Guilty Gear: Strive

Guilty Gear Strive sets a new standard for anime-like fighting games with its visuals, stellar netcode, and flexible fighting system that encourages and rewards creativity.

Guilty Gear Strive continues the series' legacy of complex and rewarding technical fighters, enhanced with a new look, characters, and ideas that bring its bold, complex gameplay to new heights.

With Guilty Gear Strive, Arc System Works has made its famously complex fighting game series easier to get into, but no less rewarding.

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.

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.

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.

It’s been such an incredibly long road for Guilty Gear. I actually cried in joy when Guilty Gear Xrd was first announced, bringing proper 2D fighting back under the reins Arc System Works. With Strive, my heart still fluttered, but for more than just getting a new fighting game in this franchise I so love. I marvel at what it means for fighting games as a whole. 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.

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 proves there's still some fight left in 2D gaming.

With Season 5, Guilty Gear Strive remains one of the most exciting and polished fighting games of recent years — both spectacular to watch and fascinating to master. While its content outside of versus modes isn’t the most generous and its learning curve can feel intimidating, its blend of accessibility, depth, and long-term support makes it a safe bet for any fan of 2D fighters, especially for players who are not into tag-team mechanics.