Bleach: Soul Resurreccion

Review from Mirne - Sunday, 09 October 2011 @ 1:28am

Anime and games have often been paired together, but it’s true to say that not every anime makes a good game, and vice versa. Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, and Yu-Gi-Oh are examples of anime that have spawned dozens of videogames based on the popularity of the franchise, but it takes more than just a brand name to produce a good anime to game adaptation. When I received Bleach: Soul Resurreccion I was admittedly a little wary. Although I was never too much of a Bleach fan (I’ve seen about 15 episodes, tops), I was familiar with the characters of the series and that one Leekspin meme.

You know the one.

Like with the endless comparisons made between book-to-movie adaptations, I had doubts as to whether this anime would make a good game. The pedigree is promising; Bleach has maintained prominence in Japan for many years, with 51 volumes of the manga and 341 episodes of the anime (with 137 episodes of filler) having been released, and is still not yet complete. That is 170.5 hours of material that the developers - SCE Japan Studio (LocoRoco, Patapon, Ape Escape) – have to play with, which is a massive amount of background content and lore that can be used, as well as fully fleshed out characters and combat mechanics. However, with this I recognise that what works for an anime may not necessarily work for a game, and it could potentially degenerate into yet another shallow fighting game with familiar faces and kamehamehas.

Keeping this in mind, and influenced by the other anime-based games I’ve played, I decided I should tackle this game with a checklist of sorts. I suspect that if I could use Bleach: Soul Resurreccion as a case study into what makes an anime-based videogame good, I could come up with some infallible formula to create the perfect crossover adaptation. I’ll sell it for millions. Patent pending.

Anime-to-Game Checklist:

Story and Universe (In a fan’s perspective, is the story believable and work well with existing universe canon? For a non-fan, is the story interesting/easy to follow?)

Characters (Do the characters' design remain true to the original? Do the characters seem distinct from one another? Are they fun to play? How are the enemies designed?)

Mechanics (What features are available? How does the combat system feel? How was the game graphically? )

Enjoyment (Entirely subjective, but it speaks for itself, really.)

Watch out Ichigo! Piranhas!

Story and Universe

As I’ve said previously, there is enough lore in the Bleach universe to pad out any game storyline. Bleach: Soul Resurreccion does this in an interesting way. And by interesting I mean the exact opposite. The game does not expect a non-fan to play it. This game expects you to know what or where or who Arrancars or Aizen are, because it flings you right into the action from Episode 1 in Story Mode.

For the unenlightened, what the story told me was something along the lines of, “Oh hey, in case you don’t know, you’re a Shinigami (trans: death god) and for some reason you’re angry or tired or gassy and running through a bunch of places either hunting for sport, or causing havoc, or single-handedly committing the genocide of tiny little balls that spit out energy.” Vague place names like Las Noches and Hueco Mundo are thrown around, and just letting you know before you make the same mistake I did, Las Noches is not some place where a bunch of guys in black robes wear sombreros and eat tacos and conform to other Mexican stereotypes (possibly with maracas). It’s actually a place that’s meant to be a desert, but this is not to be believed, as I did not see a single cactus.

However, I do concede that this game probably was not made for the casual observer, but instead made for those who are familiar with this particular series of events in the Bleach canon. I can only assume that it sought to induce that same feeling of anticipation when Hollow Ichigo emerged, or to relive defining character battles. So in the perspective of a fan, sure this is believable as it’s based on story canon, but for the non-fan, I found myself more interested on just getting that 150 hit combo than whether Rukia lived or died.

In Story mode you can create your own light shows.

Characters

Characters are the crux of any anime because it’s their personality that draws a person in. They are the personalities, the Vegeta, the Yami Yugi, that dude with the bushy eyebrows and bug eyes in Naruto; they are all classic characters that will make a fan buy the game due to merchandising. But does their sheer recognition as an interesting anime character translate well into a game scenario? What you have is an already well thought out and detailed character, which shouldn’t be too hard to copy and paste into a video game, right?

While Bleach does get the likenesses of the characters right, they lack believability. The characters are crisp, accurate, and aesthetically pleasing, with what appears to be their English voice actors and an option for the Japanese as well. Every playable character has a unique and distinct move set, borrowed from their anime counterparts, adding new interest into every level. However, for all the good character design this game has, the personalities are lacking.

Character dialogue is phoned in, with brief, wooden commentary on the action as it unfolds in a dialogue box that flashes across the screen. Cut scenes are generally better, playing out appropriately before, during and after boss fights with smoother dialogue and animation. Playing as the characters is satisfying, but they all seem to have a similar, limited pool of catch phrases. This gets annoying, especially when it seems that the character is stuck on an infinite loop of “Let’s go!” and no matter how far you run you can never satisfy their insatiable need for progress.

Never.

So cool, it's ice cold.

Mechanics

The game itself has a few different modes of play, however they all seem to be copies of each other with different names and features. The main modes are Story, Mission and Soul Link, which all consist of your character running around, hitting things, and then hitting bigger things. Not that this isn’t fun in itself; in fact, it’s this simplicity that makes playing through each story episode or mission addictive and easy to grasp.

The combat is especially undemanding, as the combos are easy to remember and the execution of an ultimate move only requires a push of the L2 button. The game also supports a combo assist function, where pushing a button once will execute a full combo, leaving you able to bask in your own awesomeness. The moves look cool and effortless (probably because they are) and the only challenges that combat possesses is effectively timing your dodges and blocks and conserving your “pressure gauge” which controls your special moves. Your health bar, while varying from character to character, is fairly generous, and there are several boosts to aid your character throughout. There is also a level up system, which greatly enhances your character for Mission mode. Points are awarded at the completion of each level, and these can be used in a level up grid reminiscent to the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X.

Graphically, the levels and characters are stylised and crisp, however ultimately dull and bland. While the enemies and characters look interesting, it’s hard to congratulate the game on innovative design purely because everything has been borrowed. The level design is boring and recycled many times throughout the game, without much attention to detail. I did enjoy a certain landscape the game featured where you appeared to be walking on air above a cityscape, which was an interesting perspective change.

These guys just joined the Mile High club.

Enjoyment

Despite it’s flaws, Bleach: Soul Resurreccion is an enjoyable game. For a non-fan or merely casual observer of the anime I enjoyed the fast paced levels, the cool battle mechanics, the varied boss fights and the level up system. Trying to think from the perspective of hardcore Bleach fan, I initially thought they would be disappointed if it did not live up to the pedigree set before it. However, I realise that for any anime-based video game, it’s not about doing the anime justice and following it exactly; it’s about providing a fun counterpart to the anime, using the familiar characters and settings and giving the player the chance to be part of their story - even just for a little while.

Pros

• Interesting level up system which makes a difference while playing.
• Fast-paced and easy to learn battle system.
• Many different characters to choose from with different skills.

Cons

• Bland and boring level designs.
• Character dialogue and story seems forced.
• Targeted at the Bleach fan market and doesn’t make much sense to a non-fan.