Diniz Games plays Panzer Dragoon II Zwei - Part 1 of 5

Oh, man, did I miss a good game back in the day.

Not only is there better FMVs with more speaking parts and more advanced movement in them, but you also start out with a baby mutant creature that grows into the dragon from the first game as you progress.

Panzer Dragoon II Zwei takes place 90 years before the first game.

The game begins in a small village on the frontier. Gene reconstruction has become the end of mankind, and it is now not only a fight for survival but between the warring nations. The mutant Khourieats with the green lights in their throats are killed solely because the village feels they're useless and a bad omen, but also because it's part of the village code. However, a young man finds one in a shed. Unlike the other mutants, this one comes with a pair of wings, and he couldn't bring himself to kill it. He takes care of it in secret, defying the village code. He names it Lagi, hoping one day he would be able to fly off in search of adventure and convince the village not to kill the mutants anymore.

One year later, while trying to get it to fly, enemy forces destroy his village right in front of our young hero's eyes. It is also during this time that he finally finds out what the light in the mutant Khourieat's throat does: fire powered-up lasers.

Destiny Begins

The young hero finds a gun, picks it up off the ground, and the adventure begins.

You'll only be able to run on the ground at first. This still makes it pretty interesting, as the gunplay controls from the first game is unchanged. You can still fire individual lasers as well as fire powered-up ones.

You'll see some sort of Dark Dragon fly towards a large ship in the air, and the ship will send a boulder at you. Destroy it with a combination of powered-up shots and regular ones to take it down as quickly as possible.

The crabs can be taken down with a few charged shots.

As you go through the stage and take down enemies, the gauge above your life meter grows.

At the end of the stage, your Khourieat will sprout wings and become able to fly. At first, the adventure is one of revenge, but after learning more and more beyond the story of the ancient ship, the fight against the empire goes beyond this...