Fighting computer-controlled opponents in arcade mode can be fun for a while, but it gets old quickly.
The fighting genre blossomed in arcades, after all, and one of the most satisfying parts of playing a fighting game is getting into your opponent’s head, outsmarting them, or finally pulling off that intricate combo you’ve been practicing. Like many other multiplayer-focused genres, fighting games often struggle to find meaningful reasons for people who love their characters but don’t like playing with others to stick around.
Image: Arc System Works/Bandai Namco via Polygon Not just because this story mode and others like it squander what makes fighting games great, but because Strive has the pieces of a great single-player experience already - they’re just not put together quite right. It’s that, like most cinematic fighting game story modes before it, it feels like a huge missed opportunity. The story mode in Strive is confusing and mostly a letdown, but that’s not the biggest reason it disappoints me. The latter isn’t worth it while the plot uses a deluge of proper nouns and references to events like “The Crusades” (but not like, those Crusades), the story doesn’t really do much with all of its disparate ideas, instead providing half-baked platitudes about discovering who you really are. It either assumes you’re familiar with the various plot lines of the previous game, Guilty Gear Xrd, or are willing to pore over Strive’s robust in-game “character relationship chart,” timeline, and glossary.
Instead of digging further into what makes Strive great, I’m essentially watching a CGI anime short series -one that’s surprisingly digestible at times, but also throws you into the deep end of its story from the jump. Guilty Gear Strive beginner’s guide, tips, and tricksīut when I hop into its story mode, all of that goes out the window.