Saint Seiya Perfect Edition is a game in which you have to explore towns,complete side-quests,and defeat enemies in turn-based battles. If you don't understand japanese,you might have a hard time here,but,there are hints to what kind of attacks you should use when you face certain opponents.

The game has two different phases : one of them seems like a side-scroller,in which you can explore places and talk to NPCs. The other is a 3rd person screen in which you give orders to your character,and you try to reduce your opponent's Life to 0. If you have watched the Saint Seiya anime,then you will understand most of what is happening during the story. Else,you will have to talk to everybody,and try all sorts of stuff.

By pressing Down on the Y Directional(alternate directional),you can open up the menu. You can then equip and remove your armor as you see fit,increase your stats,ask Saori for help,and even teleport to places you have been before. My problem with this game,is that if somehow you screw up your life points or cosmos points,you will have a hard time recharging those. The game gives you a single opportunity to recover those after certain battles. And there are no items,so you can't just buy a ton of potions like you do in RPG games.

The battle system is a tad complex,so let-me explain. You can divide your cosmos power into P-pow,M-pow,D-pow and H-pow. Each one of those affects certain stats that are increased when you spent your cosmo points. By increasing P-pow,you will increase your offensive power. By increasing M-pow,you will increase your magical power. By increasing D-pow,you will increase your defensive power. And by increasing H-pow you will increase your magical defensive power. By spending certain amounts of cosmo points into certain stats,you will unlock attacks that will allow you to use more powerful versions of the basic attack that your character can do. For example,if i spend 50% of my points into P-pow,and 50% into M-pow,this will allow-me to use my Pegasus Rapid Punch.
If you spend too many cosmo points,you might not be able to attack properly,or you may not even attack at all. There is an option that allows you to escape,and another one that allows you to converse with your opponent. By doing so,you may get stats bonus,or increase your cosmo points. However,conversing at the wrong time can be deadly. You also get a fourth option that will allow you to do even more stuff during battle,but that's only if you manage to beat the first opponents in the game.

When you're in the side-scrolling parts of the game,you can attack by pressing A. Holding A then releasing it will result in a charge punch being dealed. This attack consumes cosmos. By holding B,you can run faster. When you have your armor equipped,you get access to even more attacks,so you have to find out how to execute them. Also,as story progresses,you might not be able to get exp easily,so there is another way for you to increase your stats. You can do this by trading your stats.For example,i can sacrifice my cosmo points in order to have higher life. Finding the right balance in stats is the key. You will find out that you have a lot of cosmo points at the beggining of the game,just trade those for life. It will give you an edge during the first battles.

After this long review,all i have to say is,if you are a fan of Saint Seiya,then play this game. There is not much to do,and the game is pretty linear,but there are some epic moments in wait for you. If you're not a Saint Seiya fan,then play this only if you feel like playing somenthing different. This game is far from being as good as Final Fantasy,Dragon Warrior or Phantasy Star,but it is worth a try if you're looking for a game that twists the RPG genre.