Approaching from a context in which we have gotten multiple Guilty Gear fighting games after this, approaching GG2 is a fascinating novelty that rises above its dubious reputation.
I think that the concepts at play here are solid, but not refined. A sequel to this would really rise up to be a fairly solid game that I can recommend to a specific kind of person. However, in its current state, this is a game for sickos like me who love Guilty Gear and need as much of it as you can get.

They really messed up the voice acting so bad, I have no idea how they managed that. It's abhorrent. Just terrible. So glad they didn't stick with these VAs moving forward. All the voice talent is great too, they got a lot of staple folks who did great in Persona, but it's so poorly directed and just does not fit the characters at all.

I consider myself to be someone who, at minimum, has a robust vocabulary. Not a walking thesaurus by any means, but certainly competent.
This game kills that perception of myself, grind with a pestle into a smooth paste until my self confidence is scraped from the mortar. I feel like an absolute imbecile every time I play it. It's as though all of my years have lead to this moment in which I'm physically incapable of thinking of a five letter word.
I seriously don't know why I'm like this. Most people have streaks in the hundreds of days. Yet I stand atop my mountain of shame and tears, wavering at the thought of conjuring a word which begins with a G and has two Os on it.
Woe is me.
I haven't played in forever due to the demonstrable impact on my mental health it had. Any attempt to try again immediately returns me to this place.