It is surprising that Namco Bandai have decided to localise a Saint Seiya game, Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle, for Europe. While this isn’t the first time this has happened – the PlayStation 2 received Saint Seiya: Chapter-Sanctuary in 2005 and Saint Seiya: The Hades in 2006 – it’s still quite a shock to see Namco Bandai try their luck again for a series that’s really only popular on a cult level in Europe.
So has this gamble by Namco Bandai paid off and it will bring more attention to the Saint Seiya franchise outside of Japan or is Saint Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle just not good enough? Well, those who give it a chance (and stick with it) will find a fun but limited game.
The first Saint Seiya (known in the west as Knights of the Zodiac) began as a manga in 1986 and ended in 1989. During and after its run, there were follow-ups, prequels, spin-offs, an anime, OVA’s and merchandise such as figurines and of course video games. Sanctuary Battle seems to be based on the OVA Saint Seiya: The Hades Chapter Sanctuary.
The plot for Sanctuary Battle is based off the original anime of Saint Seiya – The Sanctuary Battle; Athena is traveling with the five Bronze Saints to the Sanctuary in Greece to purify the corrupted Grand Pope. However Athena is struck with a golden arrow that, unless is removed within twelve hours, will kill her and the only person who can remove that… is the Grand Pope. So Seiya and his friends have to fight their way through Sanctuary facing numerous dark, silver and the all-powerful Gold Saints.
The CG intro, which is decently executed, especially if you are an anime fan, gives you a brief idea of who your heroes are, who you’ll face and what to expect. After watching or skipping you’re given two main playing modes – Story Mode or Mission Mode.
Story mode presents one initially available story with five others to be unlocked (via completing the previous one before it) while Mission Mode is divided into online and offline missions, each with their own online rankings. There are even missions where you and another Saint get face off against bosses (which is an attempt at recreating some of the battles in the Saint Seiya series) with the A.I. providing the second Saint if you don’t have a friend (though their performance is less than spectacular meaning you’ll have to bail them out of trouble a lot of times).
Sanctuary Battle is played like a linear version of a Dynasty Warriors game, in that you travel a straight path towards the end of the level, occasionally being forced to fight a bunch of enemies in an area before you can proceed and a mid-boss (or two) standing between you and finishing the stage. This is followed a boss fight with a Golden Saint (though a couple of times you don’t actually fight anyone).
Control wise you have your standard combos and special attacks which are trademark moves for each of the Saints. You also get a special “Big Bang” moves which are the special attacks enhanced but these are only useable in Boss Battles. The rest of the controls involve dashing, using 7th Sense and boosting yourself to make your next attack more stronger. It’s quite simple to get to grips with but it can be easy to accidentally activate your Big Bang attack and since it’s hard to get another attempt to use it, it can be very frustrating.
So far it sounds like standard fare and it pretty much is. If you’re expecting anything that sets it apart gameplay wise from similar games then you’re going to be disappointed. Unless you’re expecting a challenge that is.
Whichever mode you choose, you’re in for a world of hurt as Saint Seiya is a game that initially doesn’t like you. In the Story Mode the game starts off pretty easy as the mooks and goons you face can be mindlessly dispatched by button bashing your way through, with only the occasional dodge needed. However, when you face your first mid-boss you get your first warning on just how tough the they can be. Then it’s in facing the Golden Saints when you realise that battles in Saint Seiya will usually come down to attrition, hit-and-run tactics and being skilful at dodging.
While it’s a nice nod to the series about the desperation of the battles the Saints face, it can be a bit too much for some, especially as you start out weak and the experience points (SP – Spirit Points – in Sanctuary Battle) you gain not only is in meagre amounts but is used for everything from increasing stats, upgrading your moves and buying skills. Battles become much easier when you finally learn how to use 7th Sense; Sanctuary Battle’s answer to bullet time. Even then you can still be beaten to a pulp if you’re not careful. And this is on Normal difficulty, so if you go straight for Hard mode, you’re in for one hell of a ride (thankfully, Sanctuary Battle does offer Easy and Very Easy).
Mission Mode is where you can get more SP to help build up your characters but diving into this mode straight away is not the best idea as you’re pretty much overpowered and you’ll face bosses you’re not familiar with unless you played Mission Mode, so you’ll either find them too much to handle or you’ll be spoiling yourself in who you can expect to face.
So it’s quite satisfying that as you stick with the game and make your Saints more powerful, that previous stages and boss fights that were stressful become more manageable, even easy if you’ve become skilled enough in Sanctuary Battle. And that’s where the game starts to become fun. When you know how to activate true 7th Sense (dodging an attack at the last possible minute) and formulate a plan on beating goons, mid-bosses and Gold Saints then you start to feel pleased yourself. It also emulates the series very well as the Bronze Saints would take a beating before finding a way to win.
But since it follows the Dynasty Warriors way of playing quite closely, some may find it becoming a bit repetitive and even at a good level you can still be hampered by cheap shots, not helped by the fact you cannot manipulate the camera at all which means you have to keep the enemy in front of you most of the time. Also, the graphics aren’t very consistent in detail, as the models are decent (especially the Saints) and the special moves look awesome but the stages themselves look distinctly average
So really while Sanctuary Battle may be aimed at a new target audience, it may end up being more for the fans and to be fair Namco Bandai haven’t overlooked them as the amount of fan service you’ll find here is respectable. The fact that most of the music you hear in Sanctuary Battle is taken from the anime (just more enhanced), the way the story moves on is told like it is in the anime, being able to see the Big Bang moves and a Gallery that shows not just CG models of those in the game but also photos of figurines you can actually collect.
So to say Sanctuary Battle is more for fans is pretty much correct. It’s unlikely to start a huge movement and its simplistic gameplay and initially tough challenge will put many people off. But those who have patience with it can find a game that lasts a while (Story Mode should take you around 13 hours and clearing all the mission modes will take even longer. And then there is the matter of collecting all the trophies) and can be satisfying. It’s at least a nice thank you from Namco Bandai to the fans of Saint Seiya.
More for fans than newcomers but it does a good job of capturing the Saint Seiya experience.
Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle is out now and is available for the PlayStation 3.