Panzer Dragoon Saga

Panzer Dragoon Saga
European cover art
Developer(s)	Team Andromeda
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Yukio Futatsugi
Designer(s)	Manabu Kusunoki
Artist(s)	Katsumi Yokota
Composer(s)	Saori Kobayashi Mariko Nanba
Series	Panzer Dragoon
Platform(s)	Sega Saturn
Release	JP: 29 January 1998 EU: 17 April 1998 NA: 5 May 1998
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Panzer Dragoon Saga, known in Japan as Azel: Panzer Dragoon RPG,^[a] is a 1998 role-playing video game (RPG) developed by Team Andromeda and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. The third entry in the Panzer Dragoon series, it replaced the rail shooter gameplay of the previous games with RPG elements such as random encounters, semi-turn-based battles and free-roaming exploration. The player controls Edge, a young mercenary who rides a dragon and encounters a mysterious girl from a vanished civilization.

Sega felt an RPG was critical to compete against the PlayStation and Final Fantasy. Development began in early 1995 alongside Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (1996). The project was arduous and repeatedly delayed; incorporating the Panzer Dragoon shooting elements with full 3D computer graphics and voice acting, both unusual features in RPGs at the time, pushed the Saturn to its technical limits and strained team relations. Two staff members died during development, which the director, Yukio Futatsugi, attributed to stressful working conditions.

Panzer Dragoon Saga is one of the most acclaimed Saturn games and is listed among the greatest video games, earning praise for its story, graphics, and combat. Sales were low, and only a few thousand copies were published in the west, where Sega had shifted focus to its Dreamcast console.

After the release, Sega disbanded Team Andromeda. Several staff members joined a new Sega studio, Smilebit, and developed a fourth Panzer Dragoon game, Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002), for the Xbox. Although Panzer Dragoon Saga became a cult classic, it has never been rereleased and English copies sell for more than US$1000.
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