Bleach: Dark Souls - first look

Okay, let’s clear something up: the man character’s name isn’t Bleach, it’s Ichigo. They call him Bleach because his hair looks bleached and they call the manga/anime series “Bleach” because “emo anime guys doing cool shit with swords and ghosts” doesn’t fit so well on a TV screen. If you already knew that, then you probably know about Bleach: Dark Souls, the Sega game coming to the Nintendo DS this year. It stars your favorite light-haired hero and the entire cast of season one of the anime in a side-story that takes place just before season two (don’t worry - no season two spoilers).

Dark Souls is a fighting game, so most of what you’ll be doing on the DS is frantically pressing A and B and the D-pad at the same time to move your character forward, backward, up and down as you deal out blows with whatever weapon comes to hand. With over 30 characters in the lineup (most of them unlockable through Story Mode), you’ll see a lot of different combat techniques and a lot of side characters you don’t recognize right away. Like that sad boy from episode four? He’s in there and his attack is shivering. And the nurse from episode 12, she’s there too, though God only knows what for. You can even play as a Hollow - a first for Bleach games on all platforms.

Different modes (Survival, Story, Arcade) pit the characters of Bleach against different challenges, but nearly all of them involve fighting. The rare match that doesn’t involve fighting still lets you fight people; however your main objective is usually collecting more of something (like candy that falls from the sky) than your opponent does. To that end, you could fight your opponent so he loses his share of the objects, or just knock him out so he never gets the chance to collect any. Winning matches in any mode besides multiplayer wins you money which you can spend on unlocking items, spirit cards and bonus material. The Wi-Fi multiplayer mode for up to four players sounds like it’ll be a blast, but alas, we didn’t get to see it in action.

CATEGORIES
Latest in Fighting
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Super Smash Bros. creator says instead of making more "Americanized works," Japanese devs should "seek the uniqueness and fun of Japanese games"
Minecraft characters Alex and Steve riding in mine carts in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, being chased by Bowser Jr..
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate villain Minecraft Steve is the star of the "best Smash clip of all time," as genius player makes a literal Trojan Horse to destroy an unsuspecting opponent
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS key art.
Masahiro Sakurai says Super Smash Bros "might have died out" if not for late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata: "There's no doubt that he influenced me in many ways"
Mortal Kombat 2 3DO
After 32 years, Mortal Kombat 2 has finally been ported to the one hyper-expensive '90s console that could actually do it justice
jinx in 2xko weilding a big hammer with a smirk on her face
The League of Legends fighting game spin-off won't be getting its big playtest, but that's so that more of you can play it later this year
Retro Gamer
Retro Gamer celebrates Capcom’s greatest fighting games
Latest in Features
Kill Team: Blood and Zeal box on a wooden surface
Kill Team: Blood and Zeal pre-orders just went live, and I wish other Warhammer games were this weird
Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
DC June 2025 solicitations: 10 must-have comics to pre-order this month
Flow
Flow won big as this year's Oscars underdog against Pixar and Netflix, and it's proof of the power of storytelling over dialogue
Yasuke riding through a village looking for Knowledge in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows' prologue is the most gripping in franchise history, but I'm fixated on the tiny details
Naoe blends in among lush trees in Assassin's Creed Shadows while observing Amagasaki Castle from a rooftop perch
After 18 years Assassin's Creed Shadows cracks the ultimate stealth loop with its deliciously dense castles
Naoe perched in front of a castle in Assassin's Creed Shadows
I've spent 20 hours in Assassin's Creed Shadows chasing drip and decor, and it's proving to be my biggest source of motivation in the RPG