Panzer Dragoon Saga

There are games that are expensive. And then there is Panzer Dragoon Saga — the holy grail for collectors, whose complete copies sell today for tens of thousands and about which a legend circulates that even the source code itself was lost. This action JRPG from 1998 is the peak that the studio Team Andromeda built under Sega's wing at the end of the Saturn's life — and paradoxically it was precisely this timing that made it one of the rarest titles in the history of gaming.

Saga abandons the series' purely rail-shooter roots and turns them into a full-fledged action RPG set in the same melancholic, post-apocalyptic world. The combat system remains unique to this day: on the back of your dragon you circle around enemies, trying to maneuver into an advantageous position from which your attacks penetrate deepest, while you yourself dodge fire from their vulnerable and armored sides. It is a tactical choreography of movement in real time, interwoven with the thoughtful use of the dragon's forms, which evolve according to how you play.

For its time it was an enormously ambitious project — spread across several discs, with a vast world, voiced dialogue in its own invented language, and a narrative that builds on the mythology of the previous installments and carries it to a climax. The atmosphere of abandoned ruins, flying cities and gigantic mechanical creatures is among the most powerful the era of 32-bit consoles offered.

Saga's legendary status, however, does not rest on quality alone. The game was released in North America in a tiny print run (according to available information on the order of around 6,000 copies) at a time when the Saturn was effectively dying in the West and Sega was pulling its forces toward the Dreamcast. The result is extreme rarity — complete copies are among the most expensive games of all time and it became a symbol of collector's desire and frustration alike. The myth is fed by the repeatedly mentioned fact that the source code was reportedly lost, which for many years complicated any thoughts of a re-release.

Panzer Dragoon Saga thus works today on two levels: as an exceptionally high-quality and original JRPG that was ahead of its time, and at the same time as one of the most legendary pieces of gaming history, spoken of more with reverent awe than as an ordinary game.

Why play: It is a unique JRPG with unmistakable combat and atmosphere — and at the same time a living legend that only a few will ever get to play.