is a 2021 fighting game developed by French-Bread, and published by Lasengle, Aniplex’s video game division originally belonged to Delightworks. It is the fifth installment in the video game series Melty Blood. The game was released worldwide on September 30, 2021, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch.
Gameplay
Most of the gameplay systems were carried over from the previous Melty Blood games, except Guard Meter and Moon Styles.
These new mechanics are: Rapid Beat: Auto-combo sequences that are executed by repeated presses of an attack button. However, once the same button is pressed while using this mechanic, the third chain combo will immediately end with a Launcher while on the ground and an air throw in the air. Reverse Beats cannot be performed during a Rapid Beat as well. As of August 2022, the second string of Rapid Beat can be changed to work by pressing the A and B buttons simultaneously. The option to turn it off for air attacks (or even entirely) was also added. However, the original Rapid Beat function is still required in Mission mode. New Moon System. Instead of Moon Styles that act as variations of a single character, a Moon Icon is now present. This gauge is used for the following techniques: Moon Skills: Very powerful special moves that can be unleashed by consuming the Moon Icons that appear next to the life gauge. These deal greater damage than regular special moves, and are not only more powerful but easy to activate with simple controls using combinations of the directional buttons and attack buttons. Moon Drive: A Chain Shift/Overdrive-based power-up that can be activated by using all of Moon Icons any time with more than one-half full. It temporarily boosts Moon Skill, increases Magic Circuit or the number of possible Jumps/Dashes, and provides various other effects.
Additionally, the Last Arc move mechanic has been updated and received an alternative method of activating it. Instead of strictly requiring a successful EX Shield during Blood Heat, Last Arc moves can now be done as an independent move, similar to Infinite Worth EXS mechanic from Under Night In-Birth. However, this can only be done once after losing a previous round and uses four bars of Magic Circuit meter, with one bar permanently removed if the Last Arc lands.
The game supports rollback netcode, but does not feature cross-play between different platforms.
Plot
The game is set in 2014, in the new continuity first established by Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-, ten days before the events of the visual novel, unlike the earlier entries in the Melty Blood series set in 2001, a year after a hypothetical Satsuki Yumizuka route of original Tsukihime and a month after Kagetsu Tohya. Although some of the characters’ storylines alternatively take place during Tsukihime remake games -A piece of blue glass moon- and the upcoming -The other side of red garden-.
Unlike the first game in the series, Type Lumina does not have an overarching story with a single point of view; instead, each character has their own Story Mode that consists of multiple stages, with select encounters accompanied by conversations presented in a visual novel style, and an ending sequence. A Boss Rush story which stars Miyako written by Kinoko Nasu unlocks after completing all individual scenarios.
Additional scenarios for Arcueid and Ciel, written by acpi based on the draft by Nasu, and a second Boss Rush story focusing on Noel, were added after release. The cutscenes were also updated, now displaying dynamic character sprites in addition to their portraits, bringing the presentation closer to Arcade Mode of past Melty Blood games.
It also features a crossover storyline between Tsukihime and Fate universes, which concludes in the third and fourth Boss Rush chapters, with Neco-Arc as its overreaching antagonist. In the latter, a silhouette of Kagetsu Tohya’s main heroine Len briefly appears after the credits.
Characters
The game features 14 fighters in its initial roster. Eight characters were added later as free downloadable content, bringing the total to 22.
Launch roster
Shiki Tohno () Arcueid Brunestud () Red Arcueid Ciel ( Akiha Tohno () Hisui () Kohaku () Hisui & Kohaku Noel () Vlov Arkhangel () Michael Roa Valdamjong () Kouma Kishima () Miyako Arima () Saber ()
Downloadable content
Dead Apostle Noel
Aoko Aozaki () Powered Ciel Mario Gallo Bestino () Neco-Arc () Mash Kyrielight () Ushiwakamaru () The Count of Monte Cristo ()
New character. Guest character from the Fate series.