Bleach: Dark Souls
Changelist FAQ
Author: TianXia7541, a.k.a. Justice

=====================
==Table of Contents==							[~TOC~]
=====================

Search for the relevant section by typing in the three-letter word in the 
brackets preceded and followed by a tilde.

Table of Contents 		[~TOC~]
Version History			[~VER~]
Introduction			[~INT~]
General Gameplay Changes	[~GGC~]
Character Changes		[~CHC~]
New Characters			[~NCH~]
Contact Information		[~CTC~]
Legal Stuff			[~LEG~]



===================
==Version History==							[~VER~]
===================

Version 1.0 - October 21st, 2008
********************************
Finished the first rendition of the FAQ and submitted it to GameFAQs.



================
==Introduction==							[~INT~]
================

This is a list of changes from Bleach: The Blade of Fate (uBDS1) to Bleach: 
Dark Souls (uBDS2).  NOte that the games came out in this order:

Bleach DS (Japan) - jBDS1
Bleach DS 2nd (Japan) - jBDS2
Bleach: The Blade of Fate (US) - uBDS1
Bleach: Dark Souls (US) - uBDS2

uBDS1 featured extensive rebalances from jBDS1, but uBDS2 is a direct port of 
jBDS2.  Technically, uBDS1 is the newest game in the series.  However, since 
uBDS2 is still the sequel to uBDS1, we can assume that it's the legitimate 
successor and anything that is different from uBDS1 is a change.  If you're 
looking for changes from jBDS1 to jBDS2/uBDS2, just be assured that jBDS1 was 
massively broken and you aren't really missing much.



============================
==General Gameplay Changes==						[~GGC~]
============================

Cards
*****
- Cards now only have one level each, and this level only affects activation 
time. More powerful cards have a longer activation, and vice versa.
- Certain cards have been removed.  These include, but are not limited to, 
Force S-Cards, Balance Soul, Stability, and Fixed Camera.
- Certain cards have been added to the game.  These include, but are not 
limited to, Auto Guard, Infinite Sp. Movement, Erase S-Cards, and Ukitake's 
Medicine.
- Certain cards have had their effect lowered.  For example, Boost S-Pressure 
now increases S-Pressure very slowly, and lasts longer.
- You are now limited to a certain set of cards of each category.  The number 
of cards you are allowed to set depends on your Frame.
- Frames can now be purchased in the Urahara Shop or acquired in Story Mode. 
Frames allow different combinations of cards and gems to be set.
- Gems can now be set alongside cards.  Gems give very small permanent bonuses,
such as +1% attack power.

Comments: Cards have been nerfed.  About time, they were incredibly broken in 
BoF.


Battle
******
- Auto now disables the ability to cancel any attack into anything else.  The 
only exception is jump-canceling normals after a launch.
- Auto guard is now indicated separately from regular guard with a brownish-
yellow guard circle instead of a blue one.
- Air guard cannot be broken by ground attacks.
- RFs now hit through FS.  This means that RF attacks cannot be guard canceled 
or FS'd through without being hit like normal.
- Throws are now performed manually by pressing the Medium and Heavy buttons 
together.  Missed throws will result in a vulnerable animation.
- Throws can no longer be performed immediately after an opponent has blocked 
or been hit by an attack.  Any attempt to do so will result in a missed throw. 
Missing an attack or special will reset this immunity.
- Opponents can now be thrown in midair.
- Line jumps no longer cost FS stock.  All one-on-one battles are now two-plane
by default.  Most, if not all, specials no longer target opponents on another 
plane.

Comments: I myself am not a huge fan of these changes.  Airguard is now 
extremely powerful, and once an opponent is blocking in midair, he cannot be 
touched until he hits the ground.  The RF mechanic only benefits certain 
characters and does almost nothing for others.  Removing tick throws is overall
a poor decision as it makes throwing, for the most part, virtually useless. 
Even airthrows are nearly impossible to pull off because they have no range. 
Then again, it's what you'd expect from older, obsolete gameplay mechanics that
were brought back when Treasure translated the Japanese version of Dark Souls 
as-is.


=====================
==Character Changes==							[~CHC~]
=====================

A ton of the characters have been either changed, reworked, or a few cases 
straight out buffed/nerfed.  Unfortunately, there doesn't really seem to be any
rhyme or reason to these changes save for a few.

Byakuya Kuchiki
***************
- 5A is now a horizontal slash with less vertical coverage and more recovery.
- 22A/B/C teleslash now has a startup, but can be comboed out of.
- 236B has increased startup, while 236C has faster recovery.
- 41236 Senbonzakura is now RF and has better coverage.
- 28A/B/C now activates slower.
- SuA and SuC no longer have stability.
- SuC no longer hits behind him.
- SuB reworked: now creates a row of blades that only disappear after a set 
time (even if hit).  The blades will fly towards Byakuya one at a time whenever
he attacks.  The swords will follow him to the other plane if he line-jumps.

Comments: Overall buffs, other than the teleslash.  236C recovers incredibly 
fast now, making it an easy combo extender in the corner.  41236C is actually 
more useful now, as it was easily evaded in the last game.  SuB has limited 
usefulness, but it's still much better than in the last game.


Bonnie
******
- Now has normals where she snorts clouds.  She still cannot hit low.
- Can now throw, which wallbounces.
- Now has an FS, which can cancel and be canceled, but which can only be used 
left and right and cannot be used in midair.

Comments: Well, you can actually win games with her now.  She still sucks, 
though, seeing as how her normals can't hit low and she still can't block low. 
Pretty much what you'd expect from a joke character.


Ichigo Kurosaki
***************
- 22A/B/C now creates a single-hit pillar of light rather than two energy 
waves.
- SuB now creates two pillars of light that move outward, knocking the opponent
back.
- SuB now has a longer recovery and deals less damage.
- SuC's duration has been shortened, and no longer has infinite flash steps.
- Attacks performed during SuC no longer combo automatically and can be FS-
canceled.  SuC does not end so long as Ichigo is attacking.
- Lights performed during SuC no longer shoot energy waves.
- Heavy attacks performed during SuC no longer knock the opponent down.
- Ichigo can now perform a 236A during his SuC, which is identical to his heavy
attack in BoF.

Comments: Overall, Ichigo's been buffed from BoF.  He benefits a fair bit from 
the RF mechanic, and his SuC can now potentially deal a large chunk of damage 
when used correctly.


Kaname Tosen
************
- 5A/2A/jA now deal 4 damage, like all other lights.
- 236A now has a longer recovery.
- 236B now has a startup and shoots double needles like the RF version.
- a236A no longer cancels recovery upon hitting the ground.
- 41236A/B have longer recoveries.
- 22A now activates instantly, but with a longer recovery than stun time.
- 22C now activates instantly and has more range.

Comments: Pretty much the only buff here is the fixed damage on his lights and 
the increased speed and range of his 22C.  On the other hand, the nerfs kill a 
lot of Tosen's main strategies.  His needles now have quite a bit of recovery 
and can't be used in combos anymore, and the increased recovery on his 
wallbounces mean that it's very hard to combo out of them except with very 
precise spacing.


Ganju Shiba
***********
- 41236A/B/C has a longer recovery.
- 623A/B/C now calls Bonnie in from different heights depending on whether he 
is on the ground or in the air.
- Ganju now falls while activating 623A/B/C.
- FS is now invulnerable.
- FS can now be canceled with normals and specials.
- Can no longer FS in midair.

Comments: Ganju's a mixed bag.  The nerf on his 41236 elbow means that he loses
a very useful infinite, but the invincible FS and RF sand traps help to make up
for it in some regards.  RF Bonnie can also be a powerful trick to have, since 
it's both unblockable and unFSable.


Gin Ichimaru
************
- Falls faster.
- 5A/2A now have longer recoveries.
- 22C now has a longer recovery.

Comments: Overall massive nerfs.  He falls faster, so TAFS is that much harder.
The nerf on his lights means no more 2A infinites, and the 22C nerf makes the 
combo extension much harder to do and thus somewhat unreliable.


Hollow Ichigo
*************
- Hollow Ichigo now takes and deals approximately 1.3x more damage.
- Hollow Ichigo now moves faster.
- 5A is now a downward hilt strike instead of a forward one.  Has slightly less
forward range and slightly more vertical coverage.
- 236 now causes him to spin his blade by the tassel, and hurl it forward.
- 41236 is a now a sliding dash that grabs the opponent and slams him into the 
ground, causing fallback.
- 28 now creates dust clouds instead of rocks.
- SuA now resembles a variation of his 236, with a series of widening twirls 
followed by a wallbouncing toss.
- SuC has received the same treatment as regular Ichigo's, except his attacks 
deal more damage and it lasts for a shorter duration.

Comments: Hollow Ichigo is now, for better or for worse, regular Ichigo on 
steroids.  His speed buff is huge; some of the slower characters can't even 
keep up with him at all.  His special changes are, for the most part, for the 
better, since they open up his combo options more than Ichigo's.  To really get
good damage output with him, though, you need to know how to combo well, so 
he's not as newb-friendly.


Jushiro Ukitake
***************
- Pretty much all specials and supers deal less damage.
- Less prone to coughing.

Comments: Whether he's been buffed or nerfed depends on who you ask.  On one 
hand, his supers no longer deal absurd amounts of damage.  On the other hand, 
his trap game has been buffed a lot with the inclusion of the RF mechanic, and 
he can spam specials more reliably without worrying about coughing.


Kenpachi Zaraki
***************
- New sprite.  He is now much taller.
- 5A is now a kick.  It is unaffected by 623 sword charge.
- 2A is now slower, but has more range.
- 5B is now a huge backhand slice.  Slower, but better range and coverage.
- 2B is now a low horizontal slash.  Slower, but better range.
- 5C is now a massive overhead swing.  Huge range, but very slow.
- 2C is now a massive upward launch.  Better range, but slower and more 
difficult to jump cancel.
- jA is now a forward poke.  Better horizontal coverage, worse vertical 
coverage.
- jB is now an overhand slice.  Better coverage overall.
- jB is now a two-handed overhead slash.  Better forward coverage, but no 
crossup and very slow.
- 41236 series now only has stability during the dash-in portion.
- 41236A now comes out much faster, and has better overhead and forward 
coverage.
- 41236B now has a stationary startup.
- 41236C is now RF and has a better recovery and startup, but less range.
- 22A/B/C now change the illusion's sprite based on the button pressed.  Light 
is crouching, medium is standing, and heavy is blocking.  There is no 
functional difference between the three.
- Kenpachi can now FS during the illusion without breaking it.
- 623A/B/C charge now charges much faster and has more effect, but also drains 
extremely quickly.
- SuA now has a cooldown after it ends, and cannot be stacked.
- SuB has now has less horizontal coverage, and the base of the pillar has more
range than the top.

Comments: Quite a long list of changes.  He's basically not even the same 
character anymore.  The general consensus is that the new Kenpachi is better, 
although it isn't really comparable since he barely resembles the old Kenpachi 
anymore.


Kon
***
- 2A now has a different animation.
- 5C no longer launches.
- Kon's old 236 dive attack's input is now 41236.
- New special: 236A/B/C now fires a mini-Hadoken.
- New special: 22A/B/C now performs a mini-Hurricane Kick.
- New special: 623A/B/C now performs a mini-Shoryuken.
- Kon no longer has his old power-up specials.
- New special: SuA is now a multi-hitting Shinkuu Hadoken.
- New special: SuB is now a mini-Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku.
- New special: SuC is now a mini-Shoryuu Reppa.

Comments: Those are actually his changes.  Yes, he is now a mini-Ryu. 
Unfortunately, he still isn't good, seeing as how he was never meant to be 
anything besides a joke character.


Mayuri Kurotsuchi
*****************
- 236B now has a longer recovery.
- 623A/B/C now hits more times before launching.
- Can now cancel Nemu's commands with other commands.
- New special: SuB is a command throw that stomps the opponent multiple times 
before wallbouncing.
- Kurotsuchi now remains onscreen during SuC.

Comments: Pretty large buffs all across the board, with the exception of the 
236B nerf.  It's only useful in his infinite, anyway, which is still doable. 
On the other hand, his Nemu specials have been buffed a lot, especially with 
the RF mechanic, and his SuC is now insanely good, since he can push the 
opponent along with the worm for massive damage.


Momo Hinamori
*************
- 22C now only sets one fireball instead of three.
- 41236 flamethrower is now RF-only.
- 41236C and SuA can no longer be turned to hit behind Momo.
- SuA no longer pushes the opponent back.

Comments: Momo was really never very good in the first game, and her nerfs 
don't really help that cause a whole lot.  Her 22C trap benefits a bit from the
RF mechanic, but not to any major extent.  Her flamethrower is now RF-only, yet
for some reason still retains the absurdly long startup.


Nemu Kurotsuchi
***************
- 5C now advances slightly before the launch.
- 2C now advances slightly, and does not cause fallback.
- 2A and jA now execute slightly slower.
- New special: 28A/B/C causes Nemu to perform a rising spin attack.  Light and 
RF go straight up, medium goes diagonally forward.  None have startup or 
recovery.
- New special: 22G causes Nemu to lie down, and Kurotsuchi will eventually 
start to walk across the screen, slashing anyone he comes into contact with 
with his 5C.

Comments: Nemu's definitely been buffed for sure.  The advancing heavies are 
extremely useful, considering that her 5C had almost no range in BoF.  22G is 
mostly a joke move, but 28A/B/C does have some applications.


Orihime Inoue
*************
- Now takes double damage from attacks.
- All Tsubaki attacks now disappear if she is hit.

Comments: Overall, she's been nerfed hugely.  Her one major buff is that with 
the inclusion of unbreakable airguard, her block is now completely impenetrable
except for throws.


Rukia Kuchiki
*************
- 5A and 5C now have longer cooldowns.
- 236 fireballs now move faster and deal less damage.
- 236B now charges, then shoots three fireballs like the RF version.
- 623A/B/C now takes longer to activate.
- New special: SuB throws a Kon doll at the opponent, which spins in place for 
a while, then bounces off.

Comments: Overall she's been buffed, due to the sheer power of her new SuB, but
a lot of her old tricks are no longer usable, which makes her a bit one-
dimensional.


Renji Abarai
************
- 22C now only hits twice and wallbounces on either hit.
- 5B and jB now have slightly altered timings.
- New special: 623 command throw, grabs an opponent and headbutts him.
- SuB's blades now fly in a less random pattern.
- SuC now has three different movement patterns depending on button used to 
activate it.

Comments: Overall slight nerfs, although not much to really change anything. 
22C deals less damage since it only hits twice at best now, and SuB's preset 
patterns tend to miss smaller targets fairly consistently.  On the other hand, 
his range benefits from the RF mechanic, and although the new SuC patterns are 
pretty useless, they are nice to have.


Sajin Komamura
**************
- Now has a defense buff, takes about 25% less damage.
- 236A/B/C now have slightly longer recoveries.
- 22A/B/C now have a slight startup.
- SuA now has a longer recovery.

Comments: Overall a buff, since the nerfs on his specials aren't enough to 
affect his gameplay much, and the defense buff helps a LOT.


Shigekuni Yamamoto Genryusai
****************************
- 2B is now a forward low slash.  Better forward range, no crossup.
- Now falls during a22/B/C, recovery is longer and landing does not cancel 
recovery.
- 22B now creates four streams of fire, up from two.
- 28B now creates two spirals of fire, up from one.
- SuA is now usable in midair and has a slightly longer recovery.
- SuA and SuB no longer push the opponent back upon hitting.

Comments: Massive, massive buffs.  The only nerf is his 22A, but to make up for
it, pretty much everything else has been buffed.  His mediums are even better 
for okizeme, his supers are more versatile than ever, and he benefits the most 
from the RF mechanic out of everyone in the game.  He was high-tier in the last
game, now he's easily top.


Shunsui Kyoraku
***************
- Now moves significantly faster.
- jA and jB now have no cross-up.
- SuA now has a longer recovery.

Comments: Pretty huge buff.  He is much, much faster in this one, and his 
aerial style benefits a ton from the unbreakable airguard.  Only thing to watch
out for is that his SuA is more difficult to combo out of.


Soifon
******
- 22A/B/C ninja no longer disappears when Soifon blocks an attack.
- a236A now recovers fast enough upon landing to combo out of.
- SuB now only calls three sets of four ninjas, down from five sets of four, 
and no longer disappears when Soifon blocks an attack.

Comments: Ninja Rain has been nerfed, but other than that, she plays pretty 
similar to the last game.  It's a buff overall, though, since the a236A buff 
adds a lot of damage to her TAFS and her ninja is even better for pressure now.


Sosuke Aizen
************
- Nows walks faster and runs slower.
- Specials now follow the light/medium/heavy rule, and cannot be charged. 
However, for whatever reason, none of Aizen's RFs hit through FS.
- 236A/B/C now all shoot the largest fireball, with recovery on the light, 
startup on the medium, and RF cost on the heavy.
- 41236A/B/C now all shoot multiple lightning bolts, with recovery on the 
light, startup on the medium, and RF cost on the heavy.
- 623A/B/C now all shoot the largest possible flamethrower, with recovery on 
the light, startup on the medium, and RF cost on the heavy.
- 28A/B/C now activates slower.
- SuA now deals less damage.
- Normals in SuB are now the same as his regular attacks.

Comments: He's been changed a lot, to be sure.  Before, he had some pretty 
crazy tricks using his extremely fast dash and his no-startup, no-recovery 
specials, but those are mostly gone now.  On the other hand, he now has access 
to the more powerful versions of his specials without the ludicrous charge-up 
times, although he doesn't really benefit from the new RF mechanic seeing as, 
for whatever reason, his RFs simply don't hit through FS.  At the very least, 
he's a lot less spam-friendly in this game.


Tatsuki Arisawa
***************
- Can no longer FS in midair.  However, she can still FS into the air while on 
the ground.
- 5A and 5C now have longer recoveries.
- New special: a22A/B/C performs a falling drop kick.
- 236 punches are now usable in midair.
- New super: SuB performs a rushing launching uppercut.
- SuA is now usable in midair.

Comments: She's better than in the first game, but now she can't FS in the air 
anymore.  It's not really that big a deal since she can still perform instant 
overheads, but either way she's still joke tier.


Toshiro Hitsugaya
*****************
- 5B is now a backhand slice.  Better range and coverage, but no crossup.
- 5C is now a sweeping launch.  Better range and coverage.
- jA is now a large overhead slash.  Better range and coverage.
- jB is now a spinning slash.  Better coverage, but no crossup.
- jC is now a large chopping slash.  Better range and coverage.
- 623A/B/C now follows Hitsugaya better.
- SuA now has four different patterns depending on button pressed and whether 
he is in the air or on the ground.
- SuC now grows a pair of ice wings.  Purely cosmetic.

Comments: Hitsugaya was A-tier material in the last game.  Now he is God Tier 
material.  He now has amazing coverage on all his normals, and retains his 
small size and overpowering specials.  His SuA patterns also now allow him to 
dish out quite an impressive chunk of damage, and they're usable in the air.


Uryu Ishida
***********
- Can no longer chain three medium/heavy arrows together.
- 28A/B/C now costs an RF.
- 236A now has a longer cooldown.
- 623C now has a longer cooldown.
- Can now chain attacks in the traditional manner, light > medium > heavy and 
standing > crouching.
- Can no longer cancel arrow recovery with FS unless arrows hit.

Comments: Pretty much nerfs all across the board.  Without the triple arrows, 
Uryu deals crap damage, and the inability to FS-cancel missed arrows means that
they aren't really viable for ranged pressure anymore.


Yachiru Kusajishi
*****************
- Now trips randomly when moving.  Opponents hit by the trip will take one 
damage, but will recover before Yachiru does.
- 5A now has a different animation.
- Now advances during 5C
- New special: 41236A/B/C causes Yachiru to wind up and charge a swing so long 
as the button is held.  Hitting the opponent with the swing will induce 
fallback and Yachiru will hop up and down and cheer.  Light and medium versions
are identical, and all versions deal the same amount of damage, although RF 
version charges up to max damage faster.
- New special: 623A/B/C causes Yachiru to perform a rising spinning slash. 
Upon contact, she will hit the opponent once for minor damage and bounce off. 
Medium has startup but less recovery.  All versions deal the same amount of 
damage.  Can be super-canceled and is usable in midair.
- New special: SuB now causes Yachiru to spin multiple times into the opponent,
knocking them down at the end.  The direction of her spin can be controlled 
with the D-pad.

Comments: All of Yachiru's numerous buffs are overshadowed by the tripping. 
The tripping happens ALL THE TIME and is pretty much guaranteed to screw you 
over due to how long the recovery is.


Yasutora Sado (Chad)
********************
- 41236A/B/C now only has stability on the dash-in before the punch.
- 22B no longer activates instantly in midair.
- FS distance is shortened.
- Can now cancel FS with normals or specials.
- Can no longer FS in midair.
- Can no longer block immediately out of FS.

Comments: Other than the ability to cancel his FS, Chad's been nerfed pretty 
heavily.  Honestly, even that ability only makes him a subpar version of other 
characters with real flash steps, since he can't go into the air with his FS.


Yoruichi Shihoin
****************
- a236B now has a startup.
- Yoruichi now falls while activating 236 Anken in midair.
- 236G has been replaced with 623A/B/C, a command stunthrow.
- The old 623A/B/C kick's input has been changed to 28A/B/C.
- Yoruichi's throw is now a launch rather than a stun.

Comments: Generally buffs, although her playstyle is different now.  Her Anken 
is no longer spammable with impunity, and she can no longer do guard cancel 
escapes whenever she wants.  On the other hand. she benefits offensively from 
RF Anken lockdown, and her 623 stunthrow has some useful guard cancel 
applications.



==================
==New Characters==							[~NCH~]
==================

In addition to the changes to the above characters, Dark Souls also adds a 
number of new characters.  Most of these are joke characters, although some are
unintentionally good and some of the non-joke characters are unintentionally 
bad.  Regardless, all joke/generic filler characters are marked with a (J).

- Don Kanonji (J)*
- Grand Fisher (J)*
- Hanataro Yamada (J)
- Ikkaku Ma
- Kisuke Urahara
- Kukaku Shiba
- Menos Grande (J)
- NUrse (J)
- Rangiku Matsumoto
- Ririn (J)
- Shrieker (J)*
- Shuhei Hisagi
- Soul Reaper (J)
- Familiar (J)
- Ururu Tsumugiya (J)
- Yuichi Shibata (J)

* Despite being joke characters, these characters are actually capable of being
played competitively to some extent or another.



=======================
==Contact Information==							[~CTC~]
=======================

I can be reached at my Youtube account at 
http://www.youtube.com/user/TianXia7541.  I do not give out my email because 
then I get an absurd amount of spam and I'm not dealing with that.  If you have
a meaningful contribution, I will include it in the FAQ and give credit where 
it's due, although I may or may not respond to every single message sent due to
the sheer volume of messages I get.  Note that if your "contribution" is 
something stupid like "omg liek tehy nerfed ichgio thats ***", I'll probably 
ignore you.



===============
==Legal Stuff==								[~LEG~]
===============

This is my FAQ.  I submitted it to GameFAQs, although knowing the nature of the
Internet it'll probably appear all over various ripoff sites within a week.  I 
don't really care so long as it remains under MY NAME.  Alter the text and face
legal penalties.  I'm not kidding, I love to litigate.