Whether they know it as Saint Seiya or Knights of the Zodiac, fans of the late ’80s anime will be excited to know that their beloved characters will be returning to the spotlight in Saint Seiya: Soldiers’ Soul on the PS3, PS4, and Steam platforms as revealed in the Anime Expo trailer found below.
Based on gameplay footage from Anime Expo 2015, Saint Seiya: Soldiers’ Soul will host a roster of about 75 characters spanning from main protagonists, such as Pegasus Seiya, to supporting cast members, like Eagle Marin, and even the gods Hades and Athena.
The gameplay appears to be similar to other anime fighting games such as the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series. While that is nothing to complain about per se, the anime-style cutscene special attacks have been known to ruin the pacing of battles in similar-styled games. Considering Saint Seiya was more focused on the fights themselves – as opposed to the tiny details in motions that Naruto was famous for – the design choice may lead to some awkward extreme close-ups as characters make fairly simple attacks.
The title also takes some inspiration from Dragon Ball Z fighting games as well with fast paced air battles and grand-scale attacks getting the glorious treatment that any anime fighter deserves.
For the best example check out this in-game battle footage:
Bandai-Namco Entertainment America has taken no time at all in setting up pre-order bonuses for this new Saint Seiya game, bundling together character skins for Athena and Hades based upon their original manga versions as opposed to the more colourful anime ones. Not entirely sure if anyone will find this a deal breaker, but if you are a fan of the manga and really hate colourful characters then I suppose pre-ordering will be the way to go.
Saint Seiya: Soldiers’ Soul will be coming to U.S. retailers and Steam in the Fall of 2015, and September 2015 in Europe.
