Shen Long Shao

A teaser trailer of the next GG Strive DLC has been released from the ArcRevo Japan of this year.

Who is the character? We all know it will be...

Back when Strive was known as Guilty Gear(2020), I was generally excited for the game. I made posts of what I thought about the artstyle, the redesigns shown, etc. There are some great soundtracks I really love and how the different Roman Cancels is implemented. New characters like Nagoriyuki and Goldlewis are great additions to the GG universe. And while I still think Strive is an okay game itself, I was starting to see red flags of its direction that I couldn’t ignore anymore. Time for a super long post! This topic will be split into multiple parts, so I hope you enjoy reading! THE GAMEPLAY PHILOSOPHY --------------------------------------------- Due to the nature of how fighting games are with patch updates, things naturally will change overtime. But I do think the general concept of what the developers are aiming for will remain the same. Multiple past interviews mention  how the intention is to make Guilty Gear’s gameplay less intimidating for new players, yet still maintaining the level of depth veterans love. Like in this one (Source: https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/sep/17/were-hoping-wed-be-able-eliminate-perception-game-looks-difficult-guilty-gear-directors-talk-simplifying-title-brand-new-ways/ ) Now I’m going to post pieces of another interview about the direction of Strive’s gameplay. When designing a new Guilty Gear, how do you think about the balance of bringing back old characters versus making new ones? Ishiwatari:  Especially for the existing characters, when we consider the balance, like with Sol or Ky, I think people have a way they imagine they're supposed to be played, a way that they feel that they're designed to be played. And when we make a completely new Guilty Gear like this one, I think we need to both shift and kind of reset that mindset. So it kind of opens up the possibility of, well, maybe Sol could be played like this, or maybe he's more of a character that would do those type of things. With a new game, it's a reexamination of all the existing characters and then adding other ways to play the game in addition. So that's how we maintain overall balance. Was it tempting to throw the old characters out, like Capcom did with Street Fighter III, when it was Ken and Ryu returning and everyone else was new? Ishiwatari:  Incidentally, Street Fighter III is one of my favorite fighting games. And I wouldn't necessarily say we're going to that extent. Kind of the approach for this is—let's say you take Ryu, the protagonist of the story, something we imagine a lot of the players are going to pick. And he was kind of really based around his shoryuken [Ryu's dragon-punch uppercut]. So the idea is, well, what if we take that away from his toolkit? And I'm sure most of the conversation would be "No, it's impossible, etc." But at least posing those questions and seeing what they might lead to is kind of the process we're going through. Source: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/11/interview-with-guilty-gear-creator-daisuke-ishiwatari/ The biggest questions I think needs to be asked when companies do something like this is, “Other than wanting to do something different in general, why do you think the characters’ moves and playstyle need to be shifted and reset? And how do you think it’ll benefit not only new players, but veteran players of the series?” I think these questions are important because if Strive is suppose to be an reconstruction and not a reboot, it shouldn’t strictly be “different for the sake of being different”. It needs to be that if it’s different, what makes it better than the last game and what it has to offer to keep someone playing long-term. To challenge this further, GGX2(and Accent Core) already did this by implementing EX versions of the characters. To give an example, I’m going to show how Sol’s gameplay style is from GGX2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F78OIRYu3uk Next is comparing it to his EX version from Accent Core(it’s also in GGX2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARoalD44pU0&list=PLCBCjsHkVhvRin0ji0sYL8WyKYkm_goN9&index=1 See how not only his moves are different, but his normals and how his Overdrives are also done differently?  Next  is highlighting one of the red-flags regarding Strive’s gameplay; “What if we take that away from the toolkit?”  This wouldn’t be bad if there were new and better moves to compensate, but Strive is too focused on taking away toolkits just so the characters can fit into its limited gameplay rules. For example, look at Anji’s movelist in GGX2.(Skip to 1:21 and watch onward) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me3SHZgFbk4 Now let’s look at Anji in Strive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N69NVbLcb_A While I do like the ground twirl, Kou, and his Overdrives, Anji’s gameplay revolves around Fuujin. Its follow-up moves from the previous games are watered down, and there’s no extra moves to make it feel fresh. It’ll make it feel boring very quickly, and he isn’t the only one. Many characters(including the DLC ones) have this problem. It’s a shame because Strive has potential with giving characters unique abilities like Ky’s Shock State(which for some reason that’s been toned down from the Betas) or how Chipp can wall run and juggle the opponent upward while doing so. And Potemkin’s grappling style is so much fun and feels powerful, along with Heavenly Potemkin Buster is one of the best Overdrives visually. They really should’ve pushed for unique character abilities and extra moves to replace ones that were taken away. But Strive doesn’t seem to have clear a direction, it’s “let’s throw darts at the wall and hope something sticks” is the pattern I’m seeing. The direction of Strive’s gameplay also contradicts itself. For example, one of the things taken away from previous games is the opponent getting dizzy. The reason they gave is to keep the action moving and so the other player doesn’t feel helpless. They mention how they increased the damage of the game so players didn’t need to rely on doing long combos for damage. But if you play Arcade Mode perfectly, you get to fight Extreme Nagoriyuki, a stronger boss version of the character. The best way to beat Extreme Nagoriyuki is....doing combos so he can get dizzy, and do an air combo against him(the longer it is, the better it is damage-wise before it scales when his life is low). Trying to damage him any other way would either take too long(due to the damage of the player’s moves, etc. is heavily decreased) or he kills you in seconds since his damage output is doubled. This is obviously on purpose so the player has a chance, but it would also mean if they stuck with the no getting dizzy, etc. rules like they said, there wouldn’t be a way to beat Extreme Nagoriyuki(or harder than usual). To give another example, I’m going to post pieces of a past Development Backyard.

Next I would like to discuss Mission Mode, where you can various techniques for GGST and fighting games in general. We aimed to show new players that it's possible to enjoy fighting games without knowing about the battle mechanics by opting not to include explanations of the mechanics in the Tutorial Mode and by reworking the matching system. However, we would recommend players who want to improve and get stronger to play Mission Mode. There are over 120 missions total between explanations of mechanics, techniques, combos, and counter strategies for individual characters. The missions are divided by difficulty level, so there's no need to try clearing all of them at once. This mode is great for when you feel you've run into a wall during your matches or when you don't know what to practice next. Source: https://www.guiltygear.com/ggst/en/news/post-1184/ Either the translator isn’t properly conveying the developers’ words or it’s another sign it’s a contradiction with the game’s direction; I think it’s both. Part of not properly conveying the developers’ words is what they’re trying to say is new players aren’t obligated to know everything right away and just allow themselves to just get the basics for now, and learn the advanced stuff later. But why I do also think their statement is a contradiction? The enjoyment of just playing the game without knowing and understanding how it works isn’t going to last very long, especially against a experienced player or even a harder COM. So they would need to know the game mechanics, etc. eventually. So they can’t really enjoy the game, lol. But since Strive is suppose to simplify things compared to the previous games, let’s compare the Tutorial Modes from Strive and Revelator! Starting with Strive’s....

Now let’s look at Revelator’s...

Yesterday, there was finally another character reveal for GG Strive. According to the DLC roadmap, this character is the last one for this year while the last 2 for Season 2 will be within next year(2023). And it’s....

Welcome to another character reveal reaction post! This time it’s...

Bridget! Another character who makes a return after not being in the GG games in a while(since Accent Core Plus). I knew this character was going to return eventually and I think it was a smart decision on Arc System Works to reveal now than much later. While I always thought Bridget’s gameplay is unique and like the light-heartedness he brings to the series, part of me wouldn’t miss him if he never returned. But since Bridget is here, time to give my thoughts! Unfortunately, I can’t play Bridget yet to see how he is because he’s the 1st character in Season 2 Pass and think it doesn’t make sense to buy it without seeing who the other characters are. The first thing I noticed is Roger is nerfed(both in looks and his attacks), and while Bridget seems to have his rolls and some of his iconic moves, it’s definitely tamer than compared to X2. To give you an idea, here’s a video of Bridget in X2(skip to 1:20 to see the specials and Overdrives)

Welcome to another Guilty Gear Strive related post! Although there hasn’t been any big GGS related news yet, there is a survey about Season 2, which can be found here . I also decided to take a screenshot of some of the questions they asked.  

Normally, I would be excited to see surveys like this because I think “Oh, they want to know what players want in the game! I must vote for what I want!” While I do think some surveys for games do work that way, sadly not all of them. Remember the character survey way back?

If there was to be taken seriously, we should’ve gotten Johnny, Dizzy, and probably Bridget in Season 1. But the biggest sign I can tell to not take this survey seriously is the list of answers they give you. For example... 1. “Additional Story Content”:  Why would you need to ask if people want to have something that will be in a game anyway? XDD A better option would be “What character(s) would you like to see have focus in story mode?” 2. “Additional Single-player Offline Modes”: Another “would you want this feature we’ll put in the game anyway?”  3. “Changes to UI and Lobby Designs”: This alone should let you know not to take this survey seriously because many people complained about this during the game’s development and didn’t change it(except for some of the UI designs). They shouldn’t need to ask this. If they truly cared, they would have asked “How would you like it to be designed?” and give you some options on a general design idea. 4. “Additional Special Moves”: .....LOL! It’s sad when a survey asks for something basic for a new entry in a video game. That’s like going to a restaurant and the owner asks, “Hey, would you like us to add napkins, straws, and drinks to our restaurant?” Time to review bomb(survey bomb?), Mwahahahaha! XD But seriously, I did give my constructive complaints about things the game needs to add and work on. And lastly, the “what character(s) you want in the game, but we’re really not going to listen to you” survey part. XDD

Another Story has been released for a while, so I finally took the time to watch it. I was very interested to see how the characters who weren’t included will be expanded on along with the lore. Was “Another Story” worth the wait? Time to find out! (Note: This will mostly be a spoiler free review until after June 10th, which is when the big patch happens for the game. ). One of the things I do like about Another Story is the action sequences. The animation of the fight scenes, special effects, and movement is notably improved from the previous games. While not perfect, it isn’t as stiff or has an overly strange “pause” when there’s a clash. And the camera angles of not only the action, but also the scenery!

It’s been a while since I made a GG Strive related meme. Time to do more of those! Staring with.....

This is extremely long overdue, so I’m sorry for the late post on this one. To make up for it, I thought it would be better to post my thoughts and reactions to the last 2 characters for the Season One Pass. Starting with....

Baiken! This character has been promoted alot more since last year like being a guest DLC in Samsho(Samurai Shodown a.k.a. Samurai Spirits) and others, especially since how many(mainly in the West) love this character. At first, I was a little surprised to see her earlier than I thought, but the more I thought about, I realized it’s better to have her now than later, especially since she’s been made DLC again. Appearance-wise, Baiken is mostly the same with the exception of the beautiful new artstyle and how her pink hair has a reddish salmon rather than the soft pink in Revelator.  Gameplay-wise, Baiken’s style has been reworked to be “accessible” to those who love her as a character, but always found her previous gameplay “intimidating” to get into. I personally don’t play Baiken in the previous GG games other than one time initially and it was the same in GG Strive. I never found Baiken’s playstyle a problem; for me, it was just a matter of taste and it seems it might be the case here. When reading through some discussions of people who main her from the beginning, they didn’t like how stripped her the essence of being a counter type to being a bit more aggressive and losing alot of her fun tools. But those who play her casually seem to like the change, so it seems to be mixed. On to the next and final DLC revealed for Season 1....

The latest DLC character for GG Strive has been revealed just a few days ago and it’s......