Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle Coming To North America… In Portuguese

Namco Bandai translated and released an English version of their Saint Seiya game for PlayStation 3 in Europe. Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle has been out for a couple of months without any sign of a North American release. Last year, a rep from Namco Bandai said Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle would only be for PAL territories.

So, I was pretty surprised to see Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco: Batalha do Santuário pop up on the ESRB – that’s Knights of the Zodiac: Sanctuary Battle in Portuguese.

The ESRB description sounds exactly like Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle, but only with Portuguese voiceovers.

This is an action-adventure game based on characters from the Knights of the Zodiac comic book/TV show franchise. Players assume the role of mystical warriors who punch, kick, and use magical attacks to defeat human-like enemies (e.g., soldiers, demons); extra points are awarded for multiple attack combos. Battles are accompanied by slashing sounds, shockwave effects, and colorful explosions; damage is indicated by depleting health meters. A few cutscenes depict additional acts of violence (e.g., characters impaled by rose stems and arrows). Portuguese translations of the words “damn” and “a*s” (e.g., “Drogo! Nem consigo arranhar!” and “Vim te dar uma surra!”) can be heard in the dialogue.

Doing a little more digging we found a retailer stocking the game in Brazil with a slated May 31 release date. Saint Seiya: Sanctuary Battle’s Portuguese edition will cost R$179.90 or $95 US bucks.