Official PlayStation Magazine - 04.2020

064

orfighting

amefans,

rcSystem

o rks

edsno

troduction.

coreseries,

iltyGear

Blazblue

chstarted

S1andPS3

ated

fightinggametournamentslikeEVO

foryearsnow.Ontopofthatthe

studio’sproducedsomeimpressive

franchise-ledeffortsintheshapes

ofPersona4 Arena,DragonBall

FighterZ,andGranblueFantasy

Versus.NowwithGuiltyGearStrive

(the“iv”inthetitleismeantto

denotethefourthtrueiterationof

theseries)thefightinggamestudio

istakingthegenrerightbacktothe

drawingboard.

“OverGuiltyGear’s20-yearhistory,

thefocuswastomakeeachupdate

moreexcitingandimpactfulthanthe

last,”saysDaisukeIshiwatari,the

series’creatorandchiefcreativeofficer

onGuiltyGearStrive.“Wetriedto

toneit downsomewhatwithGuilty

GearXrd,butit didn’taddressthe

mainissuewiththeseries–thegap

inabilitybetweenveteranplayersand

thosenewtothefranchise.”

Arc’sgamesareknownforbeing

fast-pacedandtechnical,witha high

skillceiling,allbrightlightsand

clashingcoloursthatrequiretwitchy

reflexestomaster.Butovertheyears

it’sbeenworkingtomakefighters

friendlierbyincludingmorein-depth

tutorialsandnewmodesthatassist

withcomboswithouttakingawaytoo

muchcontrol.

“Thefightinggamegenreis

competitivebynatureanddemandsa

highleveloftechniqueandexecution

ofplayers,sothereshouldbea clear

differencebetweenstrongplayersand

“THE FIGHTING

GAME GENRE [...]

DEMANDS A HIGH

LEVEL OF TECHNIQUE.”

If SolBadguy’sgotballs,

thenFaustisn’tafraidto

whackthemwithhis

heftybaseballbat.

Guilty Gear

(1998, PS1)

One of the slickest, fastest

fighters to be released on

PS1, Guilty Gear introduced

players to the relentless

action that came to define

the series.

Guilty Gear X

(2001, PS2)

Heading to PS2 meant

the game’s pixel art

could shine. Smoother

animations, plus a new

cancel system, made

combat quicker.

Guilty Gear X2

(2003, PS2)

Building on X’s groundwork,

X2 included more special

moves, expanded greatly

on the story, and added

the combo-breaking burst

knockback mechanic.

Guilty Gear Xrd: Sign

(2014, PS3)

After years of enhanced

ports of X2, Xrd moved

the visuals into 3D while

revising the gameplay

into one brand-new,

ultra-fast system.

Guilty Gear Xrd:

Rev 2 (2017, PS4)

With some tweaks

(including a rebalanced

cast), Xrd came to PS4

with all DLC fighters. It’s

one of the best-looking

brawlers on the console.

The road to Guilty Gear Strive has been a long one...

GEAR SHIFT

Faust can give his enemies truly discotastic big hair.

To what end? Your guess is as good as ours.