Crimson Dragon is not "inspired by" Panzer Dragoon. It is a new dragon riding rail shooter set in a scifi/fantasy planet with a story involving dragons being bio-engineered as transport and weapons, and it is made by the creator, designer, director, and composer of Panzer Dragoon.
It is the same people who wrote, designed, and created everything that made Panzer Dragoon what it is. The world concept, the story, the music, the gameplay, the art, etc. Pretty much every single person who created Panzer Dragoon originally is making this game. It also looks like Panzer Dragoon, has a similar setting to Panzer Dragoon, and most importantly plays like Panzer Dragoon.
It is not a "Kinect tech demo" either. It is a full fledged XBLA game with 7 worlds, each with a number of stages within it. 6 playable dragon types. Over 100 different skills that the dragons can learn. It has online leaderboards, and co-op multiplayer with up to 3 players over Xbox Live. There are cutscenes, bosses, voice acting, etc.
No, this is not a Panzer Dragoon sequel. But in every meaningful way it is the spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon because the original copyright lies with Sega, and Sega is no longer interested in funding a new Panzer Dragoon game. Microsoft is. Go figure.
Here's who's making the game:
Director: Yukio Futatsugi (Director of Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon Saga, creator of Panzer Dragoon)
Concept Artist: Manabu Kusunoki (Lead artist and character/dragon designer for the Panzer Dragoon series)
Lead Designer: Tomohiro Kondo (Producer of Panzer Dragoon, Director of Panzer Dragoon Zwei)
Sound: Saori Kobayashi (Composer of the Panzer Dragoon series)
Developers: Grounding (Yukio Futatsugi's studio with ex-Sega and MS employees) and Land Ho (Tomohiro Kondo leads the consumer development studio here with ex-Sega staff, they also worked on the Sega Ages release for Panzer Dragoon)
This is not a copy-cat, it is the people who created Panzer Dragoon simply creating it again because they got another chance.
I don't intend to argue my case much longer anyways, you guys clearly have a lot of valid ammunition and I have an "against the grain" stance.
But thats mostly my point though. This game is "creating it again" and a spiritual successor. It can be similiar in nearly every aspect but still *not* be a true PD game.
Maybe its just aesthetics. I can't stand the look of those ugly dragons. Maybe its the lack of that ivory and black design that is synonymous with PD. Maybe its the complete discarding of established story built on 4 previous games in favour of a new and stand alone universe. The devil is in the details, and the details in this game just aren't PD. I just don't feel right in calling this a PD game even with all the similiarities and the team behind it.
A bad example I guess...It's like...Bomberman Act Zero. For all intents and purposes, it plays like a bomberman game. Made by Hudson Soft. But you wouldn't call it a true bomberman game. A reimagining maybe? but not truly a game of the series.
Anyways, this is an uphill struggle and I know I won't get my points across so I'll finish this here. If anything I agree it looks visually impressive and the gameplay looks to scratch the PD itch.