Guilty Gear Strive

Guilty Gear Strive[lower-alpha 1] is a fighting video game developed and published by Arc System Works. It is the seventh mainline installment of the Guilty Gear series, and the 25th overall. The game was released worldwide on June 11, 2021.

Guilty Gear Strive
Cover art featuring Sol Badguy and Ky Kiske
Developer(s)Arc System Works
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Akira Katano
Designer(s)Daisuke Ishiwatari
Artist(s)Hidehiko Sakamura
Composer(s)Daisuke Ishiwatari
SeriesGuilty Gear
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows, PS4, PS5
  • WW: June 11, 2021
Arcade
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemALL.Net P-ras MULTI Ver.3

Gameplay

Intended as a "complete reconstruction of the franchise", Guilty Gear Strive retains the core essence of the series but revamps many features and mechanics, except for the removal of the series’ signature mechanic, the Instant Kill.[1] It introduces the "Wall Break" feature, which allows for stage transitions when a combo is initiated in the corner of the arena.[2]

Synopsis

Plot

The story continues after the events of Guilty Gear Xrd.[3] It is the conclusion of Sol Badguy's story (A.K.A. The Gear Hunters Saga), set in the United States of America and featuring his final confrontation with That Man, Asuka R. Kreutz.

Three weeks after the events of Guilty Gear Xrd, I-No breaks the powerful magic user Happy Chaos out of a holding cell in Illyria. He notes that she is physically incapable of feeling desire, then offers to help her find her “other half” so he can enjoy some drama. Asuka turns himself in to US president Vernon, intending to join the White House's G4 peace summit from a holding cell and ask the other nations for assistance in ridding the world of the Tome of Origin and Sol Badguy. The world's leaders fear an attack from I-No and hire knights from each country, including Sol Badguy. Sol and his wife, Jack-O', attempt to refuse the request and leave on vacation, but stop to give chase to Happy who escapes due to the help of a brainwashed Nagoriyuki. I-No dares Axl Low to erase her, then surrenders herself to the Illyria police, convincing the world that it is safe to hold the summit. During an interrogation, I-No says she remembers a kind blonde man but thinks the memory never happened, and asks if Jack-O' will ever find her "place" in the world. In private, Jack-O' reveals to Sol and Ky Kyske that I-No is "incomplete" and needs to join with her other half to achieve godhood. She suggests sacrificing herself to turn I-No into a regular human, but Sol refuses to entertain the thought.

Realizing something will happen at G4, Sol leaves for the US and Ky and Jack-O' depart on an airship. Happy brainwashes the White House guards and holds the dignitaries hostage, though Sol and Vernon, the only one who can open Asuka's cell, manage to escape. Asuka realizes Happy is "the original," the man responsible for bringing magic to the world and Asuka's former teacher. Happy activates the White House's "Tír na nÓg" mode, turning it into an aircraft. Chipp Zanuff and Anji Mito sneak into the Department of Defense and theorize that Happy intends to fly the White House into Mexico, where it will be shot down, so Happy can dig the Tome out of the ashes. Sol confronts Nagoriyuki in an attempt to learn Happy’s weakness, but Nagoriyuki lets himself be defeated, and Sol learns nothing. Asuka tricks Happy into locking himself in an escape pod and eject him onto the Earth below.

Ky and Jack-O' arrive to the White House, where Asuka reveals he intends to take the Tome and spend the rest of his life on the moon. He prepares to kill Sol, but instead decides to remove the Flame of Corruption. Soldiers on the ground find that the "Happy" in the escape pod is a brainwashed guard, and the real Happy is still on the ship. Happy steals the Tome from Asuka, and uses it to fuse with I-No, granting her godhood. I-No easily defeats the heroes and announces her intent to share her powers with the world, likely destroying it. Jack-O' attempts to sacrifice herself to stop I-No, but Sol prevents her. Ky and Axl distract I-No while Vernon and Sol use the White House's energy to strengthen his sword. Nagoriyuki reveals Happy's weakness is his left palm, and helps Sol get a powered up shot on her, killing I-No. In her last moments, I-No realizes Axl was the blonde man from her past, and dies happy having finally realized what she wanted in life. In the aftermath, "Sol" is given a funeral, having retired as scientist Frederick Bulsara with Jack-O' and building a rocket to visit Asuka, who now hosts a radio show. Axl reunites with Megumi, his lover from the past, implied to have received I-No's time travel abilities. A montage shows the fates of various Guilty Gear characters. In a post credits scene, Happy appears alone on a unknown beach.

Characters
See also: List of Guilty Gear characters

The game features fifteen playable characters in its base roster. Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, May, Axl Low, Chipp Zanuff, Potemkin, Faust, Millia Rage, Zato-1, Ramlethal Valentine, Leo Whitefang, Anji Mito and I-No return from previous installments, while two new characters make their debut: these are Nagoriyuki, a Nightless vampire samurai who can drain opponents of their blood to increase his attack power, and Giovanna, a special operations unit officer who is accompanied by her wolf spirit, Rei.

More characters are planned for release as downloadable content, with five announced for Season Pass 1, with one of them also appeared in the game's storyline. The first Season Pass 1 fighter, released in July 2021, is Goldlewis Dickinson, the right-hand man of U.S. President Colin Vernon E. Groubitz, who fights alongside an alien spirit-filled coffin, code name "Area 51 U.M.A.".[4] The second Season Pass 1 fighter, released in August 2021, is Jack-O', who first debuted in Xrd.[5] The third Season Pass 1 fighter, released on November 30, 2021, is the overarching antagonist of the series who was formally introduced in Strive, Happy Chaos.[6] The fourth Season Pass 1 character, set for release in January 2022, is Baiken, who first debuted in the original Guilty Gear.[7]

Development

After a new installment in the Guilty Gear series was confirmed to be in development at EVO 2018 by Arc System Works,[8] the game had its worldwide reveal and announcement trailer under the working title New Guilty Gear, showcasing the new Unreal Engine 4 graphics and Wall Break mechanic in EVO 2019.[9] Two days later, the game's main theme song, "Smell of the Game", was fully revealed as a promotional single.[10] The title Guilty Gear Strive was revealed in a trailer in November 2019.[11]

According to the game's producer Akira Katano, the team aimed to appeal to more players by making the gameplay of Strive easier to comprehend compared to previous Guilty Gear games, instead of making it easier. He reasoned that with many fighting games, spectators and casual players would have a hard time understanding higher level play and lose interest in watching or improving.[12] Unlike other entries, detailed explainations of the game's mechanics are absent from the game's tutorial as to "[...] show new players that it is possible to enjoy fighting games without knowing about the battle mechanics [...]".[13] The game's network play also does not include a Ranked Mode, a gameplay mode in videogames that match players based on their skill level, measured by matches won, as to not force players to constantly improve against more skilled opponents and to play at their own pace.[14]

The game was delayed in May 2020 to an unspecified 2021 release date due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] After its first public beta went live during February 2021, the game was delayed from April 9, 2021 to June 11, with the development team citing the game to improve the stability of online lobbies and online servers based on fan feedback for the reason behind its second delay.[16] [17] A second public beta was held during May 2021 to gather additional feedback.[18][19]

The arcade version of the game in Japan was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[20][21]

Release

Guilty Gear Strive released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Windows on June 11, 2021. The game will also be distributed via Sega to Japanese arcades. Cross-platform play is supported for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions. "Limited Edition" and "Ultimate Edition" editions were made available for pre-order; console players who get the latter received early access to the full game on June 8, 2021.[22] Ver. 1.05 added Korean voices, marking the 3rd game in the franchise to have a Korean dub, alongside Guilty Gear X Plus and Guilty Gear X2 #Reload.

Pre-release

During the public beta phase the game's netcode was highly praised by players.[23]

Reception

Guilty Gear Strive received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[24][25][26] IGN said "Guilty Gear Strive is a milestone 2D fighting game that raises the bar for anime-like fighters in terms of its visuals, online netcode, and sheer creativity found in all aspects of its design." GameSpot said "If you're up for a challenge, or just want a cool, sharp-looking fighting game to mess around with, Strive knows all the right moves."

The PlayStation 4 version of Guilty Gear: Strive sold 11,722 physical copies during its first week of release in Japan, making it the eighth bestselling retail game of the week in the country. During the same week, the PlayStation 5 version was the twenty-second bestselling retail game in Japan, with 3,547 physical copies being sold.[33]

The game entered the UK physical charts at number 26.

On July 16, 2021, Arc System Works announced the game had sold 500,000 copies.[34]

On Steam, the number of concurrent players reached a peak of 30,939, surpassing both Street Fighter V and Tekken 7.[35]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ギルティギア ストライヴ, Hepburn: Giruti Gia Sutoraivu, stylized as Guilty Gear -STRIVE-

References
  1. McWhertor, Michael (August 9, 2019). "Guilty Gear director calls 2020 sequel 'a complete reconstruction of the franchise'". Polygon. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  2. O'Connor, Alice (March 4, 2021). "Guilty Gear Strive delayed by two months following beta feedback". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  3. Ramsey, Robert (February 26, 2021). "Hands On: Guilty Gear Strive Is Shaping Up to Be the Next Great Fighting Game". Push Square. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  4. Guilty Gear -Strive- Release Date Announcement Trailer [English], retrieved 2021-05-31
  5. Guilty Gear -Strive- Season Pass 1 Playable Character #2 Trailer [English], retrieved 2021-08-15
  6. Guilty Gear -Strive- Season Pass 1 Playable Character #3 Trailer [English], retrieved 2021-11-14
  7. https://www.gematsu.com/2021/12/guilty-gear-strive-dlc-character-baiken-announced
  8. Romano, Sal (August 5, 2018). "New Guilty Gear title in development". Gematsu. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  9. McWhertor, Michael (August 5, 2019). "The new Guilty Gear looks gorgeous". Polygon. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  10. Ramsey, Robert (November 9, 2019). "New Guilty Gear's Rocking Theme Song 'Smell of the Game' Is Now on Spotify". Push Square. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  11. Mejia, Ozzie (November 18, 2019). "The next Guilty Gear game adds Faust and an official title". Shacknews. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  12. Katano, Akira. "デベロッパーズバックヤード第三回公開". ARC SYSTEM WORKS OFFICIAL WEB. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  13. "Sixth volume of "Developer's Backyard"(6/4 Release)". www.guiltygear.com/ggst/. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  14. Gordon, Justin (19 July 2021). "'Some leftover [online] features are difficult to use and not intuitive...' — Arc System Works explains feature cut from Strive". Event Hubs. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  15. Yin-Poole, Wesley (May 15, 2020). "Guilty Gear Strive delayed to early 2021". Eurogamer. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  16. Prescott, Shaun (March 4, 2021). "Gorgeous anime fighter Guilty Gear Strive delayed due to reviled lobby system". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  17. Adams, Kai (March 26, 2021). "Guilty Gear Strive Release Date Postponed". Lawod. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  18. "Open Beta Test #2 Announcement". www.guiltygear.com/ggst/. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  19. Sinha, Ravi. "Guilty Gear Strive Trailer Prepares for Second Open Beta". Gaming Bolt. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  20. "アーケード版稼働時期変更のお知らせ". www.guiltygear.com/ggst/. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  21. Gordon, Justin (2 June 2021). "Japanese arcade version of Guilty Gear Strive delayed due to COVID-19". Event Hubs. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  22. Stenbuck, Kite (March 30, 2021). "Guilty Gear Strive Early Access Will Now Include All Launch Content". Siliconera. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  23. Oloman, Jordan (February 17, 2021). "The Fighting Game Community Is Very Impressed With Guilty Gear Strive's Netcode". IGN. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  24. "Guilty Gear -Strive- for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  25. "Guilty Gear -Strive- for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  26. "Guilty Gear -Strive- for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  27. Dozsa, Preston (12 September 2021). "Guilty Gear Strive Review". Computer Games Magazine. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  28. Van Allen, Eric (12 September 2021). "Review: Guilty Gear Strive". Destructoid. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  29. Yin-Poole, Wesley (12 September 2021). "Guilty Gear Strive review - finally, a Guilty Gear for all fighting game fans". Eurogamer. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  30. Epstein, Mike (12 September 2021). "Guilty Gear Strive Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  31. Saltzman, Mitchell (12 September 2021). "Guilty Gear Strive Review". IGN. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  32. "Guilty Gear Strive Review (PS5) | Aces high". Push Square. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  33. Romano, Sal (June 17, 2021). "Famitsu Sales: 6/7/21 – 6/13/21 [Update]". Gematsu. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  34. "Guilty Gear Strive Smashes Through 500,000 Sales, First DLC Character Revealed Next Week". 16 July 2021.
  35. "As Guilty Gear Strive punches through 300k sold, dataminer unearths potential DLC characters list". Eurogamer. 15 June 2021.
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