QCF: Guilty Gear Strive

can remember the energy and excitement in person at EVO 2019 when we first saw the reveal trailer for Guilty Gear Strive, and how everyone in attendance was mesmerized by its incredible graphics and potential for the fighting game scene. Even then at first glance I knew that Arc System Works had something special, and I am happy to report after a few delays and several rounds of beta play, the game that we now have in our hands is better than could has been imagined on that summer evening during the EVO tournament.

The fighting game that has style for days has returned!

I have been a fan of the Guilty Gear series of games since the Playstation 2 but honestly, I have never been good at playing them. Or most fighting games, for that matter. This series has been notorious for being more on the hardcore side of fighting games, while still gaining a massive following for fans of the genre. I certainly categorize myself in that group, I have purchased each iteration of the game on various platforms, as well as other titles influenced and developed by the same company such as Blazblue and the Persona series of fighting games. Playing them causally was okay for a bit, but I always knew that my skill would only carry that so far and that I would either commit to learning the game fully or move on to a more approachable game. Strive is the first title where I truly feel that a new player could get much more out of the experience, while veteran players can still play at their desired level of competition. The secret formula in all of this is the game taking away from perhaps the main reason everyone buys it in the first place; It strips away some of the flash and craziness for a more streamlined experience that focuses on basics and makes a game based on easier inputs and variety of styles.

There is so much detail and flashiness in the PS5 release.

Having said all of this, I will be the first to say I am in no way a knowledgeable source of anything fighting game mechanics or Guilty Gear, I am just a fan and follower of the FGC. So please take this as just a novice’s opinion and use The Fighting Game Glossary if you need real information. But to me, the game seems like it is less chaotic and limits the flare that other titles in the past have displayed such as the previous release Guilty Gear Xrd. Counters and punishes are easy to recognize and perform while more complex mechanics like Roman cancels and Bursts are still very much a part of the experience. Each character has an ease of use displayed to direct new players to a recommend play style and each character offers unique styles such as Balance, High Speed and other complex classes like One Shot and Shooter. Harder to use characters may not be able to dash or have a cool down to their abilities that adds a challenge and risk / reward style to keep the game fresh. And for the newest of new players, the game has a mission mode that breaks down the mechanics of the game in a way to easily digest and comprehend. It shows tips and video examples of the maneuvers if a player gets hung up on a particular input, and three out of five attempts passes the player onto the next assignment.

You too can be an official Guilty Gear Historian after going through the special features.

Another great feature of the game is the expansive work that went into the game’s special features, such as a full glossary of all the terms in the game and its universe. Which looks microscopic when compared to the craziness that is displayed in the correlation graphs. It is an actual family tree of all the characters in the Guilty Gear universe, who is related, who are rivals or friends and also has a chronology of all the events leading up to the story of Strive. Even better all this information can be accessed right from the pause menu of the game at any time. It is a labor of love for fans of the series and makes the daunting task of understanding the world and the story of the game very easy to follow and remember. Watching the story mode unfold after reading through this data, I was aware of the relationships and motivations of the main characters and could follow along with the story of the game, which is not something I thought I could ever say about a Guilty Gear game.

Story mode is just a long anime film, but it's worth a watch.

The Story mode of the game is strange because it is a four-hour long cutscene with no gameplay at all. You have save points available at any time if you need to take a break but with no unlocks after it’s completion or in game reward, it’s just a really long anime. It is good though so if you have the time, you should check it out. Arcade mode is very basic, but it does have some interesting moments play out with each character and has some cool mechanics with a partner as you take down the final boss. It could lead to some new modes down the mode, so I hope that the developer includes some of that in the upcoming DLC.  The game loads quickly on the Playstation 5, with very little down time and matches are in progress in an instant. It is a fine example of how games can perform on newer hardware and makes this title the must own fighting game for this new generation of systems.

Online Matches are quick to connect, with little lag to worry about.

The game also performs well online, with the implementation of rollback netcode, matches are easy to find and connect very quickly. A rollback frame counter is on display during matches to show any slowdown and matches can begin with little downtime from the lobby. The lobby is still one feature I still cannot really get behind, but I will say it has come a long way from what it was like in the beta. The lobby system uses towers to assess a player’s skill and felt like matches were evenly placed based on the correct difficulty. Connecting and obtaining data from the server was the only time that the game felt sluggish, but hopefully with upcoming patches that can be remedied. One other negative of the game in my opinion is the story and other modes do not have any way to unlock new characters, and some of the coolest new introductions to the series will likely be behind a pay wall of upcoming DLC via the Season Pass. I am up for buying characters for the game but having a few with the price of the game to discover would have been a nice gesture. But for what you get in the basic package it is still plenty to enjoy and play for a very long time.

Being a May main is okay if you're a casual player. Don't let the internet make you feel bad about it!

The game that has defined the generation of 2D fighters for decades delivers on every level, and even reinvents itself to be more approachable for new and novice players. More base characters could give more challenge and depth for hardcore players of the series without being paid content down the road. But with an online experience that is hard to top and its ability to shed some of it’s trademark flair to entice a new audience, Guilty Gear Strive is the best fighting game for this current generation of systems so far.