Guilty Gear -Strive-

What we have here is a prime example of how to do fighting games the right way. Guilty Gear -Strive- has enough for single players as well as the online crowd. It doesn’t just cater to the advanced player, but rather keeps a good balance whether you are an expert or just a beginner. Stunning to look at and listen to, and a total joy to actually play, Guilty Gear -Strive- is one that should not be missed. Even if you’ve never played a GG game before, you owe it to yourself to experience this title.

Guilty Gear -Strive- is the premier fighting game for the next generation of gaming. At launch, the experience feels complete with an in-depth single-player, robust multiplayer, and plenty of great extras. It has, without a doubt, the best 2.5D graphics featuring unreal fluidity in its animation. The gameplay is superbly refined and engaging, featuring a roster of imaginative characters with uniquely contrasting fighting styles. What once was an obscure fighting game has now become a genre leader, like a small-town rock band selling out stadiums.

Guilty Gear Strive is an absolutely incredible fighting game with its gorgeous visuals, sublime gameplay, kickass soundtrack, and robust online play.

Guilty Gear -Strive- is an astonishing example of masterful visual fidelity, quality fighting gameplay and weird multiplayer design decisions. It comes with a not that great array of characters and some seriously slow server connection, but being the complete visual masterpiece and possessing one of the best gameplay the series has to offer, it is hard not to recommend it to any fighter or anime fan.

Sets the bar for fighting games on PS5. Watch out Street Fighter and put your dukes up Tekken, because a new challenger has entered the ring. [Issue#3, p.140]

While Guilty Gear Strive definitely has shortcomings to consider, they feel almost insignificant when tallying up everything the game does so well. It’s not just another Guilty Gear, but instead a defining moment for the series. In a lot of ways, it's so far ahead of its peers in terms of online functionality and accessibility, two areas the genre fails in time and again. If you've been too intimidated to seriously get into fighting games, it's hard to think of a better game than Strive. If you're a battle hardened veteran, there's no reason to wait. Jump in and start shredding. You'll lose countless hours in the blink of an eye.

This is the best Guilty Gear to enter the series, and one of the best games in the franchise. Accessible, incredible deep and espectacular, Strive is a must-have for 2D fighting fans.

If you can overlook the long waiting times when trying to connect to online servers, Guilty Gear - Strive is the place to be for any fighter fan. It's a truly amazing experience, both on- and offline, with an interesting story and wonderful graphics to boot. Absolutely worth your money.

Ever since its announcement, there have been concerns about Guilty Gear Strive and the new direction it’s going: concerns that it would try too hard to make the game approachable at the cost of depth, that it would oversimplify things, that it’d lose what makes Guilty Gear Guilty Gear. And sure, Strive is a different beast, with a different tempo and a different focus, but it’s still got all the quintessential pieces of Guilty Gear in place: the tactical depth, the interplay between systems that creates fascinating strategic opportunities, the rich characters, the hype, the big juicy combos. It’s a little lacking in bells and whistles and the lobby system leaves a lot to be desired, but the core of the game is rock solid—and, really, that’s what’s most important.

As I’ve said a few times in this review so far, Arc System Works are masters of the genre, and Guilty Gear Strive is a showcase of that mastery. It might not be the most comprehensive fighting game out there, and I do think the developers have made a mistake in giving up on drawing new players into the franchise with a story mode that assumes you’ve been playing Guilty Gear for years. However, those quibbles melt away the instant you get into the action itself. There’s no other word to describe it: it’s sublime.

Guilty Gear Strive is a different kind of Guilty Gear. Veteran players may not appreciate some of the changes, but there's no denying that this is still an exceptional fighting game. On a mechanical level, Strive is immensely satisfying and hugely rewarding. On a visual level, it's quite simply unmatched in its genre, and the same can be said of its outstanding online netcode. Where it matters, Strive is a borderline masterpiece.

Guilty Gear's latest chapter is its most accessible one yet, a righteous display of power and attitude that unleashes the sickest of heavy metal guitar licks and unrelenting style. Its online matchmaking may still need some work before it's ready for the main event, but Arc System Works has delivered a captivating display of coolness and action.

Guilty Gear Strive is a masterclass in design. Each asset has been lovingly crafted with painstaking detail resulting in the best visuals in the genre. The lack of gameplay in the story mode may not appeal to everyone but I applaud their decision to not shoehorn fights into the narrative. Being the most accessible game in the history of the franchise, newcomers should definitely check out this fighter as it’s one of the best ever made.

Guilty Gear -Strive- sets a new gold standard for fighting games. Everything from the netcode to the presentation has been polished to a shiny sheen, and its incredibly high skill ceiling will keep players coming back for years to come.

Guilty Gear Strive is the perfect time to get into this amazing series. It’s more accessible than ever and absolutely stunning to watch. There’s still room for improvement in terms of the single-player modes, and the whole retro online matching setup is quaint but just adds unnecessary complication to the multiplayer. Otherwise, this is a solid fighting game worth playing.

Guilty Gear Strive pushes the fighting game genre into the next generation with immense style and engrossing gameplay.

Guilty Gear -Strive- is a great starting point for newcomers to the series. In addition to great gameplay, it also offers a visual and auditory feast.

For a PS5 owner desperate for a 2D fighter to add to their collection, this is a no brainer. With a long history of 2D fighters in this reviewer's back catalogue Guilty Gear Strive has gained a place in the top tier pantheon of the genre. Fantastic graphics, excellent gameplay that has the perfect balance of easy to pick up, difficult to master and some real thought put into the obligatory online mode mean it is likely to remain unbeaten for a long time to come. Maybe until the next entry in the series is released. Brilliant Brawling.

It's a fast-paced and fun fighter with a colourful cast and some truly excellent tunes. It's easy to play it for hours online as an experienced fighting game player, or just blast it for 30 minutes with some friends over the weekend. It can be chaotic and unpredictable, but it's always gorgeous and engaging. Guilty Gear Strive is easily the best fighting game of 2021 so far, and there doesn't seem to be much on the horizon that can top it. If you're looking for a new fighting game to play this year, this is the easiest decision you'll ever make.

One of the best looking video games ever made and the most accessible Guilty Gear has ever been, with impressively deep combat and memorable characters.

Guilty Gear Strive is the best looking fighting game in a long time and its captivating and layered gameplay is absolutely engaging.

Guilty Gear Strive is quite possibly one of the best fighting games of the last decade. An accessible yet profound combat system combined with a stunning graphic style make it a must buy for fans of the genre.

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. It’s definitely a different flavor of Guilty Gear, with a heavier focus on fighting in the neutral and a slightly slowed down pace, but it maintains the series soul with absolutely wild character designs, flexible combo system, and a level of creativity both in its presentation and mechanics that is second to none in the genre.

Guilty Gear Strive is a whole new level of beast. It represents the most visually gorgeous, the most full-featured, and the most technically sound that modern 2D fighting games have to offer, and anything that hopes to compete with it has quite the work cut out for it.

Guilty Gear -Strive- becomes one of the best launches of 2021 and, at the same time, one of the biggest references for the fighting genre. Arc System Works delivers a new masterpiece that, despite some bad design choices, is as flawless as enjoyable, recommendable for newcomers to this style of games and for veterans that are used to combat titles.

If you’re new to the Guilty Gear series, there isn’t a better place to start than -Strive-. If you’re a returning veteran, enough has changed to keep things feeling fresh, but I have a feeling you’ll be up to speed in no time. While definitely complex and at times a bit intimidating, it does a fantastic job of initiating players. Guilty Gear -Strive- never holds back. If you remotely enjoy fighting games, this is a stunner you shouldn’t miss.

A great new entry for a cult classic. Guilty Gear Strive is one the most impressive games in terms of graphics that you can found out there. Also, it is a pretty solid fighting game.

One of the most spectacular fighting games ever made, with game dynamics that may appeal to any player... Although its main focus is online gaming. It may feel a little too shallow in content.

Guilty Gear Strive is arguably the best 2D competitive fighting game available, but the content at launch is likely to be divisive. Online gamers will love the highly acclaimed Rollback, while solo players might find the singleplayer offer to be inadequate.

Noting Strive was difficult, because it really depends on what you expect from the game. If you're a FGC veteran, or a beginner who plans on investing time for discovering fighting games, Strive is a masterpiece. Beautiful game with rock/metal songs, GGST will give you all the keys to become the best fighter in the world, thanks to his amazing tutorials and rollback netcode. But if you just plan on playing offline, just in the solo mode, you should avoid it, because that is not where Strive shines. And if you just want a fighting game to play with friends at home from time to time, well you can give it a shot because the characters are really cool, and you'll have a lot of fun.

Guilty Gear has always been a stylized series, but it’s a fighting game with a lot of depth that rewards those who practice and learn all of its unique quirks and techniques. Strive makes some smart changes that simplify some past techniques without sacrificing the soul of what makes it so much fun to play. Serious fighting game fans will appreciate its complexity and promising netcode, and everyone else will enjoy its vivid cast and rewarding, flashy combo system.

Guilty Gear Strive continues the series' legacy as a flashy fighter with loads of depth, but it also does its best to shed the idea that it's inaccessible. The tweaks and new mechanics make for a fighter that's still a blast to play, and the upgraded presentation, along with the fast load times for the PS5 iteration, make it eye-catching. Provided you don't mind the online lobby system, Strive is an excellent fighting game. Just make sure to keep it patched if you want a decent offline experience.

Despite a rocky development cycle amongst a series of open and closed betas that had the FGC divided in their impressions of the game, Strive has released in its best state so far and presents itself as a solid foundation to build upon for many iterations to come in the future.

The title remains a good vent, sublimated by an artistic direction of thunder.

If I was looking for an on-ramp to understanding Guilty Gear or even one-on-one anime fighters, this is the game to do it with; and what’s here looks ready to act as a platform for more to come, as there will no doubt be balance changes and new characters to come. I can lament what it might be missing, but Guilty Gear Strive is also what I needed right now: a good, solid, very online-capable fighting game with plenty of big swords, charging dolphins, and doctors with questionable credentials to go around.

Optically completely convincing 2D fighting game, which especially wants to give beginners a platform to get into the franchise.

With Guilty Gear -Strive-, Arc System Works has found a formula to make accessibility and depth coexist. The characters are memorable and the game mechanics guarantee always varied games, despite more limited move lists and combo routes than in the past.

Guilty Gear Strive is a simply stunning anime fighter with an astonishing depth of competitive gameplay. It does all it can to welcome newcomers with an extensive training mode and streamlined fighting mechanics, but it is still very much the beloved Guilty Gear niche experience, and rightly so. You can't have too much of a good thing, and Guilty Gear is certainly a good thing, so it's a slight shame that there isn't more content to sink our teeth into. Nevertheless, as a competitive fighting experience, it is still a fantastic entry that fans of the series will adore.

Guilty Gear Strive is a hyperbolic exercise in style in the fighting genre, the next step in a path initiated by Arc System Works that combines form and substance to create a new instalment that reaffirms the strength of a saga that, despite being niche, is practically undeniable. Lucid to achieve that "easy to play, difficult to master", as precise as it is enjoyable in combat and concise in its proposal. A must for fans of the genre and a safe bet for anyone in the mood for great fights to the rhythm of good guitar playing.

Guilty Gear -Strive- is an excellent fighting game with gorgeous visuals, but feels like it's lacking in content. There are essentially only three modes of play, arcade, survival, and online. While the complex inputs and lack of a decent tutorial will leave some players in the dust, fighting feels so good you won’t want to put the controller down.

Accessibility and style are both Guilty Gear -Strive-'s strongest suits but some baffling omissions and online problems keep Arc System Works' latest from entering the pantheon of elite fighters.

Guilty Gear -Strive- rocked my socks off with its gorgeous visuals, kick-ass music, and tight fighting gameplay. I can't wait until it releases so I can spend hours beating up all sorts of folks in its impressive online multiplayer mode.

Strive is a mechanically sophisticated 2D fighting game with sensational presentation and beautiful visuals - and one very costly problem with time-consuming server communication.

The latest instalment of the Guilty Gear series is one of the most beautiful fighting games I’ve ever encountered and it plays great, partly thanks to the new wall break mechanic that lets you avoid being beaten to a pulp while trapped in a corner. What’s disappointing is the fact that we will have to wait a couple of months for the game to show its full potential with the addition of new characters and arenas, because right now its content is rather scant. [08/2021, p.56]

Despite the intimidating amount of lore and extensive techniques needed to fully enjoy the story and combat, Guilty Gear -Strive- is a thoroughly enjoyable game.

Guilty Gear Strive is a great fighting game, visually stunning and incredibly satisfying to play, but the lack of content can be painful.

Arc System Works have put together an attractive blend of “easy to learn, difficult to master” mechanics, with all the tutorials you could possibly need to improve your skills. The pace is not quite as blistering as previous titles, and series stalwarts may find the streamlining too much to bear, but Strive shows real potential for depth of personal expression. With many changes aimed at attracting new players, Strive is looking to build its fanbase whilst still giving plenty for veterans of the series to get their teeth into. But can it have its cake and eat it? Will newcomers keen to learn feel encouraged to hang around once they hit their personal plateau? Conversely, will pro players and content creators find enough here to keep them entertained beyond the first few months? The stage has been set, it just remains to see whether people will take their seat.

Guilty Gear -Strive- excels in all the areas you’d expect it to – the music is sick, the characters look crazy, the fighting is fun, and May players deserve nothing. It’s an old dog that's been taught new tricks, and all of those tricks are rad as hell. At the same time, it feels like it can be so much more. The story mode is clunky and the Online Mode can use some work, but I’m sure as post-launch support ramps up we’ll see stellar improvements to both those fronts.

The fighting in Guilty Gear Strive, though, is impeccable. And that's what matters most. Like all Guilty Gears, it is a game of extremes. If you've tried the series and fallen off because of its complexities, I wouldn't expect a different outcome. 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.

Guilty Gear Strive is a beautiful, technically complex fighter that sports a great soundtrack, incredibly varied roster, fantastic teaching tools, and some of the best netcode in the genre all while making Guilty Gear more accessible without sacrificing too much of its technical depth. While its online lobbies need work, it's easily one of the best fighters on the market today. Go buy it and start rockin'.

Guilty Gear Strive is a fantastic entry to the series and to the genre itself. For long-time fans of the series, the story and gameplay will only reinforce the parts of Guilty Gear that have kept them playing and following along. For both those new to fighting games and seasoned veterans, Guilty Gear Strive presents a satisfying system that balances accessibility and mastery with care and confidence.