Bleach Rebirth of Souls gameplay basics explained

Bleach Rebirth of Souls is a brand-new Shonen fighting game that strives to be different from its predecessors in more ways than one. While the 1v1 arena brawler roots will be visible to those acquainted with Bandai Namco's anime fighters, this game has a focus on power-boosting to quickly decimate foes — a proper homage to its manga and genre roots.

That results in a fighting game experience that's extremely different from other titles. Hence, both new and veteran players of the genre will need a rundown of the basics, especially since the game's explanations can be a tad overwhelming.

Here is everything to know about the basic mechanics and gameplay in Bleach Rebirth of Souls.

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Bleach Rebirth of Souls terms and basic mechanics detailed

The Tutorial will familiarize players with the core fundamentals (Image via Bandai Namco Entertainment)

The basic "reduce enemy health to 0 to win" rules still apply here, but they are implemented differently. For one, each character in Bleach Rebirth of Souls has Konpaku or stocks of lives. Depleting enemy health (called Reishi in-game) destroys these Konpakus, and decimating all of these stocks is key to victory.

Players can perform light attacks (Quick Attacks) and heavy attacks (Flash Moves) while stringing combos between the two. Characters can guard and perform guard breaks on top of being able to use signature moves that fall under the attacks category.

That said, all three of these elements have a rock-paper-scissors relationship with each other:

• Guards prevent Attacks
• Breakers destroy Guards
• Attacks disrupt Breakers

Note that Guarding infinitely is not possible, as players must keep track of the Guard Gauge that depletes per each hit taken when guarding. This will eventually cause the guard to fail and result in a Guard Break. Keeping this formula in mind and reading foes to counter them while reacting with powerful Spiritual Pressure Moves is the foundation of the gameplay.

Unleash powerful and flashy moves to turn the tide of battle (Image via Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Now, players may think that whittling down lives one by one is tedious, but that is where the rest of the game comes in. In a nutshell, players must stack power to destroy multiple Konpaku at once. This can be via a Soul Break (bringing enemy health to 0) or triggering a Kikon Move (cinematic finisher) when enemy health is in the red.

Players can raise the stakes further by entering Awakening by filling the Fighting Spirit gauge and triggering the state when Evolution appears on-screen. Depending on the character, this can release either Shikai, Bankai, or Resurrección and drastically power up all their attacks and allow performing new Kikon Moves. This will also destroy more Konpaku than usual.

Keeping the enemy on their toes and getting the upper hand to destroy their Konpaku before they can decimate you forms the gist of combat in Bleach Rebirth of Souls.

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Bleach Rebirth of Souls is on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.