While I still do prefer Xrd, Strive is a FANTASTIC game. It is a visual spectacle, full of details and care, the Baiken release just showed that even more. The OST is insanely good too, or at least the songs I've paid attention to are.
What makes Strive inferior to Xrd to me (and to the majority of the people who thinks this, probably) are the gameplay changes. The Strive gameplay it's not bad by any means, but it's such a massive change, and it simplifies things SO MUCH that, honestly, sometimes it makes Strive not feel like Guilty Gear to me. BUT, even if "it's not Guilty Gear", it's still fucking amazing. It's too simple, yes, but that doesn't make it not really fun.