Bleach: Rebirth of Souls

The stylish animations and rich combat depth of Bleach Rebirth of Souls make it shine in a sea of run-of-the-mill arena fighters, even if a few missteps like its uneven story mode keep it from living up to the full spectacle of the adored anime series.

There's something really compelling at the core of Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, but it struggles to emerge amidst half-baked mechanics and a general lack of depth. The game wows over the first few hours with slick visuals and a varied character roster, but it just doesn't have the content to keep anyone but the most hardcore Bleach fans hooked. While it's great to see Tite Kubo's edgy blockbuster back in action, Rebirth of Souls will go down as a flashy fighter that never realised its potential.

Bleach Rebirth of Souls makes an excellent first impression, with cool, loud menu UI, amped-up music, and in-game action that looks fast and furious from a distance.

Bleach: Rebirth of Souls is a love letter to die-hard fans of Tite Kubo's work, but little more. In terms of story adaptation, this is an extremely competent effort that also presents Ichigo and company fans with new, quality content. Gameplay-wise, it meets the requirements and manages to offer a good few hours of fun, but it falls short by being too superficial and routine in crucial areas. It's one of those offerings that will only increase in value the more fans you are of the source material—and for the most passionate Bleach fans, this game is well worth it. For others seeking a mechanically deep and strategically dense fighting game, you'll leave this experience with an appetite to satisfy.

Bleach’s fighting core shines, but clunky storytelling and jarring cutscenes hold it back. Hardcore fans only.

BLEACH Rebirth of Souls attempts to bring the popular anime to our consoles, with an interesting approach to combat, a rich story mode and much more.

BLEACH: Rebirth of Souls is a competent arena fighter that will please series fans more than newcomers looking to catch up with the long-running IP.

Bleach: Rebirth of Souls had the potential to be a great game for fans of the anime, but it falls short in several key areas. Way to many cutscenes disrupts the flow of gameplay, and the combat, while solid, lacks the depth and excitement needed to keep me wanting more. It's a game that might appeal to die-hard Bleach fans just to try it out, but for others, it may not be worth the time. Watch the anime instead, it's so much better!

Bleach Rebirth of Souls is a love letter to the long-running Bleach anime with full English and Japanese voice-overs in a faithful recreation of the franchise's long story. The game's simple but engaging combat system combines the best elements from anime arena fighters and traditional fighting games for some intense and visually pleasing battles. However, the game's lack of online features repeats the same mistakes of Bandai Namco's past arena fighters, reducing some of the game's replay value.

I said it before but I’ll say it again, Rebirth of Souls is a true love letter to the Bleach community. It’s the first console game we’ve gotten in over a decade and you can see the hard work that went into it. Fully voiced and nicely animated, it’s a great way to relive the series that many love. However, it’s not perfect. The game has glitches and is missing key characters. Plus the online mode needs some work if it wants to be a real contender in the competitive fighting space. But it’s on the right track to be one of the best fighting games out there and I look forward to seeing how it improves over time including any additional characters.