Well last week around this time I started to wonder what anime the following awesome picture was from (my current desktop by the by):



It is from an anime some of you might have seen, called Tsukihime. I watched all of it and it is quite good, if odd.

Well anyhow, apparently Tsukhime is based off some dating game of the same name. And of course, there is a fighting game (for the PC of all things) based off of that dating game called "Melty Blood." A fighting game based off a dating game! That's awesome in that totally dumb way. Stupid title aside, after vigourously scouring torrent sites for Melty Blood, I got Melty Blood ReACT which is kinda of like a sequel to Melty Blood.

This game offers a lot. Crazy characters for one. We've got two sisters who are maids. One uses a broom that hides a katana that she can draw and slash at you Johnny Guilty Gear X style. The other fights with a chair, vases, and the occasional wrench. You can play as them seperately, or you can play a combination of them where you can randomly switch between them tag-team style. Then you've got the main character of the dating game and anime, Shiki, who fights with a pocket knife and can slash a bazillion times as a move. And don't forget about the totally normal Japanese schoolgirl who has been turned into a vampire. She tends to yell and scream a lot at the beginning of the fight, presumably over her dissatisfaction with her vampiric state.

The most notable thing about Melty Blood is the incredibly fast pace. It's like Guilty Gear on crack. Where Guilty Gear gives each character a bunch of moves, the Melty Blood characters have a few moves, but everything is so fast you'll be having too much fun to care.

Here's some random pictures:

Character Select Screen


Main Character kicking a little girl's ass


One of the maid's getting shot to death


And of course, as a fighting game based off a dating game, the cast is mostly girls. Darlos and I have had a while to play it and get the hang of it, and we find it very fun. If you are interested in getting your hands on it, you can import a copy or just send me a private message and I can "help" you find it. You need something newer than Windows 95 to play. Sorry Mac/Linux users. You are out of luck

Reverse Akiha/Kohaku/Ren = Ultimate insane greatness.
Personally, I have more fun with MB:R than I do Guilty Gear.

You can find some info on the upcoming arcade sequal (Act Cadenza) here: http://nrvnqsr.proboards20.com/index.cg ... 48&start=0

But to sum up the thread, here are some of the new gameplay thingers that've been reported so far:

- Frame Skips fixed, but some freezing bugs and infinites were found.
- The red portion of the life guage decreases by time.
- Each round is 70 seconds long.
- Dodge is back
-A shield that uses the circuit(?) guage.
- GG style(?) stagger added
- Dodging added (Down + AB)
- Shielding has been sped up
- New characters: Aoko (girly who gives Shiki his fancy-glasses) and Kouma Kishima
- Low air dash added back in
- Shield can be held down
- EX shielding possible if timed correctly
- ABC = Heat mode force activation
- ABC while blocking or getting hit = Circut Spark. Kind of like the Burst in GGXX
- Reduce damage system: When you get hit, by repeatedly pressing the 4 buttons in a sequenced order,you can reduce the damage after the 2nd hit.
- Magic Circuit guage fills up slower

Official site:
http://e56.info/mbac/about.html

Blurry screenshot showing Aoko and who I am guessing is the other new person.
http://www.imgup.org/file/iup8369.jpg

Couple screens of Akiha and Kohaku
http://www.zopharx.netrulon.com/mb/

<- Melty Blood/Tsukihime fanboy.