As a fighting game series, Guilty Gear has always been underappreciated. While it has steadily acquired a loyal fanbase since 1998, the franchise has never been able to break into the mainstream market. This is a real shame, as Guilty Gear should be praised for its artistic accomplishments and engrossing gameplay in its more recent forms. As a result, Guilty Gear Strive breaks down barriers and delivers a more welcoming experience. With its jaw-dropping visuals and more accessible gameplay (more on these points later), Strive represents a new direction for the series, as it attempts to balance appealing to newcomers and satisfying the hardcore crowd.
Guilty Gear Strive feels like Guilty Gear — but it’s also a different kind of Guilty Gear. Those who’ve played Guilty Gear before will find it daunting. For starters, it has higher damage than Rev 2. That is, characters have less health, and fights are generally over a lot faster. As a result, more emphasis is placed on simple combos than on complex combos. Strive is easy to pick up and play – which is a crucial hook for any modern fighting game. However, to say that Strive lacks depth is absurd — it’s just that it’s way more welcoming on a surface level.
Strive’s biggest success is that it feels fantastic to play. It feel awesome to land a big old counter hit square on your opponent’s face. With all those animations, sparks, crunching sound effects, Guilty Gear Strive is a ridiculously good-looking game. From the immaculate character designs to the eye-popping graphical techniques that the developer employs, Strive is a visual marvel. Even if you have zero interest in fighting games, you can watch Strive in motion and be left in awe of its artistic accomplishments. And visuals are something that fighting games need to nail. Arc System Works deserves applause for its efforts with Strive. Fortunately, the gameplay complements its artistry, making it an easy game to get immersed in.
As to Strive’s character roster, it isn’t exactly huge at launch. There are just 15 fighters to choose from at launch, but they are all brilliantly designed and diverse as far as their appeal and play style is concerned. In most cases, these characters are returning characters who will retain many of their special attacks as well as their overall approach from previous games. However, the combo system has been altered so that you won’t be able to simply press the same buttons that you used to and expect the same results.
This is where one of Strive’s biggest, and arguably most controversial changes enters the equation. The ‘Gatling’ combos — staples of the Xrd titles — have been greatly weakened. It was a lot of fun to find the best routes for maximum damage in ‘Gatlings’ by tying together all sorts of attacks. Unlike Strive, which is more freeform, Strive opts for routes that are (mostly) well-defined. In pursuit of accessibility, there is a loss of creativity, and this is a decision that won’t go over well with Guilty Gear diehards. In spite of this, Strive’s Roman Cancel system is a different kind of creativity given it has been re-designed to be more flexible. As a game with high damage, Strive’s mechanics work very well. To reiterate, Strive is still Guilty Gear, but it isn’t Xrd — and that’s perfectly fine, as long as your expectations are in check.
Lastly, I would like to bring up Strive’s soundtrack, because it’s a collection of absolute bangers. The soundtrack of the game is a mix of instrumental diversity for the series. Yet it retains its booming heavy rock essence at the core. The soundtrack has a unique feel for every character. It works together to tie together the title’s artistic vision as a whole. A popular joke among players is that Guilty Gear soundtracks always come with a free game. So with Strive, the music is definitely a standout feature of the game. Especially since a collection of tracks from previous titles is also included in the game.
Despite some of the changes to Guilty Gear Strive, it is still an exceptional fighting game. Veteran players might not appreciate the changes, but there’s no denying that this is still a great fighting game. Strive is an immensely satisfying and immensely rewarding game on a mechanical level. On a visual level, it is quite simply unmatched in its genre. And the same can be said of its outstanding online netcode. Where it matters, Strive is one of the most outstanding games I have ever played.
