MinDead Blood Complete Edition Review

---Summary---
Just off the coast of mainland Japan is the island of Chisakura, home to a city of the same name, where the heralds of darkness are slowly gathering. Host to a prosperous economy, with a nationally renowned academic institution for young women and an equally upstanding medical research facility, the community has unwittingly attracted the attentions of dreaded supernatural creatures with few equals: vampires. Yet even these immortal predators have daring individuals who hunt them, and a secret war between the two powers is quickly racing to an apocalyptic conclusion. At the center of this nightmarish struggle is a man who has the potential to tip the scales in favor of one side or the other. His choice of allies – the hunters, the vampires, or none at all – may very well determine the fate of humanity and the undead.


MinDeaD BlooD (マインデッド・ブラッド) is a violent thriller eroge series initially published by Black Cyc in 2004. The title consists of four major releases: [1] the original which started it all; [2] an expansion set restoring story routes and endings omitted from the initial version; [3] a graphically enhanced and full voice DVD remake of the original; [4] a complete edition combining the DVD remake with a graphically enhanced and full voice improvement of the expansion set. This review applies to MinDeaD BlooD Complete Edition, as it canonically supersedes and includes all previous versions.

---Central Characters---
Shizuru Nanase
Reborn into undeath as an incredible vampire with phenomenal fighting prowess, Shizuru suffers from amnesia due to the trauma of his unnatural rebirth. Fortunately he finds himself in the company of vampiric twin sisters who immediately take a liking to his personality and physical stamina, promising to provide shelter and friendship in return for protection and sexual gratification.

Yuka Sakaki
Yuka is a highly skilled vampire hunter, training from the day she learned her parents were murdered by the supernatural creatures. Ordinarily a calm and composed individual, Yuka becomes a furious engine of destruction when facing creatures of the night. Few vampires would dare challenge her; none have so far survived.

Saki Katagiri
Among the most promising next generation vampire hunters, Saki holds on to the memory of a man who was stolen from her by one of the legendary vampire kings. Lacking supernatural powers or athletic talent, she wages a personal war through pure conviction. Saki simply never gives up hope that one day she will have karmic justice.

Mayu Sonohara
Elder half of the Sonohara twins, Mayu is best described as a sadistic, spoiled, murdering bitch. There are few individuals Mayu truly cares for, but among those rarities she treasures, her twin sister is valued above all. Mayu also takes a strong liking to Shizuru, finding his presence and physical qualities genuinely excite her.

Mana Sonohara
Younger half of the Sonohara twins, Mana is a difficult individual to read, possessing an eerie trait of expressing little emotion. She obediently follows her identical sister without fail, never refusing or challenging what Mayu seeks to do, though some often wonder what thoughts wander through Mana’s head.

---Scored Summary---
Scenario: 27 out of 30. Twenty-three possible endings; including the unwanted bad ends. I cannot over stress how enrapturing and well coordinated the plots are. Replaying the game over and over to get another ending becomes more and more entertaining with each restart because you learn something more about the characters’ past. The true negative of each scenario is the lack of attention secondary characters receive or their sudden removal from significance (usually through death). I should also add that some girls have no “good ending” in the core DVD, though this problem is alleviated to an extent in the expansion, but it’s rather disappointing that everything is not under the same hood like it should be.


Visual: 18 out of 20. Extraordinarily detailed backgrounds, hundreds of masterpiece event illustrations, judicious use of dark colors, and the perfect interface menu decorations (that upside down bleeding cross is hands down perfection) makes an overwhelming feast for the eyes. The only serious faults are nitpicky but noticeable: first the paper dolls tend to be a bit “stiff” (lack of dynamic motion as an art teacher might say), secondly most of the characters never change clothes. Vampires don’t sweat I suppose, but what about all those bodily fluids?


Audio: 20 out of 20. Catchy intro/outro theme songs? Check. Total complete voice acting? Double check. Done well? Triple check. Masterwork soundtrack? Quadruple check. Well damn… they go it all covered, don’t they?


Erotica: 30 out of 30. Play it right and you’ll get sex at least once every 15 minutes or so. With ninety plus possible chances, the title is the embodiment of a sexfest; only it really isn’t a sexfest because the character development and plot are so detailed. Sure everything is dark and violent, but you want it dark and violent.


Mechanics: 0 point neutrality. Along with the traditional “choose your response” menu system that most eroge share, the title uses a “choose where you’ll spend the day” system. You select where Shizuru and the twins will hangout (not onoharatogether if you wish it) on a map of the island, which causes them to meet and interact with people who they can fight, help, rape, etc. Depending on how often you’ve interacted with these individuals, more events become possible and advance the story further. On top of this there’s a time limit of sorts, since Yuka is looking for undead creatures to kill: namely you. Phases of the moon, as well as how much blood you’ve sucked, can alter the outcome of these battles. If you’re well prepared, then everything is fine. If not, prepare to taste a hydraulic powered titanium stake. The concept works beyond great and keeps you on the edge of your seat… if you have a walk-thru guide. Truth of the matter is, there’s little within the game that actually tells you where to go next or in what order. Most of the time you’re merely guessing and forced to restart over and over again. So is it challenging? Hell yes. Is that really a negative? Depends on your level of patience or ability to use Japanese GOOGLE.


Final Score: 95 out of 100. If you haven’t noticed by now, I consider MinDeaD BlooD Complete Edition to be one of the best games ever made: eroge or not. Everyone should have it in their personal collection and experience a pinnacle achievement of darkness and violence. Strongly recommend.