I’m not going to begin by saying that Guilty Gear – Strive – is the best beat ‘em up out there, but I will say that it is one of the best. Guilty gear reminds me of when I’ve impulsively bought a new gadget, then subsequently hid from my wife in fear of an imminent lecture on being ‘a responsible adult’. The gear here are modified human-like brawlers, not flagship mobile phones, though everything about the game emits flagship, benchmark, and game changer.
The series never featured highly on my list as a beat ‘em up fan. It looked great, but Tekken is my drug of choice, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter 2, UFC, and IK+, to name a few. I couldn’t be dealing with the seemingly complicated combat, silly names, and the unknown characters and lore. Granted, that’s not why we play the genre, but we all know that Liu Kang likes walks in the parks, and Ryu coined the meme ‘6, 7’. With Season 5 launched, now was the time to do some revision.
Where do we start in Guilty Gear – Strive –? How about the visuals, as that’s the first contact, punching you in the face or a swift kick to the goolies (or lady bits) with complete and utter awe at how good this looks. Like Dragon’s Lair, but controllable, anime, though you can skip the melodrama for the fisticuffs. For those who don’t know, there’s a chap named Asuka, affectionately labelled Devil, who has created these ‘gears’, and a 100-year war ensured called the Crusades. This isn’t historically accurate or relevant, but it’s the premise for the story. Both he and a few other wrong ‘uns have re-entered a time of peace to stir stuff up.
This story is, of course, utterly irrelevant in terms of actual gameplay as Guilty Gear – Strive – is a bona fide beat ‘em up, boasting a healthy number of modes such as local play through to online ranking. Quite possibly one of the biggest draws for most, but not for me, is the latter, and it will undoubtedly challenge you and keep you invested in this game long term. No pick up and play for a couple of rounds, this game becomes an extension of you, and you won’t be faffing about with multiple characters, as you’ll be learning to master them, as the fighting intelligence in this game truly is remarkable.
Putting aside the modes, as we clearly know how these games present themselves, the actual combat is somewhat simple. There are punch and kick buttons, two slash buttons (using your weapons), as well as modifiers and defence bubbles to make you temporarily ‘unavailable’. Counters are incredible here, as it eliminates the need to watch other players button mash or attempt to juggle you, as a well-timed counter will push them back. Even the moves are straightforward with a focus on Street Fighter patterns instead of Mortal Kombat dance steps.
However, all the moves are nuanced, and timing is of the utmost importance. A well-timed punch can serve as a basic counter, though lead into your own flurry of attacks. One of the training modes even allows you to flesh out combos, making this a full-on investment. It reminds me of learning all of Lei’s combos from Tekken 2 to the point where I was at an advantage at any stance in the game, or all of Kano’s combos in Mortal Kombat, where the sideline character felt more like a protagonist. Again, the combos aren’t complicated as the focus is on adapting and timing rather than preset spam.
It took me a while to get the strategy of Guilty Gear – Strive – as you can’t fast-track a fight with jumping in and jumping back. Closing the gap is key for survival, and to do so means employing a double-tap, a.k.a. dash. This allows you to get closer, as some characters can dominate at a distance. The thing is, this doesn’t work for everyone. Long story short, I eventually whittled it down to Nagoriyuki as my choice, who, coincidentally, is supposed to be a little tricky to use. Dash wasn’t part of his remit, though, as a vampire samurai, he could teleport, plus close the gap with certain attacks. To say that the fighting mechanics are dynamic and intelligent is highly understated.
Characters play an important role, of course. Without question, they all look amazing and bring their own personality and moveset with an abundance of colour customisations. In Guilty Gear – Strive – Season 5 pass, we are introduced to Jam Kuradoberi out of the box. If Nagoriyuki is the equivalent of pushing a double-decker bus uphill with the handbrake on, Jam is the opposite and has the weight value of polystyrene – closing the gaps in the blink of an eye with some mad, fiery kicks. If it wasn’t for my devotion to the way of the vampire samurai, I’d be using her. There are three more characters inbound, with one later this year, and two the next. Additionally, there’s a new arena, a new wanted and UI skin, plus more colour customisations.
Not being invested in the series, I had no idea who the Ryu and Bison of the narrative thread were. Interestingly, there’s a cinema mode where you can watch 20-minute chapters leading up to the events of the game. These aren’t some simple in-game cinematics, but full-on anime segments and encourage you try out the other characters you might have neglected and give more of a connection. Having these separated is an excellent addition. As a narrative-driven whore, I used to love the story modes of a beat ‘em up to find out about my character’s origin and fate beyond, though the more recent Mortal Kombat and Injustice games dragged out and spoiled the rhythm of gameplay. By having this as an isolated spectatorship made it even more immersive, meaning that fight fans won’t be interrupted by cutscenes and other tomfoolery. Though the initial ‘heaven and hell’ dialogue for each battle and minuscule text were nuts.
I really have been quite spoiled coming into Guilty Gear – Strive – at this point. While the other three characters have not yet been released, the number of characters and features to delve into from the get-go is impressive, and quite frankly, I encourage new players to try this out. For the veterans, some of the new features might be the equivalent of the new F1 rules in that things such as Counter Blitz that reduce Burst 50%, but open up a new line of attack and potential wall break. All of these extras, such as rebalancing and dialogue, were introduced in the 2.0 model, and it would be exhaustive to go into detail here, so I will point you to the patch notes instead.
Besides all the goodies in Season 5, I have to say that I am quite enamoured with Guilty Gear – Strive –. I’ve tinkered with Melty Blood and BazBlue, and though they equally look the part, I couldn’t get on with them. However, investing that time in learning the mechanics, but more so, having that patience to stick with one person at a time and learn their moves – not solely attacking, but how they react, positioning and modified moves from the distance they are from their opponent, really pays off in rewards. I went from not knowing my arse from my elbow to ‘naturally’ playing and winning at the Extreme mode when playing in arcade mode. Albeit, only with a select few, as I’m still learning the ropes and will do so for some time to come. Essential for beat ‘em up fans.
