Introduction

When I hear the phrase “fighting game based on an anime series,” I usually let out a sigh. I love anime and I love fighting games, but when they fuse together the results are… mixed. That’s because often, anime games are just meant to be quick cash grabs. There are a few exceptions like Naruto Ultimate Ninja and many of the Dragon Ball games (especially the Budokai series), but many times… they just honestly suck. I had heard BLEACH was being made into yet another fighting game (trust me, there are several out there on various consoles/handhelds) and I wanted to cry once again. That all changed though when I saw the trailer for BLEACH Rebirth of Souls, which filled me with hope this could be something incredible. Now finally I have my hands on BLEACH Rebirth of Souls—but did it give me joy like the trailer did or was my initial sigh the right reaction? Why don’t we find out in my review of BLEACH Rebirth of Souls for the PS5!

Gameplay

BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is more or less a 3D arena fighter, but like the franchise it’s based on, this fighting game revels in originality and individuality. Usually when I review a fighting game I feel like a broken record because most follow the same trends. That’s why I love BLEACH Rebirth of Souls—it echoes the themes of a traditional 3D arena fighter, yet does things a bit differently.

First, let’s go with the themes it mirrors from most fighters. You engage in 1 vs 1 fights, have your health bar, your normal, heavy and guards/counters, as well as special attacks. However, from here all those elements are utilized in ways not common to most fighters.

Taking down an opponent isn’t just whittling their health down to zero. You are trying to shatter their Konpaku via taking their health down to a certain percentage and then unleashing a special attack utilizing Reishi. Basically, your big special attacks (the flashiest ones) are what ends a round. Depending on how you went about the battle, it also will reduce their Konpaku by various numbers—so a round can extend beyond just two rounds or be a singular one! There’s a lot of jargon here to be sure, so again to make it very simple: you gather energy, unleash it on your opponent via attacks/specials, and then use one big special to shatter their health fully. Trust me, if you remove the in-game terminology, it’s a lot easier to explain BLEACH Rebirth of Souls.

What I loved about the systems for BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is they can appeal to all levels of fighting game fan—whether you’re a die-hard “must-learn-all-combos” player or just trying to unleash your Bankai. Sadly, as a gamer and a fighting game player, I know BLEACH Rebirth of Souls’ systems will turn away many. This isn’t meant to be a tournament fighter, and I found out fast when I became proficient and went online to see several of the same broken characters being used. There’s a lot of balancing issues in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls and it does distract from the game a bit. If you want a true, competent fighter… it will be a hard sell for me to tell you BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is that game. However, if you’re just a fan of BLEACH and want to feel like a true Soul Reaper, keep reading—let me convince you why BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is still good.

Combat aside, I loved how battles flowed in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls. Depending on your matches and even the arenas they fight in, battles can take an almost cinematic approach. Characters will have dialogue with one another, activate special forms, and even unleash moves mirroring their matches in the anime. These fights are so exciting, and as a fan of BLEACH, they just reminded me of the better moments from the anime.

Assuming some are just going into BLEACH Rebirth of Souls for the story—you’re in luck, there’s a pretty big story mode. The story follows Ichigo’s awakening as a substitute Soul Reaper to his final battle with Aizen (aka the Arrancar Arc). The story mode can take up to 15 hours to complete and there are even secret story events that follow other characters not too often given air time in BLEACH. There’s a lot of content here in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls and I’m sure more will be coming.

Graphics

BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is almost the perfect anime game visually. When you boot the game up and see the menus, you know Bandai Namco captured the aesthetics of BLEACH in every faucet. Then you actually start up the battles and story mode, and you’ll still feel the same way… most of the time. Characters and backdrops look incredible in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls. They ooze the personality BLEACH has and mirror the themes set up from Tite Kubo. Then you get some of the cutscenes and the perfection dies a bit. When BLEACH Rebirth of Souls has animated cutscenes using the in-game engine, it looks fine if not a bit janky sometimes. Then the still cutscenes play and they just feel lazy compared to the rest of the game. They don’t look horrible and some are very well detailed, but they just don’t have the same impact as the rest of BLEACH Rebirth of Souls delivers. I think Bandai Namco also nailed it with BLEACH Rebirth of Souls’ visuals but just fell a bit short.

Sound

Again, like the graphics/visuals, BLEACH Rebirth of Souls audio is a mixed bag. When the beat drops in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls—wow, the soundtrack hits and it hits hard. These aren’t the same tunes from the anime (sadly) but BLEACH Rebirth of Souls captured (again) how the series sounds. The problem comes mostly from some of the other audio elements like the semi-annoying announcers (they are cool but hearing them every ten seconds can be annoying) and some of the various tunes that sometimes just are lackluster. BLEACH Rebirth of Souls in other aspects is good such as the voice actors (both English and Japanese) and sound effects.

Story

If you’ve watched the BLEACH anime then you know most of what to expect in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls. As I previously stated, the story basically covers the main several arcs of the anime/manga with some additional stories and content. It isn’t a perfect rendition of the story I loved from BLEACH, but it does a beyond adequate job of showing off the more crucial sequences that matter. I think the side stories were the more exciting ones like Uryu and Chad. They aren’t super long but it was nice seeing the world of BLEACH through a different set of eyes than Ichigo.

Overall Impression

I really played BLEACH Rebirth of Souls more solo than online or with friends—and that was fine. From the stylish graphics that capture the anime/manga to the fun fighting game mechanics, BLEACH Rebirth of Souls is a good fighter. More serious fighting game buffs may have many (and I mean many) issues with BLEACH Rebirth of Souls, but fans will enjoy it and I think those who wanted a good anime fighting game will too.

Conclusion

BLEACH Rebirth of Souls shows that not all anime fighters have to be copy and paste jobs. With some love and care, an anime-based game can be fun and done well. BLEACH Rebirth of Souls won’t be the next tournament fighter and does have some minor issues here and there, but if you want a fun fighting game that you can just mess with either with friends or online (if you don’t care about losing to very broken characters) then this is the title for you. I think as a BLEACH fan, BLEACH Rebirth of Souls gets a higher score in my mind—but if I look at it as a fighting game and as a game for others, it still does well and is more than competent, just not perfect. Sometimes though, competent is all you need for a game like this.

—Aaron