Bleach Rebirth of Souls: Not Quite No.1, But Still A Lot of Fun
Love them or hate them, anime games have become a major force in gaming, especially their fighting games. One popular anime that has been missing from this space for well over a decade is Bleach. Thanks to the anime finally being revived after so long, this was likely the push that Bandai Namco needed to feel comfortable making a new Bleach console game. Tamsoft, developer of games like Senran Kagura, took the reins and made a new Bleach fighting game called Bleach: Rebirth of Souls. Now let’s see how this new game holds up.
Music
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls should maybe win an award for best soundtrack for an anime game, at least, in a while. While it’s a shame there was no anime music packs like Dragon Ball Sparking Zero and Dragon Ball FighterZ, this game hardly needs it. The music is catchy and memorable while also fitting Bleach perfectly. This may be due to the composer being Takeru Ishimoto, known for The World Ends With You. Both are IPs I associate with the late 2000s to early 2010s that have that colorful anime-pop kind of aesthetic, and it really feels like it embodies that era.
There are other more fast-paced, catchy tracks when characters awaken that I find get stuck in my head. Additionally, they brought back everyone who is currently voicing the characters in Bleach, and all the characters sound just as they do in the English dub and original Japanese version.
Character Lineup
Of course, the roster is always an exciting aspect of a fighting game, anime license or not. It is disappointing that there’s nothing from the movies, the Thousand-Year Blood War, or the Fullbring arc—especially since many of us have waited years for those arcs to be adapted into a game (outside of Jump Force). It’s more understandable for Thousand-Year Blood War, since that arc has only recently been adapted into anime form, but the Fullbring arc has been around for over a decade. Looking past what’s missing, the content we do get is from The Substitute Shinigami Arc to the Arrancar arc is a solid selection of characters.
SideNote: I got my three favorites Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, and Shuhei Hisagi—so I can’t be too mad. The DLC is already set to remedy some of this by adding four characters from the Thousand-Year Blood War arc.
Game Modes
In terms of modes and unlockables, Rebirth of Souls is a mixed bag. There’s a story mode and a secret story mode, and combined, they’re long. The story mode had a lot of work put into it and covers a lot of the Bleach series making it, maybe, a bit too much. The cutscenes can drag a bit, and while they aren’t the worst anime game cutscenes I’ve ever seen, they do tend to feature a lot of characters just standing around and talking with little action.
I made the foolish decision of rewatching most of Bleach to prep for this game, and I now regret it. I’d recommend that people who’ve watched Bleach before maybe multitask during some of the cutscenes. While it’s the Persona 5 of anime games in terms of UI and presentation, it’s the Metal Gear Solid of anime games when it comes to cutscene length. While I can’t fully recommend that newcomers only play the game instead of watching the anime, if you really don’t want to do both, playing the game’s story mode isn’t the worst way to kill two birds with one stone.
The only other major single-player mode is Missions Mode, where the player takes on a series of challenging opponents under certain conditions. This is also where another mechanic, Soul Crystals, comes into play. Soul Crystals allow you to power up various character stats, and considering how hard Mission Mode can get, you’re going to want to use these. It’s a decent mode yet I feel it could’ve been something more, especially with a name like “Missions Mode.”
Soul Crystals
Lastly, there’s the matter of online play. I don’t usually play online much, but this was a slight exception. My experience has varied. Most of the matches I’ve had went smoothly, however, the main issue is that it takes time to find an opponent. Furthermore, the matchmaking parameters are limited and don’t always work as intended. The game has gone through a few patches, so this may have been addressed, but three of the biggest issues with online play are the lack of a ranked mode, spectator mode, and the fact that lobbies can only fit two people. While I don’t play ranked mode much, it should still be there and thankfully the developers are looking into adding it in the future. Small lobbies and a lack of a spectator mode are more frustrating for me, as they make it harder to have an inclusive experience with friends.
Graphics
Looking at the graphics, the character models are spot-on. It’s almost as if they were ripped from Bleach’s newest anime season, Thousand-Year Blood War, but molded into 3D models. As great as the old Bleach anime looked, most would say that Thousand-Year Blood War is a 100% improvement, as it embodies Tite Kubo’s (the creator of Bleach) style a bit more.
The menus and UI also really stand out and have a lot of personality and uniqueness compared to other anime fighters. Its hardcore yet simplistic nature really screams Bleach, and I would argue that it’s the Persona 5 of anime fighters in that regard, at least. The stages could be a bit more detailed or perhaps made to better match the style of the character models, though they still appear as easily recognizable locations from the Bleach series.
Arena and Traditional 3D Fighting
Most assumed this game is a 3D arena fighter like Jump Force or the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm series. While it shares some similarities with that genre, this game is more of a midpoint between that and a more traditional 3D fighter like Tekken or Soul Calibur. The player characters are constantly facing each other, and it uses eight-way movement where you can move forward and back, side to side, and diagonally. The goal of the matches is to reduce the opponent’s konpaku (basically a stock or life count), and this can be done by either reducing their health to zero or using the character’s kikon move (think of it like an ultimate move) when the health bar becomes red. The number of stocks taken depends on which method is used, and whether the character is in their base form or awakened form.
Movesets
This system is refreshing and comes off as fairly in-depth for a fighter like this. The movement may take time to get used to, as moving up and down moves you toward the opponent. My only issues are that it feels like the move list is very small, so you’ll often be doing one or two combos repeatedly. There are special moves called Spiritual Pressure moves as well, though it feels like it takes a while to build the meter up to access them. I’m sure this was done for balance, but I think a slightly quicker buildup wouldn’t hurt. Some characters have fewer kikon moves than others, so you may wind up seeing the same repeated cinematic cutscenes depending on the character.
That aside, this is easily the best new anime fighting game engine in a long time. While basic combos may feel similar, every character has their own special gimmicks and flavor that give them identity and provoke strategic thought. The speed also feels just right quick enough to keep the action exciting and responsive, but not so fast that it feels overwhelming or hard to follow.
Final Thoughts
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls isn’t perfect. But despite decent Bleach games in the past, Rebirth of Souls, overall, provides the best package yet and gives starving Bleach fans something to finally bite into. It’s great for people who are tired of the standard 3D arena fighter formula (I still would’ve been fine with it, but I’m glad they went this direction), as well as fans who may be intimidated by the high skill ceiling of something like Dragon Ball FighterZ. It feels like a step in the right direction for Bleach games and anime games in general. As someone who has played many anime fighters, something I’ve noticed is that the first entry is never the best, and it’s not until the second or third entry that developers hit their stride. For some, this game is a breath of fresh air when it comes to anime fighting games.
I sincerely hope this isn’t the last we see of the Rebirth of Souls series—and especially Bleach games overall. If you’re like me and starving for a Bleach game, and want something a little different from your usual anime fighters, this is the game for you.
Final Score: 3.5/5
