A fantastic first entry for the Bleach franchise on the PS3!
The real joy of the game comes from over 25 different missions that can be played by a majority of the games 21 member cast. Missions can vary between defeating 100 soul reapers, to being handicapped by not being able to jump. It is here that I have to replay and build my characters level to take on opponents in three different difficulty modes to be able to unlock more soul points (utilized for raising the characters level and growth, up to lvl 175) to have character gain new abilities and better states. What is the price, perhaps gratification and being able to complete numerous trophies. This game prides itself on replayability and because of the Bleach franchise and playing as Rukia, Hitsugaya in his bankai state, Byakuya, Ichigo in his bankai state, Grimmjow, and others, it wont get old for a long time. The story mode took me naught but six or so hours, while missions mode is taking me quite a long time. In addition to missions mode there are character figures to collect, with voice clips, which is a nice touch.
Graphically the game looks great via its manner that emulates the anime. The opening animation appears to be a different take on various scenes on the anime and looks great. Attacks in the game are flashy and gorgeous. It never gets old seeing them. There are numerous attacks for the characters, close to six or more for some of them that all look true to the anime as well. This adds variety for the controls on top of being stacked on simple combination attacks and skills that can be chained together for combinations. I have been able to chain numerous combos to try to get to 2000, which is possible.
The game allows one to play in both English dialogue and Japanese dialogue, music is the traditional rock type for this genre of gameplay and some songs are pretty addictive and nice while others are just fitting. Characters that are not part of the playable 21 still appear during the game and chime in to talk to your main character and often sometimes its fitting, hilarious, or just true to the anime counterpart.
The only faults of the game is that the storyline is short, varying degrees among fans about the fights in question (anyone can argue for or against the importance of the ones shown), no online multiplayer or co-op (considering Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, a game in the same genre has it, it is a baffling omission), no anime cutscenes (it would have made it nice to have considering this is based on the anime, however the cutscenes it does offer using the games visuals are nice), and lastly, the games story could have been told in a way that would help newcomers to Bleach take part, the way it is told through narration using the same Voice Actor as the anime, it drops names with no faces to many characters it refers too and the story and is a rather brief overview leaving out some details. However, if one is experiencing Bleach for the first time, it provides enough background that they can understand what is happening, and maybe, check out the anime once they finish the game.
All in all, this game is definitely worth it and a great use of the Bleach license. I love playing as Ichigo, Uryu, Rukia and other characters, and the fact that there is mission mode, which also incorporates something from the as yet to be released in America, Hell Arc character, there is fun to be had. Definitely check it out if you are a Bleach fan, as one wouldnt want to miss this.