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Latest version
Categories: free version
Size:23 GB
Guilty Gear is one of the most demanding fighting game series in terms of the need to study and master its techniques to the fullest, and with Guilty Gear Strive, publisher Arc System Works proves to us once again that it can take the series to new heights.
The series has always been aimed at existing fans of this type of game, and ease and accessibility has not been a priority from the developer, and there have always been many complex layers that deter players from trying to approach the series or fighting games in general.
But now the publisher seems to have gone to great lengths not to discourage new players. Professional features of the series such as Roman Cancel or Dust are still present, but now they can be achieved virtually without fear or perseverance.
Despite this, many of the most powerful moves are still slow, and require precise timing to ensure contact with the opponent and achieve the maximum amount of damage, but the game helps players a lot to reach this level, in addition to, of course, its distinctive and expressive new art style.
Guilty Gear Strive will be available on the eleventh of June this year on the platform PS5, PS4, PC. (Tested on PS4).
Guilty Gear Strive game review.
New horizons in the history of the series
As so often happens in fighting games, Guilty Gear Strive opens the journey with a quick tutorial to get you through the basics of gameplay, but it's only limited to just introducing the basic aspects, not the advanced mechanics used by the pros.
Players looking for more options can access the classic training mode available with all the options needed to simulate every possible situation, as well as the new Mission Mode.
This mode combines the old intensive tutorials with combo editing mode, and in order to pass it, players will have to perform many tests that include all the game techniques even the most complex ones like Roman Cancel and Psych Burst.
By passing the various tests the player will get prizes and coins that allow the purchase of cosmetic items and other things such as photos, video clips and songs, thus the mode combines fun and usefulness.
Once you've learned the basics, you'll be able to access single-player modes such as Survival, Story, and Arcade, the latter of which contains small hints about the story in the form of dialogues before and after completing it and is not the actual story content.
However, the mode still contains some new changes, such as the difficulty of the mode adapting to your skill level based on the outcome of each battle, and the ability to engage in a double battle with another character upon reaching the final level.
You can choose to access 15 characters that include some familiar faces like Sol, Ky, Zato, and Millia, as well as new faces like Giovanna and Nagoriyuki, both of whom are great additions to this awesome fighting saga.
There are some missing faces like Dizzy, Baiken, and more, but we already know there are some characters coming in the Season 1 Pass, as with all of the publisher's games that get add-ons after official launch.
The harmonious spirit of simplicity of gameplay and depth of content is still present in Guilty Gear Strive, and players despite the changes made to the characters will be able to enjoy any of them with a little serious training.
The combat system has been improved to be simple and functional by addressing many unnecessary or overly complex mechanics such as instant kills, or moves whose inputs have some confusing switch-like issues.
In addition, characters have seen an overall improvement to their respective command list, leaving only the most useful and iconic moves for each character, often with commands simplified for more complex commands.
The system based on the classic four buttons plus the Dust command has been left as is, but the idea of linking these inputs through the Gatling Combo system, which lets you combine these keys and enter some special moves, is no longer necessary.
In Guilty Gear Strive, Gatling is now limited to slashing and heavy strikes, and the chance of making very long combos has been greatly reduced compared to the past, but the damage associated with each move has been increased.
This choice is revolutionary in the combat system, as it allows even players not particularly skilled at executing combos to be more competitive, now relying entirely on setting the place and time of strikes, and knowing the opponent enough to achieve the optimal win.
In other words, knowing how to react with the right move at the right time is more important than connecting endless combos, which is called the counter attack system.
This system allows you to slow down the opponent's speed for about 1 second, which allows you to choose the next move more easily, in addition to stopping the movement of the opponent through this feature allows you to perform sequences of moves that would normally be impossible in a normal fighting stance.
There are two types of counterattack depending on the attack used by the opponent, one is light and the other is a bit more prominent and flashy, allowing you to stop time longer and do more damage.
A wall break feature like the Injustice games also prevents players from being constantly cornered by the opponent, partially rebalancing the battle and giving both players the ability to react and find appropriate solutions.
However, there is no shortage of mechanisms inherited from the past such as the Roman Cancel, which are here in four different colors and executable by using 50% of the Overdrive power indicator.
Red cancels the opponent's attack, yellow slows the opponent down, purple allows you to wake up faster if you miss an attack, and blue can be executed when the character is completely stationary to slow the opponent down significantly.
Knowing how to use Roman Cancel at the right time is a real advantage for professional players, who – as already happened in the beta – can use it to create increasingly imaginative and devastating combos to craft frantic and exciting clashes.
Other pros like Psych Burst are able to save you from an opponent's grasp or give you a full Overdrive energy indicator depending on usage, not forgetting the RISC indicator that breaks opponents' defense if they go too far in their defences.
Regardless, the basics will be enough to have fun with friends and casual players of the same level as you, and there is a good initial balance between the strengths of all the characters, but of course the difference can be in the ease or complexity of using each of them optimally.
Guilty Gear Strive not only excels in its combat systems, but on the other hand it has a more complex and deep story than any other fighting game, full of extensive and thought-out nomenclature and information.
Many of the storylines often have meaningful ramifications for character designs and playstyle, and some characters even change names or disappear from the playlist due to such shifts in storytelling.
The current story content can be identified through the Story Mode system, which displays approximately 5 hours of beautiful animation, attractive content, and many interesting dialogues and conversations, as if you were watching an entire anime series inside the game.
The game's story, once understood, is very engaging and made up of many iconic characters, and represents the final and defining chapter in many of the main characters' stories and resolutions to plots long overdue, as well as leaving some open endings for other characters.
Arc System Works has also thought of those who have never played a title in the series, but still want to enjoy the story, and have made the manga on their official website to flesh out the plot of other previous titles in the series.
Add to that a comprehensive reference for all definitions of the Guilty Gear universe, and a comprehensive outline of all character relationships, in short, and it will be possible to understand every aspect of the franchise's vast universe even if this is your first experience.
All of these systems are technically backed by an unprecedented level of incredibly detailed and detailed 3D character models, smooth and fluid graphics between every type of combat movement, and a flat 60 frame rate most of the time.
Also regarding the audio sector there is nothing to say. Director Ishwatari is himself the main author and composer of the work, and he always does a great job of composing the appropriate heavy metal music for each character.
All songs are sung by Naoki Hashimoto, the vocalist of the Japanese metal band Outrage, which in the Guilty Gear universe is one of the most powerful weapons in the fictional world in general.
Finally, we talk about the most important focal point for fighting game fans, which is the in-game online mode. Guilty Gear Strive uses a rollback network, which ensures faster stability and allows for reduced in-game input compilation time.
Actually, the matter is of course very popular, but it does not work with the same stability with all countries and available areas, and the delay rate varies from one region to another depending on where the player is.
The way the online lobbies themselves work has improved a bit since the beta, seating and the ability to request a rematch have been added right away, but the problem remains with the time lost when moving from floor to floor through the towers.
It takes a long time to load the player information, and the best is to use the limited player room creation feature, which was added in the recent update, to avoid tower chaos and enjoy the online mode with more peace of mind.
last word
Guilty Gear Strive succeeds in its primary goal of developing a title that is accessible to beginners, while maintaining a combat system that is layered and full of options for every type of player.
The new game is visually detailed and has a powerful soundtrack, and every moment feels like an animated series and eye-catching thanks to the fast-paced movements and endless combinations of inputs that can be made.
The online connection still has some issues, but it works well depending on the region you're in, and the story mode nicely closes the plot that started over twenty years ago in the best way possible.
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