Guilty Gear Strive
- Developer: Arc Systemworks
- Release Date: January 23, 2025
- Switch 2 upgrade: N/A
Arc System Works also has its own fighting game series on the Switch family of consoles, and it’s also the most accessible one in the series. Guilty Gear Strive is a reboot of sorts, slimming down the mechanics of this anime fighter to make it more forgiving for newcomers while also keeping just enough depth for veterans. Key mechanics include ways to defend yourself from oncoming attacks, such as Faultless Defense, which is handy for negating and pushing away an attacker. That said, it also features four different types of Roman Cancel, a universal technique that lets players cancel moves to extend combos at the cost of some of the Tension gauge (this game’s version of a super meter).
In addition to the many arcade, training, and online modes, all of which run buttery smooth on the Switch, there are also two full-length story modes. Despite being non-playable in-engine Original Video Animations (OVAs), similar to those released directly to home video in the 1990s, they look stunning, do a decent job of expanding the universe, and give vital context to character rivalries and motivations. The soundtrack also stands out as each song has lyrics that are meaningful to the characters it’s associated with.
This recommendation does come with a caveat. While it was a little behind the other versions for a good few months, Guilty Gear Strive on the Switch now has ranked matches and all of the Season 4 characters, which include, among others, Kushinada from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Unfortunately, the sole sticking point is that the Switch version cannot link to Xbox, PlayStation, or PC fighters, severely limiting the online fighting pool. Hopefully, this is next on the list of changes, but until then, Strive is perfectly playable and handles very well on the Nintendo console.
