GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-

:)

No clue when I got 21 hours on this game, but yeah I'd recommend it. Unique characters that all do different things, only con is that they give you barely any characters on the base game version. Anyway not much to say I didn't actually play that much but when I did, I enjoyed it.

I genuinely love Guilty Gear. One of my favorite things about this game is just how incredibly different the characters are from one another. Almost every character feels like their own completely unique experience, with different mechanics, gameplans, and ways of approaching a match. No two characters really feel the same, and that variety makes experimenting with the roster so much fun. The music deserves its own massive shoutout, too. The amount of work and passion that clearly goes into the soundtrack is insane. The songs aren't just something playing in the background—they feel like a huge part of what gives Guilty Gear its identity. This game also got me to try an archetype I normally would have never touched. I ended up discovering that I actually really enjoy playing characters outside of my usual comfort zone, and that's something I didn't expect going into the game. And honestly, Guilty Gear is surprisingly simple once you actually spend a few hours learning it. At first, all the terminology, mechanics, and character-specific stuff can look overwhelming, but once you get past that initial wall, everything starts to click. The game has a lot of depth without feeling like you need to understand everything immediately just to have fun. And of course, I have to give a special shoutout to Jack-O'. She is an absolute menace, and playing her has been one of the most fun experiences I've had in a fighting game. Finally, the community deserves some credit. In my experience, the Guilty Gear community has been surprisingly welcoming and encouraging. There are plenty of people willing to answer questions, explain mechanics, help newer players, and genuinely want to see others improve. Guilty Gear has been a game that I expected to enjoy, but ended up appreciating far more than I thought I would. The characters, music, gameplay, and community all come together to make something that feels incredibly unique. I'm really glad I gave this game a chance.

Buying this game is like buying a music album with a fighting game for free!

Happy chaos is literally me

After playing this game for hundreds of hours I cannot say that I recommend it. This is for a handful of reasons both in and out of gameplay that I'll get into. TLDR: The game is very expensive and has many small additive reasons that make the experience frustrating. The Good: - Visuals are phenomenal. I cannot think of any games that match the quality of animation off of the top of my head. - The characters for the most part control very well and feel very fluid while also having having very fun and unique personalities. - The game has a solid tutorial and training mode for those who would like a solid start. - The soundtrack is very good for those who enjoy heavier music genres in the for progressive metal. The game also includes most if not every song from previous titles. The Bad: - The price. Almost every modern fighting game struggles with this issue. Even if you get this game and some of the season passes on sale it is likely going to cost you around $50 USD. - The UI in game does very little in terms of giving the player good feedback on why certain situations result the way they do, which can lead to many frustrations at any point of experience. - The networking only truly works if both players have a solid connection. Playing online modes such as ranked can yield very inconsistent results if not filtered properly. - The visuals, while excellent, in many instances lack clarity. The combination of the colors used and poor UI elements mixed in with how frustrating fighting game mechanics can be in general can cause a large amount of indirect frustration that many players may be unaware of. - The game lacks any proper single player content. It contains an arcade mode and some other smaller options, but both story modes are 2 hour feature films included with the game. With all of that being said I do believe most people will find some enjoyment in this game. However, if you're someone who's looking for a long term game that you can come back to whenever you get an itch for fighting games I would not recommend it. You can find games with less potential for frustration for a much more manageable cost, especially if you are patient to wait for a sale.

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