For a while it was up in the air between the previous news (broken in the preview for the Novemeber issue of Japanese magazine Tougeki Damashii) of a possible sequel to the hit 2D fighter and the consequent removal of the title from the preview page, but now it’s confirmed:

Hot meido-on-unlucky-osananajimi action is back, baby.

OK, maybe that is a bit of a stretch for the purpose of random innuendo but the fact of the matter does remain that the Tsukihime universe does contain a lot of seemingly-cliche characters that actually are pretty in-depth and have emotional storylines … which is why we’re having them fight to the death. Or something.

I’m sure there’s some sort of reason that could be understood if I could read Japanese but the point still remains that Melty Blood remains one of my favorite 2D fighter series if only because it’s one that leans more towards the pick-up-and-play end, with only 3 attack buttons and a shield to worry about.

As such 90% of the attacks can actually be pulled off by someone with little experience to the game; the movesets are relatively simple and as always the combo potential is still very complex, which is evidenced by the fact that I get completely wiped whenever I try to play someone over the age of 10.

Still, 2D fighters have always had sort of an appeal since they are one of the “cooler-looking” genres; if you’ve ever seen some of the special moves in Melty Blood, you know what I mean. (Sacchin’s Blood Heat Arc vs. Shiki, or Ciel’s Seventh Holy Scripture)

Or, maybe I like this game because it is with established characters, and it is always win to see and hear Hisui & Kohaku being Hisui & Kohaku.

And now, Hisui can actually moe people to death. Almost.

Rant aside, here’s what’s new in “Actress Again”, from what I’ve read:
- 2 new characters, Riesbyfe Stridberg (she shows up in one of Sion’s Arc Drives, the rest is Japanese to me) and Roa (Far Side version)
- New character select art
- Some new “Guard Crash/Crush” system (this is probably why I keep losing)
- More than one playing style per character
- “5 buttons;” whether this includes shield / heat activation buttons, I don’t know.
- More Nasu-tastic storylines

Sounds good so far, although a lot of it is lost on a casual player like me. Look forward to more news on this sequel coming to arcades in 2008 (and hopefully to a home release too.)

-CCY
(Thanks to Beast’s Lair for the news.)