Saint Seiya: The Hades

Saint Seiya: The Hades is a three-dimensional fighting video game developed by Dimps and published by Bandai for PlayStation 2. Released on December 20, 2007, in Japan and November 27, 2009, in France, it is the seventh video game based on the Saint Seiya franchise, a manga series written by Masami Kurumada.

The game features the Bronze Saints, holy warriors dedicated to protecting the reincarnation of the goddess Athena, led by Seiya, as playable characters. Following an assassination attempt, Athena's life is in danger, and the Bronze Saints must travel across the Sanctuary, the sacred home of the Saints, to restore Athena to her throne, usurped by the mastermind of the assassination attempt, the Great Pope. Along the way, they face various adversaries, including the Gold Saints, most of whom are unaware of the Great Pope's betrayal. After saving Athena, the Bronze Saints must confront Hades, the god of the Underworld who has resurrected the Saints who died in the battle for Sanctuary. The latter wish to take revenge on Athena, leaving it up to the surviving Bronze and Gold Saints to protect her.

A direct sequel to Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary, and developed by the same team, Saint Seiya: The Hades uses the same graphics engine as its predecessor, as well as a substantial part of its storyline, while improving certain criticisms of gameplay and adding a new narrative arc.

The game received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon release, particularly for its gameplay and graphics.

Background and setting
The adventure of Saint Seiya: The Hades takes place in the universe of the Saint Seiya franchise. In a contemporary world, certain teenagers are chosen to defend the reincarnation of the goddess Athena: Saori Kido. To protect her, they inherit the bronze cloth, a magical armor worn by the warriors of Athena. They become the Bronze Saints, with powers dependent on the cloth, but also from their cosmos, a spiritual force originating from the Big Bang.

Th Bronze Saints, Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryu, Andromeda Shun, Cygnus Hyôga and Phoenix Ikki, are the protectors of Saori, a young girl who is the reincarnation of the Greek godess Athena. Once in front of the Sanctuary, Saori is hit by a magical arrow, shot by a Knight of Silver loyal to the Great Pope. After the Great Pope, master of the Saints' Sanctuary, attempts to assassinate Saori, the Bronze Saints have twelve hours to travel through the twelve houses of the Zodiac, each guarded by a Golden Saint to stop the Great Pope. They discover that the Great Pope has been killed by Saga, the Golden Saint of Gemini, who steals his identity. Seiya defeats Saga and heals Saori.

In a moment of lucidity, Saga commits suicide, so as not to harm Saori again, whom he recognizes as the legitimate reincarnation of Athena, in front of the surviving Saints.

Characters
The player takes on the role of several Bronze Saints sworn to protect Saori Kido, the reincarnation of the Greek goddess Athena. The five main characters, are united by a strong bond of friendship, and seek to cross the Sanctuary in order to save Saori.

The primary antagonist is Saga, one of the Golden Saints. Suffering from a split personality, his evil side finally takes control, leading him to assassinate the Great Pope, master of the Sanctuary, and usurp his position. In this way, he schemes the attempt against Saori's life. The second main antagonist is Hades, the god of the Underworld and Athena's sworn enemy. He wishes to control planet Earth, a plan that has been repeatedly thwarted by Athena and her Saints. Like Athena, he is incarnated in a human, in this case Shun, a pure-hearted Bronze Saint of Athena. He is accompanied by several fallen Golden Saints resurrected by him, such as Shion, the former Grand Pope, as well as several soldiers from the underworld, such as Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aiacos.

The player will also meet several Gold or Silver Saints, each with their own view on the conflict. Some, like Mû of Aries, trust the Bronze Saints and help them in their rescue attempt, others, like Milo of Scorpio or Aldébaran of Taurus, are convinced after their defeats, while some, like Masque de Mort of Cancer or Aphrodite of Pisces, have sworn allegiance to the usurper. Several of these Saints, killed during the battle of the sanctuary, return under the orders of Hades.

Story
After several years of peace, Hades, god of the dead, unleashes a new holy war on Athena. In addition to his army of Underworld Saints, Hades also resurrects several Golden Saints who fell in battle during the sanctuary, including Camus, Aphrodite, Masque de Mort, Shura and Saga. Shion, former Golden Saint of Aries and now the Grand Pope, is also brought back to life by the powers of Hades, and is given twelve hours to kill Athena. The surviving Golden Saints, along with the Bronze Saints, defend Athena with their lives. After several losses on both sides, the resurrected Golden Saints reach Athena, who commits suicide in front of them.

Shion then explains to the surviving Bronze and Gold Saints that he and the Saints never betrayed Athena, but used the time given by Hades to send a message to her without Hades' knowledge. The latter, having received the message from Saga, then committed suicide, so that her blood would allow the appearance of Athena's cloth, the only cloth capable of defeating Hades. The Bronze Saints are then entrusted with another mission: to bring Athena's divine cloth to Saori, who is in the Underworld after her suicide. This brings them face to face with the three Judges of the Underworld, Hades' fearsome lieutenants.

Overview
Saint Seiya: The Hades is a three-dimensional fighting game, where the player can choose one of the saga's protagonists or antagonists to fight another player or the computer. The player only controls his character during combat, and can not move around the map. The story is told through cutscenes and dialogue boxes.

Several game modes are available to the player: the "Hades" mode, which acts as a story mode and recounts the events of the Sanctuary and New Holy War story arcs. In this mode, the player embodies one of the Bronze Saints, and fights computer-controlled characters in a precise order, in specific arenas. These battles are interspersed with illustrated and cinematic cutscenes between the characters, as well as real-time sequences, allowing the story to develop between battles. The "1000 days" mode allows the player can fight another player or a computer-controlled character, with no restrictions on characters or arenas. The "Legend" mode features battles against the three judges of the Underworld, Rhadamanthys, Aiacos and Minos. The "Eternal Battle" and "Lightning Battle" modes allow players to fight against waves of enemies and other players respectively, within a limited timeframe.

Finally, the "Saints' Rest" mode is a bonus mode, a gallery in which players can consult various rewards obtained throughout the game, and obtain information and illustrations on figurines and merchandise from the Saint Seiya franchise, such as the Myth Cloth, as well as on the game's soundtrack.

The game features forty-nine fighters, representing various Saints of Athena or Specters of Hades in a variety of cloths. Each has unique fighting techniques, enabling them to perform combos.

Battles
The beat 'em up phases introduced in the previous version was removed, in favor of a duelling system. The game features real time combat and combo-based gameplay. The strength of attacks is increased by holding down the attack button. The player can also block and parry enemy attacks, giving him the opportunity to counter-attack. Each character has a set of special moves as well as a projection that can bypass the opponent's guard. These special moves require Cosmos, symbolized by a gauge that fills up when the players attacks or is attacked. The player also has the option of staying in place to their own cosmos gauge. New gameplay features include the dash, a sudden forward acceleration that allows the player to surprise his opponent.

To counter one of these special attacks, the defender must press specific keys within a limited time to avoid the attack. If two special attacks meet, the two players then engage in a duel, where they must choose an action in a game that resembles rock-paper-scissors, rather than a duel of speed as in the previous version. The player can also trigger his seventh sense, to enhance his abilities for a short time, replacing the arena with a galactic background, and which also leaves him vulnerable for a few seconds after use.

Once a character's life bar is empty, he or she has a chance to get back up and continue the fight, by rotating the controller's analog sticks as quickly as possible. This mini-game takes the form of encouragement from the goddess Athena, who urges her saints to get up and fight again. For characters obeying Hades, it is Pandora who urges the specter to stand up. If the player fails this mini-game, he loses for good.

Battles take place in arenas, featuring emblematic locations from the saga, such as the various houses of the Zodiac, or the interior of Hades' palace. In these settings, certain elements can be destroyed, such as the columns of the various houses. This has no effect other than aesthetic on the combat.

Concept and teams
Following the success of the game Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary and of the animated series, a sequel was launched. The Dimps studio, familiar with the adaptation of manga into fighting games and responsible for the development of Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary, took charge of the sequel's development, again with Ryu Mito as project manager.

The Dimps studio chose not to adapt the Asgard story arc, exclusive to the animated series, nor the Poseidon story arc, though derived from Kurumada's work, to concentrate on the Hades story, which was popular with fans, as well as the continuity of the Sanctuary story arc. At the time of the game's release, the animated series currently airing in Japan was in the process of adapting this arc. The studio's choice of timeliness meant that, at the time of the game's release, the animated series had not yet completed the Hades story arc, which was incomplete in the game. To compensate for the unfinished storyline, Dimps also considered adapting the unpublished story arc from the film Legend of Crimson Youth. However, as this film presents a similar scenario to that of the Hades arc, with resurrected Golden Saints, the studio felt that this would ultimately harm the project.

Soundtrack and voice acting
Unlike Saint Seiya: The Sanctuary, the voice acting was only recorded in Japanese, with the original voice actors from the series.

Marketing and release
Saint Seiya: The Hades was announced by Atari in June 2006, for autumn 2006. At the same time, it was announced that the Hades story arc would be adapted. The game was showcased at Japan Expo 2006, on the Bandai Namco stand, and at the Games Convention in Leipzig in August 2006.

Saint Seiya: The Hades was released in France on September 29, 2006, before the Japanese release in 2007. Like its predecessor, Saint Seiya: The Hades was not distributed in North America.

Reviews
The game was better received by critics than the previous version of the franchise, but nonetheless received mixed reviews, with critics appreciating the faithful adaptation of Masami Kurumada's work, but criticizing the graphics and elements of the gameplay.

Ian Dean, from PlayStation Official Magazine - UK, described the gameplay as simplistic and frustrating. He further wrote that the graphics were disappointing but captured the essence of the series. Luke Albiges, writing for Eurogamer, described the graphics as "shocking by Playstation 2 standards", calling the game a "disgrace".

Maxime Chao, editor-in-chief at JeuxActu, called the game "just as ugly as its predecessor, and the animation just as mechanical", but praised the voice acting and gameplay.

Valérie Précigout of Jeuxvideo.com praised the soundtrack, faithfulness to the source material, and improvements to the gameplay, but felt that the graphics were mediocre and the game lacked poignancy. Précigout revisited the game in the book, Le mythe Saint Seiya: Au Panthéon du manga, describing it as "a series of unpretentious jousts in the most inspired chapter of the saga, without ever managing to restore its emotional force."

Diego Lima, in a 2019 retrospective review of the series for IGN Brazil, considers it to be the best Saint Seiya-inspired game released to date, with a "much more precise" combat system.

Frédéric Luu, writing for Gamekult, wrote that the gameplay is "less soporific than the previous opus, but doesn't reach technical heights". He criticized the 3D engine used for the game but praised the voice acting.

Place in the series and influence on future games
Following the success of Saint Seiya: The Hades, despite its mixed reviews, several other fighting games set in the Saint Seiya universe were developed, again by the Dimps studio and directed by Ryu Mito. Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle, released in 2011 for PlayStation 3, follows the exact same narrative, as well as the principle of one-on-one combat. The next two games, Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers and Saint Seiya: Soldiers' Soul, also benefit from the same premise, with an improved graphics engine, more playable characters and the possibility of a North American release. Several characters, such as Shion, make their return to the saga, with special moves very similar to those seen in Saint Seiya: The Hades.

These characters also make their return in a gacha game inspired by the Saint Seiya franchise, Saint Seiya Awakening.

Merchandise
The Saint Seiya franchise is famous for its numerous derivative products. As a result, when the video game was released, several Myth Cloth, collectible action figures featuring characters from the series, were marketed, including Shion of Aries in Spectre form, the main character in Saint Seiya: The Hades.

A range of men's underwear is also marketed in Japan, with models inspired by the cloth of the Golden Saints or the warriors of Hades.

Characters from Saint Seiya: The Hades are also featured in other fighting games, such as J-Stars Victory VS or Jump Force, where Shiryu and Seiya appear, with special moves inspired by those they present in Saint Seiya: The Hades.