Bleach: Blade of Fate - Review

[Dr.Mario84]

Yeah, Bleach.

Bleach for the Nintendo DS is based on an anime/manga series from Japan.  Even so that's no reason to diss this game.  This isn't the type of game which you just say "well if you like that sort of thing..." as if Bleach fanatics would be the only ones to get it.  I myself know little about the show or manga but I decided to try this game out.

I would also like to state that I have only done one other review of a game in my life so you might find my words a little naive for a reviewer.  That is quite alright; I guess you could say I'm new at this.

Gameplay:
The controls are actually quite simple.  There are three buttons you use to attack (Y, X, A), one to block (R) , one to flashstep (B), and one to linejump (L).  The flashstep is basically like a quick burst of speed, although not all characters can flashstep (instead they'll sprint/slide).  And the linejump basically makes you go into or out of the background (only usable in 3 - 4 player battles).  And you of course walk/run/jump/crouch with the D-pad.

There are also these cards in the game called Spirit Cards.  These substitute for items and can actually be very cheap.  Spirit Cards are shown on the touch screen.  With these on battles and duels might become more of an effort of who has the better deck/luck rather then skill.  But you can turn them off thankfully.  You can purchase stronger Spirit Cards as you progress through the game.

One nifty little feature also in the game is the quick reference special move and special attack buttons.  As with most fighters there are button combos that allow for special moves to be preformed.  The touch screen can quickly transform into a set of buttons which, when pressed, make your character automatically do a special move.

Storyline:
As with most fighters the storyline is totally unimportant.  It's only important that you play Story Mode for Kan (the money used in the game), characters, and more modes.  There is a total of 23 "episodes".  The only one with a significant story is Ep. 23 which actually goes through the 1st season of Bleach with 100% sucession.  The story is told by text and stills in each episode.  Most of the episodes actually clash with either other episodes or the anime/manga. 

Game modes:
There is a totally of 7 modes in the game:  Story, Arcade, Versus, Training, Time Attack, and Survival.

Story mode is self explanitory. 

Arcade mode basically lets you fight several characters in a row. 

Versus mode is for fighting with others and the CPU; you're capible of going on wifi. 

Training mode gives you a dummy to test your skills on. 

Time Attack mode is just like Arcade mode only you don't get Kan or prizes and your time is recorded as apposed to a score. 

Survival mode pits you against quite a few characters in a row only your current HP and Spiritual Pressure is transferred to each battle.  Each CPU appears to get harder. 

Challenge mode makes you try to preform certain combos with certain characters.  If you pass all the challenges for a character you get a prize.

There is, of course, other stuff like the Urahara Shop, Options menu, and Gallery menu.  You can purchase things like cards, pictures and voices to view and adjust int he Options and Gallery menu.  There's also a menu called Deck Construction which is just where you can asemble different decks for playing with.  A total of 5 different decks can be saved at once.

Wifi:
The Wifi is meh, honestly.  The main problem with it is that there are people that lag.  Lag is absolutely terrible in fighting games.  In Wifi you can battle with friends, random people, or people who fit your rank.  In ranked matches those who shut down their DS before finishing the battle will get demoted a seat.

Graphics:
Pretty nice.  The characters are actually quite well done.  Nothing remarkable though to say about the graphics.  Not even the special moves are visually impressive to be honest.  When Bankai (a super special move that will either transform the character or surroundings, or release a very damaging attack) the screen transfers to a quick showing of the character and his power.  These become very boring to watch though after a while.  They can be turned off thankfully.

Sound:
The music is actually pretty okay but not that great.  The sound though becomes repetitive of course (AH TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA...).

Game Mechanics:
Okay, this is the only reason you should get this game.  Seriously.  The fighting mechanics in this game are excellent.  No character has a cheap move thankfully like in most anime-based fighting games.

There's not much you can really say about this though.  This is something you'd just have to see for yourself.  The overall feeling of the game is incredible.

Overall:
This game is a great fighting game to play.  It's really exciting and practically endless fun.  With friends this can actually become a blast.  I suggest trying this game out at least.  Chances are you'll love the way this game plays even though you might hate Bleach.

Gameplay: 10/10
Storyline: 4/10
Graphics: 6/10
Sound: 6/10
Overall: 8.5/10

[Allegretto]

Good review, I personally havent played it but i will now, Bleach is definitly my favorite show out there, I know literally everything about it and iv seen up to ep 156 of the anime, You should do a review for Bleach the shattered blade, a great wii game for the wii, I would do it myself but im not to good at Reviews sadly