While not the best hack n' Slash,Bleach Soul Resurreccion is certainly worth a try......
While not the best hack n' Slash,Bleach Soul Resurreccion is certainly worth a try......
Developed by Racjin,Bleach Soul Resurreccion is the first Bleach PS3 video game to reach U.S. shores.You may know racjin as the developers of Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles,however,it was a less then spectacular attempt....With that in mind,you must ponder whether or not soul Resurreccion is truly worth the investment,Well then,shall we begin?
STORY/PRESENTATION - A poor presentation does this game an awful injustice.Immediately you are cast straight into the Arrancar Arc without any background knowledge to at least tell who Ichigo Kurosaki is,Who is Orihime?What is Hueco Mundo?Who is Aizen?
This is indeed a lazy and horrible introduction for those who may be new to the series and will likely be a turnoff for many,however,there is much in Resurreccion that must be explored....
While going through Story Mode,the lack of key fights in the arrancar arc are noticeably absent.Each segment has you going through a level and defeating a specific boss for each,such as Ichigo's memorable battle against Espada 4,Ulquiorra Cifer...However this,Story mode is quite short,spanning perhaps only 2-4 hours...Unfortunately,the bulk of the game can be found in mission mode,which we will discuss along with various other modes in Gameplay
GAMEPLAY - The gameplay aspect of Bleach Soul Resurreccion is where this game truly shines.
Like other Hack/Slash titles that Have preceded it,Bleach Soul Resurreccion does not stray far from the same formula...However,unlike other hack/Slash games,each character is diverse in not only the way they play,but also certain attributes that make a character unique,such as Barragans "Cloud of Death" which causes all enemies whom are within range of the cloud to decrease in mobility and take gradual damage.All from Coyotte Starrk's Guns to Kokuto's chain,every aspect of it makes the gameplay and each character feel very unique.Ignition mode is a mode in which a character receives an abundance of strength or receives a large power boost,in conjunction with ignition Mode is an ignition attack.These attacks are relatively far more powerful renditions of special attacks and can easily sweep an entire army of enemies,however,you must use them sparingly as some can bring about a great deal of damage to yourself (Soi Fon's Jakuho Raikoben or Final Ichigo's Mugetsu).
X - Jump (some characters are capable of flight when held down)
square - Main attack
O - special
Triangle - Long ranged normal attack
L2 - Ignition mode (When guage is full/tap a second time to unleash an ignition attack)
The game also has a leveling up/RPG aspect to it as well.In order to level up,you must collect Soul points by defeating various enemies,coupled with each characters uniqueness,this can add a great deal of addictiveness to the deal.The game also features a leveling up grid in similar fashion to Final Fantasy's sphere grid where you exchange soul points for abilities to enhance your characters performance.These abilities range from additional soul points while in battle (Mahiro) to extended time combos.Another important factor to leveling up are slash combos.Slash Combos are an accumulated amount hits you manage to deal to an opponent,say it takes me 5 hits to kill one opponent,I now have a 5 hit slash count.If you can maintain this slash count throughout the entire level,you will receive more Soul Points afterwards.Also,in conjunction with slash combo's,are multipliers you receive once you achieve a certain amount of hits.These multipliers too factor in receiving more soul points.
(The time it takes to complete a mission or episode as well as enemies defeated will also bear on your soul points,so do keep that in mind!)
100=2x 300=3x 1000=4x
The Game Features 5 modes
-Mission Mode -The bulk of the game,Mission mode is quite different from Story episodes in the fact that there are now certain conditions to meet which bring about a greater deal of difficulty.Ranging from complete (Mission) in a certain time limit
to complete with no ignition gauge.There is also no variety amongst characters,all characters share the same mission....
-Soul attack Mode an extension of Mission mode conditions that consist of three categories
.Soul attack - obtain as many soul points as possible before timer runs out
.Beat attack - defeat as many opponents as possible before the timer runs out
.Time attack - rush through the level trying to achieve the best time
-Story - previously discussed
-Level up - not really a mode,this simply brings up the level up grid,nothing further
-Collection - Lazy,this mode simply contains 3d model renderings of each character with voice samples.
MUSIC - whilst most of the soundtrack is mostly generic,boring,as well as repetitive,Soul Resurreccion host some somewhat decent music,however,one should not expect much.While the shriek produced by that of a slain foe may sound hilarious at first,it gets a bit annoying afterwords.Character voices are interesting,yet uninteresting,however,there are a select few that are quite hilarious (Kyoraku Shunsui).
GRAPHICS - This is Perhaps the game's greatest attribute (other than gameplay)
Character models are quite fluid and detailed nicely,making it appear as though it were reminiscent to that of the anime.Many proclaim the graphics to be horrid,however,should one look at the anime backgrounds,there really wasn't much in terms of "detail" Hueco mundo was nothing more than what appears to be a barren dessert bearing only a few structures.Thus,the background graphics are indeed spot on...
Overall appeal - While it may not appeal to many,Bleach Soul Resurreccion is indeed an interesting romp into the genre.Mind you however,this game is indeed geared towards those whom are fans of the Bleach series,though even those whom have yet to experience the anime can assuredly have fun with this title despite its poor presentation and shortcomings...
All in All,this game is indeed worthy of a solid 7.5