Edge is one of the soldiers in the service of the mighty Empire. The Empire has recently ordered some excavations at ancient ruins, trying to discover the secret of an old technology that is much superior to that of present time. During the excavation works, Edge encounters a mysterious young girl. He then witnesses the murder of his captain and other soldiers by Crayden, one of the Empire's officers. Coming into contact with an ancient dragon, Edge begins to roam the world, determined to find Crayden and avenge the death of his comrades. Nobody helps him but his faithful dragon. But the Empire is also after Crayden, so there appear to be at least three sides in the conflict - or are there more?
Panzer Dragoon Saga is set in the same universe as the other Panzer Dragoon games, but differs from the rest of the series by being a role-playing game with elements of a shooter. The player controls Edge on the back of his dragon, who is the playable character in battles. Edge moves around through the game's fully 3D world by riding the dragon. In towns and some dungeons, Edge can also move on foot. During battles, the player can choose to shoot with Edge's gun or use one of the many special attacks of the dragons.
The battles occur in real time: the player must quickly choose an ability to use while moving around to attack enemies from the sides or from the back, all while trying to avoid their attacks. The dragon receives experience points for fighting and gains levels. The player can customize the dragon by assigning it one of the four available classes, which will determine its attack power and speed.