Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Bleach: The 3rd Phantom is a strategy RPG set in the Bleach universe. The 3rd Phantom offers a new look at the events that happened right before the anime series as you play as fraternal twins who become Soul Reapers and meet familiar characters. The SRPG elements are similar to Fire Emblem as you get access to over 50 different characters. The story was written by the original creator, Tite Kubo, penned this new tale and bridges the past and the present for all Bleach fans.

What's Hot
With the backing of the Bleach creator penning the story, this is something for fans to jump at the chance to dive into. This comes straight from the source that created Bleach and ensures that this is an authentic experience. It provides the background for the genesis of the Bleach story and gives you a rare chance to see familiar faces as little kids before they themselves became Soul Reapers.

The departure from the fighting game history shows that this franchise isn't a one-genre pony. The SRPG elements work well and are similar to that of Fire Emblem. You create a party before you fight and move them around like tiny chess pieces. Once you engage in battle, a short but beautifully animated scene will play out as you throw down with the Hollows.

What's Not
The nice part of video games is that they are interactive. When some of that interactivity is interrupted by lengthy text or long breaks between the action, a game can seem more like a novel than a game. That is what happens to The 3rd Phantom. It seems like it takes forever for a battle to get going, and then when you do get into the actual game, it feels over too quickly. It might not have felt that way if there wasn't so much text to read through.

Final Word
The 3rd Phantom is a game for Bleach fans. All other gamers can safely pass at this title and feel like you aren't missing anything you haven't seen already. The story written by the creator was a nice touch but SRPGs have been done better elsewhere. In fact, the story seems to block the actual gameplay a lot of the time. For the Bleach audience, you'll appreciate the new genre style rather than the endless button mashing with previous titles and you get an glimpse at how it all began.