25 Gaming Experiences You Must Have Before You Die - Part XI: Panzer Dragoon

Panzer Dragoon (Saturn, 1995)

Panzer Dragoon Zwei (Saturn, 1996)

Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn, 1998)

Why You Should Play It

Sega fans had a rough time of things from the mid-90s to the early 2000s. Two more or less failed hardware ventures, a series of big-budget titles that pulled in less than stellar returns, new-found competition in the 32-bit wunderkind, the Sony Playstation, and several vicious betrayals against their own fans eventually cost Sega its bid in the hardware business.

One of the biggest factors in the Sega debacle was the failure of the Saturn at the hands of what many felt was a premature launch of the Dreamcast. The Saturn was only out for little more than four years by the time Sega abandoned it, and the last stretch of that period saw very little in the way of software in the US, with many of the Saturn's must-have titles being relegated to the brutal Saturn import market. It was a bitter pill to swallow for a lot of diehard Sega fans who'd invested top-dollar in Sega's new machine in Winter of '94, enough to make them think twice about dropping another paycheck when the Dreamcast came around.

The Saturn had a host of other problems as well. In trying to get the jump on their competition, Sega released the Saturn somewhat prematurely and without a long enough cycle for developers to put out a strong library for the system anywhere near its launch. On top of that, Sega's star player, Sonic the Hedgehog, had never made more than a fleeting appearance on the system, and with its limited 3D capabilities, the Saturn just felt a bit behind the times when juxtaposed against the feats of the PSOne and the N64.

But one thing the often shat-upon Saturn fan did get was a trio of games that would come to represent the paragon of everything the Saturn was capable of--Panzer Dragoon. 

Panzer Dragoon is, without a doubt, Sega's shining achievement. None of the four games (ignoring a non-canon handheld release) in the series have fallen short of being one of the greatest games of their time, and the franchise has often made a case for the controversial "Games as Art" movement. For all the railing against Saturn as a vastly inferior 3D machine to the Playstation, Sega's Panzer Dragoon was far and away the most cinematic gaming experience around when it quietly snuck onto store shelves shortly after the Saturn's launch. Using a combination of what was easily the most impressive CG animation around until Final Fantasy VII, blocky but highly detailed character and environment models, and a stunning, surreal atmosphere, Panzer Dragoon was quite captivating.

Scant few games are as otherworldly as Panzer Dragoon. This other-worldliness is achieved by the series' distinct, alien aesthetic and art style, and even more so by the fully developed language spoken by the characters throughout the series (no doubt an inspiration for Fumito Ueda in making Ico a few years later). To cinch the deal, Panzer Dragoon also distinguishes itself with its brooding, tonal soundtracks.

But what really sets Panzer Dragoon apart is the experience of playing it. The first two games are on-rails shooters, similar to the light-gun arcade games prevalent in the years before complete console domination. Mounted on a dragon, you fly through beautifully detailed roller coaster stages punctuated by stunning set-pieces. Each stage tells a complete story with only a few scant lines of mostly incidental text and dialog, and the actual narrative is expressed in the moments between said stages. What you end up with is a peculiar mixture of high-octane, arcade-style action married to the exploration of an artistically realized world overflowing with a sense of mythology.

And then there's Panzer Dragoon Saga.

Panzer Dragoon Saga, the third game in the series, was far and away the most epic undertaking Sega had attempted up to that point, and easily the most ambitious Saturn game in the console's storied but turbulent library. More importantly than this, however, is the fact that Panzer Dragoon Saga, whether by happenstance or by Sega's own design, was the game that would send the Saturn off. And what a send off it was.

Panzer Dragoon Saga embodies all the concepts and ideals the first two games stood for, but it tells a story too epic to be told in the form of a rail-shooter. The story Panzer Dragoon Saga offers is one that can only be properly presented by an RPG, and that is precisely what is coded onto the unprecedented four discs that house it.

But how exactly does one incorporate the assets of a genre diametrically opposed to the very idea of a rail shooter without losing sight of its roots? Not easily, it seems. A byproduct of PDS's contradictory lineage is the fact that it is entirely unique, boasting combat every bit as strategically intensive as a Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest while still maintaining the sweeping, cinematic qualities and dynamic movement the first two games were celebrated for.

As a result of all this, Panzer Dragoon Saga is a certifiable masterpiece and the undisputed crown jewel of the Saturn's exclusive line-up. But that shouldn't suggest you should eschew the first two games, as they are integral to the Panzer Dragoon experience. All three titles are some of the finest and most challenging games around, and more importantly, they are some of the most affecting and thought-provoking.

Potential Barriers

Rail-shooters and JRPGs are both genres that feel somewhat dated in contemporary gaming society. That's not to say they no longer or exist, or even that they no longer exist with a modicum of success, but they are games of an ilk that offer very specific experiences that will attract very specific gamers and repel others. That said, Panzer Dragoon as a whole does have a very engrossing presentation that will suck people in regardless of how taken they are with how the games play, and that speaks a lot to just how enthralling these games are.

Current Availability

Now, here's where things get complicated. The first three games are available almost exclusively on the Saturn. The exception is the first, which was ported to Windows and on the PS2 in Japan as part of the Sega Ages budget collection. These versions display at a higher resolution than the Saturn version, so they look crisper, with the PS2 version boasting some minor aesthetic tune-ups. The Windows version is an unlockable bonus in Panzer Dragoon Orta on XBox (more on that later). The first two games are both available on the Saturn for a pretty reasonable price.

Panzer Dragoon Saga, on the other hand, is going to hurt you. Deeply. As one of the last Saturn games ever made, it wasn't printed in great abundance, and thus has become something of a rarity. Secondhand copies of PDS will run you triple-digits, no matter where you get it from. If you find it listed for less than that, it's a trick. Read the fine print and you'll find that it's either someone selling one of the four discs individually or the Japanese version (which, as an RPG, won't get you very far if you don't know Japanese). Being hesitant to drop what will most certainly be $150 on a twelve-year-old game is certainly understandable, but besides emulation, this is the only way PDS can be played, and believe me when I tell you that no $150+ you'll ever spend on a game will get you as much pleasure as PDS.

If You Really Dig It

For some reason, rail shooters have attracted some of the finest artistic talent in the world of video games, and if you're at all enamored with Panzer Dragoon, you'll be delighted to know that there are other, equally as enchanting games built on its ideas available to you.

Elemental Gearbolt (PSOne, 1998)

Released here by the wonderful folks at the much beloved and mourned Working Designs, Elemental Gearbolt is an epic, sweeping ode to Panzer Dragoon in both its visual style and its storytelling, optimized for a somewhat more powerful machine and giving you the option to play it with a light gun, which seems more ideal for the type of game it is.

Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Earth (N64, 2000)

Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (Wii, 2009)

Developed by an odd collaboration between Nintendo and Treasure (who I've already lobbed quite a bit of praise at in this feature), Sin and Punishment is another breathtakingly beautiful and hauntingly poignant rail shooter. As with anything bearing Treasure's name, it is infused with quite a bit more moxie than the games it shares its genre with.

Rez (Dreamcast/PS2, 2001)

Rez is similar to Panzer Dragoon in the way it is delivered, but aside from that, it is unlike anything else you'll ever experience. In fact, the only proper way to describe it is as just that--an experience. It is surreal in a way that goes beyond my ability to explain it. The only way to know what is Rez is to play it. Disc-based versions of it are quite rare, but an HD version of it is readily available on XBox Live Arcade.

Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBox, 2002)

After the demise of the Dreamcast and the closing of the wondrous but tumultuous chapter on their history as a player in the console wars, Sega became a publisher, and their work was scattered across the survivors' hardware. Of particular interest was Microsoft's powerful new machine, the XBox (possibly due to the fact that Microsoft's hands were clean in the matter of the Dreamcast's death). While the XBox had some heavy hitting software to establish itself in its first steps, Panzer Dragoon Orta, a game no one really expected at all, let alone on the XBox, made its presence felt shortly after the XBox's launch and is still one of the more impressive technical marvels of the last gen, on top of being one of the more defining exclusives of the XBox library. The game returns to the simpler but more representative gameplay of the first two Panzer Dragoons, and does so with impressive aréte.

Child of Eden (XBox 360/PS3, 2011)

Envisioned by Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the same gaming auteur who created Rez, Child of Eden is quite clearly a spiritual successor to the quirky, utterly unique rail-shooter. Everything it has to say is much more on the nose, but what it lacks in not having quite as labyrinthine a sense of mind-fuck to it as its predecessor, it more than makes up for in sheer visual and auditory splendor.