If you have any interest in Japanese anime, then Blade Battlers 2nd is for you.
- A huge of instantly recognizable characters
- Battlers mode is challenging and entertaining
- Interesting combat system
- Almost perfectly captures the anime's look
Negative
- Those boring and famous Japanese cutscenes
- Stages are a bit small for a four-way
Like the anime it's based on, Blade Battlers 2nd is a great fighting game which successfully captures the look and feel of its source material. The biggest bummer is that the game was never translated in English and there are none available for the PS2. It is difficult to get your hands on such a game, but if you do you won't hate it.
The first thing you would want to do when you turn this game on is to fight against the CPU in a free battle mode. I can't be certainly sure about this but my game shows the English name of the menu as well as the Japanese one. There are quite a lot of characters to begin with and many to unlock. If you are a fan of the series you will recognize every single character from the beginning to the arrancar arc. Virtually every enemy fought in the anime is here, except for the bounts. Until they enter Hueco Mundo.
There are 2 main modes, story and battlers mode. If you aren't Japanese the story is worthless since you probably won't understand much and the terrible lifeless cutscenes don't do anything to help either. Supposing it starts in the first blade battlers because the story first starts exactly when the arrancar appear in the anime. Personally I think the story is a bit messes up by I can't be sure. You fight will different characters which the game promotes you to use. The only drawback is that you won't unlock any characters which make it unnecessary.
By playing the Battlers mode you can unlock characters, take free missions by destroying hollows, fight random enemies and take challenging missions. At first you only have Ichigo and Rukia by along the way you will have a lot of character much more than you need. This mode takes place on square grids. There are black, white, red, blue and green. I don't know the purpose of this mode. You can't step on the black ones so you have to complete missions and get the mission clear to unlock another. You will get king crowns by completing objectives which are revealed once you finish the mission. They are very different and very difficult for many to get any. So you have to try to finish the battle as soon as possible, full spiritual energy and such. Challenging missions are slightly harder and you can't choose a character. This type of mission selects your character and they are harder than average mission. Free missions let you choose a character and a partner. It can be played with a friend as well. The normal condition is to win. But the enemy as well as you can get bonus powers at the beginning of the battle. Like full spiritual energy and extra life bars. If you encounter a character on the grids you will get a cutscenes and you will have to fight him or complete a mission along side him. This is how you unlock the characters, in free play mode and battlers mode.
Bleach is all about sword slashing, bankai and all. This game has around 36 characters from the anime series. You will certainly find your favorite character if you are a fan, since there are only a few minors missing here. The stages are a bit small for a four-way though but that can't be helped. Depending on the player you use, varies the styles. For example Ichigo charges in but Uryu has long ranged attacks. You can perform powerful attacks by filling the meter under the players HP. By filling the spirit meter on the left side on the HP bar and pressing the L1+R1 after you can unleash a special attack which as well changes from character to character. These are quite good looking. You need to get beaten up to fulfill it quickly though. Soul Reapers use bankai and around 2 of them are huge like Kurotsuchi's is so big that you easily can hit him but deals poison and damage of course. There are others like this by very few. By moving the R analog stick you can do a flash step and this can make fight annoying since the enemy uses it often.
If you never watched Bleach you will say that the game's graphics are pretty great. And in the end it almost perfectly captures the look of the anime. It is a better anime looking game than the Budokai Tenkaichi series, and it doesn't lack variety. The models look fantastic and their mouths move at least. The stages are small but look ok. The cutscenes are dreadfully boring with no sense of style. You watch 2 characters talking with no motion no even their mouths and all and at times they make a reaction, not good.
The music is less of a hit. Of course the Japanese voices stay true to the anime but the background music isn't anything special. Why can't they just put the anime's music into the game? I don't know. There isn't much to talk about here but overall not a headache. There are some decent tunes but don't surpass the anime's. The camera can be used from 4 different angles in battle, giving the battle the view you prefer.
It's not easy to get your hands on a Japanese game, but if you can Bleach Blade Battlers 2nd is a great example of how a fighting game should be at this point. It's stupid that there isn't an English version of this superb anime on this platform because this Bleach ranks top 5 of the best Japanese anime games available of the PS2. There is plenty to enjoy so if you don't mind the Japanese voices and you love the anime, you will immediately find yourself at home.
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Graphics = 8.3
Great anime look which captures the look of the anime. Detailed character models are a hit.
Sound = 7.2
Decent tunes and Japanese voice acting.
Presentation = 7.6
Lifeless cutscenes aren't suited anymore (but they will continue using them). Multi camera angles are a good idea. Production values are great.
Gameplay = 8.6
36 characters from the show up till the Hueco Mundo arc. Different styles, special attacks and stuff. You will find your favorite here.
Story / Modes = 8.2
Story mode made useless since you won't unlock any characters but the battlers mode is engaging and takes quite a while to beat all. Having different mission types in this mode is a great idea and fun.
OVERALL = 80 / 100
If you have any interest in Japanese anime, then Blade Battlers 2nd is for you.