This may or may not have been asked before, but out of all the Episodes in the shooters, which are your favorites, and why?
This may or may not have been asked before, but out of all the Episodes in the shooters, which are your favorites, and why?
There are so many, so I’ve listed one from each game:
Panzer Dragoon Episode 1 - The music, the sunken ruins, the battle with the imperial ship at the end. They’re all excellent introductions to the series.
Panzer Dragoon Zwei Episode 4. The music, and mood it creates. I particularly like the elevator section, it’s really definitive for me of what the Ancient Age and Panzer Dragoon are all about.
Panzer Dragoon Orta Episode 5 - I like the way the dragon starts off vulnerable and then recovers in the fight at the end of the episode. The cut scenes at the start and end of the episode help set up the theme as well.
Panzer Dragoon first stage is classic, but I think I’ll have to go with the fifth stage, above the forest… probably just because it’s my favorite music, but at least in my memory it’s also the most fun technical shooting gallery.
Zwei, Act 5 is again hard to beat for the music and visual combo, though act 3 really has that classic SEGA wow factor… but somehow it’s Act 2 that has the most warm-fuzzy aura around it. It somehow feels the most real, and the feeling of gliding after you leave the cliff, probably the most atmospheric location outside of Azel for me.
Orta… especially hard choice, quite diverse for one thing. In many ways Ep. 1 is the most classic, I think most agree on that. And Ep. 5 is definitely the standout, it looks the closest to some of even the earlier concept art, such as the paintings for the credits of Zwei. But I think it’s Ep. 3 that has my favorite style overall, the most memorable music, and definitely the coolest boss.
Panzer Dragoon Zwei - Episode 2- Mechania ruins
I love the sense of scale (high canyons, you low)
Love the abandoned fortress (that you later find out is from a dead faction)- it felt more like exploring than just flying over a plane.
One of the only ground battles in the series- it actually felt like the set-up of what became the “rail shooter” sequences that is now in all AAA 3rd person games. I actually prefer the play from the ground than from the air. (I love episode 1 in Zwei as well)
It is why I think a ‘person based’ game in panzer world would work very well!
Panzer Dragoon: Episode 1 - For the music, the setting, the intriguing monsters and most of all, very fond childhood memories.
Episode 4 - It’s very exciting shooting through those tunnels, albeit an absolute nightmare for getting a perfect shot-down ratio. At least it gives me something to keep aiming for…
The last episode, because when it comes right down to it, that showdown is the point that the entire game has been building up to, and it’s just plain fun (the hilarious shriek that the Dark Dragon lets out when it dies has a little something to do with it as well…)
And just to be awkward, episode 0 is one of my favourites because it’s just so relaxing, cruising through a barren sky and blasting anything that comes your way.
Zwei: Episode 3 - This is probably a given because it constitutes my first taste of Panzer Dragoon, when it was released on that shockingly green Sega Blast demo disc (that’s how I ended up needing glasses - true story). The forest is a grand bit of eye candy, although it’s a total pain in the neck trying to figure out where the paths change, even with the full instruments switched on.
Episode 4 - The music is fantastic, the ruins are gorgeous; overall, it feels quintessentially Panzerish.
Orta: Episode 6 - The latter half thereof, mainly, with the intricately patterned golden rooms; it had a feeling of being somewhere sacred but also quite ominous. I always thought of it being a very tense level to play through, particularly with having to navigate those narrow corridors with the giant lasers flying at you entirely without warning.
Episode 7 - This episode pretty much had everything; the mighty sestren, references to the previous games, a few suprises in terms of uncovering dialogues and Central Data Unit Ofnir, which had a sort of ‘special’ feeling to it, what with being hidden away in a secret area.
PD - Episode 1: The first stage of the game I believe was a work of genius. To a degree it set the standard regarding the quality of musical scores in video games and the atmosphere is simply fantastic. Beautiful even by today’s criteria.
PDZ - Episode 2: The moment when Lagi opens his wings and jumps off the cliff is simply my all-time favorite video game moment…
PDO - Although Episode 2, Altered Genos, is simply mesmerizing I thing I will go with episode 5. As people stated above, it’s the process from the vulnerable state that Lagi starts in into regenerating and recovering in the end. The way Orta treats him at the beginning really shows the kind of bond they share.