I really wanted to like this game, but so far I think the gameplay is very awkward (I hate morphing between three different dragons while in the middle of combat, and the targeting system is very difficult to get used to) and the story is boring the living crap out of me.

Admittedly, I haven't gotten very far in the game. Does it get better?

The game seems to be a favorite among reviews I've read. The graphics are awful pretty, but other than that... I don't know. Am I alone on this?

Why do dragons have laser beams anyway? How much LSD does a person have to be on to come up with that concept?

I recently started playing the game, bought it a few months ago and never got around to it for various reasons. I feel pretty much the same way, i'm by no means impressed with it, gameplay seems pretty straight foward, story also does nothing for me. So any fans out there? What made this title so great for you?

Being and old time gamer, story means jack squat to me. I find it enjoyable, though I wish there were more easy levels. The game got pretty darn tough before I really learned the controls, etc.

Great, great game by one of my favorite developers Smilebit. They've been kind to the Xbox but silent since Orta..

Whenever someone says they don't like Panzer Dragoon Orta, i just want to grab them by the collar and say YOU STUPID, STUPID BASTARD!!!!

PDO is old school; it's a rail shooter. You don't see many shooters these days, let alone rail shooters. And the dragon doesn't fire laser beams. The rider fires the beams, and the lock on lasers are the dragon's breath. So ha!

Unfortunately though, the game doesn't have much variety. The later levels are actually hellishly hard.

Yeah, I've beaten it on easy, but the bosses are freaking insane even on medium -- especially the fact that even if you power up your weapon completely -- can't remember the term -- you can't use the "heal" special weapon on bosses at all -- Not too many places at all in the game where you can use that special properly IMO. Not sure if it even works on non-organic things, but that might just be me. If they had health pickups -- even rare, things would be a lot cooler and the game would play faster.

I bought it when it first came out and I wasn't really all that fond of it. Everyone flamed me for disliking it at the time though. My problem with it is that too much time is spent fighting bosses. I'd say in real minutes, 50% of the time you are playing is spenting fighting a boss. If the actual game levels were longer I'd have enjoyed it more.

Same here; everyone took it very personally that I wasn't impressed with the game.

agreed, PDO is a game for old school shooter fans (which I am). Peeps who tent to be into newer genres arent going to like it, and thats fine. IMO its an incredible game. Nothing wrong with fighting bosses 50% of the time, thats how it is in RS too...

j

Man, you had to start this thread a few days after I buy a copy off Ebay.
Hopefully I'll like it. I thought the demo was impressive, and I did get it pretty cheap ($15). I will certainly have no shame about playing through on easy, though.

BTW: What's RS? You've mentioned it in two threads this moring and I have no clue as to what that is.

Test post

I thought it was addictive, but I haven't played it since beating it. I can't remember what difficulty level I beat it on, but I think it was medium. It definitely is a trial and error type of game. After playing the levels a few times you begin to recognize which would be the best character for certain sections. The only thing is that there are so many things on screen sometimes I wouldn't see the levelup icons and would power up the wrong form.

rs = radiant silvergun, a 2d shooter from Treasure that was released in arcades as well as on Saturn.

j

Just think about why it dropped in price so fast.


Don't fall into the hype
Don't fall into the hype
Don't fall into the hype
Don't fall into the hype
Don't fall into the hype
Don't fall into the hype

I like the game but the bosses are tough. I'm not a hardcore gamer so I don't know if I'll ever finish it.

Try starting again on easy (if you're not already doing it), it makes things a lot more satisfying and less frustrating at least the first time through -- things go a lot faster too.

OK, last night I switched to the Easy setting and got a lot farther in the game than I ever had before. That made it a little less annoying.

I still really dislike the complicated targeting system. And I feel like the on-rails controls are too constrictive. Most of the time it seems like there is no point in trying to steer or maneuver at all, because the dragon is just going to do what it wants to do. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to lock onto an enemy but not been able to swing in the proper direction because the dragon makes a turn. Or how many times I've been unable to dodge incoming enemy fire because the dragon doesn't have enough maneuverability.

On some of the faster levels I found myself just holding down the fire button and not touching anything else. Not exactly the most fun I could have in a video game.

But, the Easy setting is a lot better. I'm still trying to give this game the benefit of the doubt. We'll see how much farther I get.

The best way to "dodge" fire is to boost through it, you won't take any damage that way.

Perhaps you're right.

I always try to start games on MEDIUM so I don't feel like a loser by starting on easy. I guess I'm out of my league on MEDIUM

although switching dragons sucks, each one really is suited to certain sections.

i.e. When you have multiple objects or enemies coming at you, the small dragon with the large target area works best. It makes quick targeting easier and you can also dodge better with it.

The light dragon also autoaims when firing the laser gun. Really good for multiple enemies, and excellent for projectiles (large missiles, shells, etc)! -- I tend to use this guy for the bosses -- good for getting rid of their attacks, charge up my weapon, then switch to the heavy wing to use the charged attack and concentrate fire -- his homing lasers do a LOT more damage and can take out some larger targets in a couple of shots, compared to 5+ with the medium/base wing. I don't use the base wing all that much in the later levels.

I'll say this -- I started lvl 1 on medium and couldn't believe how much tougher it was than the medium lvl 1 demo. I couldn't even beat the lvl 1 boss the first time through. Easy is still a real challenge, especially towards the end, but you're just setting yourself up for real frustration using medium from the start -- unless I suppose you're really familiar with previous PD games.

So -thats- why PDO is kicking my ass. I try to avoid the easy settings on games becuase I feel that after all these years, I've gotten pretty good. But I've gone days stuck on the same level only to find that the boss I just beat was only a miniboss. talk about frustrating. Maybe I'll go back and start over on easy.

DO you unlock the same stufff in easy mode as you do on the high levels?(Bonus missions, encyclopedia stuff, etc)

On another note, they could've put a little more work into the story, for all the crap I'm going through, I'd like it to be for more than just to help some upset girl work through her emotions.

D

Go cry into your beer with Thunderball...

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=315447

Dunno if it's exactly the same, but in beating it on easy, I unlocked several different minigames, as well as the original PD. Of course, I think you also unlock more stuff the better you do on the level. This month's OXM also has a code that unlocks all the bonuses.

Yeah at first it was fun but cause you can't move around allot so not getting hit was hard as **** so I got pissed off and quit. Also I got tried of doing the same thing over and over again. Gald I rented it.