Bleach was one of my very first manga obsessions, right behind Naruto in the pecking order. It was the unique style that first drew me in, and its surreal supernatural undertones. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I devoured the manga, then the anime in turn (usually in three poorly-subtitled parts on YouTube).
As I pen this review, I’m looking at a statue of Ichigo Kurosaki on my desk, and reminiscing about just how much this series meant to me, and still does. It’s part of why I was so excited to check out newly-released video game adaptation, Bleach: Rebirth of Souls.
There’ve been good Bleach video games in the past – The Blade of Fate for
To my surprise, Bleach: Rebirth of Souls does just that. Despite early trailers focussing solely on the combat experience, this game actually has a very meaty story mode that adapts the events of the anime, chapter-by-chapter. It’s not even a simple add-on over combat mode – it’s an hours-long, cutscene-heavy production that attempts to cover nearly every aspect of Ichigo’s journey, up to the final stages of the Arrancar Arc.
This ambition is impressive, and it’s great to see the game attempting what no other Bleach game has really done so far – although I will say the game’s story mode doesn’t quite live up to this ambition, and instead makes Rebirth of Souls fairly lopsided.
Story mode is charming, but a bit kusoge
The game begins as you’d expect for an adaptation – with Ichigo meeting Soul Reaper Rukia, and inadvertently stealing her powers in a fight against a towering Hollow. But where the anime makes this opening dynamic and compelling, with fun humour and over-the-top character expressions, the animation of Rebirth of Souls dulls the impact.
The character models here are nice and sharp, but they do feel a bit off-model, particularly when deeper emotions come into play. There’s a stiffness and an awkwardness to all movement. When characters are running, the ground doesn’t quite meet their feet, and they appear to move sluggishly. Moments of great tension in the anime are made beige here, with these undercut by characters expressing brief, sudden emotion, and then reverting back to being static or bobbing slightly.
Too often, scenes are rendered with characters simply standing still, staring at each other with little emotion, in a way that makes Bleach: Rebirth of Souls feel more like a visual novel. Playing on PC and Steam Deck, I also had to deal with frame rate drops and pauses that interrupted the flow of scenes (although it’s worth noting a range of updates since launch have addressed some of these issues since).
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While I will admit this style was silly and charming to me personally, with a touch of inadvertent humour in many cutscenes, I don’t think the game means to be so unintentionally funny. That seems obvious when, in certain moments, you can see a much better quality breaking through.
Some cutscenes look fantastic, and the framing and illustrations work really well to emulate the feeling of Bleach. Then, in other scenes, the game is back to looking fairly rough. It’s an assumption, but it does feel like perhaps some scenes just didn’t get the time they needed to look good.
Pacing is another issue in the game’s story mode, with Rebirth of Souls cutting many corners in the storytelling. I’d hazard a guess that if you weren’t familiar with Bleach, you wouldn’t have much of a clue as to what’s going on, because the story weirdly skips really important bits of the narrative.
Orihime and Chad getting their individual powers is briefly mentioned in a static cutscene. Ichigo first activating his Hollow powers is brushed over, and Urahara doesn’t get a meaningful introduction. While it’s clear why Tamsoft couldn’t tell the entire story here, the developer has made odd choices in what to leave behind, removing needed context and even entire characters from Rebirth of Souls.
While the decisions contribute to a snappy flow for the story, with little setbacks removed and side stories streamlined overall, there is a Bleach purist in me that’s annoyed by some of the exclusions, and how quickly big moments settle.
Combat is king
Even having said all that, and being vaguely disappointed by the animation, and some elements of the narrative in story mode, I found myself entirely compelled by Bleach: Rebirth of Souls. That’s largely because the game’s combat is so stylish and cool that it overrode many of the complaints I had about story mode.
Rather than stick to the established formula, this fighting game adapts the visual style and panache of Bleach into its combat mechanics. Whether wielding a sword, your fists, or a bow and arrow, you’ll take on a range of matches by swinging forward, countering, or teleporting, with the aim to whittle away enemy health before unleashing an ultra-powered attack that cuts away health.
When you manage to land your killer blow, you get a cool splash page that indicates how much health you’ve destroyed, with a bombastic quote like ‘SOUL DESTRUCTION’ layered over the top.
It’s snappy and ridiculous, but oh so very Bleach, adopting the manga’s art style for extra impact. In a typical match, you’ll need to perform at least two or three of these attacks, making snappy, well-timed attacks to push your enemies back. For certain high-powered attacks, you also get very good-looking flash cutscenes where characters power up or otherwise say something dramatic, which adds to the flair of battles.
Beyond this, what I most appreciated is the battle system is all about timing. You can smash your way through your enemy’s defences, but you must be prepared for a block. Rebirth of Souls really makes you think about when to time your attacks, because this block takes a second or so to kick in – so fights have a layer of strategy involved. You also have to consider your enemy’s strength, and their height.
When fighting Hollows in the early parts of the story, you’ll have to account for their slower swings, and spend more time chipping away at health. For normal-sized enemies – who make up the bulk of your encounters – you’ll need to watch out for their quicker swings and openings.
In the later parts of the game, the combat also grows more complex with a novel awakening system that allows you to unlock your chosen character’s inner strength. It’s particularly fun to fight with Ichigo as in his standard form, his awakening leads from his base form, to his Bankai form – and if you can’t put an enemy down within a certain time, he might end up awakening his Hollow for wilder attacks. (And yes, you can awaken Vasto Lorde Ichigo eventually.)
While some characters get less exciting transformations, being able to “level up” in battle remains a very neat perk, and it helps to keep the action spicy. It’s also a neat little adaptation of the anime, which has plenty of tropey ‘where are you getting this power’ moments.
Final verdict
In the end, it was the quest to experiment more with this battle system, and the pure nostalgia of re-experiencing the Bleach anime that inspired me to continue on through Rebirth of Souls. While a lacklustre story mode does let the game down somewhat, it’s still a joy to be able to play through the events of the anime, and there’s no doubt fans will enjoy the ride.
Even if the story mode doesn’t do it for you, the game’s combat goes a long way towards making up for these flaws, with stylish, dynamic battles that stand out from the pack. What’s more, the game provides an ample roster of fighters to mess around with (and there’s more arriving in future DLC) so you can really dig in here and set up any dream matches you desire.
For Bleach fans, Rebirth of Souls is a fun little treat – and while it’s not the most polished experience, there’s still a lot to love about how it shoots for the moon.
Three-and-a-half stars: ★★★½
Bleach: Rebirth of Souls
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Developer: Tamsoft Corporation
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Release Date: 21 March 2025
A PC code for Bleach: Rebirth of Souls was provided by the publisher and played on a Steam Deck for the purposes of this review.
