Video Game / Guilty Gear -STRIVE-

Spoilers for all Guilty Gear games preceding this one, including Guilty Gear Xrd and its expansions will be left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

That is bullshit blazing! Still my heart is blazing!

Mankind knew that they cannot change society
So instead of reflecting on themselves
They blamed the beasts

Heaven or Hell

-Match Intro Narration

Guilty Gear -STRIVE- is the eighth main installment in the Guilty Gear series. It was released for the Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 on June 8, 2021, Steam on June 11, 2021, and Sega's ALL.Net service on July 29, 2021. A version for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X and for Windows 10 and 11 PC's was released on March 6, 2023.

-STRIVE- presents a game that is similar to prior Guilty Gear entries but also radically new and streamlined by comparison. Many systems from previous games return like Roman Cancels, Burst, and the signature Tension gauge-building up resources through movement and landing attacks. The game places less reliance on long flashy combos and more on strong fundamentals; a single attack in this game hits like a freight train compared to likes of Xrd. This makes accessibility by extension a major design component, with returning characters having vastly simplified movesets and mechanics, with a few being straight-up reworked, the idea being to boil them down to their most vital tools.

Playable Characters

Italicized font indicates Downloadable Content.

• From Guilty Gear: The Missing Link: Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, May, Axl Low, Chipp Zanuff, Potemkin, Faust, Millia Rage, Zato-1, Baiken, Testament
• From Guilty Gear X: Anji Mito, Johnny
• From Guilty Gear XX: I-No, Bridget
• From Guilty Gear Isuka: A.B.A
• From Guilty Gear 2: Overture: Sin Kiske
• From Guilty Gear Xrd: Ramlethal Valentine, Leo Whitefang, Jack-O', Elphelt Valentine
• New to Guilty Gear -STRIVE-: Nagoriyuki, Giovanna, Goldlewis Dickinson, Happy Chaos, Bedman?, Asuka R. Kreutz

DLC release timeline

• Season 1:
  • Goldlewis: July 27th, 2021
  • Jack-O': August 27th, 2021
  • Chaos: November 30th, 2021
  • Baiken: January 28th, 2022
  • Testament: March 28th, 2022

• Season 2:
  • Bridget: August 8th, 2022
  • Sin: November 24th, 2022
  • Bedman?: April 6th, 2023
  • Asuka: May 25th, 2023

• Season 3:
  • Johnny: August 24th, 2023
  • Elphelt: December 7th, 2023
  • A.B.A: March 26th, 2024
  • ???: May 2024

• Season 4:

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Duel One.... LET'S ROCK!

• 2½D: Much like Xrd, the game uses cel-shaded 3D models as opposed to traditional 2D sprites, allowing for less restrictive (and more spectacular) camera angles. Similar to to the Ultra Combos in Street Fighter IV, Dust attacks, certain Overdrives, and Instant Kills put this feature to good use. A particular thing to note is just how much the models have been made to look like sprites - perhaps the cleverest example is that, unlike most 3D model animation, the Xrd models lack animation interpolation or in-between frames - in short, they animate or move just like a sprite would. Not only does it make the gameplay feel a lot like a sprite-based fighting game of the future, but it's even strikingly used in the story mode, resulting in the cutscenes looking like what people thought "anime games" would look like in the 2000s, back in the 20th century.
• Another Side, Another Story: The Another Story DLC provides an additional story mode that features characters that were absent or otherwise Out of Focus in the main story like May, Ramlethal, and Faust. It takes place at the same time as the base game's story and involves a new character Delilah trying to become involved in the events of the main story to get revenge of Happy Chaos for his involvement in her brother Bedman's death.
• April Fools' Day: On April Fool's Day 2024, Arcsys released a fake trailer pretending that the first DLC character of season 4 would be Malcolm Myers, the criminal that Sol apprehends at the beginning of Story Mode (complete with character splash art), in a reference to the joke that Arcsys just lifts new character ideas from whatever Story Mode models they have lying around.
• Art Evolution: STRIVE expands the 2.5D style established by Guilty Gear Xrd, creating a style that more seamlessly merges 2D and 3D elements to create much more lively and dynamic characters. Characters generally move more frame by frame, and there's a bigger number of rigged objects on every model than before. The creators have described this difference as trying to animate at a quality equivalent to an anime film, especially for the Overdrive animations.
• Artistic License – Politics: It's highly unlikely for news helicopters to be able to follow Vernon's presidential vehicle that closely due to security reasons if certain restrictions are still in place, much less be able to follow at all - the Federal Aviation Administration have strict fly-restriction rules in and around Washington, DC. Though, it is worth considering the series does take place nearly two centuries after the present, and in the aftermath of multiple world-changing events.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Happy Chaos and I-No throughout Story Mode, from nearly causing a nuclear winter, almost causing the death of several world leaders, hijacking the US White House by turning it into an airship, just to name a few.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: Something that's brought up in Story Mode of STRIVE, combined with Magic A Is Magic A, Rock Beats Laser, and Your Magic's No Good Here to varying degrees. Magic runs most of the world's technology in the aftermath of the Crusades, yet there are some places where old-school machinery is still the dominant tech, like the country Zepp. Sol realizes that the tech that's tied to the US Presidential Emergency Operations Center where Asuka's hiding in with the Tome of Origin is based off of much older technology that doesn't run on magic - it's the reason why Asuka had requested to be confined there in the first place, knowing that Happy Chaos wouldn't be able to hack it or open the door without Vernon's biometric authentication (compare how easily Happy took control of the magical nukes launch systems of four different countries simultaneously and then the White House's flight controls earlier). It's only when Sol advises Gabriel to convert the "matryoshka codes" back to numbers and letters that they realize it's old era machine code, namely ROSE, and that the PEOC was an escape pod.
• Cliffhanger: Happy Chaos is still at large after being separated from I-No, showing up in the stinger.
• Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Throws are assigned to the Dust button, unlike past installments, where they required the Heavy Slash button.
• Darker and Edgier: While still beautifully animated, -STRIVE- lacks the vibrant colours, exaggerated facial expressions and stylistic wackiness that defined Guilty Gear Xrd. It's also much darker from a story perspective: Sol Badguy's death is alluded to several times, the perpetually cheerful Axl Low is now a Sad Clown stranded in the GG timeline and unable to ever return home, Faust has cast aside his funny persona and become some kind of Humanoid Abomination who speaks in Creepy Monotone, "Bedman?"... well, there's no Man part anymore and what's left is just a malfunctioning, violently protective haunted Bed fighting in his place, and I-No becomes "God" with truly terrifying metaphysically apocalyptic consequences. Ironically though, the story gives most of the cast Surprisingly Happy Endings.
• Demoted to Extra: Despite May, Ramlethal and Faust being part of the base roster, they have no participation whatsoever in the original Story Mode while everyone else in the initial roster had some degree of screen time. Instead they and alongside other characters outside the base roster - Baiken, Anji, and Sin - are only present in the DLC Another Story.
• Developer's Foresight: Winning a fight as Goldlewis Dickinson will have him pull out his stopwatch and remark on how long it took to beat his opponent, with his lines corresponding to how much time has actually run down on the fight timer. However, setting the time limit to endless will instead amusingly have him say "Zero seconds! Wait, that's not right. Is my watch broken?"
• Earn Your Happy Ending: For many characters, although some resolutions are more Bittersweet Ending:
  • Sol Badguy dies. That is, the identity that Frederick Bulsara built up as an unstoppable Bounty Hunter dies. Asuka strips him of his Gear powers in order to stop I-no from destroying the world and he is declared KIA with the help of Ky and the US government, but this lets him retire and settle down into a new life working in a little machine shop with Jack-O'.
  • After over a century of machinations and struggling with his guilt, Asuka/That Man manages to accomplish all of his personal goals: he brings about global peace between Gears and humans, satisfies his guilt complex by making up for his past mistakes, and buries the hatchet with his old friend Frederick by giving him a chance at a normal life. With his duty fulfilled, he becomes a radio host.
  • After untold years traveling through time, the revelation that he was never human, giving up any chance of seeing his loved ones ever again and trying his hardest to convince I-No to stop her Face–Heel Turn, I-No realizes in her last moments that Axl is William, her disappeared love from an Alternate Timeline, and uses the last of her powers to give Axl's girlfriend Megumi (who is heavily implied to be a younger, alternate timeline iteration of I-No herself) her current Time Travel abilities, allowing Axl and Megumi to at last be reunited in the current version of history.
  • Another Story reveals what became of Faust: Forced to use the maximum extent of his Reality Warper powers to save Delilah, he ends up tapping into too much energy from the Backyard and causing his body to suffer considerable strain and damage. What is left is an exhausted Dr. Baldhead driven solely by an unyielding desire to help the sick and injured that will not quit despite being barely conscious. While certainly bittersweet and full of hope that he'll be able to make a recovery into his old self, it's a very noble conclusion to the personal arc of the most recognized and beloved characters in the series.
• Foreshadowing: Several times.
  • Asuka, after turning himself over and requesting imprisonment within the White House, makes a relieved note of the biometric reader that's still in use. The Presidential Emergency Operations Center he hides in uses older technology that doesn't run on magic, pre-dating the discovery of magic from the Backyard, and thus Happy Chaos can't hack its systems.
  • Sol pegs Axl as the potentially most powerful being out there. Appropriately, the one living person with powers similar to his, I-No, ends up attaining godhood, and becomes the ultimate Big Bad, with Axl playing a big part in helping the heroes.
• Game Mod: STRIVE has a surprisingly robust modding scene for a fighting game, and one at the beginning of its days. Mods range from alternate color palettes, intros, new particle effects, changing up the UI design, and even one that turns May's Totsugeki into Pokémon Speak.
• Grand Finale: STRIVE is this for several prominent characters, particularly Sol, Jack-O', I-No, Axl and That Man. Sol fakes his death after being freed from his out-of-control gear powers by Asuka to live a peaceful life with Jack-O', who has embraced her feelings and identity as Aria rather than trying to become a Sacrificial Lamb for some idealized perfect version of herself. I-No is erased from existence after her Heel–Face Turn, and in a final moment of Death Equals Redemption gives Axl's lover and as it turns out her earlier Alternate Self Megumi her current powers, allowing the two to finally be reunited in the current version of history. And Asuka, finally having cleaned up most of the threats to the world caused by the Universal Will, goes into retirement, starting a radio program to pass his time.
• Image Song: Daisuke Ishiwatari composed lyrical themes for every playable character, unlike previous games. Often they provide a musical adaptation of their known backstory and/or mindset, such as Let Me Carve Your Way for Zato-1. Others shine a character in a new light by revealing new backstory that contrasts with their appearances in Story Mode or gameplay, such as Hellfire for Leo Whitefang.
• Interface Spoiler: When addressing Bridget, the in-game encyclopedia uses "she/her" pronouns. As she was previously introduced as a boy in XX, and the Xrd -SIGN- encyclopedia used "he/him" pronouns, this spoils her Arcade Mode, which is dedicated to her Coming-Out Story as a transgender woman.
• Later-Installment Weirdness:
  • By far the biggest deviation is the addition of the Wall Break system. If you're stuck in the corner and the opponent hits you enough times, eventually you will get stuck against the wall and their next hit will break the wall. You get sent flying to a new area of the stage and you are reset to a midscreen round start rather than being in the corner. The opponent must use an Overdrive to break the wall if they want a hard knockdown and mixup after their corner combo.
  • Every returning character had their moveset reworked in some way. While in most cases this simply resulted in them gaining or losing some moves, some like Testament were completely overhauled.
  • Sol Badguy no longer has his famous Dragon Install, which was reworked into a cinematic command grab. Ky is the one with a proper Dragon Install, that is both permanent and only available at low health but does not change the music like Sol's did in Xrd.
  • Dead Angle Attacks were replaced with the ability to Yellow Roman Cancel out of blockstun.
  • Gatling combos are much more specific, especially on the ground, compared to the rest of the series. Kick only goes into Dust moves (Overhead and Sweep), Slash only goes into Heavy Slash, and Punch can only combo into itself.
  • The gravity system and air combos have been overhauled, such that the opponent is aggressively drug to the ground and thus more specific combo routes are required.
  • Instant Kills are completely absent.
• Loads and Loads of Loading: When the game first launched, the game would take over a minute to connect to the servers and go into the menu. Some investigation revealed that the reason for this was that the game was making an obscene number of calls to the game servers, creating 127 HTTP requests to multiple API endpoints that requires four round-trips each and waiting for all of them to complete. A modder was able to shorten it down to one round-trip per call, and it still took about 35-40 seconds on average to complete. Fortunately, this has been fixed since and by Season 2, it takes about 10-15 seconds to go into the menu.
• Model Museum: Returning from Xrd Rev2, the Digital Figure mode lets you place any characters you like in a scene and freely examine their models. You can even pose them and set up scenarios, as the mode doubles as an extensive Photo Mode!
• No Ending: If you want to get your character's full Arcade Mode story scenes, you have to clear some pretty tough conditions as is, but failure to achieve consistent victories even in the Normal Route and even so much as needing a single Rematch completely locks you out of any ending; Nagoriyuki just proclaims you're clearly not at your best, jumps away, Smash Cut to the credits.
• Plot Device All Along: In Story Mode, Giovanna makes fun of the cartoony star design on the badge her US Secret Service superior wears, despite him pointing out that it was designed by 76th POTUS Vernon. Later on, her commenting about the service jackets and the difference of badges - her boss was wearing the badge with the cartoon star, while her fellow agent Udo wore the normal version - is what tips off Leo that the "Happy Chaos" who was being arrested wasn't the real one.
• P.O.V. Sequel: -STRIVE-'s DLC scenario "Another Story" takes place during the main game's Story Mode, focusing on May, Ramlethal, Faust, Sin (all who only cameoed in the Story Mode), and Baiken as they deal with Delilah, Bedman's sister, as she hunts down Happy Chaos to avenge her brother.
• Rhyming with Itself: Present in the opening song, "Smell of the Game". The word "Blazing" is used to end several sentences.
  That is bullshit! Blazing! Still my heart is blazing!
  [...]
  Remember you are blazing! Still your heart is blazing!
• Same Character, But Different:
  • Faust, previously a comic relief with various bizarre and comedic moves, is now more zombie-like (because he is, in fact, Faust's reanimated corpse) with a moveset that, though still comical in nature, has a more horror-esque theme to it.
  • Testament has gotten a redesign with a more feminine build and a radically-altered moveset focused more on zoning than placing traps.
• SNK Boss:
  • Nagoriyuki at the end of Arcade Mode has increased health and defense, and moves and mechanics that normally drain his health do not do so. If you lost a round at least once before fighting him, your character's "rival" ^note In many cases the character in question is not The Rival, but is guaranteed to be the first opponent and second-to-last on an Extreme run. helps you fight him. If not, you have to do so on your own. Solo him without losing a round, and you get to face him again with even more buffs.
  • For the Season 2 DLC characters' Arcade modes, Ky is the final boss for both Bridget and Sin, having, among other things, permanent Dragon Install and an exclusive Overdrive. Ramlethal for Bedman?, where her swords can track the player. And Asuka himself in a mirror match where the CPU has many buffs that the player doesn't.
  • For Season 3, May is the final boss for Johnny, where she can tank hits with armor on startup during her Mr. Dolphin special move, goes fast, and among other things, summon her aquatic pets on command multiple times, and even in and out of nowhere.
• Spiritual Antithesis: STRIVE is this to fellow Grand Finale, BlazBlue: Central Fiction. Both are fighting games that act as the Grand Finale to the story of each series' protagonist, but whereas Centralfiction is 2D & sprite based, has a much bigger roster, adds onto gameplay complexity from previous games, is much more Japanese in nature, has no dub, has a Visual Novel story mode with gameplay interspersed in, and has a Bittersweet Ending that involves the protagonist sacrificing himself for the greater good, STRIVE is 2.5D with 3D models, has a smaller roster that involves veterans, fan favorites, and a pair of newcomers, streamlines the gameplay to bring in new fans, has more Western influence (to the point where the United States is the main setting of STRIVE), has an English Dub, has a story mode that's basically a five hour anime with no gameplay, and has a happier ending, with the protagonist faking his death to live the rest of his days with the woman he loves.
• Spoiler Opening: Almost the entirety of STRIVE's opening animation is a spoiler for important key elements of Story Mode. In order of occurrence: Nagoriyuki fighting Happy Chaos' mind control, Sol battling Nagoriyuki before Giovanna joins in, Happy Chaos with his glass of separating Milpico, the hijacked nukes during the G4 summit, Goldlewis fighting in front of the White House, Gabriel and Potemkin's involvement, the brainwashed US Secret Service agents, the Spiritas changing from its amber color to its unreleased green, Asuka Neck Lifting Sol, the computer code Sol as Frederick once worked on years ago, Jack-O''s own self-doubts as Aria, the brief interaction between I-No and Axl, Ky (activating his own Dragon Install) and Nagoriyuki ready to fight I-No, a Brought Downto Badass Sol lacking his headband limiter, and Asuka fighting the White House's security system and Happy Chaos' hacking.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: It turns out that Axl and I-No are in fact time-displaced Alternate Timeline versions of a pair of lovers, William and Megumi, hopping through time while being unaware of each others' real identities... until the end, when a last Pet the Dog moment from I-No lets Megumi come forward in time to Axl, finally reuniting the couple.
• Stealth Pun: Testament gets an overhaul in more ways than one: a new gender identity and a makeover that makes them far more Bishōnen. Old Testament and New Testament.
• Temporal Paradox: I-No refers to the setting of her Arcade Mode story as one, with her rival being her past self. Happy Chaos ends up in the same paradox in his own Arcade Mode.
• Wham Shot: The first DLC character of season 2 was revealed at Evo 2022 with one of these. The teaser begins with a completely dark screen, with only a narrow whiteness against the void as a feminine voice hums in the distance. Then the camera pans down, revealing the whiteness to be the string of a yo-yo.
• Where It All Began: The main setting of STRIVE is the United States of America, the homeland of Sol, That Man, and Aria, back when they were University colleagues.

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