|
Cameos: part 2
Created by Lance Way and D-Unit
|
Sestren's Memory Cells
|
 
|
|
Depending on how quickly you defeat the two sub-bosses in Episode 7 (Forbidden Memories), you can be taken to a variety of different Memory Cells. The Memory Cells immediately after the first sub-boss all contain dialogue from earlier in this game, but the Memory Cells following the second sub-boss do not. Three of the five Memory Cells from this second group contain dialogue from the previous Panzer Dragoon games, and the origins of these lines are as follows:
"All ground units mobilized.
Security measures initiated."
"Don't... let him reach the tower...
My dragon... knows the way..."
These pieces of dialogue are from the original Panzer Dragoon game. The first lines were spoken by the voice coming from the Tower, and they were referring to the hordes of pure-type monsters that the Tower released towards the end of the game. The second lines are from the game's opening sequence, where the dying Sky Rider warned Kyle to stop the Dark Dragon from returning to the Tower.
It is worth noting that - as with most of the dialogue in these Memory Cells - the exact words used here differ slightly from those used in the previous games. This seems to be a simple matter of them being different English translations of the original Japanese dialogue. (If these discrepancies were being considered in a storyline context though, they could all be regarded as different translations of the Panzerese language.)
"Purging of bug initiated."
"He will... always be with me."
The first line above was evidently spoken by the old Sestren AI when it ejected the Heresy Program out of its systems, which was shown to the player in Sestren's "memory orbs" at the end of Panzer Dragoon Saga. The second line was the final piece of dialogue from Panzer Dragoon Zwei, where Lundi (the rider from that game) reflected how Lagi would always be with him in spirit, even if he was destined never to be reunited with his dragon friend.
"We're not really alive...
We're just being forced to live."
"The Ancients' spirits are
making sure of that."
These lines from Panzer Dragoon Saga were spoken by Gash, one of the game's main characters. He was talking about how the Tower network and Sestren allowed the human race to survive, while at the same time they kept humankind subdued.
|
The Central Data Unit Ofnir
|
 
|
| According to the description of the Central Data Unit Ofnir in the Encyclopedia, this biological database "closely resembles a Baltor". Baltors are evidently the huge desert-dwelling worms seen in Episode 2 of the first Panzer Dragoon game, as this entity looks just like an artificial version of one of them; like them it has three "eyes", and also three large mandibles on either side of its face.
|
Shelcoof
|
 
|
| The focus of Panzer Dragoon Zwei was Lundi and Lagi's epic struggle to destroy the flying Tower known as Shelcoof, which had annihilated Lundi's village in its attempt to take out the dragon. Shelcoof was encountered again in Panzer Dragoon Saga, after its automated repair systems had apparently been restoring the damaged craft for quite some time; Edge's actions presumably destroyed it for good, however. Shelcoof's cameo appearance in this game is in Sestren, as a virtual construct of the flying Tower can be seen in the distance on one of the routes through the data network.
|
Sealance Images
|
 
|
| The program-entities called "Sealance Images" that appear around the virtual Shelcoof in Episode 7 are actually based on an existing pure-type monster called a Sealance, which originally appeared in Panzer Dragoon Zwei. Episode 6 of that game was set in and around Shelcoof itself, and this particular kind of pure-type was probably the most common creature that the flying Tower released.
|
The Imperial Defense Unit Bacharsuha
|
 
|
| The boss from Episode 3 of the original Panzer Dragoon game was a strange Imperial craft that alternated between hopping on massive hydraulic legs and flying like a helicopter. One of its primary attacks was to try and damage the dragon with its rotating blades, and it seems that the Empire has reused this design concept with the Imperial Defense Unit Bacharsuha. One of the attacks that this boss of Episode 8 favours is a rotating array of electrical beams, and this attack has to be avoided in exactly the same manner as that of the Panzer Dragoon boss.
|
The Final Form of Abadd's Mare
|
 
|
| At the end of the game Abadd's Mare becomes physically upgraded with masses of armour and weaponry from the Cradle, in exactly the same way that the Dark Dragon (from Panzer Dragoon) and the Guardian Dragon (from Panzer Dragoon Zwei) were enhanced by their respective Towers. As well as this, the Mare's final form even looks very similar to that of the enhanced Dark Dragon from Panzer Dragoon. Both of them appear serpent-like due to an extremely long "tail" trailing behind them, and in both cases the original creature's head can be seen poking out at the very front of the armoured casing.
|
Panzer Dragoon Vier
|
|
The game's title is displayed at the beginning of the credits sequence, but when the game is completed on Hard Mode this title is given as Panzer Dragoon Vier rather than Panzer Dragoon Orta. "Vier" is the German word for "four", and Panzer Dragoon Orta is the fourth game in the series; this alternative title uses the same convention that the title of Panzer Dragoon Zwei (the second game) did, as "zwei" is German for "two".
|
Pandora's Box
|
 
|
| The concept of having extra features which could be unlocked by skill was used before in Panzer Dragoon Zwei, where the menu of extras offered almost exactly the same options that the "Box Game" in Panzer Dragoon Orta does. The name of this menu in Panzer Dragoon Zwei was actually "Pandra's Box" rather than "Pandora's Box" however, as "PanDra" is an abbreviation for "Panzer Dragoon", if a rarely used one.
|
The Meccania Federation
|
|
Although the Encyclopedia entries for Former Teed and Former Li Vis don't really relate to anything from the previous games, the entry for the Former Meccania Federation refers to the background story of Panzer Dragoon Zwei. At that time the Empire was trying to invade the nearby nation-state of Meccania, and Episode 2 of the game saw the player passing through a Meccania outpost while it was under attack.
|
|
The Encyclopedia reference here states that the Meccania Federation "had learned to use various weapons of the Ancient Age, such as the blitz cannons". The only Ancient Age weapons that they were seen to use in Panzer Dragoon Zwei were powerful mounted laser cannons that seemed to slice through Imperial ships; they would fit the description of "blitz cannons" quite perfectly.
|
Blue Dragon and Panzer Wing
|
 
|
| One of the alternative dragons that can be unlocked and selected from the "Box Game" menu is the iconic Blue Dragon, which served as the final (or only) form of the dragon in each of the previous Panzer Dragoon games. Another hidden dragon is the Panzerwing, which was the fourth evolutionary form that the dragon took on in Panzer Dragoon Saga.
|
 
|
|
Azel
|
 
|
| Surprisingly enough, Azel (the Drone co-star of Panzer Dragoon Saga) is available as an alternate dragon rider in the "Box Game" menu. An "Azel" costume can also be chosen for Orta, and it gives her a distinctive white and black Drone body.
|
 
|
The Music in Iva's Story
|
|
Much of the music that plays during the storyline segments of Iva's sub-scenario is taken directly from Panzer Dragoon Saga, and much of it was evidently chosen because of particular appropriateness.
|
|
For example, the music that plays during the opening text for Episode 1 - when Iva talks about his father's death - was used in a similar context in Panzer Dragoon Saga. In that game it played during the FMV where Edge found his Captain, who was certainly a father-figure to him, dying at the Imperial excavation site.
|
|
The music that plays when Iva starts crying during the opening to Episode 4 has a similar significance, too. That music was used in a Panzer Dragoon Saga FMV where Edge told Azel of Craymen's murderous past, and questioned why she was loyal to him; she seemed to be momentarily overcome with sadness and remorse.
|
| Another relevant piece of music is the one that plays during the opening to Episode 6, when Emid tells Iva of the Seekers' goals and nature; this exact same piece was used in the Panzer Dragoon Saga FMV where Gash told Edge of the Seekers' true nature, which had hitherto been kept secret from him. This tune was also used as the background music for the Seekers' Stronghold.
|
|
|
Other pieces of music from Panzer Dragoon Saga are featured as well, although they are not so immediately relevant. The music that plays during the openings to Episodes 2 and 3 was the music that played whenever Edge was at one of his campsites, for example. The ominous music that accompanies mentions of the "Dragon of Destruction" in the openings to Episodes 5 and 6 appeared in Panzer Dragoon Saga too, where it was played at the Ancient Age ruins in the Garil Desert and in the Forest of Zoah. Finally, the music that plays while Iva reads the letter from his father was originally used in the Village of Zoah from Panzer Dragoon Saga, in the part of the village known as the "Holy District".
|
Home
