Guilty Gear Strive was a smash hit in the fighting game community when it launched earlier this year, and since then has sold the highest of any game in the series to date. The second character on the planned list of expansions has finally been revealed, and she may be familiar to those who played the earlier entries.
The Guilty Gear series is known for its creative and over-the-top character designs, and Guilty Gear Strive is no different, with many returning characters and some new ones showing up. Iconic characters like Sol Badguy have returned, of course, but Strive seems unafraid to push out the old cast in favor of telling new stories.
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Just last month the first DLC character for Guilty Gear Strive was revealed, and Arc System Works is keeping up the momentum with a second, this time pulling from a previous entry in the series. Jack-O' Valentine is a character first made playable in Guilty Gear XRD -Revelator-, and has been a mainstay since then, with her iconic "iron pumpkin chain" weapon at her side.
As with any character added to a fighting game, a careful balance must be maintained to prevent Jack-O' from becoming overpowered. Considering Guilty Gear Strive's immense positive reception, though, it seems Arc System Works has nailed down balance well in the 23 years since the first game. Each character plays differently and has a fighting chance against any other, and more characters will mean even more move sets to learn, both in attack and counters.
With the absolutely massive amount of characters the Guilty Gear series has built up over the years, Arc System Works has many years worth of great playable fighters to bring back. The season pass indicates two more characters this year, and it is still unconfirmed who exactly those will be. Updates extending into 2022 will add additional story content and new stages, extending the longevity of the game and possibly bringing back any players who slowly fell off the game.
The series is known for having a surprisingly in-depth story, with Guilty Gear's story modes being essentially movie-length cutscenes. This may explain why many iconic characters from previous games may not return. It seems, however, that Arc System Works plans to expand the roster despite this, but only time will tell if the characters will be returning fan favorites or entirely original. Either way, players will have more strategies to develop and combos to master every time a new character appears, though the presence of Valentine in previous games will certainly make anticipating her moveset easier.
Guilty Gear Strive is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
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