A game worth the price tag

The sentence that serves as a title for this post is usually one of the first things that come to my mind when I think about it. You see, for there are a lot of rare and expensive Saturn games out there, some of them good, some of them bad, but all not worth the hefty prices they demand these days. But, alas, I've found one such a game! It can go from 50 to 200€/$/£, depending on region (Europe - semi-rare, USA - rare, Japan - cheap as fuck), but even the biggest price tag is thoroughly deserved.

I'm talking about Panzer Dragoon Saga!


Now, you all know I'm a big fan of the series, and this game was the only one missing from my collection (not counting the spin-off Panzer Dragoon Mini or whatever that gamegear game was called). It has been on my list for quite some time, but now I finally decided to take the plunge and just play it. And OMFG it's awesome!!!

Seriously, this game was so ahead of it's time! I'm only in the middle of disc 2 and it's already one of my favourite RPG's ever! For a start, the game is very cinematic. There are a lot of FMV's (real, lengthy videos, not just short clips) that illustrate the story thoroughly and put you in the right mood for this hallucinating trip, and not only they're technically irreprehensible, but also masterfully designed, with shots worthy of Hollywood. Then, it's freaking accessible for an RPG. For a start, everything is thoroughly explained in a series of interactive tutorials. That way you won't enter your first fight without knowing the combat system in detail.



And also, the combat system is one of the most engaging and fast-paced I've ever seen using a turn-based mechanic. It's kind of complex for me to explain here without a video to illustrate while I describe it, but just bear in mind that position matters, you have to be constantly moving around your enemies to dodge their attacks and find their weak-points, and your choice of attacks depends heavily on your action bar's charge.

Then there's the story, the surreal setting on which the action takes place and the gameplay outside the fights. You'll explore villages on foot and breathtaking scenarios mounted on your faithful dragon, reminiscing of some areas from the previous games, and the slower pace of the games let's you learn more about this strange world and admire the absolutely stunning graphics. This takes me to the graphics, which are simply amazing. It's almost impossible to get more out of the Saturn's limited 3D capabilities, but enough to make you realize how amazing the system is/was back in the day. Also, the game has a unique "Saturn look" to it. I can't really explain, but I think there are certain graphical effects that were most used on Saturn games, so that you can immediately tell this was not released on a Playstation, for example. But, more stunning than the technical aspect is the art direction, which is everything you can expect from a Panzer Dragoon game.



To sum it up, even though I'm not halfway through it yet, this is already one of my favourite game on the system, and given it's accessible nature, chances are a lot of you faithful readers will enjoy it too, even if you usually don't fancy RPG's. This game is pure magic. Go buy it and see for yourself, you'll thank me later :)

And Father K, I know you have this one. Go play it, go play it now!