Review by: Brittany Vincent

If you’re a shonen anime junkie, it’s doubtful you haven’t yet checked out Bleach. Like Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and the several successful action series before it, the sprawling supernatural tale is packed with epic brawls, memorable characters, and plenty of filler. Ichigo Kurosaki, your typical teenager, is suddenly whisked away into the world of the Soul Reapers, powerful entities tasked with rounding up rowdy souls who linger in the living realm as malevolent spirits long after kicking the bucket.

Monstrous Hollows reside in the world of the Soul Reapers, and with the help of fellow Reaper Rukia Kuchiki, several teams of allies, and even his friends in the living world, Ichigo is tasked with keeping order. Bleach has spanned several seasons and plenty of tie-in video games to boot. Most recently, Bleach: Soul Resurrecion has entered the fray, and in a sea of mediocre strat-RPGs, brawlers, and cash-ins, it stands alone as the highest-quality and most entertaining Bleach video game yet…but let’s be honest here. That’s still not saying a lot.

Soul Resurrecion (aptly-named as many of the later enemies in the Bleach canon tend to use a Spanish-inspired dialect) is a hack-and-slash paradise for hardcore fans of the series. Newcomers or casual enthusiasts, due to the game’s failure to explain any real sort of back story, will be completely stupefied upon booting up story mode. Even as a longtime Bleach devotee after a long viewing hiatus, I found myself extremely puzzled when I pored over the wall of text provided as a preface to each story mission. Without so much as a cut scene to introduce the oncoming carnage, players jump right into a battle in progress, following Ichigo all the way through Hueco Mundo to rescue the captured Orihime Inoue (again, characters players who do not watch the series will not recognize despite their being main players).

Upon first viewing Hueco Mundo, the world of the Hollows, or most of the enemies in the game, I was taken aback by how bland it actually was compared to the lush and vivid cel-shading gracing the popular Bleach heroes. While our heroes pop and look akin to being pulled straight out of the anime series, the mostly open world was rife with bland colors (true to story, I’ll give it that) and absolutely yawn-inducing landscapes. What’s more, nearly each stage after Hueco Mundo resembles that first boring world as well. No matter which stage of the game you progress to, you’re still usually running forward in a straight line. The scenery may change slightly each time, but forget having doors, hidden areas, or anywhere of note to traverse. Run in a straight line, occasionally turn, and slash through a wall to make a passageway. And there you have the bulk of Soul Resurrecion’s gameplay.

Fortunately, as with the anime, the game truly shines when it comes to picking a fight. And whether you’re plowing through airborne enemies with ranged attacks or dancing with Menos Grandes (an enormous Hollow) using simple sword combos, battles are extremely smooth and satisfying. Pulling off melee combos is exact and incredibly responsive, especially when unleashing more powerful attacks such as Soul Reapers’ Bankais (essentially a Limit Break for Reapers) when building up the gauge on the left side of the screen. Pulling the left trigger button activates a more powerful mode for each character, and another press will unleash a deadly combo with devastating results.

Accompanied by this massive amount of damage is a quick cut scene to complement the carnage onscreen, such as Ichigo’s Visored transformation through Hollowfication or Ishida Uryu’s impressive Quincy power display. Though attacks and combos are easily displayed by visiting the menu, even if you’re happier simply wailing on the face buttons it’s hard not to enjoy every second of combat despite how repetitive it ends up becoming.