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The Will of the Ancients is the home of the English language online Panzer Dragoon community. Please join us in discussing this series on the forums.
Looking for the metal band, Will of the Ancients? Find them at willoftheancients.com.
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The Will of the Ancients > News Updates
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168. Farewell 2011.
Date: 27th of December, 2011
Updated By: Solo
  For this update, we have two new pieces of fan art from Atolm. The first is a picture of the wounded Sky Rider which I've called The Sky Rider Bleeds. The image shows the dying dragon rider releasing blood, a much more human way of dying than the green particles that float away from him in the actual game. Secondly, Atolm has submitted a new picture of Lagi showing his first and final form in Panzer Dragoon Zwei, the pup and Solo Wing Normal Class respectively.
This update will most likely be the last update of the year for The Will of the Ancients. While 2011 has been slow on the Panzer front, we have recieved many new details about Futatsugi's latest project, Project Draco. 2012 will bring more details about the game when it is released on Xbox Live Arcade. When it comes to Panzer Dragoon, we have a big update planned for this website that we're in the process of finalising.
Have a great new year's celebration and don't let anyone talk you into sculling an illuminating drink.
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167. Project Draco at Tokyo Game Show.
Date: 23rd of September, 2011
Updated By: Solo
Tokyo Game Show 2011 has come and gone. If you've been following this website on Facebook or Twitter you'll likely be aware of the latest details surrounding Project Draco, the upcoming Kinect title from Panzer Dragoon creator Yukio Futatsugi. Project Draco is a rail shooter, with RPG elements where you raise your dragon virtual pet style. It has a control scheme similar to Child of Eden. The game is planned for release in 2012 on Xbox Live Arcade and is exclusive to Kinect (no controller support). There will also be a three player online co-op mode over Xbox Live.
Project Draco is more colourful than the bleak, but much loved, world of Panzer Dragoon. It looks stunning. Futatsugi has stressed that it is not a Panzer Dragoon game, going as far to make some comparisons while at the same time pointing out key differences between the games. In a 1up.com article he says:
"In the Panzer Dragoon series if you pressed the left or right trigger buttons, you could face anywhere you wanted. We cut that feature specifically because it doesn't work on Kinect."
It's good to know that Grounding aren't going to shoehorn all of Panzer Dragoon's features into Project Draco, as some are unlikely to work well with the Kinect interface. Furthermore, Futatsugi was asked whether he would want to make Project Draco a Panzer Dragoon game at all:
"Not really. I guess because all the things that I wanted to do with Panzer I did already. So I'm not really fixated on that game so much anymore. If for example, I was tasked with a different job of making a Panzer Dragoon sequel, then I probably wouldn't even do it on Kinect. So that I would enjoy doing on its own, but it's a different thing."
So he hasn't ruled out making a new Panzer Dragoon game completely...
More details (including screenshots) of Project Draco can be found in the following articles:
- Gaming Bolt: Kinect Project Draco Screenshots Look Stunning
- Kotaku: This Isn't Your Father's Panzer Dragoon
- 1up.com: Project Draco Looks a Lot like "Panzer Dragoon Kinect"
- 1up.com: Why Project Draco Doesn't Support the Default 360 Controller
- GamePro: The Game That Will Push Me To Finally Buy A Kinect: Project Draco
- Joystiq: Project Draco preview: Fly a fantasy
- VG24/7: Kinect’s Panzer Dragoon – TGS shows off Project Draco
- Inside Kinect: Project Draco Revealed - Screens and Gameplay Details
- NeoGAF Forums: Project Draco unveiled and detailed: Kinect-only Panzer Dragoon successor on XBLA
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166. Lots of new fan art.
Date: 10th of September, 2011
Updated By: Solo
This update consists of lots of twenty pieces of art to grace the Fan Art section, as well as a photograph. Firstly, Emma Goodman has contributed a touching picture of Edge petting his faithful steed. You can see more of Emma's artwork at her website, Neoncola.
We also have contributions from Peter Gibbons, the founder of the Panzer Dragoon fans Facebook group. He has submitted a photograph of his bedroom door from around eleven years ago, themed around Panzer Dragoon Saga (how cool is that)? Peter has also contributed two coloured pictures, one of the Stripe Wing, the other of the Armoured Blue Dragon. There is also a pencil sketch of the blue dragon.
Finally, I've added all of the Panzer Dragoon fan art from the Japanese fan site, Twilight Primary School, to The Will of the Ancients. You can find all sixteen pictures in the Fan Art section.
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165. New and updated articles.
Date: 12th of May, 2011
Updated By: Geoffrey Duke
 Who or what were the Ancients? When keeping in mind how lost their identity was with the passage of time, it's perhaps better to ask not who they were, but what they were. I made an attempt to gather together the few clues in the form of what we actually know about them that were scattered around, and fit them together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to create a bigger picture in an attempt to answer that very question. This was something I had planned to do for a long time, but never had the chance until now. I hope you enjoy reading this summary of the Ancients' possible identity as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I've been away for too long, so I'm glad to find The Will of the Ancients still alive and kicking, and we're going to keep it that way. Expect some changes in the near future. I've been updating a few articles here and there in order to bring them up to a proper standard including my old Skies of Arcadia article, which really needed it. I felt the need to give what I feel is a spiritual sequel to Panzer Dragoon Saga the justice it deserves.
Unfortunately we cannot hope that Panzer Dragoon has a future in any meaningful way, but perhaps that is for the best; I personally don't want the future of this series in the hands of someone who doesn't respect the source material anyway.
Farewell for now fellow travellers.
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164. I shoot lasers, therefore I am.
Date: 27th of March, 2011
Updated By: Solo
This year is shaping up to be a great year for fans of 3D rail shooters. Other than Project Draco, the dragon combat game from Grounding Inc (which may or may not be a rail shooter), we also have Child of Eden (the follow up to Rez) and Yars Revenge to look forward to. Both are rail shooters that mirror the gameplay of Panzer Dragoon in many ways.
For this update, Geoffrey Duke has written two new articles. The first discusses the music of the Panzer Dragoon series, and how it has evolved since the original's orchestral score. He has also written a summary of the Panzer Dragoon OVA, discussing how it compares to the game series.
This update also includes something a little different. I have set up a new Philosophy section, which aims to explore the philosophical themes that have been incorporated into the Panzer storyline. So far there is just one article, a summary of the Mind Body Problem and how it relates to the concept of the Heresy Dragon. I have plans for at least two more articles for this section, and would be very interested in hearing your suggestions for further writing as well.
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163. More Project Draco information and screenshots.
Date: 20th of November, 2010
Updated By: Solo
Kotaku have updated their website with a couple of Project Draco screenshots, provided to them by the Japanese gaming website Famitsu. The screenshots appear to be taken from the trailer (or are very similar).
Also, the Japanese gaming news website Andriasang have reportly spoken to Yukio Futatsugi regarding the development of Project Draco. The following information is provided on their blog:
Futatsugi, director of Panzer Dragoon and Phantom Dust, is working on the tentatively titled Project Draco to be published by Microsoft in 2011. Draco is a 3D flight shooting game. Players use Kinect to communicate with a dragon, raising it and making it learn skills, with the hopes of deepening your bond with the creature. In the game's online mode, you can fly through the skies with your friends.
For their work on Kinect, Futatsugi and his staff are taking care to ensure that players can enjoy themselves for lengthy periods without betting tired. They're paying attention to such things as the length of a single map and the frequency of enemy attacks. Explained Futatsugi, Project Draco is not a party type game where everyone enjoys themselves for brief periods, but is rather the type of game into which players sink their teeth. Because of this, they're developing the game to keep players from being tired while still delivering a control scheme that delivers a direct feel of movement.
As a sales point for the game, he said, "Don't you want to be able to actually experience the feeling of communicating with a dragon and riding it into battle? I do."
Reports so far indicate that some Kinect launch titles suffer from control issues, so it's a relief to know that Futatsugi and the team are placing a great deal of attention on the way the player interacts with Kinect. It sounds like the team are really focusing on the bond between the dragon and rider this time, and the promise of a game that requires extended play periods suggests that it will be more than a mere rail shooter. As a Panzer Dragoon fan, I await more news with eager anticipation.
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162. Panzer Dragoon storyline.
Date: 25th of October, 2010
Updated By: D-Unit
 Some of you may remember my own Panzer Dragoon website, Panzer Dragoon Legacy, which focused on the latest game in the Panzer Dragoon series, namely Panzer Dragoon Orta. Earlier this year, Solo and I agreed to merge PD Legacy into The Will of the Ancients. While often delayed, today I can finally announce the first result of that merger: the synopsis of the events of all 4 games in the trilogy that was previously available only on PD Legacy can now be found here in the new Storyline section.
Atolm has also submitted a great new speed sketch of Lagi in an "Ancient Wing" form, which you can find over in the Fan Art section.
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161. Project Draco "not a Panzer Dragoon game" says Microsoft.
Date: 18th of September, 2010
Updated By: Solo
Microsoft Game Studios VP Phil Spencer has reported to Joystiq that he wouldn't call the new Kinect game, Project Draco, a Panzer Dragoon game. Joystiq reports:
"It's a Kinect game for one thing, which is going to have its own take on it," Spencer said, referring to the concept of riding a dragon. Spencer added that "there are some differences between -- as a Panzer Dragoon fan -- the stuff we've seen in the Panzer Dragoon series and [Project Draco]," but he didn't elaborate on those differences. During the Microsoft keynote where the game was announced, Futatsugi explained, "What I wanted to do most is to fly." So perhaps Draco is more flying and less on-rails shooting?
This might seem obvious given that Microsoft doesn't own the Panzer Dragoon intellectual property, but it's interesting learn that the game will stray from the conventional Panzer Dragoon formula too. Lets hope that it contains a decent amount of Panzer flavour that fans have been so eager to experience more of.
We still don't have a confirmation as to the means of distribution (full Xbox 360 game versus Xbox Live Arcade title), or whether the game will be playable without the Kinect peripheral. I'll post more news as it comes.
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News Archives
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Destroy the mutant stealing habits; it is the village's code. The Will of the Ancients is an unofficial fansite that is in no way supported or associated with SEGA or Smilebit. Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Panzer Dragoon Orta and all other official Panzer Dragoon content is © SEGA, 1995-2003. Everything else on this website was made or written by Solo Wing Dragon unless otherwise noted. Please ask me first before using any content on this website for fan or commercial purposes.
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