The Panzer Dragoon series takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which humans have begun to recover technologies from the Ancient Age, a world-spanning, hyper-advanced civilization destroyed thousands of years before the events of the games.

The mutated descendants of these creatures have merged into wild ecosystems, where they pose a continual threat to human civilization and serve as enemies encountered in the games.

[1][2]: 4–5, 27–28 Various human factions use recovered Ancient Age technologies, such as ubiquitous floating military airships, to defend against the wild mutants and to wage war against each other.

Developed by Team Andromeda as a prequel to Panzer Dragoon,[3] it follows Jean-Jacques Lundi, a villager who defies taboo to raise a mutant pack animal with wings and a green bioluminescent throat, naming him Lagi.

The combat system mixes real-time and turn-based elements,[9] with the player circling enemies on the dragon to expose weak spots and escape dangerous positions.

A return to the rail shooter genre, Orta introduced several features inspired by mechanics from Saga, such as maneuvering around enemies and shifting the dragon between different forms during combat.

[23] The original concept was titled Armored Dragon (kiko-ryu in Japanese), but Futatsugi, feeling that this was too bland, changed to the pseudo-German translation Panzer Dragoon.

[24] The post-apocalyptic fantasy world, featuring ruins and relics of a fallen civilization, was particularly influenced by one of Futatsugi's childhood readings, The Long Afternoon of Earth.

[22] The art design, which mixes natural and technological elements, was mainly the work of Manabu Kusunoki, who took inspiration from various sources, including anime and manga.

[9] Critics have noted similarities with the works of the French artist Mœbius,[25][26][27] of whom Kusunoki was a fan, as well as with Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and David Lynch's film Dune.

[4] Futatsugi created a fictional language from a mixture of Ancient Greek, Latin and Russian,[4] apparently inspired by the film The Wings of Honneamise.

[44] Mukaiyama, Saga's combat designer, directed Orta,[3] and development began in early 2001 at Smilebit, lasting eighteen months.

[43] Orta incorporated elements from Saga into the series' traditional rail shooter gameplay,[46] with a story co-written by Shigeru Kurihara and Kenichiro Ishii.

[48][49] The soundtrack for the first Panzer Dragoon was developed after the rest of the game was largely complete, so that the music could reflect each level's art style and events.

[22] The game's "on rails" progression system meant that the composer could write pieces timed to specifically match the player's position in each level.

[55] The Verge described it as blend of traditional European and Middle Eastern folk styles with science fiction-like synthesizer sounds.

[50] The orchestrated ending theme, featuring lyrics in the games' fictional language,[55] was intended to avoid any sense of closure, leaving the story "open-ended".

[58] The music continued in the ethnic-influenced style established on the soundtracks for Zwei and Saga, but the Xbox hardware allowed for richer and more varied sounds than the Saturn.

[61] The original Panzer Dragoon received praise for its art design, visual effects, music, atmospheric setting, and cinematic cutscenes, though critics were divided by the difficulty and simple gameplay.

[74] Zwei was acclaimed, with praise focusing on the cutting-edge graphics, gameplay refinements relative to the first game, and the continued strength of the art design, music, and atmosphere, though the low difficulty again received criticism.

[75][76][77] A Next Generation reviewer praised the game's art direction and plot, saying Zwei's "visual sophistication and compelling storylines" compensated for its "less than revolutionary gameplay".

[80] Panzer Dragoon Mini was poorly received, with praise for its art style and boss designs but criticism of its pacing and lack of a plot.

"[85] Saga is often listed among the greatest video games ever made, earning acclaim for its story, graphics, and combat, along with criticism for its low difficulty and short play time.

[86][39][87] Reviewers praised the story's restraint and lack of cliché,[88] as well as the complexity of the characters; even the dragon has been called an "intimate computer companion", drawing comparisons to the later games of Fumito Ueda (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian).

[96] Orta has been consistently listed as one of the best games for the original Xbox, by publications including GamesRadar, Digital Trends, and IGN, the latter describing it as the "pinnacle of rail shooters".

[19][100][101] Nintendo Life found both the Saturn-era control scheme and an alternative added by the remake to be awkward,[19] and Eurogamer called the new environment art "just as often muddy as it is marvelous".