Previews

Hands on with Bleach: Dark Souls on DS

A treasure trove of fisticuffs

Hands on with Bleach: Dark Souls on DS
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DS
| Bleach: Dark Souls

Given the enormous popularity of anime, you couldn't be blamed for assuming Sega has been hard at work readying another wave of games based on the Bleach franchise. Debuting at the recent Sega Gamers' Day, Bleach: Dark Souls promises more than just a cookie-cutter game tie-in, though. Instead, went hands-on with the game we discovered a remarkably deep, entertaining fighting affair that could emerge as one of the genre's best later this summer.

Dark Souls sits between seasons one and two of the animated series, embarking on an original storyline drafted exclusively for the game. The Hollows, originally crafted by the Soul Society as part of a clandestine project, have accidentally been freed from their capsules. Gaining sentience, they organise against the Soul Society that they believe has oppressed their existence. Now they've overrun the city, it's up to Ichigo to put things right.

Uncovering Ichigo's new adventure means working through the main single-player Story mode. It's here that you're able to unlock new characters, earn money for bonus items and special spirit cards. Starting the game for the first time, a dozen characters including Ichigo are at your disposal; however, Dark Souls packs in a whopping 44 characters in total. Even better, you'll have the opportunity to play as a Hollow – a first for the franchise.

Keeping in line with the first game, head-to-head bouts make up the bulk of gameplay. Through the course of the Story mode, you'll confront a slew of combatants in straightforward matches. Three levels of attack – light, medium, and heavy – are pulled off using the Y, A, and X buttons respectively. Naturally, stringing together various attacks yields combinations that exert greater damage and flashier moves. Should you need to evade an enemy blow, a quick tap of the B button enables you to do a flash step.

Complementing this set of basic moves are spirit cards that trigger special attacks and bonus status effects. At any time during a bout, tapping a spirit card on the touchscreen activates it. Offensive, defensive, and status effect cards yield a wide range of abilities that can easily turn the tide of a fight in your favour. Additionally, you can equip spirit crystals for persistent bonuses during matches. While crystals aren't as powerful as spirit cards, they afford a persistent boost to your attributes instead of the temporary affects of a card. For example, a crystal might augment your defense by one per cent for an entire fight whereas a card may grant a three per cent increase for 30 seconds.

Joining head-to-head fights are new sub-scenarios breaking up the action in Story mode. Intended to keep the fighting from being monotonous, as well as offering a different means for developing the narrative, these activities vary from trivia contests to target practice using the stylus for control.

Outside of Story, there are plenty of alternatives for play. A single-player Arcade option enables you to take on a series of opponents, while Survival pits you against an endless wave of foes. Additionally, special challenges enable you to complete character-specific tasks to earn special items. Of course, the real attraction aside from the story is wireless multiplayer supporting up to four players. As if that weren't good enough, single-cartridge play is planned.

So with an original storyline, four-player wireless fights, a new spirit card system, Dark Souls is certainly conjuring up some of the most feature-rich combat seen on DS. With its August (US) release just a few short months away, we won't have long to see if our expectations that Dark Souls can bring a gorgeous ray of sunshine this summer are met.

Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.