Since Guilty Gear first arrived on Sony’s PlayStation in 1998, singeing the air with furious guitar shredding, it’s always been a head turner. While graphically, its goth-rock anime stylings have dazzled with each iteration, Arc System Works’ foremost achievement is in managing to differentiate itself from Capcom’s heavily aped fighting game paradigm. That said, with the series becoming so increasingly convoluted over the last 26 years, ostracising many a would-be player as a result, a redress of sorts was needed. It's here that Guilty Gear Strive steps in.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Strive remains tonally as it ever was: all-leather and metal; characters that sit somewhere between glam rock and BDSM fetishists; and a blaze of raucous, revved, spectacular battling. Where Guilty Gear XRD (2014) more closely resembled its predecessors, Strive totally overhauls its character models to be larger and more detailed, from muscle ripples to flailing buckles, and introduces new features while removing some others.

Strive’s goal in attempting to freshen up Guilty Gear is streamlining aspects of its fighting game DNA, and simplifying what was becoming an overbearingly complex series. That’s not to say it’s been retooled primarily for newcomers, but more that it’s been pared back and rethought to be more accommodating. This works well on the whole, demanding that you play through initial tutorials, and easing you in with Arcade and Survival Modes, Combo Search Modes, clean command lists, and Mission Modes that require you to pull off certain tricks to progress between rounds.

While the Roman Cancel has been around since Guilty Gear XX Reload, in Strive it has been simplified. By slamming three buttons, and depending on the level of your Tension Gauge meter, the Roman Cancel has blue, purple, or red states that trigger offensive or defensive properties. Blue and Red cancels, for example, are aggressive, either in neutral or during attack, and help to extend combos beyond their natural end point; while Purple cancels are defensive, helping you escape terminal battery by buffering your opponent away. This system is integral to Strive’s strategic heart, and learning to utilise it can often swing matches at higher levels.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

The Wall Break, initiated by fulfilling certain conditions while hammering an opponent at the edge of the screen, will crash you through to expanded areas of the stage, not dissimilar to Dead or Alive. It’s a controversial tweak for series loyalists in that it resets the action, killing off set play strategies; and, since any seasoned player will often attempt to force someone into a corner, wall breaks are often unavoidable. On the plus side, though, it’s advantageous for newcomers, giving them respite once back on their feet, and removes the Dustloop exploits that would see a player caught in repeated attacks. Either way you slice it, it’s a major part of the rebalancing that makes Strive a fresh Guilty Gear experience.

With a whopping 28-strong roster thanks to the inclusion of DLC characters locked in prior releases, from Jack-O (strike a pose!) to Slayer, there are more characters here than in any other Guilty Gear title. And, it’s a game that plays as beautifully as one has come to expect from Arc System Works. It retains its double jumps, dashes, and ranged hops, and above all the flashiness it's incredibly deep.

Its larger sprites feel weighty and muscular when stringing together even the simplest routines. Blows positively resonate, pyrotechnic visual feedback lighting up the screen, and getting a handle on a specific character’s moves and combinations is incredibly satisfying. Arc System Works' creative design really shines, from vampires to ninja, all with different play types. These range from balanced characters like Baiken and Anji to specific styles like Rushdown, Power, Zoning and Ranged. Learning certain characters requires more time and attention, but there's certainly something for everyone, and for the diehards, everything for someone.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

Yet, arguably the most impressive aspect of this nearly four-year-old fighting game, is how well it’s been ported to Nintendo’s Switch. Indeed, it’s somewhat startling to find it running at a clean 60fps without batting an eyelid. Loading is relatively fast, and the experience is as clean as a whistle, with any perceptible input lag reduced to nominal levels. It’s smooth, fast, and essentially exactly as it should be - and that screams effort on behalf of the development team.

Giant 3D edifices pass by in the backgrounds, from whale-shaped airships to populated promenades floating downriver, while beefy cel-shaded sprites duke it out until a super attack is produced, whereby the seemingly 2D becomes fascinatingly 3D as the camera zooms in to frame the action.

Our only real gripe with the opulent visuals are some of the background choices. While the simpler arrangements with flatter colours fare better, some, like the canyon, are a bit of a visual stew, clashing with the foreground sprites and making an already busy game feel somewhat busier. On their own, both sprites and backgrounds are beautifully finished, but together there are moments where we feel the art design team could have better-understood layer separation in a way that is rarely an issue in Capcom games.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

The pre-match introductions are also unnecessarily lengthy, featuring a pointless monologue, and it's unlikely you'll ever bother watching one twice once the loading is complete.

Strive is stuffed to the rafters with modes. There are enough training options to turn you into a seasoned pro, as well as interactive glossaries and timelines documenting every character and plot beat from the series’ inception. The Story Mode is the equivalent of a Netflix miniseries spread over five hours of animation, and it’s well done. Sadly, it's bewildering for newcomers not familiar with the lore, and the video compression leaves something to be desired.

There’s a huge social aspect here, too, some of which may irk purists who just want to get down to the fight. You can pose characters in 3D scenery bubbles and upload them to the Gallery, where others can view them online (no upskirts allowed). It’s also possible to watch other people’s match replays, which is useful if you have a friend list or are out to study techniques. You can also accrue “W$”, an internal currency that allows you to go fishing (literally, out of a window), and is a rather roundabout way of randomly unlocking bonus audio tracks, hairstyle colours, and other adjustments.

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Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)

Finally, the online forum is fairly unique. Rather than Street Fighter 6’s fully 3D hub world, Strive is quite the opposite. You create and customise a rudimentary pixel-based avatar, who then trots about cute 2D stages within a tower - each level representing increasing skill levels. Here, if you spot another player, you can head over, exchange some simple preset messages, and challenge them to a battle. If they’re busy and locked in a bout, you can examine their profile, stats, and even view their saved online replays.

When we played on day one of release, the tower’s various stages were oddly empty, especially in Europe, and we only found a few high-level players online in Japan. By the time you’re reading this, it will hopefully be abuzz. There's no crossplay, predictably, but the rollback netcode, as with the rest of the game, is polished to a shine and ran nigh-on flawlessly for us. We tested several online matches with different characters and there was barely a blip in sight.

Conclusion

Strive is a bold step in a new direction for the Guilty Gear series. Its visual creativity and attention to detail without fault, Arc System Works has again gone above and beyond in its graphical evolution. True, there are some background clashes, but when all is said and done, it’s dazzling. With all DLC characters unlocked, there’s a lifetime of learning here, as well as tons of modes and bonuses to pore through.

While Strive is perhaps only the first step for Guilty Gear’s new evolutionary arc, and its sequels will no doubt improve certain aspects and find a way to better appease fans new and old, it remains undeniably solid. The most impressive aspect, though, is the strength of the port here, crafted with a kind of magic to perform near enough 1:1 with its multi-platform counterparts. And the soundtrack? Whether it's your heaven or hell, it most certainly rocks.

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