Panzer Dragoon Orta

Panzer Dragoon Orta is a rail-shooter released for Xbox in 2002.

Plot
Orta is a young woman who has lived her entire life imprisoned in a tower by the nomadic Seekers who believe she is a harbringer of doom. One night the Seeker's city and Orta's tower are attacked by the Empire's draconic bio weapons known as dragonmares. Just before they can harm Orta, a dragon appears and saves her, allowing her to flee from the Seeker's valley.

She is pursued by the Empire's general, Everen, but is saved last minute by Abadd, who gives Orta some cryptic words telling her that he had "Seen her destiny" and that she would have to "save the world from itself". Orta attempts to pursue Abadd as he flies away, but ends up losing sight of him. Orta must now go forth and try and fulfill this 'destiny' Abadd hinted at whilst discovering the truth about herself.

Alongside Orta's story, there is a second story revolving around a young Imperial boy, Iva, whose life is turned upside down by the events of Orta's story. This story is told via text over illustration work as a visual novel rather than traditional Panzer Dragoon gameplay.

Gameplay
Much like previous Panzer Dragoon titles, the gameplay involves the player controlling a dragon and rider pair, keeping a close eye on the map in the corner to flip the camera in 90° angles to shoot down opponents.

Panzer Dragoon Orta adds the ability to transform Orta's dragon between three unique forms;


 * Base Wing: All around with no major advantages or disadvantages
 * Heavy Wing: Heavier firepower that deals more damage at the cost of mobility
 * Nimble Wing: Greater speed and mobility, with the ability to perform barrel rolls.

Each dragon form has a glide gauge that affects their mobility and a berserk gauge that affects the amount allows them to unleash their berserk attack which also grants temporary invincibility to the player.

The original Panzer Dragoon is also unlockable via either beating the game once on any difficulty or playing five hours of Orta.

Trivia

 * Panzer Dragoon Orta is the last original title in the series.
 * Orta and her dragon were due to appear in Sega Heroes before the game was cancelled.