Guilty Gear Strive was one of my more anticipated games of the year ever since it was revealed at EVO 2019, but as the Open Betas rolled out and we began to see the change in design philosophy that Strive was pushing, I began to temper my expectations somewhat. The traditional gatling system was gone, the damage was through the roof, and the focus shifted to a more neutral-heavy gameplay style, which was enough to give some long-time fans cause for concern. How would these changes pan out, and at the end of the day, would it still feel like Guilty Gear? But having put a decent amount of time into it over the past weeks, I can safely say that my worries were unfounded, and that this is the most fun I've had with a game all year!
It's certainly a different game from Xrd or Accent Core+R, but it still feels like Guilty Gear through and through. The stronger emphasis on the universal mechanics and the lower bar of entry in terms of skill level makes the game much more accessible to pick up and play, and it's gotten friends of mine who've never touched a fighting game in their life to pick it up and not only have fun, but be somewhat competent as well!
I've been running it on my shitty laptop at potato specs so the beautiful visuals aren't something I can really appreciate, but even running the game at it's bare essentials, I'm just having a good time in matches online, climbing up and down the Ranking Tower (mostly down), and playing friendlies with my buds. It's a new kind of Guilty Gear, and it's one I'm okay with, even if it is an admittedly drastic departure from it's predecessors.
I have my own problems with the game however. For one, it feels somewhat unfinished. While it's nothing game-breaking, there are no combo trials, there's a lack of new music (the character select theme is just an instrumental of the main theme, and there's no more unique themes for match-ups like Sol vs Ky, or Mirror Matches), and it feels somewhat lacking in single player content. The lobbies are also pretty abysmal, and even with a wired ethernet connection, I'm constantly disconnecting or being booted from the servers.
I may not be a professional player, or a hardcore fighting game historian, but all I know is that I'm having a good time, and there's a good chance you'll probably have one too.
It's certainly a different game from Xrd or Accent Core+R, but it still feels like Guilty Gear through and through. The stronger emphasis on the universal mechanics and the lower bar of entry in terms of skill level makes the game much more accessible to pick up and play, and it's gotten friends of mine who've never touched a fighting game in their life to pick it up and not only have fun, but be somewhat competent as well!
I've been running it on my shitty laptop at potato specs so the beautiful visuals aren't something I can really appreciate, but even running the game at it's bare essentials, I'm just having a good time in matches online, climbing up and down the Ranking Tower (mostly down), and playing friendlies with my buds. It's a new kind of Guilty Gear, and it's one I'm okay with, even if it is an admittedly drastic departure from it's predecessors.
I have my own problems with the game however. For one, it feels somewhat unfinished. While it's nothing game-breaking, there are no combo trials, there's a lack of new music (the character select theme is just an instrumental of the main theme, and there's no more unique themes for match-ups like Sol vs Ky, or Mirror Matches), and it feels somewhat lacking in single player content. The lobbies are also pretty abysmal, and even with a wired ethernet connection, I'm constantly disconnecting or being booted from the servers.
I may not be a professional player, or a hardcore fighting game historian, but all I know is that I'm having a good time, and there's a good chance you'll probably have one too.