Thrilling, strategic clashes await in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls, a powerful and engaging battler comprising characters from the legendary anime franchise. There’s lots to get into here, so buckle up for fifteen things you need to know before diving in when the game drops Friday 21st March to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.
What is it?
Fans of the legendary anime series Bleach are anticipating broadcast of the Tite Kubo manga’s final story arc this year, with episodes returning after a decade-long break in 2022 to see out the culmination of the series’ ongoing Thousand-Year Blood War. With BLEACH celebrating its 20th anniversary last year, Bandai Namco have seen fit to unleash BLEACH’S first 1v1, fully 3D fighting game in over a decade. In BLEACH Rebirth of Souls, fan favourite characters will unlock awestriking powers to best their opponent in engaging sword-based combat.
More than an anime fighter
Wanting to establish longevity beyond contemporary anime arena fighters, BLEACH Rebirth of Souls producer Katsuaki Tsuzuki confirms the series’ distinct power systems will be imbued into the in-game fighters. Mechanically dense, Rebirth of Souls borrows concepts such as Reishi (which is a character’s health), Konpaku (representing the soul, transferring to lives in-game), and spiritual power feeding into spiritual pressure which, in gameplay terms, grants access to powerful abilities and special skills.
Single player story mode
Given the timeframe between Rebirth of Souls and previous BLEACH games, Bandai Namco have opted here to chart the series’ main storyline following Ichigo Kurosaki’s imbuing of ghost seeing ability in the Substitute Soul Reaper arc right the way through to the climactic battle against Sosuke Aizen in the Arrancar arc. Along the way, players will come to learn and experience each character’s history, how they met each other, and how they’ve ended up battling each other.
Secret story mode
BLEACH Rebirth of Souls also offers a “secret story” mode which will provide multiple perspectives on the game’s main storyline, with events explored through the eyes of different characters. Their individual points of view will come into focus alongside special side episodes, which are activities that follow their daily lives between story events. The idea here, it seems, is to provide detail and immersion to encourage investment in multiple character arcs alongside the main storyline.
Multiplayer and other game modes
In Battle Mode players can test their fighting skill against friends in both offline and online modes, with online giving the additional benefit of pitting yourself in intense battles against opponents the world over. Sounding sort of like a training mode, Mission Mode is an opportunity to develop skills and hone technique by battling through a variety of challenging situations.
Roster
BLEACH is beloved for its varied and engaging cast of characters, and with Rebirth of Souls focusing on both the Substitute Soul Reaper arc and Arrancar arc, characters confirmed up to now feature in those two storylines. From the world of the living we have, of course, Ichigo Kurosaki, plus Uryu Ishida, Kisuke Urahara, Yasutora Sado, and leader of the Visored Shinji Hirako. Soul Society members confirmed thus far include Rukia Kuchiki, Byakuya Kuchiki, Shunsui Kyoraku, and Head Captain Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto. Resident of Heuco Mundo slated to appear include Ulquoirra Shifar, Sosuke Aizen, and Coyote Stark. This isn’t an exhaustive list, there’re loads more characters confirmed plus new characters set to be announced.
Each character has unique abilities
Currently, the total of playable characters in BLEACH Rebirth of Souls sits at a near-thirty, with Ichigo Kurosaki appearing in two guises. One important aspect to note is each character is unique in their blend of fighting styles – their Zanpakutō – combining swordplay, Hakuda, Hohō, and Kidō (their hand-to-hand capability, footwork, and spellcasting, respectively) and the abilities associated with each. In simpler terms, distinct features may govern their speed and agility, how powerful they are, or how effective they are at attacking from range.
Combat fundamentals
At its core, besting your opponent in Rebirth of Souls demands a reading of their manoeuvres, and utilising a blend of attacking, guarding, and breaking (or countering) to build enough power to destroy their Konpaku. You’ll need to deploy your character’s unique move set, their Zan Ken So Ki, to whittle down opponent health, their Reishi. Decreasing your opponent’s Reishi leaves their Konpaku, their lives, open for obliteration. Destroy all their Konpaku and the adversary is defeated. As this is predominately a sword-centric system, although some characters exhibit strong hand-to-hand ability, positioning is key. Whilst you’re using your skills in battle, a gauge in the lower corner of the screen fills with Spiritual Power. This power can be unleashed in a couple of ways.
Reverse fate
Reverse fate, or reverse action, is the go-to strategy to deploy if you’re getting battered. By perfectly timing a combination of attacks, reverse actions have the power to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. In-game, there are three reverse actions with different effects depending on when you activate them. The Soul Reverse, for instance, recovers Reishi whilst increasing Spiritual Power. Chain reverse continues your combo streak whilst increasing Spiritual Power. Burst reverse cancels your adversary’s combo whilst recovering some guard gauge. Mastering reverse actions is crucial if you’re to rise to be the best.
Awakening
When your opponent’s Reishi is low your fighter can unleash a Kikon Move, in other words their special one-blow finisher, which destroys Konpaku. The power of the Kikon Move can be boosted further by entering your character’s Awakening state, a state of being accessible once your Fighting Spirit Gauge is maxed – that is, the metre which accumulates over time and by taking damage. If the gauge is full when using Awakening, your fighter moves into a Kikon channel state, which is where power lies.
Reawakening
Certain characters can go beyond Awakening state to the dramatically more powerful Reawakening, which is a secondary evolution yielding even more power. Only four characters announced appear to have this power: Uryu Ishida, Ulquiorra Cifer, Sosuke Aizen, and Ichigo Kurosaki in his Bankai state.
Advanced techniques
Characters possess a universal fast attack and flash attack, light and strong attacks that can be inputted at least three times for a combo or a maximum of twice respectively. Both attacks decrease an opponent’s guard gauge which, when depleted, eliminates their ability to block altogether, but fighters will need to use these attacks strategically as fast attacks accumulate Spiritual Power quickly whilst flash attacks deplete an opponent’s Reishi more rapidly. Utilising both in combination alongside a mastery of footwork, or Hohō, boosts the amount these attacks can be used in succession. Spiritual Power, as we’ve alluded to already, can be unleashed in a couple of ways, with a Spirit Pressure Move the most damaging to your opponent. Other abilities, like signature moves, can be deployed without using any gauge whatsoever.
Post-release content
With BLEACH Rebirth of Souls covering the Substitute Soul Reaper and Arrancar story arcs, Fullbringers and Thousand-Year Blood War story arcs are left out completely, and thus characters specific to those storylines. However, in a post-release season pass Bandai Namco have confirmed that focus will be placed on the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, which implies fighters from this storyline will eventually appear.
Editions
BLEACH Rebirth of Souls can be ordered in standard, deluxe, and ultimate editions, priced at $59.99, $84.99, and $99.99 respectively. All pre-orders come bundled with the Thousand-Year Blood War Toshiro Hitsugaya & Yoruichi Shihoin costume sets, with the deluxe including four additional characters, seven-day early access to DLC characters, and two-type soul crystal sets one and two beyond the standard edition’s base game. The ultimate edition includes everything in deluxe plus two-type crystal soul set three, Thousand-Year Blood War costume set, and Rebirth of Souls costume set.
PC requirements
Minimum requirements to play BLEACH Rebirth of Souls on PC include an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i7-9700K processor, 16GB RAM, and an AMD Radeon VII or Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 GPU. Recommended specs comprise an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X or Intel Core i7-12700K processor, 16GB RAM, and an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT or Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GPU. 75GB of storage space is required.
