Melty Blood

As of Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code Ver. 1.07, there are 31 playable characters.

Each of the 31 playable characters have 3 Moons, with each providing new variation to normal moves, special moves and system mechanics as well as gameplay feel. They consist of Full Moon, Half Moon or Crescent Moon.

Tsukihime characters:

Kagetsu Tohya characters:

The Garden of Sinners characters:

New characters:

Alternative/bosses and hidden characters:

In the original Melty Blood, only six (Sion, Arcueid, Ciel, Akiha, Kohaku & Hisui, and Shiki Tohno) of the characters above were available for play, with eight more being unlockable through story mode. However, in a later update released for the game (the "Nero" patch), all the characters are available from the start. The reasons for this are slightly unclear; it appears to be the result of a legal misunderstanding whereby Type-Moon mistakenly thought they would no longer be allowed to produce updates/patches, and thus made a "last patch" which unlocked the characters as a sort of gift for the fans. Whatever the case, Type-Moon has left these characters available throughout all subsequent releases. In addition, Aoko and Kouma were both added to the game as of Act Cadenza, although Aoko was an unplayable boss character in previous versions. Act Cadenza also changed the given names of several characters, generally to make it easier to identify the doppelgangers by name. Sion later appeared in the French-Bread's spiritual successor of the series, Under Night In-Birth, under her middle name Eltnum.

The original Melty Blood was announced on October 8, 2001, at Tsukihime Matsuri Himehajime (月姫祀〜秘初〜), the dōjin convention hosting only Tsukihime content.[4] The plan was suggested by Nobuya Narita of Watanabe Seisakujo (French-Bread, from 2003). Kinoko Nasu wrote scenarios and Takashi Takeuchi designed characters. Watanabe Seisakujo developed the game system and pixel arts. They were known as the creator of parody games, but Nasu requested not to break the style of Tsukihime. They had difficulty thinking of attacks because original characters didn't have an attractive skill suited for the fighting game. They also worked hard to create frames of animation exceeding Street Fighter III.[5]

The full version of Melty Blood was released in December 2002 for Windows.[6] An expansion patch, Re-ACT released two years later in May 2004, and an update, Re-ACT Final Tuned, released in July 2005. An arcade version of the series, Melty Blood Act Cadenza, was later developed by Ecole Software and released in March 2005.[7] Later, a PlayStation 2 version of Act Cadenza was released on August 10, 2006.[8] A Windows version, Melty Blood Act Cadenza Ver.B, was also released on July 27, 2007. The series' newest game, Melty Blood Actress Again, was released on September 19, 2008.

An expansion to the original game, featuring an 'Arcade Mode' whose storyline takes place after the original Melty Blood. The expansion made numerous changes in regards to character balance and to remove many infinite-combo sequences. New movesets were created for the doppelgänger characters, whereas in the original, most of these characters had nearly identical movesets to their counterparts. It also made changes to the game's mechanics and added several new characters, though only two are playable the other four NPCs: Len, Satsuki Yumizuka, Neco-Arc (non-playable character) Executioner Ciel (Ciel holding the Seventh Holy Scripture, non-playable character), White Len (Sub Boss) and Aoko Aozaki (non-playable boss).

The final update to Re-ACT, Final Tuned, adds several features designed to allow the game to be configured to resemble the gameplay of Melty Blood Act Cadenza. It also adds a large number of gameplay tweaks and slightly updated animations, such as the inclusion of a new, analog-friendly controller setup; new configuration options that lets players assign multi-button commands to individual buttons; the ability to alter and adjust many of the game's internal variables (via new interface options); and four new colors for each player.

Melty Blood Act Cadenza was the first arcade port of the series and was published by Ecole Software. The visual novel was removed, while the Arcade Mode dialogue featured in Re-ACT returns. It completely revamped Aoko Aozaki's movelist for use as a playable character, and introduced Kouma Kishima into the series, a man who was deeply involved in Shiki Tohno's past. It also introduced the Shielding mechanic (separate from EX-Shielding), as well as including various changes to the properties of characters. This version (as well as the later released Ver. A) can be identified by the Atlasia crest, and the phrase "Through the Looking-Glass, Black Light transparently", both present in the logo.

Melty Blood Act Cadenza, released for the PlayStation 2, was unique as a port in that it included an option to revert to Version A mechanics, yet introduced significant changes that were later included in Ver. B, including an early version of Neco-Arc Chaos as a hidden character. It is sometimes known as "Ver. A2".

Melty Blood Act Cadenza Ver. B is an arcade port of the PS2 game with various changes and upgrades, the most notable of which is the inclusion of White Len as a playable character, with a significantly weakened moveset. It also introduced a fifth button that served as a contextual action depending on the situation and the direction held on the joystick when pressed, such as dodging or throwing. This version can be identified by a dual silhouette of Len and White Len in the logo and the phrase "Through the Looking-Glass, Northern Light transparently".

Melty Blood Act Cadenza Ver. B2 is a Windows port of the arcade Ver. B. It has added features including tag-team mode, a 4-player team battle mode, a programmable dummy for training purposes and a new hidden boss character, Neco-Arc Chaos Black G666 (replacing G-Akiha from Melty Blood Re-ACT). It also included subtle gameplay changes, most notably altered defense ratings for characters and adjustments to the game's input system. It was released on July 27, 2007.[9]

Melty Blood Actress Again is the fourth game in the Melty Blood fighting game series. It was released on September 19, 2008, in Japan for the Sega Naomi hardware. Compared to Act Cadenza, the game features three entirely new playable characters, as well as several new alternate versions of existing characters in the PS2 version. All characters now feature selection between three different fighting styles, known as Full Moon, Crescent Moon (most similar to Act Cadenza) and Half Moon, which change not only the way in which the life and Magic Circuit meters function, but also each characters' basic and special attacks. Actress Again was first announced in the December 2007 issue of the Japanese arcade game magazine Monthly Arcadia, published by Enterbrain.[10] Additional new artwork and a description of the three styles were introduced in the January 2008 issue of Tougeki Damashii magazine.[11] Also in early 2008, Ecole launched the official Actress Again website. Actress Again was released for the PS2 in Japan on August 20, 2009.

Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code is an arcade port of the PS2 version. The game underwent location testing in Akihabara from December 19–20, 2009.[12] The characters formerly exclusive to the PS2 version of Actress Again became available for use, and the game runs on Sega's RingWide arcade system, as opposed to NAOMI like Act Cadenza and the original Actress Again. The game's website was launched February 11, 2010, and after being unveiled officially at Japan's Arcade Operators Union show on February 20, 2010, the game began undergoing another two week round of location testing. Unverified reports stated that the price for the game and RingWide hardware would be ¥230,000 plus ¥100,000 for a RingWide Harness and shipping costs, equaling US$3,560.83 at exchange rates as of May 13, 2010. Several arcade machine distributors showed the game as being pegged for a release on July 29, 2010.

An upgrade for Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code was launched on May 18, 2011, branded as Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code Ver. 1.05, with new changes in gameplay and adding 2 new playable characters, including Powerd Ciel (Ciel's Executioner version from Melty Blood Re-ACT) with her own Story Mode and ending, along with new moves and sprites for her.

A final upgrade for Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code was launched on October 14, 2011, named Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code Ver. 1.07. It includes a complete version of Archetype:Earth (princess version of Arcueid Brunestud) with new sprites and moves and her own Story Mode and ending. Also added were Story Modes and endings for the Neco & Mech and Kohaku & Mech teams. Riesbyfe Stridberg (just as Neco-Arc in the PlayStation 2 version of the game) can gain a new route in Story Mode, showing her as living her new life with Sion Eltnam Atlasia and Satsuki Yumizuka as a member of the Back-Alley Alliance (after the endings of Sion and Satsuki).

Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code was released for Windows on December 30, 2011, along with the Blu-ray release of Carnival Phantasm Season 3 limited edition. It included an online multiplayer option and an online matching mode. The matching server was taken down on October 10, 2014; however, direct connection is still available. Four patches have been released, the latest one bringing the game to version 1.4.0.[13] This version was made available on Steam, published by Arc System Works on April 19, 2016.[14]

Melty Blood: Type Lumina is the fifth game in the series. It also serves as a reboot of the series, and takes place in the new continuity established by Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-, the first entry of Tsukihime remake series. As such, it shares the remake's modernized setting, revised designs, exclusive characters, and story changes. The visuals and mechanics of the game were also redone from the ground up. It was released worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows on September 30, 2021.