Guilty Gear Xrd – Revelator Review

The Guilty Gear series is known to be heavily influenced by the musical genre of rock. Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator (GGXR) continues this performance — and like a guitar solo, adds more to an already impressive track record.

Is this Arc System Works title the best fighter on the market? Find out with our review.

Performance

So let’s cover the most important aspect of any fighting game: the controls. GGXR features a six button layout, where you’ll find your basic fighter gameplay. You can defend, throw, execute combos and etc. But the game begins to get deeper with safe falls, and even deeper when you try to asses when it would be best to use your burst maneuver. And this barely scratches the surface of how intricate the game becomes. Much like a guitar shred it plays fast, fluidly, and fierce.

Second to the functionality of the controls is how they feels — and in this Guilty Gear iteration, they feels good when you’re playing. You will appreciate the good feels most when you execute advanced tactics during matches (and you will). Ultimately, with how smooth the game plays you can rock err…end a match in mere seconds. 

Technique

GGXR’s gameplay is like learning the drums — a process best described as both frighteningly complex and easy to get into. And that isn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s a credit to Arc System Works’ design. They’ve created the game with playstyles for both causal fans and hardcore fighter fans alike.

The game features two styles of play — technical and stylish. Technical is more traditional and allows you full control of your fighter. Stylish allows one-button combos and simple guarding for the causal player. Instead of ignoring a group of players based on skill level, the devs recognized that anyone can have fun with Guilty Gear, and made Xrd Revelator accessible enough to do so.

Lessons

The game features tutorial, combo, mission, training, and replay modes. Each of these modes is intended in some way to make you a better player — building the skills that are crucial to a fighting game. While it certainly isn’t the first game to feature self-help, it is one of the few to have so many options dedicated to doing so.

I’ve put many hours into learning the basics, then continued to refine those skills by going from one mode to the other. It’s all thoroughly satisfying — and with time, the concern you may or may not be good enough will go away. The lessons truly pay off in live performances when you win against previously unbeatable opponents.

The Glitz and Glam

GGXR is as visually striking and hard to ignore as a glam rock band from the 1970s. The game looks just like it plays — flashy and stylish. Some may write off the game for its anime-inspired visuals, but doing so would be a disservice of the highest order. The game’s distinct art direction can really be appreciated in motion as you fight. And in those moments where you aren’t fighting, you can enjoy the art even more during some impressive cutscenes.

With its deep roster of 20 plus fighters, you will you’ll find a motley crew of characters to choose from. For example,  the series’ main character is Sol Badguy, a man that wields a firesword and has more attitude than a band’s front-man. His rival, Ky Kisuke, is a blonde-haired man with signature moves like “ride the lightning”.

The characters creatively honor music and celebrate its spectacle with their respective playstyles and their designs. Learning a new character is fun because of all the nuances they have when facing off against other fighters. If you choose to learn multiple characters, that would a lot be time well spent.

Encore

Now, let’s skip ahead to the title’s online mode. Online play is organized by country and coordinated through regional lobby rooms. In a nutshell, Arc System Works has created an online experience as lag-free as possible by minimizing chances of ping issues. This level of detail is something that couldn’t be achieved without years of craftsmanship, and it’s one of the game’s best features — because naturally, players find more competition online than offline. Online mode is where fighters live and die, and I doubt you’d find a fighting game with a better online experience than this.

Curtain call

GGXR is a truly special game. It features a single player campaign as challenging and rewarding as its multiplayer features. I didn’t address much about the story here, but not because it’s not important or interesting. The story is so detailed that you will want to enjoy its unique mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and tons of drama. There’s just so much great stuff in this game that the story felt like one thing in a long laundry list. 

The game deftly blends great music, interesting characters, bravado, flamboyance, and a grand stage to support it. In closing, you won’t find a better fighting game on the market than Guilty Gear Xrd – Revelator.