Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary

"Pretty packaged, but funamentally flawed."

Saint Seiya – Chapter Sanctuary (SSCS)

Intro:
Saint Seiya (SS) was what I grew up with when I was a kid. Staying up late in Hong Kong, watching every episode, buying every manga that's out, I had a hell of a time growing up with it. It's a no brainer that I also played the 2 NES SS games over and over again (although they were kind of a let down). However, when the 90's game, dragonball basically took over and stole SS's spotlight.

We SS fans have waited for a long time, but it finally came: a brand new SS game on our PS2. After spending some time playing the Japanese version, here's my review of SSCS

Story:
Well, it's SS. Chances are if you're interested in this game, you must have heard of SS from somewhere. The game delivers what SS is supposed to be straight up. The story is illustrated in episode style just as if we are watching anime episodes. Every “episode” is basically a stage where you must fight a gold saint, and it comes along with intro music, cut scenes, and they are quite detailed story-wise.

It does not have any nasty changes that will cause fans to roar. It does add little funky twists/alternate scenarios/bonus stages that keep the game interesting, giving us “what if” cases. These “what if” cases are definitely not documented in the actual manga/anime, and are there for fun only, thus are not to be taken seriously.

Overall, Dimps did a good job presenting the already wonderful story. It deserves an 8/10

Graphics:
I liked the way the clothes are drawn, especially the gold clothes. I've seen people complained about the graphics, but to me I think they did a very good job. They did not used cel-shaded graphics, and since I haven't seen what cel-shaded clothes would look like, I can't really say much about this. But given Dimps using normal polygons, they still did a beautiful job of creating the character models.

Also, the intro with “Pegasus Fantasy” was amazing. Watching this golden intro brings me back to the good old saint seiya days. There are no FMVs, no anime style cutscenes, since all scenarios are drawn using in-game engines, yet they are still good. The graphics during battle is decent. The Cosmo explosions and other special effects are not the ultimate eye candy, but they do the job. So overall I think it deserves 8/10 in this department.

Audio:
True to what you always here if you watch the anime. No alterations, no weird changes, they are delivered just the way it's supposed to be. The voice actors are straight from the original casts (at least for the main characters), the BGM are very 80s, with heavy electric guitars, the theme song is perfectly preserved, and the quality of the sound is top notch. I give the audio a 9/10 for its superb quality.

Gameplay:
Here exists the main problem of the game, and I'm very very disappointed at Dimps for creating such a mediocre experience. Even given that Dimps are known for making simplified fighting engine, I think they are still capable of creating a “simple, yet intriguing” system. A fighting game does not need to be ultra complex in order to be good, but it shouldn't be superficial like SSCS. First of all, all characters fight very similarly, I mean, graphics-wise their moves may look different, but they serve the same purpose. No characters have their own “distinctive style” that adds contrasts to individuals. They all fight relatively similar and many moves are recycled among many characters.

Another problem is its reliance on button mashing. When a character releases a super move, the opponent is given an opportunity to counter the move. The counter can be easily activated, and since it activates, the 2 players simply mash away to determine who will get blown away from the super. This is especially illustrated when playing the computer on hard mode. Almost always the computer can successfully counter your super move, so eventually the player will be reluctant to use them. That's ridiculous! Button mashing is tolerable to a certain extent, but in this game you will get severely punished if you lack the still to mash away. If you died, you have a chance to revive to gain about 1/3 of your health. This also requires significant button mashing. Your opponent can make the revival process much tougher if they too mash their buttons. All in all, the key elements all require button mashing, and I think that's where the game is extremely flawed.

The parry system is quite flawed as well. Since moves are slower, you can easily block your opponent's moves, plus with minimal practice, you can almost always parry your opponent, leaving them open for a combo. This means that eventually the game is slowed down significantly because no one is willing to initiate his or her attacks. This really drags the game down in terms of speed. Along with the lack of diversity of moves and button mash-a-thon, I must painfully give this section a 3/10.

Replay value:
You've got your usual hidden characters, hidden stages, and collectables. What really stood out is the Pope Mode where you play on the “evil” side of the story. You choose your roaster of gold saints and you must stop Seiya and his friends to reach the final house. Through out the Pope mode, you're able to gain experience points. This leveling up process makes the overall experience fun, and provides incentives for players to come back for more. 7/10 here.

Tilt:
It seems like besides the gameplay section, the game scored well in other departments. But here I must tilt the game down to the negative side, because the flaws are quite fundamental to the overall playing experience. No matter which mode you're playing, what goodies you can collect, and how nice the game is packaged, you still cannot escape the POOR GAMEPLAY! For example, the Pope mode has great potential, but no matter how well it is designed, each stage you're faces with the same problem: lack of moves and button mashing horror. I constantly find myself saying that “Ok, I'm playing this just because I want to see the ending/collect the goodies”. So this really becomes a pain in the butt and significantly drags the overall experience down.

Some argues that this format of gameplay can be more appealing to non-fighting game fans. But here I will argue that Smash Brothers is a good example of good gameplay, yet simple enough to appeal to everyone. I'm not saying that SSCS should play like Smash Brothers, I'm just simply showing how good gameplay does not necessary means complex KOF/Tekken hardcore style. Good gameplay means fun experience, whether it is implemented one way or another.

Some may also argue that the game is created in order to capture the feeling of a SS fight, where there are no significant variety of moves, and characters fights slowly, pounding each other over and over again with limited moves. However, I would have to disagree at this as well, because a fighting game is a fighting game. Button mashing, easy parry, and lack of variety of moves/styles did not help me to immerse into the SS world. There must be better ways to capture this feeling, (If it's necessary at all, that is. I can imagine myself still enjoying a SS fighting game without over emphasizing such details.), and it's Dimps job, as a professional game designing team, to come up with a better solution than this. 3.5/10

In conclusion:
Story – 8/10
Graphics – 8/10
Audio – 9/10
Gameplay – 3/10
Replay Value – 7/10
Tilt – 3.5/10
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Overall – 6/10

This game is mediocre at best, so don't expect any of your non-SS-fanatic friends to enjoy this game. If you're a hardcore fan, then it might be worth the investment to add to your collection. This game is not a piece of worthless junk, but it is quite fundamentally flawed IMO. What really ticked me off is that we all can see how much Budokai has evolved and improved, so Dimp must know what is needed in a fighting game what should be avoided at all costs, but I see SSCS has a Budokai 1 level of gameplay. Very disappointing indeed. Also, this a a general game review, we must leave our love towards SS behind, and review this game solely as a game itself. Imagine this game is based on some made up characters rather than SS, with this level of gameplay, it surely would not attract much of a market.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 04/26/05