When I heard that there was this Bleach phone game coming out, I was pretty skeptical. Bleach is big: big battles, big fights, big world with a big history and lots and lots of characters. How could all that fit on a teeny-tiny little smartphone screen? Welp, I hit the download button at the App Store, played for a bit, and got my answer.

It does fit. It's snug but it really does fit.

Brave Souls is an action RPG with scaling stats and lots of collectibles. On the outside, gameplay is simple: you select up to three characters, pay a Soul Ticket to enter a stage, then run through town slaughtering Hollows and other enemies to progress. You control your characters during gameplay my dragging your left thumb in various directions while keeping your right thumb handy to press the attack buttons. And while there are enough meters to leave the screen feeling a wee bit cluttered, the controls are still smooth enough to make the game feel more condensed than compromised.

Speaking of condensed, the story also faces the good kind of compression. The plot sticks to the (summarized) version of Bleach's overall storyline, telling the essentials visual novel-style: text, character portraits, backgrounds and anime screencaps. These explain who the characters are and why they're wrecking these particular Hollows. However, players who haven't read the manga or watched the anime yet might not know exactly what's going on. Take Grand Fisher–since the game only uses a standard character portrait for that particular Hollow, you may be scratching your head as to why the characters mistake it for a little girl. Still, it does give players in-the-know a nice run-through of the plot. And hey–if a true newbie gets inspired to pick up the manga after playing, they'll get to experience more of Tite Kubo's incredible world. It's a win-win. 

The game is parsed out along a series of stages. Each one is a screen or two full of smaller enemies and then a boss; short in a way that gives every accomplishment some weight without forcing you to play for hours to avoid losing progress. And no, you don't need to pick characters who make sense, so why not have a goof and pick, say, Aizen, Nel and Chad as your team when you kill Acid Wire? The game also has a decent difficulty curve, so unless you're punching WAY above your weight or using a severely under-leveled character, you'll be alright. Plus lots of levels means lots of ways to farm for new characters, coins and crystals.

See, the bigness of Bleach may be condensed here and there, but don't think for a moment that the gameplay itself is simple. You start out with a Rank 2 Ichigo with another character (of randomized rank) added to your Roster. Ranks range from 1 to 5, each with a different level cap; since a low-ranked character can't get much stronger without plenty of oomph, trust me when I say the better bet is farming as many high-ranking fighters as you can.

A word about the character roster: don't sweat it. Once you find a good team or three that really works for you, you'll be set for awhile. Which is a good thing, since the Rank system means that there are as many as five versions of each character in Bleach's famously massive cast. Again, just remember that you WILL have to switch out lower-ranked characters for higher-ranked ones at some point. Also, to all you completionist Bleach fans out there, I'm sorry–it's gonna take awhile to fulfill your dream of collecting them all. 

And still, all this is barely scratching the surface! Yeah, Brave Souls might be on a little screen, but you can easily lose hours to it if you're not careful. It's a blast for any Bleach fan and holds up as a game in its own right. And since it's free-to-play, you might as well give it a try! I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Addiction? Hahahahahaha...! *pulls out iPhone*

Hint: Try to get a 4+ Ranked character ASAP. Having a fighter you can keep is worth the extra Spirit Orbs.

For more info about this game, check out bleach-bravesouls.com! 

by Chris Turner.