, but it at least adds a cool feeling of mystery to the game.

Gameplay:

This is a rail-shooter, similar to games like Star Fox or Solar Eclipse. You mainly control your dragon from a behind the back perspective. There is an aiming reticule that you use to shoot down enemies. Hold down the shoot button and you can lock on to multiple enemies at a time and launch a volley of homing missiles at them. If you've ever played Star Fox 64, you should have no problem understanding the mechanics of this game.

The thing that makes Panzer Dragoon unique (for its time) is its ability to rotate the camera 360 degrees in all directions. There is a radar on the top right-hand side of the screen that shows your enemies locations. If you notice enemies coming up behind you, you can turn the camera so it is pointing behind your dragon and then shoot these enemies down. Same thing if they appear on your side. The deeper into the game you get, the more enemies you are going to encounter - and they can come at you from all directions. Be prepared to rotate that camera around quite a bit! The action can be fast, frenzied, and very intense.

This is a pretty short game, as it contains only six stages, with a boss at the end of each of them. I've seen some reviewers say it took them about an hour and a half to beat the game. I didn't time my playthrough, but that sounds about right. It might have taken me a little longer. The game can be fairly difficult at times with all these enemies coming at you from every direction. Some of the bosses can be a bit challenging too.

Graphics:

For a game that is 25 years old I think it looks pretty good. Sure there is some of that classic Saturn pixelization, but I'm willing to overlook that. This game is a product of its time - and in 1995 this was cutting edge. 

The environments are varied, colorful, and fun. The enemy design is very unique as the creatures in this game lend an air of authenticity to its odd setting. I like the water effects as well as the shifting camera angles when you have to maneuver through tight tunnels. 

Everything is clear and easy to see. I never "lost" an enemy because I couldn't see it due to shitty graphics. Everything looks good! Dated, but good. No complaints in this department whatsoever.

Sound:

I really like this game's orchestral musical score. At first it seems a little bit out of place seeing as the world of the game is a bit dark and serious, but it grows on you after a while. The musical track for the first stage of the game is one of my favorite Saturn tracks of all time. It is just so purely iconic to me.

When the game slows down, the music slows down too. A lot of the little environmental touches regarding the game's music are very well done. The sound effects are great too. The shooting and blasting sounds fit the aesthetic of the game perfectly. The little whimpering sound your dragon makes when it gets hit makes me sad every time. 

Again: no complaints in this department whatsoever.

Here is the song from the first level that I love so much. Listen to it. Just listen to it!!! Beautiful.

Overall:

To be honest I was never a huge fan of either this game or its sequel when I was younger. I fully expected to play this game and be like: "meh." But that didn't happen. I had a really good time with this! It's fun, it's got a great musical score, it's challenging but not overly challenging, its graphics are super charming. And it really rings that nostalgia bell pretty hardcore.

While it is technically probably a much weaker game than Panzer Dragoon Orta for the Xbox, I had a lot more fun with this than I did that game. It's short, it's to the point. It doesn't even try to give you a compelling story. It's just like: here you go - shoot stuff! And it works.

Although this is the last Saturn game I own, if I ever come across its sequel I will play and review the hell out of it. I remember it being a lot tougher than this game, but infinitely deeper and more beautiful at the same time. One game I have ALWAYS wanted to play, however, is Panzer Dragoon Saga - an RPG for the Sega Saturn that came out in 1998. I scoured every video game store looking for that game when I was a kid but I could never get my hands on a copy of it. Now when I look online I see it is available to buy for, like, over a thousand dollars. As much as I want to play the game (and I DESPERATELY want to play that game!) it is not worth that kind of money. If the video game gods are kind, I will somehow find a way to be able to play that game between now and the time I die. Please?

Anyway, this game was a blast. It's a shame the series never got the recognition it deserved. If you ever get the chance to play this game, and you're a fan of the genre, I would highly encourage you to check it out.

Final Score:

B+

All my other Saturn reviews for you to revel in:

Alien Trilogy

Bug!

Congo the Movie: The Lost City of Zinj

Fighters Megamix

Nights Into Dreams

Solar Eclipse

Sonic R

The Legend of Oasis

Virtua Cop 2

:(

Re-Review #10: Life Is Strange

Life Is Strange 

PlayStation 4

For my original review of this game click

<HERE!>

Well, here we go: my tenth re-review. When I first started this blog about six years ago I told myself that I was going to play through and review my entire game library and as soon as I finished a game I would not allow myself to play it again until I had played through EVERYTHING in my library. Well clearly I have strayed from that path as I have now replayed and rereviewed ten games in that timeframe. But if you think about it, ten games in the span of six years isn't that much. Comes out to a little less than two replays per year. Otherwise, I have been sticking pretty strong to my goal!

There are a few reasons I played this game again. The main reason being that I played Life is Strange: Before the Storm earlier in the year. Since that game is a prequel, it made me want to follow up and play this one again. I was really interested in its characters and I wanted to see how the two games flowed together as far as continuity and that kind of thing. The other reason being that I wanted to get this game's platinum trophy! I had missed so many trophies the last time through, I knew it was only a matter of time before I came back and scooped up all the ones I'd missed.

In my previous review of this game, I gave it the final score of a B. I praised the game's storyline and characters while I was critical of its gameplay, graphics, and confusing time travel plot holes. This time around though I found myself appreciating the game a bit more. There's still a little bit that doesn't make sense to me (is that a dream sequence towards the end of the last chapter or what the hell is going on?) but I found that it didn't wreck my enjoyment of the game.

I'm not going to recap this game's plot for you, as I already did that in my initial review. These re-reviews are meant to be quick. So what did I like more about the game this time around?

I felt a lot more of an emotional connection with the game's characters, and that made all the difference. I fell in love with Chloe during Life is Strange: Before the Storm. The first time I played this I had no idea who she was and I didn't really connect too much with her at all. But after playing the prequel and seeing her relationship with Rachel, and how she coped with the loss of her father really made me relate to her more as a character.

And even though we never actually meet Rachel as a character in this game, having played Before the Storm really helped me understand the depth of her relationship with Chloe, and this made the whole entire game hit a lot harder with me. The stakes felt so much higher. There is a heavy feeling in the air surrounding Rachel's disappearance that I experienced this time around that I did not feel on my previous playthrough.

Things felt more personal this time around. Once again, I didn't cry as I played, but that scene where Max goes back and saves Chloe's dad only for Chloe to wind up paralyzed and wanting to kill herself? Damn.

I've really come to love the Life is Strange series and its interesting complexities. This game is good. Its prequel is good. The characters are fantastic. If you are a fan of story-driven games you really can't go wrong here.

I have yet to play Life is Strange 2 yet, but playing this again has definitely moved it higher up onto my priority list. I can't wait to see what it has in store for me.

Final Score:

A-

All my previous re-reviews:

Castlevania (NES)

Contra (NES)

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Game Series (PS3)

Resident Evil 4 (GC)

Super Star Wars (SNES)

The Walking Dead Season One (PS3)

The Walking Dead Season Two (PS3)

The Walking Dead: Michonne (PS3)

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)

Video Game Review #246: Star Fox Assault

Star Fox: Assault

GameCube

Nostalgia Factor:

I feel like I'm finally starting to make a little progress working through my backlog of games. I've played through most of the big-time classics from my childhood - so now I am moving on to games that I've purchased in the last 10 to 20 years that I never got around to playing for some reason or another. My last review (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow) was such a game, and so is this one: Star Fox: Assault.

Even though I was a big fan of the Star Fox games for the SNES and the Nintendo 64, I never bothered to check this game out. I think I ended up buying it in the mid to early 2010s, but never played it because I'd heard it had received bad reviews. I finally played it here in 2020, 15 years after the game's initial release. Would I like it or would the bad reviews be right? Let's find out.

Story:

This game takes place after Star Fox Adventures, which took place after Star Fox 64. The universe is still feeling the aftereffects of Andross's defeat. An old threat has returned - the Aparoids, an insectoid creature that nearly destroyed everyone in the galaxy seventeen years ago. Some of Andross's old goons try to use these creatures to win the fight against Star Fox, but as expected it doesn't go well. The whole game basically consists of you (as Fox) fighting the Aparoids. An old foe you might remember from Star Fox 64 - Star Wolf - arrives to fight alongside you and your crew.

This game's story isn't too horribly deep or memorable. In fact, I think it may be the weakest of any of the Star Fox stories, which is a shame because you can tell it is really trying. I can't say I was into it. One little touch I do appreciate is how the lore of Star Fox Adventures is woven into this tale. It was fun seeing Krystal as a part of the crew, and unexpected seeing Tricky again. I can't deny that his cameo brought a smile to my face. I thought we'd seen the last of him!

Gameplay:

While I enjoyed this game's predecessor, Star Fox Adventures, it didn't feel like a true Star Fox title to me with its Zelda-inspired gameplay. I wanted to see how the Gamecube would handle a "classic" Star Fox Arwing flying title, but I didn't really get what I was looking for.

Things started out okay. The first level seemed like a good warmup. It looked like Star Fox, it felt like Star Fox. Then I moved on to the second level, which is where the game nearly lost me. Now, I knew coming into this that there would be levels where you get out of the Arwing and proceed on-foot. In fact, I was looking forward to these levels. If done right they could have added a lot to the Star Fox experience. But therein lies the problem:  they weren't done right.

The controls are never really explained. You're just dropped off into a battlefield and it's like: here you go! I figured out quickly that you can run, jump, shoot, and collect items. You walk around the open environment, blasting away at all the targets highlighted in red on the map. You can enter tanks to fly over walls, shoot down doors, and fight some of the tougher enemies. If the tank is destroyed you find yourself back on foot again. Don't worry, the tank will respawn almost immediately. But sometimes there are areas you have to enter on-foot because the tank won't fit. And that's about it: destroy all the targets, pass the stage. On to the next one.

My problem with these stages is that they don't feel like Star Fox at all. Not only that, but they feel very generic and sloppily put together to me. You just walk around spamming the shoot button. I didn't even know you could change weapons since the game doesn't explain this LITERALLY EVER so the first several stages I walked around trying to fight off enemies with my generic default pea shooter weapon. When I eventually found out how to change weapons, I ended up with a sniper rifle and a machine in my arsenal, among other weapons. It still didn't make me enjoy these on the ground segments of the game. They just felt so horribly outdated and out of place. If this wasn't a Star Fox title I never would have even given this game a second look.

The saving grace of this game, however, is luckily the flying stages. I wish there were more of them. Instead, it is more of a 50/50 split between ground and flying missions. But like I said earlier, they look and feel like Star Fox. I mean, no these segments aren't as good as they are in Star Fox or Star Fox 64, but they are still entertaining. It was a delight seeing the Star Wolf group again and engaging in space duels with them. Some of the missions are pretty clever and fun and engaging. I had a good time with these stages.

But those ground stages... they really made this game a chore for me to play and I don't know if I can forgive them for that.

Graphics:

This game looks pretty good. Bright colors, clever environments, fun lighting effects, well-designed characters. It was a treat for me seeing the world of Star Fox brought to life with the power of the Nintendo GameCube. Seeing how far things have come since the very basic looking original Star Fox game is a fun thing for someone like me who grew up in that era of gaming.

Sound:

Star Fox 64's soundtrack brings me much joy, and it was fun for me to hear some of those tunes adapted and remixed for Star Fox: Assault. The game's original music didn't really do much for me, however. And the voice acting seems like it has gotten worse since Star Fox 64. I mean it technically has probably gotten a lot better, but there is just something about Star Fox 64's voice acting that worked whereas to me it didn't work here. The characters in the N64 version of the game had such memorable and distinct voices. This game? Not so much.

Overall:

I wanted to like this game, I really did. I was hopeful the bad reviews I'd read were wrong. But they weren't. I mean, this isn't necessarily a BAD game. Yeah I didn't like the on-foot stages but I wouldn't say they were unbearable or awful. They were tolerable, just not very fun. Nothing special whatsoever. The flying stages are fine but to me they were nothing too great either. I like that it feels and plays like classic Star Fox, but there's not a single iconic stage or moment in this game that rivaled anything seen in Star Fox 64. The flying stages are missing that game's heart, and it's missing it badly.

The combination of this game's weird story and its snooze-inducing dialogue and its barely fun ground stages and its mediocre flying stages and its inconsistent pace really kills it for me. Some parts of this game are good but the end result of everything together: no. I could not garner any excitement when playing this game whatsoever. It's such a middle of the pack game. I'd play two stages and get bored and turn it off and go do something else. It should have taken me a day or two to beat this game and it took me almost two weeks instead.

And like I said, I can't even say this game is bad either. It doesn't do anything extremely well, and it doesn't do anything extremely poorly either. It's just so... average. But it is so average in a way that makes it below average. If that makes any sense whatsoever. I don't know. And I really don't care.

Is this a good game?

Nah. Sorry, I can't recommend this one to you, even if you are a die-hard fan of the franchise.

Final Score:

D

If you liked this review, check out some of my others:

Star Fox 64

Star Fox Adventures

Solar Eclipse

Panzer Dragoon Orta

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Video Game Review #245: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

PlayStation 3

Nostalgia Factor:

I purchased this game years and years ago, telling myself I would get around to playing it "someday". I would say this had been sitting on my shelf for a good six or seven years before that mythical someday finally came. When I fired this game up, I was astonished to see that it was actually ten years old, having been released in 2010.

I knew nothing about this game, other than that I'd heard its gameplay was similar to God of War or Dante's Inferno. I like those games, so I was relatively optimistic I would like this one too.

So, would I? Let's find out.

Story:

It is going to be a struggle for me to explain this game's storyline to you. Let me just be upfront: I paid this game's story almost no attention whatsoever. Video games have a certain window of opportunity to get me invested in their stories, and this game lost my interest very, very early on. You are thrust into the action too quickly, and little to no details are given to you about the main character or the lore of the world. The whole game is just you moving from one action set piece to the next, battling demonic creatures and boss enemies. There are custscenes where the game's story is explained a bit more, but I found them to be a bit too fast moving - and with no background info on the character or the world of the game I just couldn't muster the energy to become interested in what was happening. Everything sounded like a bunch of gibberish to me.

My basic, BASIC interpretation of the game is that you play as one of the first, if not the very first Belmonts in existence. He is a member of some kind of ancient order dedicated to battling and destroying evil monsters (or something). His wife is killed and he makes it his mission to defeat all the bad guys so he can assemble some mask pieces that will bring her back to life. I don't freaking know. What I do remember is that - SPOILER ALERT! - the dude helping you out for most of the game is actually bad, and you have to defeat him at the end of the game.

Stay tuned after the credits as the game moves into the modern era with a big, shocking twist. I know this game has a sequel. Does it take place in the present day? Maybe someday if I ever play it I will find out.

Gameplay:

I already mentioned that this game has been compared to God of War, and from the moment I turned it on I could easily see why. Your whole moveset is very comparable to the PS2 and PS3 God of War titles. You move the same, you jump the same, you climb the same, you walk over wooden planks the same, you fight the same, your combos are the same, the QTEs are the same, the level of violence and gore is the same, even some of the puzzle elements are the same. So if you like God of War, I should see no reason why you wouldn't like this one.

There are a few major differences worth highlighting. You earn light and dark magic as you play, and how you utilize this magic greatly affects your experience. Equip light magic in battle, and every blow you land fills your health gauge. Use dark magic in battle to have your attacks pack an extra large wallop. Strategically switching back and forth between these two magics is key to mastering this game's combat. You can also pick up items to use in combat along the way: throwing knives, fairies that distract your opponents, holy water grenades, and a dark crystal that summons a truly horrifying creature onto the field of battle to damage your enemies.

While some puzzle elements (like pushing blocks around, rearranging mirrors to reflect beams of light around the room, etc) are repeated - this game does have some relatively challenging puzzles that took me a while to figure out. It's not often a game stumps me, but I had to look online for help many, many times as I played.

While this game leans heavily on God of War for inspiration, a few of its boss battles lean on a separate old-school PS2 game as well: Shadow of the Colossus. As you make your way through the game's story you'll encounter some mammoth sized bosses that you have to climb to take down. You have to grab and hold on as the enemy tries to shake you off, and then take advantage when you can and approach the enemy's weak spot, a blue glowing symbol that you have to stab over and over again with your sword. Sound familiar? It's not even trying to pretend it isn't ripping Shadow of the Colossus off!

You gain experience points as you play, and you can use these points to learn new combos, moves, and attacks. An interesting thing about this game is that as you play you are going to encounter doors and obstacles that you cannot pass. You have to come back later on in the game after you've learned the proper move that you need in order to access the area you were trying to get into. I'll admit, I never bothered to come back and look for things I missed as that would have required me coming back and playing almost every single level over again to get everything: and I don't have time for that shit. If you are a super dedicated player, however, I can see that this might add a ton of replay value to the game for you.

Graphics:

This game looks FANTASTIC. I can't believe it is a 10 year old PS3 game. It looks better than some games I've played in recent memory (*cough cough Nier: Automata *cough cough). The vibrant color scheme, the detailed stages, the grotesque monsters that you fight, the giant cinematic boss battles: everything looks great. The human character models look really good too (although I personally think Gabriel looks like a douchey frat boy sometimes). The world of this game is very atmospheric. Even though I don't know much about this game's world, it is brought to life masterfully. The amount of detail poured into it is truly remarkable. My wife doesn't normally comment on the video games I play, but even she had to point out how much she loved the look of this game and how cool she thought its graphics to be.

Sound:

This game sounds really good too! Great musical score, great sound effects, just an overall highly cinematic quality to the game's sound. The voice acting is for the most part pretty decent. Any time you can get Patrick Stewart to lend his voice to a game is a major win for the developer. I do have a complaint though: I think they may have wasted Patrick's talents in this game. Too often it sounds like he is phoning it in and/or reading from a script. With the other characters this isn't as bad or as noticeable, but with an actor of Patrick's quality it becomes glaringly obvious. I've never been more disinterested in a Patrick Stewart role in my life. And I don't think he has either!

Overall:

This game surprised me in a good way. I expected a corny and generic God of War clone, but I got a lengthy, engaging, and quite fun title instead. I may even go as far as to say that I liked this more than any of the first three mainstream titles in the God of War series, although the first God of War holds sentimental value for me. It would be one thing if Lords of Shadow ripped those games off and didn't do it in a way that was fun or entertaining - but it does the complete opposite and actually improves upon the formula. Throw in some challenging puzzles and challenging combat sequences, and the game made me a big fan! So many games are way too easy these days. I liked the challenge that Lords of Shadow brought to the table. I was always wanting to push on and see what they had in store for me next.

The game is long, too. Since this is so similar to God of War I expected a ten hour story, if that. I am not sure how long this game ended up being, but with 13 chapters filled with stages that can be quite lengthy and challenging, I always got the impression that this was much longer than any God of War game I had played. If I had gone back and collected everything I missed, it would have added hours and hours of additional gameplay for my enjoyment as well. But I didn't do that. Maybe someday in the future if I ever come back to this?

So yeah, good game! I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. I've grown a little sick of the tried and true God of War formula in recent years, but this game takes what is so fun about those games and improves upon it in its own special way. It's long, it's challenging, it's beautiful to look at. If only it had a more interesting story, one that tied into "Castlevania as I know it" in literally ANY way, shape, or form. It's almost like it isn't even a Castlevania game at all, it was something new or original and last minute they changed the character's name to Belmont and slapped Castlevnia on the title screen to sell more copies. I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what happened, actually. But I'm not going to research it because I have bigger and better things to do.

Bottom line: this is a fun game and if you are at all interested in the hack and slash genre, I would check this out. If you are an old school Castlevania fan and you are expecting this to be like the old games, but moved into the 3D realm, you may come away disappointed. If so, just play the game. It may win you over after all.

Final Score:

B+

If you liked this review, check out some of my other game reviews:

God of War

God of War II

God of War: Chains of Olympus

God of War III

Tomb Raider Legend