Melty Blood: Type Lumina is cool as hell. I wasn't sold on Melty Blood for years, but I did get to play some matches in the previous entry that I enjoyed - so I ended up picking this one up on launch, just for that early fighting game experience. Sure enough, this game lives up to it's predecessor and remains a great time. A tight roster that brings all the best bits of the returning fighters back and creates fun, new movesets alongside stunning spritework gives the game a lot of personality, and makes each character and stage memorable. I was dissapointed by the lack of a return of many fan favorites, including Aoko Aozaki and the now notorious Neco-Arc - but nonetheless, the roster is very solid. The mechanics of the game are fantastic, too! The shield system is unlike anything I've ever seen before, and create high octane, hair-raising situations just out of blocking a move. The soundtrack for the game is also phenomenal - Raito never dissapoints.
I have a few problems with the customisation options - mostly a lack of custom colours. It feels undeveloped. A colour picker would've been way cooler. I also feel that the single player content is a bit.. same-y. Not a big criticism, as there is a LOT of single player content, but I wasn't super satisfied by a lot of it. I also ran into numerous bugs on the PC release - which are hopefully being smoothed out, but still worth mentioning.
That being said, though, Melty Blood: Type Lumina is another swing and a hit for the fighting game genre this year. It's fantastic, and if you're interested, I'd reccomend getting in on it early and learning the meta as you go. Definitely one of the better games to release this year.
ADDENUM: 22/12/2021
I was wrong, this game had like zero longevity for me at all. Cool gameplay, but especially following the creepy first DLC addition and my lack of interest following the first few release weeks - gonna have to lower this one dramatically. Not even close to a game of the year. Fun enough, but had no longevity for me at all.
PS. Fuck Rapid Beat
I have a few problems with the customisation options - mostly a lack of custom colours. It feels undeveloped. A colour picker would've been way cooler. I also feel that the single player content is a bit.. same-y. Not a big criticism, as there is a LOT of single player content, but I wasn't super satisfied by a lot of it. I also ran into numerous bugs on the PC release - which are hopefully being smoothed out, but still worth mentioning.
That being said, though, Melty Blood: Type Lumina is another swing and a hit for the fighting game genre this year. It's fantastic, and if you're interested, I'd reccomend getting in on it early and learning the meta as you go. Definitely one of the better games to release this year.
ADDENUM: 22/12/2021
I was wrong, this game had like zero longevity for me at all. Cool gameplay, but especially following the creepy first DLC addition and my lack of interest following the first few release weeks - gonna have to lower this one dramatically. Not even close to a game of the year. Fun enough, but had no longevity for me at all.
PS. Fuck Rapid Beat