GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-

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.

On the flip side, the online mode in Guilty Gear -Strive- 100% lives up to the hype. The worst thing that happens to most fighters is that players jump off the game due to shoddy netcode. -Strive- does not have that problem at all and will likely continue to attract newcomers because of how smoothly everything feels. It’s a shame there isn’t cross-play between the PC and PlayStation versions, but both platforms are bound to find a dedicated niche that will be playing this for years to come.

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.