Bleach Rebirth of Souls is the latest console game from the legendary Bleach franchise, where fan favorite characters can unlock powers, engage in combat, and turn the tide of the battle with one strike of their sword.
To get fans and players excited for Bleach Rebirth of Souls, we’ll be showing some exclusive content of Sosuke Aizen and Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto, as well as an introduction to the game’s unique battle system.
New character reveals
The new characters, Sosuke Aizen and Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto have been revealed in the release date announcement trailer. Their character trailers will drop soon, but below is a tease of the two iconic characters.
As the Captain of Squad 5, Sosuke Aizen is infamous for his crime of high treason against the Soul Society. He has a Spiritual Pressure unlike any other, far surpassing that of other Soul Reapers. His immense strength is amplified by his unique ability to manipulate his attacks and shift the tide of the fight to his advantage.
As the Head Captain, Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto stands at the pinnacle of all Soul Reapers, wielding the most powerful fire-based Zanpakuto capable of incinerating everything in its path. With unmatched firepower and mastery over his abilities, Yamamoto is a formidable force, ready to face any opponent who dares to challenge him.
Combat system basics
At its core, the basic strategy is reading the opponent’s moves, attack, guard, counter, and decreasing Reishi. Winning a battle involves cutting down an opponent’s Reishi (HP) and destroying their Konpaku (lives). All playable characters have unique abilities to accomplish this goal through various mechanics so using movement abilities for positioning becomes key to finding opportunities to strike.
Before diving into the combat overview, let’s introduce some important game terms:
- Reishi Gauge: A player’s health gauge. Every time a Reishi gauge is cut down, the player’s Konpaku takes damage.
- Konpaku: A player’s remaining health. Destroy all of the opponent’s Konpaku to win the fight.
- Fighting Spirit Gauge: Accumulated over time and by taking damage. When enough of this gauge has accumulated, a player can activate the Awakening. If a player has a full gauge when using Awakening, they will move into a Kikon channel state, which increases the power of the Kikon Move.
- Awakening: Elevates a player to an empowered state with enhanced abilities and increased Konpaku destruction power.
- Kikon Move: An ability that directly destroys an opponent’s Konpaku.
- Guard Gauge: Decreases when a player guards an opponent’s attacks. If the gauge is fully depleted, a player will not be able to guard temporarily (Guard Break).
- Spiritual Power Gauge: Accumulated when attacking an opponent. The gauge is consumed to activate a Spiritual Pressure Move.
- Spiritual Pressure Move: Special actions that differ per character that includes empowered abilities, counter skills, etc.
- Hohô: Movement ability to quickly close the distance and get behind an opponent.
- Reverse Action: There are three types of Reverse Actions; Soul Reverse (increase Spiritual Power and recover Reishi), Chain Reverse (continue a combo and increase Spiritual Power), and Burst Reverse (cancel an opponent’s combo and recover Guard Gauge).
Turn the tide of the battle
To destroy the opponent’s Konpaku, players must either damage the Reishi gauge or, when the opponent’s remaining Reishi falls below 30%, activate a Kikon Move. Additionally, a Kikon Move can be triggered when the opponent is under Guard Break. However, if a player uses a Kikon Move in an ancillary manner, the number of Konpaku destroyed will be reduced.
Players can damage an opponent’s Reishi Gauge in two ways, Quick Attack and Flash Attack. While both attacks can decrease an opponent’s Guard Gauge, Quick Attacks can be unleashed quicker and are used to easily accumulate Spiritual Power,while Flash Attacks inflict greater damage to Reishi. These attacks can also be used in succession as a combo, and using Hohô will extend the combo attacks.
There are also other abilities like the Signature Move, a unique action which can be activated without consuming gauge, as well as a Spiritual Pressure Move, which can be activated with accumulated Spiritual Power. Strategically timing these skills will give a player the upper hand on their opponent.
Along with basic abilities, players can activate the Awakening state in the form of signature Bleach skills like Shikai, Bankai, and Resurrección. Awakening can be activated when a player accumulates a certain amount of Fighting Spirit, enhancing a character’s abilities and Konpaku destruction power. Activating Awakening can be crucial in overturning the tide of the battle, bringing victory from the edge of defeat!
Bleach Rebirth of Souls is coming to PS5 and PS4 on March 21, 2025. Pre-order the game today and receive the Toshiro Histugaya and Yoruichi Shihoin Thousand-Year Blood War costume set!
