There are three well-balanced levels of difficulty to choose from a save system extra checkpoints before bosses and the Swift Wing’s healing attack that can assist players dramatically if it’s deployed at the right moments. I think these elements contribute to a sense that Panzer Dragoon Orta is a very hard game, but I’ve always disagreed with that notion. Again, it’s a simple concept to grasp, but optimally collecting Gene Bases is a fiddly process that makes you wish the dragon forms were easier to access in the heat of battle. You won’t be able to dodge incoming projectiles in the Heavy Wing for example, but equally don’t expect to tear down a boss’s health bar under par time without it! Adding colour to this mix is a simple upgrade system that sees players collecting Gene Bases to ascend the forms to a more powerful state. Quick switching between forms is encouraged and this requires a good understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Panzer Dragoon Orta has many weird and wonderful creature designs.īeginners are likely to struggle with the transformations at first. This mechanic ties in beautifully with the new dragon forms from the Heavy Wing that sacrifices agility for attack strength the defensive Swift Wing that zooms through the air shooting down missiles or the versatile Basic Wing that can clear screens of enemies with its abundance of lock-on lasers. Players can now perform aerial manoeuvres that increase or decrease the dragon’s speed perfect for circumnavigating a large boss or getting the drop on enemy pursuers. Whilst this minimal design makes Panzer Dragoon Orta a very easy game to learn, Smilebit expands on the formula in elegant ways. Most of the action is handled with one button and a targeting crosshair, with additional commands for the dragon’s “berserk” attack and switching Orta’s facing. Orta and her mount glide through each scene automatically, leaving the player to lock on to enemies and shoot them down with the dragon’s targeted laser breath. Unlike Panzer Dragoon Saga that had successfully pivoted into the role-playing genre before this, Panzer Dragoon Orta returns to its rail shooter roots. Simplicity is another thing that this game gets from its predecessors. It may be a universe that draws inspiration from some rather obvious sources, but it doesn’t stop the world of Panzer Dragoon from feeling unique. It also helps that the art style and world-building continues to be so classy. Orta’s battle against the evil Empire follows a fairly stock pattern, though the story beats are integrated well. The tale is told in-game and through the occasional cutscene, but the text-based narration comes across as very dry. The story here is admittedly hard to get into at first. Bonding quickly with her new mount, Orta rides into battle against an army of warships and draconic clones, just as a mysterious life form emerges with sinister motives of its own. But before I get equally far ahead of myself, here’s the plot:Īs a belligerent Empire armed with ancient technology seeks to expand its rule, a young girl named Orta is rescued from certain death by an armoured dragon. This is a very special experience that combines the brutal playability of old school shooters with presentation so pristine, it almost feels an entire generation ahead of its time. It’s no secret by now that Panzer Dragoon Orta is one of my favourite games ever. Whilst it’s a little sad that the Dreamcast couldn’t survive long enough to receive Panzer Dragoon Orta, there is a feeling that its supreme quality could only have been properly realised on Xbox. Exclusives like Jet Set Radio Future and Gunvalkyrie had already found a home on Microsoft’s powerhouse, but in 2003, Sega’s Panzer Dragoon series would finally make its big return to EU markets. At this point I was firmly entrenched in the Xbox camp, as I awaited the releases that Sega had originally previewed for their Dreamcast. As I pointed out in my retrospective for Legacy of Kain: Defiance, 2003 was an odd year.
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