Worthy of the series
User Rating: 9.6 | Panzer Dragoon Orta (Platinum Collection) XBOX
Panzer Dragoon Saga ended with such finality that there really wasn't anything else to be told. And yet here is Panzer Dragoon Orta, dipping into the franchise's history and previous games' plot points solely for the purpose of giving you one last hurrah, because this game's main plot seems to be disconnected from the first three games. But what a last hurrah it is(unless somebody has the foresight to remake Saga). Panzer Dragoon's original creators are no more, but Team Smilebit has done an admirable job picking up the reigns. Panzer Dragoon fans should find much to love and very little to nitpick at. Instead of sticking with the RPG format that Saga had, Panzer Dragoon Orta goes back to the franchise's shooter roots. However, Orta also gives a nod to Saga by way of a few plot elements but especially through gameplay ideas that work just as well in a real time shooter as it did in an RPG. In Orta, your dragon has the ability to dash and break around the enemy to avoid hazards in a way that's very similar to Saga's positional circle element. Orta also takes its cues from Saga's real time dragon morphing. Instead of four forms and thousands of in between varieties like in Saga, Orta only gives you three forms, but implementation of all forms is even more functional than in Saga's. Orta also goes one step further by scattering around RPG like level up pills throughout the game. These pills can only upgrade the form you're in, so it's up to you to determine what form you want to max out. Everything else is trademark Panzer Dragoon. And this is a good thing because Panzer Dragoon has always been awesome, and this game obviously doesn't try to fix what ain't broken. The 360 degree action. The lock on and fire dragon lasers. The semi-tribal, otherworldly aircraft and buildings. The organic imagery and ominous themes of war and biomechanical terrors. The philosophical villains. And of course the famous speed zones, berserks, and the "holy freaking cow!" gigantic monsters. Certain hardcore fanatics of Panzer Dragoon might dismiss this game's seeming discontinuity from the others and one bizarrely dorky sub boss, but Panzer Dragoon Orta really does the first two shooters one better. The sense of energy and urgency has been amplified, and the story is much grander. While the previous shooter games have always injected story in the form of cinema sequences, action has always taken precedence over plot. Orta gives yet another nod to Saga by infusing story in with the action as well as in the cinemas. While never approaching Saga's brilliant narrative, Orta will have the player slowly growing emotionally attached to the main player and her dragon and coming to despise the wicked villains. Orta also has one of the most heart-rending endings since Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Orta is not just visually stimulating but stimulating on an adrenaline and emotional level as well. Fans who can't stomach this game's ultra realistic graphics and yearn for the days of the classic games' surreal polygons might want to pop in the old games if their Saturn is still working. Or they may want to play this game until they unlock the very first Panzer Dragoon, complete with aging polygons and outdated frame rates. That's the other side of this game's beauty. While many shooters offer only multiplayer options to increase the depth, Panzer Dragoon Orta offers a vast treasure trove of knowledge, lore, history, and minigames. The game really is a work of art. There's simply too much to see and do on one go. One minigame set is even its own complete story about a poor soul caught on the other side of the dragon's wrath. And of course score fiends might want to play this game over and over until they achieve perfection. If you were a fan of Panzer Dragoon, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not checking this masterpiece out. Even if you weren't a Panzer Dragoon fan, if you're a shooter fan, you'd still be doing yourself a disservice by not checking this out. It's simply brilliant throughout. 
