The fourth installment of the Panzer Dragoon series has you playing Orta, a young girl who has been imprisoned by the Empire. Under a wave of attack, the prison camp is broken through by a mysterious dragon, and Orta takes it upon herself to ride the dragon, and destroy the Empire once and for all. Along the way, she will also discover her own destiny, and the mystery surrounding her new friend.

Simply put, you have limited control of the dragon for most of the game, as your trigger finger will be shooting non-stop at the enemies that fly around the area. Orta will be your main source of fire-power when you simply press the fire button, but by pressing and holding, the aim cursor will change, allowing you to fire a burst of power from the dragon at whatever the cursor aims at.

The dragon itself can change into three forms at a press of a button. Each form has a different style of attack and power ability.

A port of the original Panzer Dragoon is included.

The Empire has returned to power, using ancient technology to genetically engineer dragon-like bio-engineered weapons called dragonmares. A young girl, Orta, has lived all her life in a tower in a valley, imprisoned by the nomadic Seekers, who fear she is a harbinger of doom. One night, the Empire attacks the valley with its dragonmares, destroying much of the city. Before the dragonmares can harm Orta, a mysterious dragon appears and eliminates them.

Orta flees the valley on the dragon. Evren, a general in the Imperial Army and leader of the dragonmare squadron, pursues her. She is saved by Abadd, a renegade imperial drone. He flies away and Orta asks the dragon to follow him. In her search, Orta meets Mobo, a friendly but reckless member of the wormriders. Mobo leads Orta through a river valley and a sea of ash to the wormrider village. The imperial fleet attacks the village and Evren's squadron engages Orta, but she and the dragon defeat them. Evren's dragonmare self-destructs and Orta and the dragon fall from the sky.

The wounded dragon carries Orta on foot across a snowy land until its torn wings regenerate. They fend of an attack from a flying predator, but Orta feels remorse when she sees it has children. Abadd reappears and kills the family with a laser volley. He claims to have information about Orta's birth. They descend into the ruins of a tower and access the ancient information network known as Sestren. Orta finds a message recorded by her mother, Azel, saying that she formed using DNA she recovered from a human in Sestren. Abadd explains that he has learnt the secret of drone reproduction and intends to use Orta's body to replicate himself infinitely and conquer the world. Orta defeats Abadd's avatar and discovers that he is heading for the Cradle, an ancient monolithic artifact above the imperial city. She orders Sestren that she be transported there.