Bleach: Blade of Fate Review (NDS)

Now I know what you’re thinking, after the way the Wii version got a new hole ripped, why oh why would you want to play any Bleach game?

The answer is simple. Published by Sega, but developed by Treasure. Oh yes you read that right. So how does the game stack up?

Overview
The game is based around the Soul Society arc of the anime. I’m watching the anime right now, but haven’t gotten to this part (only on ep. 14). Anyway, Bleach is a fighting game in the style of Street Fighter II. However not every fight is 1 on 1. Up to 4 players can be on screen at once, either in free for all or team battle. Once you boot up, you’ve got Story mode, Arcade, Versus, Training, Challenge, shop and options.

Story mode is the meat of the game. You’ll have to use Ichigo (the main character of the anime) and work through his story mode. It has branching paths and specific conditions to get to certain fights. Beating it will unlock more “episodes” that follow the other characters.

Arcade is a straight out six fights to the end. Versus will allow you to do any style of battle (1v1, 1v2, 2v2, 1v3, free for all) against CPU or also Nintendo Wi-Fi

You start with 14 characters unlocked on the start, but that number easily doubles to 28 when you begin to clear story mode. The shop is where you can purchase music, voices, and spirit cards (which I’ll discuss in a minute)

Gameplay
The gameplay follows the typical 2 fighter style. Commands are based around half circle, quarter circle, dragon punch and flash kick style inputs. Aside from the life meter, you have a spirit power stock that can hold up to three bars (think Alpha 3 style). Most supers take only one bar to use, however your most powerful super (or for most characters, their Bankei) will take all three to use.

Sounds typical right? Here’s where the game differs from normal. You also have a spirit pressure bar (holds 3). These are used for things such as Flash Step (invincible dash or dodge), Guard Cancel (alpha counter), or to add more damage to special attacks (think SF3 EX moves).

On top of this, in a battle that isn’t 1 v 1, there is actually a 2nd line to fight on (think Fatal Fury). To switch lines, you have to burn one bar of spirit pressure, so you can’t do it over and over quickly.

Add in air dash, air combos, and all sorts of crazy moves and the game is quick and very fun to play. To deal with the fact that more than one enemy can attack you, all moves can be done in either direction. So doing a QCF toward the right will cause the attack to go right, doing it left will go left. You also have a block button to deal with attacks from all directions.

Finally, there is the spirit cards. The touchscreen has two cards loaded at any time (out of 10) and you can use them by touching them. These will have all sorts of effects such as upping attack/defense/speed, or causing enemies to not be able to line jump/jump/dash. You can also lower enemies spirit stock/pressure or even heal. More can be found in story mode or bought from the shop.

Finally add in wi-fi ability. If you can get over the Friend Code issue, you should find pretty lag free battles. And 4 humans fighting is always better than CPU fights.

Graphics + Sound
Amazingly good for the DS. Each character looks close to their anime counterpart. The action can sometimes be a little hard to follow in 4 player fights due to the camera zooming out slightly, but it’s not gamebreaking. Cutscenes are text heavy but can be skipped as well. The only weak link is the sound. Of course the voices are in english, so if the american VAs drive you nuts, you’ll be annoyed. Worse though is the very generic rock music for background fights.

Summary
After spending over 8 hours playing this weekend, this is a great fighting game. A huge character selection (some are joke characters, but still funny), crazy 4 player battles, and lots of stuff to unlock and buy in the shop will give a lot of replay value. Add in Wi-Fi and you have a solid winner. Don’t give the Wii version a look if you’re a Bleach fan, go right now and grab this game.

Verdict – A+, BUY IT