Poor character models don't diminish the fun in this strictly Japan only 2D fighter.
- Over 20 fighter from the Melty Blood and Tsukihime universe
- Great and slick combat system
- Terrific background design
Negative
- Horrible 2D character design compared to the backgrounds
- No "real" story mode
- No official English translation
The PC doesn't offer much 2D fighters, except for Street Fighter IV. Melty Blood: Act Cadenza Ver.B is a good 2D fighter. The game is in Japanese, with the whole voice acting and stuff in Japanese. It is quite a shame, Act Cadenza does almost everything well, from the combat system to the background environments, but put little effort in the character models, which are by far horrific.
There is no story mode to be found in this game. Melty Blood is more than a serviceable fighting game. Although it almost feels that it excludes anyone who doesn't know about Tsukihime or Melty Blood and the fact that is in Japanese without an English translation won't do it any good. The fact that there aren't much fighting games for the PC maybe its biggest advantage to hit audiences outside of Japanese. There are 4 modes to play through with 22 characters. If you are a fan you will quickly recognize most of Tsukihime's characters like Shiki, Arcueid, Ciel and many others. Don't know about Melty Blood though. Some characters have 2 of themselves, like another version or evil self.
The arcade serves as a story mode, but of course you won't understand a thing most probably. No animated cutscenes, just the usual dialogue scenes where the character talks and move to random fights and sometimes the character encounters his/her enemy in the story and fights. That is pretty much the story, nothing for us. The versus mode lets you have multiple kinds of fights, fights against the CPU, or with a friend and even team and tag battles. The survival mode has its name in it, survival as long as you can against a number of enemies in different fights. The practice mode is important to get used to the game's unusual controls. I never played a PC fighter before, but I still find them strange.
Combat is slick, fun and very well-done. There are 22 characters to choose from and don't handle the same. The controls may feel a little strange compared to the other genres, but you'll grow to learn them. Each character has a different style of playing, so if you play the game often you'll have a character which you prefer over others. After choosing your character the game even lets you choose their colors of their clothes and hair and there are a lot to choose from. The difficulty can be changed in the options menu like 2D fighters should. There are multiple to choose from, for everyone. Number of rounds can be changed and even time limit and affect every mode.
The graphics overall come in a mixed bag. While the background environments of each battle stage look absolutely awesome, the 2D character models are horrible, pixel like. The reason I may not give an 8 to this game is because of the models. Characters after victory and when loading battles look great because they are just pictures. The 2D models are recognizable, but why put so much effort on the background and leave the models so horrible? I wouldn't know. Music is good all the way thankfully. Although you might ignore it, like I did because you are more focused on fighting. It's good, and the voice acting keeps the same as in Tsukihime. Those not in the anime still sound good.
You might miss Act Cadenza Ver.B because the PC doesn't offer much of the genre and you might look for a console game instead, also the fact that there is no English translation is also a problem. But if you like 2D fighters, you shouldn't miss this one. Fans of Melty Blood and Tsukihime especially. Act Cadenza Ver.B is a great fighter from the backgrounds to the combat system, but why are the models so ugly?
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Graphics = 7.5
Difficult to rate. The backgrounds are marvelous and impressive but the character models are horrible. Why?
Sound = 8.1
I didn't especially like Tsukihime's anime music, but this game sounds good. The voice acting is great even if it's in Japanese.
Presentation = 7.2
No cutscenes but the load times are fast like the wind. Great adaption of Melty Blood.
Gameplay = 8.0
Multiple difficulties, plus 22 characters to choose from. Different characters have different fighting styles. Difficulty offers something for everyone.
Modes = 7.7
No real story mode except for some particular character interaction in the arcade mode. 4 modes in all.
OVERALL = 77 / 100
Poor character models don't diminish the fun in this strictly Japan only 2D fighter.