Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Review | A Standard but Stylish Anime Fighter
Bleach finally has a proper console game after over a decade.
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is a big release for the franchise as it has been a long time since the last “proper” Bleach game. While there have been several mobile game launches, you’ll need to go back to 2016 for the last major release – Brave Souls. Even then, that’s a smaller-scale mobile game. For the last title made specifically for consoles, you’ll have to look back to 2011 with Bleach: Soul Resurrección.
In that regard, Bleach has gotten the least amount of love among the Shonen Jump big three of the 2000s games-wise. After all, One Piece continues to get new games. Meanwhile, Naruto got Ultimate Ninja Storm Collections in 2023. This makes sense though given that the One Piece manga isn’t over yet while Naruto has the ongoing Boruto anime/manga.
Bleach fans were finally treated to a new project in late 2022 with the premiere of the Thousand-Year Blood War arc anime. The wait was worth it for fans as the show featured way better animation owing to its seasonal release. With the anime’s Part 4 in the works, now is perhaps the best time to release the new Bleach game.
Rebirth of Souls is an arena fighting game – not a huge surprise since most anime-based games are in this genre. The problem with this genre is that there’s a massive variance in quality. On one hand, there’s Sparking! Zero which was an enjoyable experience. Then, there’s Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash which pretty much bombed.
So, is Rebirth of Souls closer to something like Sparking! Zero or is it in danger of going the JJK game’s way? Here’s what we think.
Straightforward Combat, but with Plenty of Style
As with most anime fighting games, Rebirth of Souls battles take place in a 3D arena. Unlike other games which give players three characters during every match, Rebirth of Souls is strictly a 1v1 affair, though it has some unique mechanics of its own.
In each match, characters have two health bars: one is the Reishi while the other is the Konpaku bar. When an enemy’s Reishi drops to below 30%, you can use a special Kikon move (by pressing R2) to damage their Konpaku. If the enemy still has Konpaku remaining, they will get back up with a full Reishi bar. Essentially, Reishi is the standard Health bar while the Konpaku represents a player’s lives.
These aren’t the only bars that you’ll see in the game. There’s also the yellow Spiritual Power bar that charges when you hit an enemy. When you have enough charge, you can press L2 and Triangle or Circle to unleash a powerful move. Just below it is the Reverse Bar which charges over time. With enough charge, you can press L2 and X to teleport behind your opponent, making it a nifty gap closer.
Another unique mechanic is the Awakening. When enough Fighting Spirit has been accumulated, a player can press the analog sticks to trigger an Awakening, releasing Shikai, Bankai, or Resureccion. This boosts attack power and increases the amount of Konpaku destroyed by a Kikon move.
If you’re a Bleach fan, chances are that these mechanics should be fairly easy to pick up, though I can imagine someone new to the series getting confused, especially given that there are 5 bars in the game’s UI. Thankfully, the interface doesn’t feel too cluttered, not to mention that the mechanics are taught fairly well. It’s worth noting that the tutorial may be a bit too fast. It’s better to learn the game’s combat through the Story Mode as that’s paced well enough to teach you the mechanics you’ll need to learn.
What also helps make the game straightforward to pick up and play is the fairly simple attack dynamic. Much like other arena fighting games, there’s a rock-paper-scissors dynamic here. Normal attacks with the face buttons can be blocked with L1. Then, a guard can be broken via R1 which activates Breakers. Players who use a Breaker are then vulnerable to standard attacks.
Combining this rock-paper-scissors dynamic with the various special attacks and the Konpaku lives mechanic, you get a combat system that can be quite fun, though it does lack some depth. Sure, you’ll still want to think about when to use your Kikon or activate your Ascension, but because this game doesn’t have a particularly deep combo system, it can feel rather button-mashy at times.
There’s also the fact that the L2 + X teleport move isn’t something you can use often. Sure, having it available all the time isn’t ideal, but it felt to me that the lack of another reliable gap-closing move could break the flow of the game’s combat. For comparison, this was not an issue in Sparking! Zero (at least for me) given the various movement abilities that characters had.
Even though its combat system is not the deepest, there’s still fun to be had in Rebirth of Souls. Plus, the game feels quite good controls-wise as it feels responsive and fairly snappy. With this, even when I whiff an attack, I know that it was my fault instead of the game being awkward to play.
It also helps that the game looks pretty nice. Sure, it’s not as stylized as other anime games, but most Bleach fans should be happy with how the series’ cast has been made here. There’s also the fact that the moves look and sound great. Unleashing the various signature moves of each character should feel satisfying for Bleach fans.
Aside from the combat moves, the game also oozes style thanks to its eye-catching UI and transitions. The game’s overall look is similar to the visuals for Thousand-Year Blood War, meaning you get a sleek graphic design with bold colors. I would even say that in terms of the UI, this game has other anime titles beat. As a bonus, the game’s music is great as the battle tracks complement the action well.
Relive Parts of Bleach’s Story
While there’s a standard Battle mode, it can get pretty old to play offline. There’s an online mode if you want to face other players, though this game definitely shines when playing with another player via couch multiplayer. If you’re solo though, the bulk of your playtime will be in the game’s Story mode.
As with most other anime games, Rebirth of Souls’ Story mode retells the anime/manga’s story until the Arrancar Arc, plus it has the Secret Story mode which features bonus stories from the perspective of different characters.
The story segments are divided into chapters – basically short excepts of the anime’s earlier arcs – featuring fairly basic cutscenes with visual novel-style dialogue boxes, capped off with a fight against Hollows or other characters. As such, this isn’t a great way to experience Bleach for those who haven’t watched or read it. On the flip side, the Story mode makes for a nice trip down memory lane for fans who grew up with Bleach.
There’s a certain charm to the game’s Story mode chapters, especially as they’re a nice way to re-experience memorable moments from the anime. It’s just that, for some players, the cutscenes may seem a bit plain, especially given that the animation can look a bit stiff. As for the Secret Stories, they’re nice bonuses for fans, though they’re basically just nice extras instead of substantial additions to the overall story.
It’s also a shame that the game only covers the story until the Arrancar Arc. After all, it would’ve been nice to see moments from Thousand-Year Blood War given that the anime is ongoing. If you ask us, we would’ve liked to see the Story mode cover Bleach’s entire story, even if that means each arc only gets a few chapters. This makes more sense for us given that the appeal of the Story mode is to relive the series’ most memorable moments.
Of course, that would be much harder to pull off, but we think having the Story Mode be a Greatest Hits collection of Bleach would’ve made for a more memorable experience.
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Final Verdict – 7/10
Rebirth of Souls may not reach the highs of anime games like Sparking! Zero, but it’s not the disappointing JJK Cursed Clash (the PS5 version at least). Instead, this new Bleach game is somewhere in the middle.
This arena fighting game’s combat system is straightforward and may lack the depth of other titles in the genre, but it at least feels satisfying, not to mention that it has style in spades.
Then, there’s the Story mode. The bonus chapters are nice, and reliving the earlier moments of the story feels nostalgic. But we would’ve liked to see more of the story adapted, especially the later parts.
Overall, Rebirth of Souls is a fine Bleach game. It should offer plenty of fun for fans, but it is lacking in some aspects, meaning it doesn’t bring enough to the table to recommend to players who don’t love the franchise that much.
[This review was made via a PS5 game code provided by the publisher.]