There's a solid game here but it's targeting two gameplay fantasies that will limit its appeal:

1. The element of management sims where you adjust randomly-generated personnel to get the most out of their unique skillsets while minimizing their shortcomings
2. Elements of games like Crusader Kings or The Sims where you can play matchmaker and watch the characters autonomously develop their own relationships as they age

If you strip out those, this is essentially an idle game, but they attempt to make up for it by layering a lot of extra considerations on top of those systems. People have their own skills but they also have their own passions and idiosyncracies, and all of these factor in when deciding how happy and productive they are in their workplace. If your brain is wired like mine there's a lot of fun to be had in shuffling people around and attempting to let everyone work the job they're most passionate about without making too many sacrifices with regard to production.

The thing that can ruin this whole experience, really, is realizing that it all comes back to production. Happiness, life expectancy, all of this is about having a productive workforce that makes numbers go up instead of down. They do a decent job of tuning this so that you have to engage in some strategy when assigning jobs, but it's not so challenging that you'll find yourself optimizing forever. There are long stretches of downtime in the game (largely mitigated by a ridiculously powerful fast-forward feature) that reveal that idle game underneath all of this, waiting for resource stockpiles to tick up until they reach a threshold that allows you to construct a new building, improvement, or invite some new villagers. Again, I don't think this is necessarily bad, but some people who are lured in by the strategy here will hit that dreaded point where they decide they've cracked the puzzle box before the game has finished showing all its tricks.

On a more positive note, though, it leans really hard into those fantasies I mentioned earlier. If you, like me, are used to games with this art style being casual cozy puzzlers or digital toys, you will be surprised by how many numbers and meters are in this thing. People have stats, skills, personality traits, likes and dislikes, health, social class, job preferences, and relationships - all of which factor into their ability to do their job and get along with other people in the village while doing so. The game does a good job of highlighting the relevant info, though, meaning that when you're doing the work of placing these people in a job or a relationship, it feels more like you're looking at a business card than jumping headfirst into a decade-old spreadsheet. It creates a situation where you never have to consider more stats than you want to, but continually offers just a little more in the way of stats that can be optimized if you want to really get everything exactly right.

Hard to say too much more than that. If you want to tinker directly with the social foundations of a village and then sit back and watch as it grows into a kingdom, this game is designed for you more than any other game has been designed for you. If you're hoping for a city builder or a particularly challenging strategy game, you might still find some value in this if you're willing to meet it on its own terms, but that's much easier to do if you're picking it up during a sale.

On the surface, Panzer Dragoon Saga has much in common with Final Fantasy VII. They’re both flagship JRPGs that span multiple discs. They’re both packed with cinematics. They both feature youthful male protagonists who encounter mysterious women with ancient powers.

The similarities pretty much end there, however. These two 32-bit games both adopt wildly different approaches to the JRPG genre. Furthermore, their legacies could not be more different. One is currently on part two of a three-part remake; the other is stranded on a 30-year-old console.

The gameplay in Panzer Dragoon Saga is a mix of on-foot traversal, dragon riding, and streamlined JRPG combat, which uses a variant of Square’s ATB system. Battle is all about positioning. You and your dragoon can move around to hunt for weak points or to avoid the brunt of enemy fire, and all the while your opponents do the same, hoping to gain the upper hand. You’re free to reposition yourself at any time, but actions can only be performed by consuming the ATB meter; often you’ll find yourself dodging while the ATB meter charges, and then moving into attack position when ready. Although relatively simple in practice, the combat is generally quite engaging. Enemies all have different patterns to analyze and take advantage of, and it’s fun to figure them out.

Enough about the combat, though. What really makes Panzer Dragoon Saga is the vibe. It mixes the innocent charm of Ocarina of Time and with the mysterious wonder of Shadow of the Colossus, while also taking clear inspiration from the classic Studio Ghibli films Nausicaä and Castle in the Sky.

Most impressive is the sense of scale. Despite the Saturn’s limited capabilities – the draw distance is frankly awful – this game feels big. The story takes you to a variety of locations, from mines and canyons to deserts and lakes, and each one feels majestic in its own way. Compared to modern games, the presentation is extremely spartan, but this actually works to the game’s advantage: My imagination fills in the gaps better than another couple million polygons ever could.

The story itself is a bit all over the place. You control a stereotypical shonen named Edge, who is hell-bent on vengeance, but he feels less like a protagonist and more like an accidental passenger in an adventure that’s way above his pay grade. It’s always a fun ride, though, and I enjoyed the cutscenes both for their content and artistic direction. The ending is touching, as well, and totally out of the Studio Ghibli playbook (albeit not as masterfully executed).

Is Panzer Dragoon Saga the “Final Fantasy killer” that all the magazines proclaimed it to be back in the 90s? Not at all. But it’s a strong game; one that does its own thing and thankfully doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. While it’s not an all-time great, it easily lives up to its reputation as a lost classic. If you enjoy unique games and have the means, don’t hesitate to check it out.