Bleach: The Blade of Fate Review

Bleach is an anime series that started out about five years ago in Japan as a Magna where it has enjoyed huge popularity. As seems to be the case with several popular anime series, it was brought over to the US and has enjoyed a high level of success.  Several games based on the anime are available in Japan, so translating the games for the US market is a natural progression.

Bleach features the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a teenager who is able to see the dead and is transformed into a Soul Reaper by Rukia Kuchiki.  Soul Reapers send the dead back to the spirit realm.  Sometimes the dead don

Bleach features several cutscenes with characters from the anime.  The cutscenes show the characters with several different expressions.  These all use the same artwork as from the anime series.  The backgrounds behind the characters are taken directly from the show.  Unfortunately there isn

It almost seems like a requirement for fighting games to have a hard guitar riff laden soundtrack pumping in the background.  This is true for Bleach as well.  If you have heard a soundtrack for a fighting game, then you probably already have a good idea what the music is like for this title.

Bleach does use the voices for the characters in the anime during the actual fights.  Each special move has a different voice clip done by the actor.  This is a nice addition, but it would have been nice if the game featured voice acting during the cutscenes.  While the space on a DS cartridge isn

The controls in Bleach are typical of other fighting games, but it does offer a few twists.  Movement is controlled by the D-pad.  Heavy, medium, and light attacks are performed with the A, X, and Y buttons respectively.  The flash step, which lets you pass through your opponent is done with the B button.  The L button does a line change, while hitting R guards against attacks.  Special attacks are performed with the quarter-circle, back and forth, and up and down moves in conjunction with an attack button, typical of other fighting games.  The controls handle surprisingly well for a fighter on the DS.

You also have the ability to change the view of the bottom screen so that it shows shortcuts to your special moves.  This allows you perform a special move without performing the correct button combination to do it.  It admittedly feels a little like cheating to someone who has played fighting games since the original Street Fighter II, but for those who are more inexperienced will appreciate this feature.

While Bleach has a large amount of character development, the combat is the area where the game takes place.  The fighting is weapon based and could have used a fighting system similar to a 2D Soul Calibur.  However, since the swords used in battle have different abilities and can even take on different forms, Bleach needed some kind of mechanic to help balance gameplay.

Bleach uses Spiritual Pressure for performing special attacks and movement.  Spiritual Pressure accumulates as you give and take damage.  Three stocks of Spiritual Pressure can be stored up.  Some of the special moves only require one stock, like Line Shifts and Flash Steps. Other attacks, like the super attacks, require all three stocks of Spiritual Power.

While most of the fighting in Bleach is done one-on-one, there is the possibility that you can be taking on two or even three other opponents at the same time.  The action gets pretty hairy in these situations, but you do have the opportunity to limit your exposure to opponents.  Fighting takes place on two planes in the game, and you can switch between them using the Line Shift.  Since the Line Shift requires the use of Spiritual Power, you can

The Blade of Fate features several different modes.  The Story mode follows Ichigo through the Soul Society on his quest to rescue Rukia the first time you play it.  You can select the other characters once you finish Ichigo