Gamertell

Title: Bleach DS 2nd: Kokui Hirameku Requiem
Price: JP: $48.90 NA: $29.99?
System(s): Nintendo DS
Release Date: JP: 2/15/07 NA: Summer 2008
Publisher (Developer): Sega (Treasure)
ESRB Rating: US Rating Pending
Pros: Lots more fighters, new story mode layout, two on two battles are better (if you pick the right pair), better Wi-Fi battles experiences
Cons: Some fighters were tweaked more than necessary, spirit cards aren’t really necessary, difficult to unlock certain items without a guide

Originally I was going to do a fantastic preview of Soma Bringer, a Japanese action/role-playing game that a friend of mine is considering importing. However this week marked Sega’s update that, yes, the second Bleach DS game is going to be released in the US. In the wake of such an announcement, it seems only fitting that today’s column preview this really cool sequel.

Of course a lot of fellow importers are probably still groaning and cursing Sega about the news. The Bleach DS games are some of the best fighters for the system, and so quite a few residents of North America paid the extra money to get this game. Bleach isn’t quite the hot property that another Shonen Jump series like Naruto is, so they figured it was worth the money.

While Bleach DS 2nd: Kokui Hirameku Requiem, or Bleach: Dark Souls as it will be known stateside, is a great game that really offers more than the original, I just prefer the first Bleach DS game. Of course this is mainly because one of my favorite fighters (Yachiru) were ruined for no apparent reason. It definitely does improve in some areas, which we’ll go over below.

Character Roster

Bleach DS 2nd is so far beyond the original Bleach: The Blade of Fate when it comes to characters that it isn’t even funny. The thing is, of the 17 new characters added, eight of them are pretty much joke characters. I’m talking about Yuichi Shibata, Hanataro, the Gotei 13 member, the Relief Squad nurse and all four of the Hollow characters. I suppose that Don Kanonji, Ururu and Ririn ‘could’ also slide into the joke character category, but they’re pretty strong fighters so I figured they deserved the break.

So basically you’re getting nine new characters that are really worth getting excited over. Luckily the nine characters added happen to be Urahara, Kukaku Shiba (easily one of the best new fighters), Rangiku, Shuhei, Izuru, Ikkaku, Ururu, Don Kanonji and Ririn. They’re all definitely worthy additions to the cast. Despite my fervent dislike of Don Kanonji, I even came to appreciate that his ultimate special move, involving his ‘rangers’ stepping in to provide assistance. I still can’t get over how ugly his character sprite is and how his voice grates on my nerves though.

A lot of the original characters have been tweaked and adjusted for the sequel. Sometimes it’s a good change (Hollow Ichigo) and sometimes it’s incredibly stupid (Yachiru). Hollow Ichigo is awesome in this game. It will probably be the whole reason I buy it, he’s just so cool. His move set is completely different from Ichigo’s and is just better. I’m still upset over Yachiru though, because now she’s become a mini Ukitake - except where he coughs, she trips. Yes, for no reason at all, she will just suddenly trip. If they felt they needed to make a character more balanced, go to Orihime! Orihime has probably the best defense in the game, amazing powers which allow her to do damage or heal and can function as a fighter up close or at a distance.

Story Mode

I really enjoyed the story modes in both Bleach DS 2nd and Bleach: The Blade of Fate. They’re both very different, but both have their merits. For example the first game took its story straight from the original series, and players would have to play through each character’s part in the story to unlock everything and discover what happened. It was very straightforward and also very hard to miss out on anything.

Bleach DS 2nd, with its original story, isn’t so simple. For Bleach DS 2nd you will need a guide. Or a map. Gamefaqs has a very nice one created by one of the users. See, for this game there’s sort of a grid of battles. If you beat one area, new ones to play will open up. However you have to play them in a certain order, or you will miss out on unlockables and not get the full story. Sometimes when you beat one battle, the paths to other battles will disappear. Of course even with a map, you’ll still need to replay the game at least three times to unlock everything. It gets to be quite time consuming.

There is a greater variety of battling options available. You aren’t always just fighting your opponent. Sometimes you have to try and switch fields faster than Yachiru, get more food than Ukitake, heal Gotei 13 members, give more correct answers to Kurotsuchi’s questions than Ikkaku or defeat a certain amount of Hollows in set period of time. It offers a nice bit of variety that was missing from the original game. I am a bit disappointed that you can’t choose which character you use, since each stage has a set character assigned to you, but it still is a lot of fun.

Multiplayer

Mulitplayer has really been improved in Bleach DS 2nd compared to the first title. There are more, better Wi-Fi options, using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection of course, and now there are actually better reasons to go for 2 on 2 battles.

Wi-Fi multiplayer includes the same modes from the previous games. There are free battles, where players can take on anyone else with the game, friends only battles and ranking battles. An interesting new addition are event battles, which are only held occasionally and will be special.

There is also more interaction between players. If you chose a tag battle and certain characters, there will be unison attacks. For example Kyoraku and Ukitake, who are best friends in the series, have a special attack which can only be used when the two characters are on a team together. It’s an interesting incentive to team up certain characters together.

Also you can add an opponent faced in free mode to your friends list. After the battle, a button appears next to the name of the person or people faced. You can tap it to add their codes to your list. A nice feature and a great way of building up a friends list.

Of course there was more added to the game, but it is difficult to touch on everything in such a short span of time. The spirit card system has been improved, there are more things to buy in the Urahara shop and just more in general has been added to the game. It is definitely worth buying once it is translated and released this summer. I recommend visiting the official Japanese site as it has some great gameplay footage.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Next week Important Importables might review Dual Love. Or possibly Soma Bringer. Either way, it’ll be awesome. If you don’t miss a single installment of Important Importables, or want to know right away when the next column is up, then sign up for the Gamertell Newsletter and RSS feed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables ranked some Japanese titles which might help people learn Japanese.

Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop]