$20 Game of the Week: Bleach – Dark Souls (Nintendo DS)

This is the follow up to Sega/Treasure’s Bleach: The Blade of Fate which was released in the U.S. in 2007. Based on the popular anime of the same name, Bleach: Dark Souls provides more fighting action featuring your favorite characters from the series. One would look at this and call it Bleach: The Blade of Fate Championship edition, and they wouldn’t be completely wrong, as Dark Souls borrows a lot of its content from Blade of Fate. However, there is a huge amount of new content in the game, and some gameplay refinements have been made, making this game stand out from its predecessor.

The game’s story takes place after the Soul Society Rescue arc of the series. Ichigo and his friends have arrived to prevent their friend Rukia’s execution, only to discover a plot by a rouge Soul Reaper to overthrow the entire Soul Society. While recovering from their injuries and waiting to go back home, Ichigo and his allies explore the Soul Society, but before long, they get caught up in another plot involving the monstrous hollows, and soon they may have to help save the Soul Society yet again. Yeah I know, a lot of this seems alien to outsiders, but fans of the series know quite well what I’m talking about. For those not in the know, the game contains an in-game encyclopedia which explains these terms.

The battle is the same as it was in BOF. Up to four players participate in a battle, and each character has their own selection of special moves and abilities. Players can line jump to dodge hits (similar to Fatal Fury) and preform a flash step to get away from an enemy quickly. The cards also return, as they grant various powers including everything from raising your character’s attack to making items appear on the screen. This time, when constructing your deck, you can select one of several different frames, each having their own requirements to satisfy to make your deck usable. In addition, there is also the Reji, a set of jewels which you can rearrange and upgrade in order to give your character an additional attribute boost, kinda like a do-it-yourself RPG armor. The touch screen has been modified, and now cards and quick touch special moves are on the same screen. Players can either battle local via Wi-Fi or online.

The story mode, which was the weakest part of the previous game, has been overhauled completely. The quests are laid out on a grid, with some quest branching off, and others needing a key to be found before you can access it. While most of the game sees you playing as Ichigo, you’ll also play as one of the other characters during the missions. Not all missions are straight-up one on one battles either, as minigames have been added to the mix. Most of these center around collecting a certain number of objects, destroying a certain amount of items, or mastering some trick. There is even a Bleach trivia battle quiz. These minigames add some variety to the action and make the story a bit more enjoyable. When you beat the game, you can go back through it and play to any scenario you wish, and even retry those you missed. Several new characters have been added to the cast as well. Most of the newcomers are the lieutenants and lower ranking members of the 13th court guard squads, and there are even a few hollows to be unlocked. While some of the characters are completely useless, you get well over 40 fighters on the cart (after you unlock them), so you’ll find someone you’ll like. Also of note is the awesome opening theme ‘Resistance’ by the Japanese rock group High and Mighty Color, the same guys who did the theme for the last game. It fits in perfectly with Bleach, and could have very easily been an opening theme to the TV show.

If there was one fault with this game, it’s that this game is exactly like the last game, so if you didn’t like BOF, you won’t like this either. Otherwise, this is an excellent package, and a must own for fans of the series or DS owners who like fighting games. If you missed the first game, then don’t worry, you didn’t miss much, and there is plenty material on the cart to help you get up to speed. However, if you’re a veteran of the first game, there is more than enough new stuff that will hav eyou making a return trip to the Soul SOciety.