PS3 Review, Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle

The trailer doesn't do this game justice! As of now Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle is only available in Japan and Europe. I recently imported the European version, and in case you didn't know PS3 games are region free, meaning they can be played on any PS3 not just the ones from the country the game was made for. The game has also recently seen a Latin American release in Brazil so for those Saint Seiya fans in Mexico those are good news as the game can be set with Spanish subtitles as well as Portuguese and English, the voice acting however is Japanese only. On to the review now. Saint Seiya is basically a beat'em up game in the style of Dynasty Warriors. For those who are fans of the series and the manga, you will be pleasantly surprised because the game not only follows the Santuary Saga of the series very faithfully, but it also incorporates some side stories for other characters in the game and there is also DLC but you must make a European Account and purchase a European PSN card to be able to get it or a Latin American accounts and a Latin American PSN card, it sounds harder that it actually is. In the story mode of the game you get to play as one of the Five Bronze Saints from the series, Pegasus Seiya, Andromeda Shun, Phoenix Ikki, Dragon Shiryu and Cygnus Hyoga. For those not familiar with the series the characters wear armors based on constellations and have powers that may be related to their constellation but it is not always the case. With the five Bronze Saints you battle through a road level that leads you to the house of one of the 12 Gold Saints based on the constellations of the Zodiac, Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Leo and so on. The 12 Gold Saints are the most powerful of the saints and just like in the anime and manga series it is rather hard to beat them. The characters level up based on experienced gained through how quick you can finish a level, the combos used, the powers used and the amount of continues used. The game is hard but not impossible, every boss requires a different strategy and no two fights are alike. The game is not without it's flaws however, first of all is the camera angles, they cannot be adjusted and can get in the way of your fight up to the point where you can't see your character at times and sometimes even the bosses or generic enemies the game throws at you. The combos can get repetitive and some characters feel weak due to their short range attacks that tend to get you killed if you missed, while others feel over powered, being able to kill your enemies quickly without being hit by them. The game also features some destructible environments, mainly in the form of columns that when destroyed can fall on your enemies and damage or kill them, but they can also hurt you if they fall on you. Destroying these environments prove to be beneficial however, as they leave orbs behind that enhance your attack and defense, as well as your cosmo, refill your character's life bar and their cosmo bar, the cosmo being what they use to shoot out their powers. The game seems to be pretty short but in reality the missions can take up some time to get through, there are mid level bosses in some areas in the form of other characters from the manga and the cartoon, that will be easily recognized by fans. Once story mode is over there are still the survival missions to play and also the mission mode, which lets you go through the game as any character that you have unlocked or downloaded, while not the same as the story mode it lets you fight against the other Gold Saints as a Gold Saint yourself and it can prove for very interesting and fun fights, it also allows you to gain more experience for your saints and unlocked new abilities, or power up for use within the game, although this too proves to be a challenge but not an unwelcome one. In this mode a friend can join you in the mayhem and the settings allow for the two of you to be able to hit and cause damage to each other, hit each other without causing damage, and not hitting or causing damage to each other at all. Sadly it has no multiplayer fight mode, but it doesn't mean that going through the game in mission mode is no fun. The DLC has characters from other sagas in the series such as Sea Dragon Kanon from the Poseidon Saga, Wyvern Radamanthys from the Hades Saga and even a Gold Saint that is not in the game. If you're a fan of the Dynasty Warriors series, this game will feel familiar and different at the same time but fresh as well. The powers in the game are just like in the cartoon and manga, and when fighting the bosses you get access to a Big Bang Attack, which launches you into an animation of the power you used to hit the boss that is exactly like in the cartoon series. The armors of the saints look awesome as well, just like if they were real, the detail they put into the game is impressive. All in all, Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle is a game that has a good replay value, proves to be challenging and is worth the import, the DLC can be costly but so far it has been worth it, if only for true fans of the series.

Drake's Reviews Score 8 out of 10