First impressions are pretty mixed
The art
- they haven't entirely whiffed here surprisingly, but when they miss they miss hard. Some areas actually have merits, like level 3 which feels now like the first level from Orta. And the sand worms are well done. The first level is basically a total loss though. Who asked for turning these visually spare ocean ruins into this train wreck?
- way, way, waaaaaaay too oversaturated and contrasty. If they toned those two aspects down, it would go a loooong way towards helping them out. At least give some kind of slider.
Visual fidelity
- I don't expect 60fps with Panzer - especially given the original is sub 30fps a lot - so I'm not put off by that but the framerate feels very uneven for a modern game. There's also a lot of shadow flickering and noticeable pop in too.
Control
- Here's the biggest problem. It feels a bit more sluggish than the original, which is correctable in the menu. But the big issue is painting targets with lock on is much more fussy... basically only occurs when you nail them with the smallest square in the cursor. This really hurts the whole feel of the game. I play the original regularly, it is definitely off.
Sound
- using the original score unaltered is wise, it's flawless and one of the best OSTs in the history of the medium
- the new lock on sound is so bad. The original is the subtle little digital satisfying ding, and this is just an overpowering chunky mess. It seems finicky to complain about but if you're playing PD, you are locking on basically all the time.
I didn't expect them to nail it, and they haven't at all. I'm most disappointed by the lock on sound and feel. That's the whole experience, don't fuck that up. Ultimately I'm happy to have more Panzer though and I just think of this as basically an indie cover band trying their best. I'd rather another team took over for Zwei given this performance, but hopefully they can make some major changes. I really don't think they should lay their hands on Saga though.