Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Review – Looks Can Be Deceiving

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In the early 2000s, along with Naruto and One Piece, Bleach – a renowned manga and anime series – now gets another opportunity to make its mark in the realm of video games.

The game titled “Bleach: Rebirth of Souls” is a one-on-one fighting game that’s straightforward to learn and play, and surprisingly easy to excel in as well. Although it falls short of achieving the level of overall ease found in most anime-inspired arena fighters, it doesn’t possess enough complexity to sustain the interest of casual players for more than about 20 hours.

To clarify, it’s not automatically negative that we have a new Bleach game. In fact, just having a new game in the series is reason enough for excitement. And to their credit, the developers at Tamsoft, known for Senran Kagura, have done an exceptional job of capturing the essence and tone of the entire Bleach series.

If, similar to you, we’ve been eagerly anticipating a genuine Bleach game for what seems like forever, Rebirth of Souls will certainly satisfy your longing. The electrifying visuals, the sizable roster of 31 characters, and the thrilling soundtrack… it’s simply exhilarating to return to the world of Ichigo Kurosaki.

For approximately 20 hours or so, the initial phase is delightful. You’ll navigate through the storyline, which surprisingly handles the crucial plot points of the original content quite well, and you’ll progress through the playable characters, marveling at their impressive attack sequences.

However, it becomes apparent that the game doesn’t offer a lot in terms of depth. While there are new storylines with different outcomes and a player vs. player mode, there aren’t many features for single-player offline gamers to explore extensively.

As a dedicated fan, I find myself drawn towards the online matches, yet I’m left feeling underwhelmed by the sparse offerings on that front as well. It’s strange to note that there’s no ranked match option available – only casual matches and user-created lobbies. This lack of variety leaves little room for any meaningful online advancement or progression.

In addition, the absence of rollback netcode leads to some significantly laggy confrontations in this game called Rebirth of Souls. While a game such as this doesn’t necessarily require advanced netcode to be enjoyable due to its straightforward mechanics, you may frequently experience your inputs being delayed, making it extremely challenging to respond promptly to certain attacks and scenarios.

Let’s delve into the battle system now. Essentially, it’s intriguing that battles are centered around depleting your opponent’s lives instead of winning rounds individually. In simple terms, when a life gauge is emptied, you get to execute an impressive finisher, which reduces the number of ‘lives’ your opponent has left.

In a highly energized or awake state, you tend to lose more lives. This makes resurgences particularly significant. When you’re facing tough odds, you often reach this awakened state quicker than your opponent, leading to many matches that are exciting and reminiscent of a movie, with the underdog launching a fierce comeback.

In some characters, the changes upon activation are quite significant, and watching these transformations unfold is definitely exciting. One strength of Rebirth of Souls is that its roster is just as diverse and engaging as one would anticipate from the original content.

From my perspective as a game enthusiast, I must admit that the fundamental workings behind each character in this game are quite elementary. There’s not much scope for intricate combo expressions or sophisticated defensive maneuvers because basic three-button combos and the straightforward block mechanism seem to dominate, reducing the overall depth of the gameplay experience.

Instead of expecting the 3D movement and directional dashes in the game to alleviate some of the criticisms, it seems they lack the required power. It’s quite simple for players to be trapped by strikes spanning vast distances, which makes moving feel detrimental rather than beneficial as one might just as well hide behind a guard gauge that takes an eternity to break.

Initially, the game’s balance was almost comical, with infinite abilities, excessively powerful special moves, and some characters rendering others completely unnecessary. It’s not that we expect top-tier balance from anime fighters, but even so, Rebirth of Souls leaves us astonished on occasion.

Unfortunately, this is special due to its distinctive rhythm, which differentiates it from others in its class. The most exciting encounters truly have a sense of grand finale, similar to wrapping up an anime season; there’s a deliberate pace that might seem slow at times, but it builds suspense as battles escalate, characters grow, and the tension mounts, reaching increasingly high stakes.

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2025-03-27 22:36