Why does this game get so much praise? It's not a terrible game, but it just doesn't have a lot going for it. The story is a very average save-the-world affair with no real interesting plot twists. The characters are generic and have no development. The battle system is dead simple and also broken, once you get the ability to change into Spiritual class you can just hide behind your enemies and wait as long as you want for your magic gauge to recharge, essentially allowing you to live forever in battle. The game is short as fuck, my final playclock said 14 hours. The "amazing ending" that I've seen people remark on is just the ending fromEarthboundexcept it's not done as well.
I will give the game points for being relatively unique with the dragon-riding mechanic. It also follows a very minimalist design, which I think other RPGs could learn from. Unfortunately, I think they might have gone too minimalist.
Thoughts?
>>3230564
>The story is a very average save-the-world affair with no real interesting plot twists
The twist is that it's vastly expanding the Panzer Dragoon mythology from the rail shooters
>The battle system is dead simple and also broken
The battle system is actually super awesome but you're sort of right. After you level to a certain point in any number of methods you become fairly unstoppable. There needs to be a difficulty-up hack but the game checks for game-shark type devices
>The game is short as fuck
So's Chrono Trigger. That's not necessarily bad and there's your standard 40-50 hours if you 100% it.
>I will give the game points for being relatively unique with the dragon-riding mechanic
Yes, it's combat system may not be the most complex and it may not be correctly balanced but it is absolutely unique and the source code for the game has been lost so we're not going to see HD re-releases or rebalanced versions.
Hell, I'd be ecstatic if someone would just come up with a game-shark enable code and a player-attacks-do-XXX%-damage code to make the game more challenging and to feel longer in "playclock" terms, plus it would give better reason to search the entire areas since you'd need to grind a bit. Just something as simple as that could make a very good rare game a GREAT rare game.
because it's expensive
>>3230564
Nostalgia. That's why.
I really don't get why kids even come here or play older games. Like half the threads are stupid shit like this.
>>3230703
dude almost nobody played this game (or owned a Saturn) back in the day, I don't think it's nostalgia.
Can that saturn emulator handle panzer dragoon?
I've always wanted to play it but I've only ever had the demo as a kid.
hiddengemitis - people hyping up overlooked games to the point of overrating them
>>3230758
>implying Saga is a hidden gem
It's just rare in USA because of "based" Bernie Stolar who hated JRPGs and wanted to kill the Saturn as soon as possible because jews fear the samurai and that includes Segata Sanshiro.
>>3230796
>still blaming it on that yes-man
Most games that didn't get localised were because SoJ shot them down, not Stolar.
>>3230809
Source?
>>3230812
http://www.outerheavenforums.com/showthread.php?16939-Sega-Myths-Bernie-Stolar-s-5-Star-Policy-prevented-Grandia-s-US-Sega-Saturn-release
>>3230813
tl;dr
Go to the Meet & Greet section and make an intro post.
Maybe I'll read it after that.
>>3230643
I think this is probably a big part of it. People either feel the need to like it to justify the price, or buying it for a high price gets them primed to like it in the first place. But people have also emulated it and really liked it, so.
>>3230703
What >>3230705 said. It was (and is) pretty rare for a standard retail release.
>>3230739
>Kill yourself
Fuck off. I don't need plot twists to enjoy a game/movie/book, trust me, but a plot twist or two would have been nice to liven up this otherwise uninteresting story.
>>3230564
>Thoughts?
Promptly kill yourself.
>>3230564
>>3230643
>>3230703
>>3230758
>>3230796
>>3230809
>>3231196
I really want the underage that holds Earthbound as some standard for RPGs to go back to /v/.
>>3230637
Pretty much this.
I'll add is the music and ambient sounds used in PDS are amazing and adds a lot to the game. Like the choice of using only the wind and now music in the desert scenes. The music is some of the best out there.
Story is neat.
Graphics are amazing and PDS was the only game at the time to rival and maybe even surpass Square’s cutscenes.
Gameplay is unique and I like it.
The only negative to the game I’d give is the really obscure bullshit that you would never know to do without reading a guide if you’re trying to 100% everything.
It's among the best RPGs of all time. If not the best.
>>3231367
>implying you're underage for liking a 2D game from 1994 better than a 3D game from 1998.
Ok friendo.
>The music is some of the best out there.
The only track I can remember from the game is the camping music, because I heard it so much. Other than that the score was pretty uninteresting.
>Graphics are amazing
I will grant that the cutscenes were good. The FMVs were grainy but it was really fitting for the game's style.
>It's among the best RPGs of all time. If not the best.
This is so retarded I don't even know where to start. Even some of the below-average FF games are better than PDS.
I'm honestly shocked that so many people like this game so much.
>>3231702
I stopped being shocked people like different things when I turned 12.
>>3231702
>Even some of the below-average FF games are better than PDS.
Spot the fanboy.
>>3230564
>The story is a very average save-the-world affair with no real interesting plot twists.
This is true for like every Final Fantasy game.
>The characters are generic and have no development.
Not true. Edge is a naïve kid who wises up somewhat, Azel starts with blind loyalty to the empire but later learns to see the bigger picture, Paet looks like a random bum but turns out to be the rebel leader, etc.
>once you get the ability to change into Spiritual class you can just hide behind your enemies and wait as long as you want for your magic gauge to recharge,
This only works on some enemies. Most others will either move around to attack you, or can attack in any direction. Also your gauge does not charge when you move.
The game is actually very well balanced as far as levelling goes, you don't need to concentrate on grinding at any point, and the fights are more about finding weak points. However if you try for 100% map coverage, you'll get into so many random fights that you'll always be ahead of the difficulty curve.
>Why does this game get so much praise?
It's easy to get into and doesn't have complex RPG set-up elements, the graphics are phenomenal, it has a unique game mechanic, the world is small but ultra detailed (you can check nearly everything on the shelf of a store for example), the art direction is great, and it expands greatly on the world of the previous two PD games.
Simply put it doesn't have weak points other than being expensive and perhaps too short.
I got this game when it came out and even finding it was a challenge. I had to phone all the stores listed in every mag I read to find a copy. Back then I thought it was hard because I was living in a eastern european country in which the psx reigned supreme imagine my surprise when the game turned out super valuable 10 years later. Anyway the saturn was a shit console to own in pal regions I cried every time I saw the new games sony systems got every month. But I must say the soundtrack to PDS was stellar.
>>3231367
Hey idiot, why did you randomly quote a lot of people and called them underage and talked about Earthbound for no reason? You are part of the problem with this board.
>>3231872
I wasn't the one that mentioned earthbound, kiddo. One of the things I pointed out.
Your reading compression is low. Or you don't understand what a post chain is.
>>3234721
Not him, but your post is the first post that mentions Earthbound besides OP.
>>3234952
>Earthbound besides OP.
>besides OP.
>>3231367
As the first responder and the one guy from the thread you agreed with that I support and agree with you 100% as well and I would be MORE than happy to go over all the ways that Panzer Dragoon Saga is light-years beyond Earthbound and why I feel pretty confident that my admittedly subjective preference for those aspects of games makes me a "better" gamer than people who would argue that Earthbound is a better game.
