Reviewed: October 24, 2007
Reviewed by: Jason Flick

Publisher
SEGA

Developer
Polygon Magic

Released: October 10, 2007
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-2

8
8
8
7
8.0

Supported Features:

There have been several Bleach titles made so far. Unfortunately almost all of them haven’t seen the light of day over here in America. A large part of that is due to the show that has just now taken off here in the States.

Bleach: Shattered Blade is a 3D cel-shaded fighter that reminded me of the Naruto series at first look. You play as Ichigo Kurosaki in an all new story that takes place after the Soul Society incident. Essentially this story takes place right after the DS game. You are trying to get back home to the human world but you are told that you cannot leave for a 100 years, because the Senkaimon (or door) to the human world is being sealed off. During Ichigo’s raid on the Soul Society, the sword called the Sokyoko was destroyed. It is you job to get the shards of that sword to force open the door and return home. Now raise your Zanpaku-to and join me as I slice though my review of Bleach: Shattered Blade.

In Bleach: Shattered Blade, you use both the Remote and Nunchuk to defeat your foes. The remote is basically your sword and you can execute one of three basic strike movements. You perform a Chop by swinging the remote downwards, a slash by swinging left or right, and a stab by pushing the remote forward. Special Attacks are performed by using the B Button plus any of the strike movements. Critical Attacks are performed by using the A Button plus any of the strike movements.

As I mentioned above, you can activate your Bankai. You do this by flicking your Nunchuk up or down. You can also raise you Bankai gauge by flicking your Nunchuk up and down, but be warned. You are completely defenseless when doing so. When your Bankai is active, depending on the character you play, your attacks do more damage. Plus your three main attacks become Bankai Attack, which allow you to wreck havoc on your opponent. Some characters’ Bankai will also increase or decrease movement or activate Hyper Armor. When Hyper Armor is active you cannot be knocked down or sent flying across the screen. As you have [probably figured out all movement is done with the Nunchuk Control Stick. When you use the C Button with the Control Stick you perform Flash Steps.

Perhaps one of the coolest thinks about the combat system used is the Clash feature. If you and your opponent hit with Critical Attacks at the exact same time you enter a Clash State. This is basically Rock, Paper, and scissors with swords. The object of these States is to win the majority of the 5 strikes. If you are successful, you inflict great damage on your opponent. This is not easy by any means. I can’t tell you the number of times I lost.

As I mentioned before briefly, you can choose which character you want to play as in the Episode Mode. You must play as Ichigo first to make sure that you unlock all of the story modes. There are 32 different characters that you have access to in Bleach: Shattered Blade. That is amazing, but most standards. Most fighters I’ve played usually have half that many characters. Almost every major character form the Bleach anime is present here. All the characters stories follow the same overall unique storyline, although they have their own reasons to collect the Sokyoko Shards.

You also have an Arcade mode, where you pick any of the 32 characters and fight 8 different opponents. There is even VS Mode, where you can fight a friend or the Computer. Shattered Blade like the DS Bleach game has the Urahara Shop, where you can use the money won form fights to purchase goodies that can be viewed in the Gallery or used in Arcade or Training Mode.

Probably the number one thing I liked was the characters mouths moving when they talked and their eyes blinking. I really can’t stand games where you hear voice, but their lips don’t move. The only time you get to see the mouth moving is before each fight and during any cutscene that is pertinent to the story. However, the beginning and end of each story is done with picture slides with voice. I would have liked to have seen them done like the battle sequences but I can’t complain much. They did a pretty good job as it is.

The Bankai activation scenes are still one of my favorite parts about Bleach. If you are a die-hard fan of Bleach then definitely pick this one up, but for all of those that are not yet familiar with the series, I would recommend renting it first.