Guilty Gear -Strive- Review – Remember You Are Blazing

Guilty Gear -Strive- is a roaring good time for newcomers and series fans alike. It’s a bit simpler than before and could use a few more characters, but the addictive but accessible gameplay, stable online, and rocking aesthetic are enough for me to write Strive off as a sweet, sweet success.

Guilty Gear -Strive-
Developer: Arc System Works
Price: $60
Platforms: PS5 (reviewed), PS4, and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a PS5 code for review

There’s a certain tone to Guilty Gear that is hard to replicate anywhere else. It’s creative, strange, and badass all at once, and filled with enough musical references to make JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure blush. I only really got on the Guilty Gear train with Xrd, but I really had a blast with that game. I couldn’t wait for Strive, and now that it’s out, I can say that I think the wait has been worth it.

If single-player is your jam, there are a few different modes available to you. There’s an 8-stage arcade mode to be done with each character, which gives you a little bit of lore upon each completion. I wish there were full arcade endings again like in Xrd, but at least you get some fun team-ups depending on who you play as. There’s survival mode, where you fight an unlimited number of enemies with a set amount of health, which is a fun way to test and measure your abilities as you get better and better at Strive.

There’s even a four-and-a-half hour long story mode that’s entirely cutscenes, though the review period only included Chapter 1. What I experienced was a bit confusing if you’re somewhat new like me, but if you want to learn about the world of Guilty Gear, there’s a full glossary and appendix full of terms, characters, and flow charts to follow the story of the series from the beginning. It’s a very handy tool, given how robust and complicated the lore of Guilty Gear can be. It’s a nice addition that furthers Strive’s reputation as a beginner-friendly Guilty Gear, despite the story being so deep into the timeline. I definitely respect how they presented the story, as there are tons of models for non-playable characters that were made just for the narrative, rather than 2D artwork with moving mouths. It’s a full film, and longtime fans of the series will surely love how much effort went into it.

If you’re new to fighting games or just to Guilty Gear, there’s an awesome mission mode that teaches you everything from simple functions to character match-ups. I spent a good deal of time grinding away at these challenges to improve myself after taking some licks online, and I was noticeably better after labbing for a good deal of time. Training mode is pretty standard for this sort of game, providing all the tools you’ll need to keep improving yourself after working on missions.

Combat is incredibly satisfying to partake in, though I wish more special moves were present like in Xrd. The controls and characters have been simplified a bit to make things more accessible for newcomers, but it doesn’t take away from the fun of the game. I’m addicted to Strive, and I’ve already played it online more than I have most fighters. Mechanics like Roman Cancels and Instant Block have you constantly working on your timing, so it still feels like there’s always something to work on despite the somewhat simplified systems. This is a great Guilty Gear and an even greater first Guilty Gear.

“The thrill of ranking up and the devastating feeling that comes with falling down a floor makes every match into a tense showdown.“

Online is quite smooth for the most part, which is largely a result of Strive’s rollback netcode. Rather than using the delay-based netcode of many other fighters, Strive opts to use rollback netcode that essentially predicts and portrays player inputs without major lag spikes or choppiness. Using this was a fantastic move on ArcSys’s part, as I had very little problem playing people from different regions in multiplayer during the review period. I can’t wait for online to be more populated upon release, so I can get destroyed by people all around the world.

Having such a smooth experience also further adds onto Strive’s addictive online mode. With every win or loss in Ranked, you climb or fall through different floors of a large tower, each of which is decorated differently. The lobby itself is a bit convoluted and has a peculiar pixel style compared to the rest of the game, but it works well enough once you’re used to it. You can challenge anyone on the floors above you, but not below you to discourage smurfing. The thrill of ranking up and the devastating feeling that comes with falling down a floor makes every match into a tense showdown. I do wish that you could rematch more than three times, as you’re kicked back to the lobby after three fights with the same person. I understand interruptions for rank changes, but if neither player changes rank after three matches, you should be able to continue to fight one another.

If ranked isn’t your bag, there’s Open Park mode, where you can just fight anybody without being concerned about going up or down in Ranked. I would have preferred to just jump into a match without having to run around the lobby, but it doesn’t take too long when there are at least a few people in the room. I can see myself jumping between Open Park and Ranked

I do have a couple complaints about Strive. The character roster feels quite small, and quite a few memorable characters from past games are suspiciously missing. This makes me think fan-favorites like Baiken and Johnny are being held-back to be used as DLC when the base roster could have used a couple more fighters. The aforementioned simplicity also makes Strive feel a bit less rich than previous games, as only having a few special moves and supers makes learning characters a bit less of a challenge.

“The music of Strive is absolutely stellar, as each character has a banging rock theme that accompanies them.“

It almost goes without saying at this point that ArcSys makes beautiful games. From Dragon Ball FighterZ to Granblue Fantasy Versus, it’s clear that they know how to make a game look exceptional. They have once again done this with Strive, which is gorgeous all-around. The character models are detailed and expressive, while the backgrounds are as weird and diverse as you could hope for. The UI has improved since the betas, as it no longer looks bland or generic. It feels more in-line with the tone of Guilty Gear, though it’s not quite Xrd’s awesome UI either. I really like the character redesigns (my boy Faust is creepier than ever and it totally works,) and I especially love the new characters. Giovanna in particular feels like she’s always been present in Guilty Gear, as she fits the scene perfectly.

The music of Strive is absolutely stellar, as each character has a banging rock theme that accompanies them. The lyrics can be nonsensical, but the rhythms get you hyped for every match. I can’t wait to submit “Smell of the Game” for the best song in this year’s GOTY discussions, because I can’t stop listening to it. The voice acting is exceptional as well, with the story mode taking the cake for how sincere all the voice actors are while saying wild things that feel almost Kingdom Hearts-esque.

The Final Word
Guilty Gear Strive is an awesome game, simply put. It’s a bit simpler than previous games and the roster feels a tad small, but the online is stable, the characters are varied, the combat is a blast to play around with, and the visuals and sound are gorgeous. Whether you’re a fighting game fan or a fresh face to the scene, Strive is a damn good fighting game to jump into.

MonsterVine Rating: 4.5 out of 5 – Great