Panzer Dragoon Trilogy review

[bladerunner]

Great fleshing out of PDS. Nice to see some folks actually talk evenhanded about this game. With all the hype surrounding this game, I have always been hesitant to pick it up, knowing that the experience will never match the hype. I am sure the game is fun, I just wish we could get a PSN or XBLA version.

[Ivo]

I actually just finished PDS a few days ago. Here are my thoughts about what has already been discussed. More spoilers follow...

I want to say that I enjoyed reading your take on the story, and I'm not saying this because you mostly agree with me.

I'm particularly thankful for the note on the characters spending time together "off-screen", something which is rather easy to "forget" (not think about) after playing the game and considering the plot, but in hindsight I reckon it was not forgotten by the people writing the plot and after you said it, it makes me more comfortable with the closeness between Azel and Edge at the end of the story (something which I struggled in understanding myself).

In fairness, this is a legitimate flaw of the game as a method of conveying the story, and not necessarily a flaw of the story. But the review is of the game, and IMO the way it is may be just too subtle, contributing to the "Lack of Endearment" commented on by Anayo.

I think this might have been corrected through an adequate cut-scene somewhere (possibly in the Ruins when Azel and Edge see the "Dragon projects") that could develop their feelings on-screen. I think there is a good example of this in Lunar (PS1 version), when Luna sings in the ship. The main characters don't even talk to each other but this part of "off-screen" is actually shown to the player and I think contributes a lot to the believability of the story.

Ivo.