Developer: Type-Moon, French-Bread, Ecole Software
Publisher: Type-Moon, Arc System Works
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code – Review
Even though 2D fighting games used to be released in high quantities, by all mainstream developers and publishers, the genre has vanished to the background except for some of the most known series, such as Street Fighter and Killer Instinct. Melty Blood is one of those franchises that hasn’t been heard of since 2010-2011, but even though the following game might not be a brand new title, it was finally released on Steam, granting the chance for many fans of the genre to finally kick some 2D-pixilated ass. Button bashers beware, this game does require some skill.
Story
Diving into the specifics of a fighting game such as this one is a bit useless, and it would actually already spoil the few lines of story each character has before actually playing the game. Like in many fighting games, each character has a very short story to tell and of course, the main topics are betrayal, revenge, heroism, world domination and other typical items. That being said, Melty Blood does add a rather grim touch to everything, making clear that this universe isn’t all that happy-go-lucky, especially when you throw some monstrous characters into the formula.
The story is brought to you by a few lines of text every few battles, in a visual novel-esque style. While this could have been explored a bit more, the atmosphere tends to make up for a lot.
Graphics
Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code might be a 2010-2011 release, its pixilated 2D style is rather timeless, which means if you’re into these kinds of games, you’ll still feel like the game looks superb. The 2D style works great for the characters, even though their ‘splash art’ looks a lot more as if the character popped right out of an anime series, than during the actual fights. The characters themselves, in-game, are a lot more rough around the edges, with the pixels clearly showing, which is reminiscent of the good old day.
Even though the game might have a certain retro appeal, its fluency shows that this game is still very much up-to-date. The attack animations looks exquisite, and while the game doesn’t have an overflow of special moves, the ones that are present are all accompanied by fun looking animations.
The backgrounds in the arenas all look quite spiffy, but as they are almost completely static, there is not that much action going on behind your battle. While this is no big issue, it would have been fun to see things be a bit more dynamic.
While some might find it bothersome that this game has rather big borders around the screen at all times, the developers did something fun with this ‘extra room’. On each side of the screen your moves will be displayed, making it easy to remember your set of special moves (or at least a few of them), which make it easier for the player to learn the game.
Sound
A fighting game is often driven by its mechanics, but also by the tunes that get you all riled up. Actress Again Current Code does its best to give you the proper adrenaline rush by throwing some heavier tunes into the fray, which are diverse enough to ensure you will have the proper backdrop for beating someone to a bloody pulp.
The game also has a bit of voice acting in the arcade mode, outside of the battles which are filled with one-liners, grunts and screams, and it’s actually sad there isn’t more to enjoy when playing through the arcade mode. Nonetheless, what’s present is quite qualitative.
Gameplay
As one could imagine, Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code is a typical 2D fighter, with some quirks embedded by the developers. You’ll constantly be tangled in combat with your opponents and it’s pretty much all about the Arcade mode, battles with your friends and eventually cranking up the difficulty to see if you can pull your own weight.
If you’re a single player kind of guy, you’ll be spending most time beating the Arcade mode over and over again, with the different characters to either try them all out, or simply wade through everyone’s story. Even though the actual story value is rather slim, the snippets you get to see are quite amusing. You’ll have to go through around eight battles before you get it on with the boss, who is of course a character that isn’t seen in the roster.
As far as character choice goes, this game tends to offer plenty of fighters for you to choose from (31), all with their own abilities and fighting styles. Each of the characters has its own ‘theme’ going on, which is quite typical for these games, as well as the fact that almost the entire cast tends to form a rather cohesive group, with a fed odd ones added to spice things up. For example you’ll find a few chibi characters thrown into the mix, as well as three choices that present you with two characters that can be played separately, but in this case they are teamed up. The latter will not truly feel like it’s two characters you’re controlling as they work together in perfect harmony.
Of course, as expected, there is a lot more than button bashing, as you’ll be able to pull off a decent amount of skills, counters and guards, which will make this game a tad more tactical. Those who are looking to keep spamming the same attacks over and over again will be sorely disappointed when playing on higher difficulties than the easiest one, as the AI will hand your ass to you if you do. As mentioned above, the game shows a few of your moves in the borders, but rest assured the game does have more combos and moves to offer, which can be viewed in the menus. That being said, the basic moves follow the same principles as many fighting games, namely by performing a certain movement with the left stick and a button combination afterwards. When you get the hang of the basic moves, it’s time to start playing with the big boys.
Controlling your character is done in a rather smooth fashion, and the game responds properly on commands (which aren’t always perfect). You’ll sense no real delay between pressing the button and what happens on screen, which is rather important for this genre.
If you’re looking to get the most out of the game, you’ll slowly start learning the finer touches, which will cost a fair amount of time. In turn you’ll be able to crank up the difficulty level or start battling online. The latter however is not always that clear on what you’ll have to do before the match actually begins. Same can be said about certain functions of the game, which aren’t explained properly. A few tutorials on reversals and other specials would have been nice as well.
Conclusion
Even though Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code isn’t a brand new game, its recent release on Steam shows it can still keep up with ‘modern’ fighting games, when it comes to mechanics and its own personalized quirks. While casual gamers will be able to enjoy the game just as much as veterans, it’s clear that if you want to get the most out of your playing experience, you’ll have to give up on button bashing and try to learn the flow of the game. Certainly a fun title for retro fighting game enthusiasts.
Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code - Review,
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