Panzer Dragoon Saga
Panzer Dragoon Saga, known in Japan as Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG, is a 1998 role-playing video game (RPG) developed by Team Andromeda and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. The third entry in the Panzer Dragoon series, it replaced the rail shooter gameplay of the previous games with RPG elements such as random encounters, semi-turn-based battles and free-roaming exploration. The player controls Edge, a young mercenary who rides a dragon and encounters a mysterious girl from a vanished civilization. Sega felt an RPG was critical to compete against the PlayStation and Final Fantasy. Development began in early 1995 alongside Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (1996). The project was arduous and repeatedly delayed; incorporating the Panzer Dragoon shooting elements with full 3D computer graphics and voice acting, both unusual features in RPGs at the time, pushed the Saturn to its technical limits and strained team relations. Two staff members died during development, which the director, Yukio Futatsugi, attributed to stressful working conditions. Panzer Dragoon Saga is one of the most acclaimed Saturn games and is often listed among the greatest video games, earning praise for its story, graphics, and combat. As Sega had shifted focus to its Dreamcast console, Saga had a limited release in the West, and worldwide sales were poor. The Andromeda artist Katsumi Yokota attributed the low sales to the creative spirit of the team, who were not interested in creating a mainstream product. Although it became a cult classic, Panzer Dragoon Saga has never been rereleased and English copies sell for hundreds of US dollars. After its release, Sega disbanded Team Andromeda. Several staff members joined a new Sega studio, Smilebit, and developed a fourth Panzer Dragoon game, Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002), for the Xbox. Gameplay Unlike the other Panzer Dragoon games, which are rail shooters, Panzer Dragoon Saga is a role-playing video game (RPG). The player controls Edge, a young mercenary who rides a flying dragon. Gameplay is divided into three modes: traversing large areas on the dragon, battling enemies, and exploring on foot. On foot, Edge can talk to non-player characters (NPCs), upgrade his weapons, buy items such as potions, and use a targeting reticle to interact with elements such as doors and locks. When the player explores on the dragon, this reticle is used to fire lasers to activate triggers or break objects. In one sequence, Edge rides a hoverbike instead of the dragon. The player travels through environments including canyons, deserts, forests, and subterranean ruins. These are accessed from the map screen, and new areas are added as the game progresses. Campsites serve as rest areas and save points. The game features full voice acting and numerous FMV cutscenes. Saga simplifies many RPG conventions. For example, it has few travel sequences and side quests, requires little management of inventories or skill trees and features only Edge and his dragon rather than a party of playable characters. It can be completed in under 20 hours, making it much shorter than most RPGs at the