SAINT SEIYA SHINING SOLDIERS is a free-to-play action role-playing mobile video game based on the classic Japanese manga and anime series, Saint Seiya. Developed by Bandai Namco, SAINT SEIYA SHINING SOLDIERS offers 1-vs-1 turn-based combat and a gacha system that will let you collect all of the numerous characters in the story as your own battle units. It also offers story episodes that follow the original plot of the manga and anime and is a great title for fans of the franchise.

Burn Up!

Saint Seiya by Masami Kurumada was originally serialized back in 1986. The series followed the story of an orphan named Seiya, who is looking for his lost sister. He ended up going to Greece and became a Saint, a soldier of the Goddess Athena. Using magical armors called “Cloths” and the energy of the Cosmo, Bronze Saint Pegasus Seiya, and the other Bronze Saints have to fight against other Saints and evil gods planning to destroy the world. 

The Saint Seiya series became highly popular and spanned dozens of arcs that had been adapted into anime and video games. One of these is a mobile game called Saint Seiya: Awakening, which features 6-vs-6 card battles. However, in SAINT SEIYA SHINING SOLDIERS, you get to be up close and personal with the action this time.

By the power of the Cosmos

SAINT SEIYA SHINING SOLDIERS is, first and foremost, a strategy RPG that gives you full control of the action. You have to form a team of six character units when entering a battle—but instead of 6-vs-6 matches, only three of the team are for combat while the remaining three are support roles giving out team effects for your fighters. Even then, the three Saints you chose won’t be doing a team brawl against the three enemies. 

Instead, you control only one against one enemy, and you can switch between your characters in case they have a better advantage over who you’re up against—Last Man Standing type of gameplay. The battles in SAINT SEIYA SHINING SOLDIERS look highly similar to the setup in Dragon Ball Legends, wherein you can access your diverse skill commands on the bottom-right corner. Meanwhile, you can easily watch the characters on the screen fight it out in glorious 3D animation. 

The character models are all shiny due to their magical armor. Whenever you choose a skill to execute, they will move like it’s a cutscene of their special attack, and even shout out their signature moves’ names. Unlike DB Legends, however, the turns are really segmented with the pauses in-between actions. There’s a story campaign, where you can choose chapters to play out, but this game’s main highlight is its online PvP mode.

Relive the story

If you’re a fan who’s been waiting for a more hands-on approach kind of gameplay for Saint Seiya, then this game may be right up your alley. Not only does it have gorgeous 3D graphics and animation for the battle scenes, but it also immerses you with its voiceover and classic soundtrack. Plus, the turn-based system is a great complement to the gacha feature. However, other than this, there’s nothing much else to the game, so new fans of the series may like this more as their first game.