P.S. this is my first review ever, so lay it on me!
Bleach Blade of Fate is a Nintendo DS game based of... well Bleach the anime series showing in Adult Swim. Usually since this is considered an anime game, many of the serious gamers would simply dismiss this as a mediocre cash-in, which is understandable since they are usually meant for fans only. However this game should not suffer such fate(no pun intended). This game was developed by the legendary team known as Treasure, creator of action cult hits like Mischeif Makers and Gunstar Heroes. This game was built from the ground up as a solid fighter with some interesting tweaks due to the DS' touch screen.
I am going for brevity here so I will try to keep things simple here. The main story centers around Ichigo, a soul reaper(basically a warrior who fights evil ghost spirits with an emo twist). He and his teenager friends are now off to rescue another soul reaper named Rukia. They must travel to the Soul Society(world where soul reapers are from and where you go when you die) and take on the Captains, the strongest of the warriors. The story is told with text based cutscenes so dont expect any anime cutscenes any time soon. There are over 20 stories to go through, each with a different character to go through with. Ichigo's is the most interesting because instead of going through the usual arcade like story mode with opponent-then talk-then next opponent structure, his story branches, having multiple paths to go through depending how you battle. Dont worry, it tells you the conditions for each battle. Unfortunetly this does not apply to any of the other stories which follow the basic pattern. So in other words the story is expressed in bite size chunks, well suited for handheld games.
Time for graphics. Each Fighters sprite is animated well and is a great cut above gba sprites, but dont expect SF III level sprites though. Still good though. It has the music standard for battle so its all good. The character art are near exact copies from the show itself, which isnt to shabby to begin with. The battle card art are a bit hard to look at sometimes though.
Now for the meat of the game: the gameplay. Aside from the standard story, the game also has the basic training, versus, etc. modes. Playing in nearly all these modes will gain you currency, which can be used at the Urahara Shop to purchase battle cards, alternate colors, and all that good stuff. While you start out with about 14 characters, the game has a total of 28 fighters to choose from so you should find one that fits your style. Like heavyweight class, there's Chad and Kenpachi. And if you are a Comboist, there's Soi Fon and Yoruichi. The battle screen is like a basic 2d fighter, with the usual life bar and super bar for hyper combos(you can stack up to 3). However there is also the spiritual energy bar, which can also be used for different things such as powering up special moves and flash step(which is teleport like move). While some stages are exempt, most levels have two planes(floors) for fighting which you can switch between using the L button. Speaking of buttons, Y is light,X is medium, and A is for heavy attack while B is for Flash step. Oh yeah R is for blocking. Special moves are pulled off using either standard button combinations(no diagonal directions here) or by pressing the button on the touch screen. Speaking of which, this is where the game gets real interesting. The main purpose of the touch screen is to activate your battle cards. These cards have multiple effects with multiple levels of effectiveness. These effects can vary from simple power up to stopping your opponent from jumping. These cards can be customized and chosen in Deck Construction. Play the game and go to the shop to unlock them. The game can support up to 4 players at the same time, while its local or online, which runs rather well with minimum lag.
Overall, the game is a well suited fighter while you are on the go, though there are some nit picks I have with it, but its not much. The character selection screen will take some getting used too, the AI can be a bit unfair at some points, and it is a bit dissapointing that half of the characters stories are simple tournaments, having hardly anything to do with the main plot. But little problems aside, its all good. A great game for the fans and pretty much anyone who wants a good fighter on the go. Quite possibly the best fighter on the DS(aside from maybe Draglade but I will probably get to that later)
Recommendation: BUY IT!
P.S. If you have any questions about the game before you buy it, go ahead and ask.
Bleach Blade of Fate is a Nintendo DS game based of... well Bleach the anime series showing in Adult Swim. Usually since this is considered an anime game, many of the serious gamers would simply dismiss this as a mediocre cash-in, which is understandable since they are usually meant for fans only. However this game should not suffer such fate(no pun intended). This game was developed by the legendary team known as Treasure, creator of action cult hits like Mischeif Makers and Gunstar Heroes. This game was built from the ground up as a solid fighter with some interesting tweaks due to the DS' touch screen.
I am going for brevity here so I will try to keep things simple here. The main story centers around Ichigo, a soul reaper(basically a warrior who fights evil ghost spirits with an emo twist). He and his teenager friends are now off to rescue another soul reaper named Rukia. They must travel to the Soul Society(world where soul reapers are from and where you go when you die) and take on the Captains, the strongest of the warriors. The story is told with text based cutscenes so dont expect any anime cutscenes any time soon. There are over 20 stories to go through, each with a different character to go through with. Ichigo's is the most interesting because instead of going through the usual arcade like story mode with opponent-then talk-then next opponent structure, his story branches, having multiple paths to go through depending how you battle. Dont worry, it tells you the conditions for each battle. Unfortunetly this does not apply to any of the other stories which follow the basic pattern. So in other words the story is expressed in bite size chunks, well suited for handheld games.
Time for graphics. Each Fighters sprite is animated well and is a great cut above gba sprites, but dont expect SF III level sprites though. Still good though. It has the music standard for battle so its all good. The character art are near exact copies from the show itself, which isnt to shabby to begin with. The battle card art are a bit hard to look at sometimes though.
Now for the meat of the game: the gameplay. Aside from the standard story, the game also has the basic training, versus, etc. modes. Playing in nearly all these modes will gain you currency, which can be used at the Urahara Shop to purchase battle cards, alternate colors, and all that good stuff. While you start out with about 14 characters, the game has a total of 28 fighters to choose from so you should find one that fits your style. Like heavyweight class, there's Chad and Kenpachi. And if you are a Comboist, there's Soi Fon and Yoruichi. The battle screen is like a basic 2d fighter, with the usual life bar and super bar for hyper combos(you can stack up to 3). However there is also the spiritual energy bar, which can also be used for different things such as powering up special moves and flash step(which is teleport like move). While some stages are exempt, most levels have two planes(floors) for fighting which you can switch between using the L button. Speaking of buttons, Y is light,X is medium, and A is for heavy attack while B is for Flash step. Oh yeah R is for blocking. Special moves are pulled off using either standard button combinations(no diagonal directions here) or by pressing the button on the touch screen. Speaking of which, this is where the game gets real interesting. The main purpose of the touch screen is to activate your battle cards. These cards have multiple effects with multiple levels of effectiveness. These effects can vary from simple power up to stopping your opponent from jumping. These cards can be customized and chosen in Deck Construction. Play the game and go to the shop to unlock them. The game can support up to 4 players at the same time, while its local or online, which runs rather well with minimum lag.
Overall, the game is a well suited fighter while you are on the go, though there are some nit picks I have with it, but its not much. The character selection screen will take some getting used too, the AI can be a bit unfair at some points, and it is a bit dissapointing that half of the characters stories are simple tournaments, having hardly anything to do with the main plot. But little problems aside, its all good. A great game for the fans and pretty much anyone who wants a good fighter on the go. Quite possibly the best fighter on the DS(aside from maybe Draglade but I will probably get to that later)
Recommendation: BUY IT!
P.S. If you have any questions about the game before you buy it, go ahead and ask.
