As expected from an Arc System Works title, there’s more toGuilty Gear Strivethan just fast-paced anime action. Serving as the latest entry in the acclaimed ArcSys franchise,Strivelevels up theGuilty Gearaction with stylish combat and speedy techniques. In turn, both newcomers and fighting game savants have a shot at transforming a mundane match into a spectacle of flashes and slashes.
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However, newcomers toStrivemight find it harder to grasp the more technical aspects of theGuilty Geartitle. After all, there’s more to “fast” inStrivethan just mashing buttons. Thankfully, the game’s more technical systems weave into each other when approached correctly.
Updated on July 31, 2025, by Rhenn Taguiam:Guilty Gear Striveserves as a welcome change to the fighting game genre, especially when the genre’s recent big hits came from heavy-hitters such asStreet Fighter 5: Champion Edition, or evenSamurai Shodown, both released in 2021. Unlike the 2015Guilty Gear Xrd - REVELATOR-, Strive seeks a friendlier but equally-fiercer take on fighting games for modern devices.
While Guilty Gear veterans will feel at home with Strive’s familiar mechanics such as Roman Cancels, Bursts, and Command Normals, the introduction of newcomers such as Goldlewis, Jack-O’ and Happy Chaos might overwhelm new players with their unique gameplay setups. Thankfully, newcomers can easily get into these characters’ rhythms with a rudimentary understanding ofGuilty Gear Strivefundamentals.
The Basics Of Combat
Newcomers may find it much easier to ease intoStrive’s more flexible fundamental combat mechanics by learning its bare essentials. Interestingly enough, knowing even basic combat controls is crucial for a speed-oriented franchise likeGuilty Gear.
Similar to other Arc System Works titles,Guilty Gearhas a fundamentally different approach to basic combat compared to four-attackBlazBlueand six-attackDragon Ball FighterZ.
5-Button Attacks
As with other fighting games,Striveis a straightforward fighting game in the sense that it has separate attack buttons that string into combos. Unlike other fighting games,Strivehas five dedicated buttons for five kinds of Normal Attacks:
Dashing And Mobility
Mobility remains key in a technical fighting game likeStrive. In fact, most characters have numerous mobility options to help them zigzag around the battlefield when necessary. In turn, players need to get familiar with more unique mobility options withinStrive:
Offense: Pack The Right Punch
Whereas other fighting games allow players to string combos easily,Strivehas a more technical take on combat mechanics. Thanks to its 5-Button system,Striveintroduces movesets that are almost entirely unique per character. Players can’t easily perform “combos” inStrivebut could combine specific movement strings for flashy attacks.
Proximity Normals
Certain characters offer different Normal Attacks depending on the range. This is usually dedicated to the Slash (Medium), where a Far Slash (fS) or Close Slash (cS) lead to different animations. Thanks to Proximity Normals, players can use Slash in either close or mid-range incursions.
Gatling Normals
Gatling pertains to the core combo system ofGuilty Gear, where specifically-timed Normal Attacks link to perform combos. For instance, Punches cannot lead to Kicks and then Slashes.
Rather,Striveneeds players to follow certain rules for Gatling Normals:
Closed Gatling Normals
These Gatling Normals only happen within the confines of each other and don’t immediately lead into other attack types.
Open Gatling Normals
These Gatling Normals can lead to other attack types, particularly Command Normals.
Command Normals
Contrary to technical Gatling Normals, Command Normals often serve as a character’s “special combo set.” These mostly need players to press a specific button with a specific direction.
Dust Attack
Unlike other fighting games where throws and sweeps are separate combos,Striveallocates these more technical offensive tools within the Dust button. Since Dusting itself is an attack of its own, the Dust button is easily one of the most integral parts ofStrive’s mechanics:
Wall Breaks
A new mechanic introduced inStrive, stages now come in various “levels” separated by Walls. If players use enough Overdrive Attacks to pummel enemies against the wall, they can “break” it and launch enemies into another stage. Here are some properties of Wall Breaks:
Combo Execution Basics
As with any fighting game, combos remain the lifeblood ofGuilty Gearspectacle. Anyone impressed with aGuilty Geargame’s approach to flashy but hard-hitting combos and specials can see the same “oomph” inStrive. However, unlike other fighting games,Strivehas a few constraints when it comes to fulfilling combos. Players who want to master the combo scene inStriveneed to take note of the following:
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Defense: Health Is Wealth
Thankfully,Strivedoes offer extremely handy defensive options when it comes to safeguarding one’s health. Unlike the more complex offensive maneuvers, defensive strategies come in extremely straightforward mechanics:
The Basics Of Defense
While the objective of any fighting game is to reduce the opponent’s life bar to zero first, It’s a completely different challenge entirely if the opponent turns out to be just as skilled as the player. In these situations, players need to stay on top of their character’s defense. Unlike other games,Strivedoes this by implementing a separate formula for computingfor each character’s defensive stats.
As such, players need to pay attention to these aspects of defense across theirStrivecharacters:
Guts
Guts remains another often overlooked character property inGuilty Gear, particularly because of how invisible its existence is throughout the games. However, anyone who wants to become aStrivesavant needs to understand how exactly Guts works to fully take advantage of all their cards in a match. Guts explainswhy Nagoriyuki gets increasingly difficult to killas he’s on the verge of death.
At its core, Guts is a damage scaling rating that lessens the overall damage a character takes depending on how much life they have left. This has a lot of implications for characters:
Blocking
Similar to other fighting games,Striveoffers a straightforward blocking mechanic. Moving backward will initiate a block. Successful blocking will initiate a pushback - pushing the attacker slightly away.
Just Blocking
Contrary to a simple Block, hitting any Block just before an attack hits will trigger a Just Block or an Instant Block. Just Blocking has special properties:
Counter Hits
Instead of outright Blocking, players can also predict the enemy’s attack and cancel them via a Counter Hit. This move requires players to precisely press the appropriate attack buttonto counteract an enemy’s move. Counter Hits have special properties:
Interruptions In Combat Matter
When theGuilty Gearseries showed each character having their own unique ways to break the game’s mechanics, this didn’t just extend to each character having potentially-overpowering attacks or specials. Rather, this special trait extends to defense and counters as well.
At its core,each character approaches their defensive maneuvers differently. Outside Blocks, Just Blocks, and Counters, there are certain combat interruptions that, when done correctly, leaves opponents in just as much room for pain:
RISC Meter
Unfortunately,Strivedoes make it a pointto punish extremely defensive players. This is especially with theRISC Meter, which is something that fills up whenever players unnecessarily go into defensive mode.
Tension: It’s About To Get Chaotic
TheTension MeterisGuilty Gear’s equivalent of a super meter in other fighting games. And as with other fighting games, the Tension Meter remains a key mechanic in pulling off some ofStrive’s most important combat mechanics.
Rewarding Aggression
As players might notice,Striverewardsmore aggressive playstylesin the game. In turn, the game also gives multiple opportunities to fill up the Tension Meter to capitalize on its many uses. Aside from attacking, here are other ways players can gain Tension:
Overdrive Attacks
Perhaps the simplest version of Tension usage, Overdrive Attacks areGuilty Gear’s version of super moves. All characters have unique Overdrive Attacks. Here are other properties of Overdrive Attacks:
Faultless Defense
Players can also use Tension defensively, in the form of Faultless Defense. This isa handy defensive measure for emergencies, as this essentially renders most - if not all - enemy attacks useless. This is a great emergency tactic against movement and hard combos. Here are other properties of Faultless Defense:
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Roman Cancels: Time Out!
Ever been on the other end of a pummeling and just want a time out? InGuilty Gear, players who just want a quick pause button can use Roman Cancel (RC) to cancel their character’s actions and momentarily pause the screen. Here are the basic properties of Roman Cancels:
Roman Cancel Variants
Players can perform four kinds of Roman Cancels, depending on the situation they’re in. The versatile nature of Roman Cancels makes themcompatible in both offensive and defensive play.
Sliding Roman Cancels
Players can perform Dashes while pulling off Red, Blue, and Purple RCs. When this happens, an afterimage effect follows the shockwave. This has numerous effects:
Psych Bursts: That Other Time Out!
Psych Burstsare yet another feature inGuilty Gearthat can furtherencourage offensive and defensive play. This move releases a shockwave that blows enemies away. As expected, the Psych Burst consumes theBurst Meter, which is yet another meter in the game. Here are some basic properties of Psych Bursts:
Psych Burst Variants
Like Roman Cancels, Psych Burst has different variants with different effects.
Guilty Gear Strive wasreleased in June 2021 and is playable on the PS4, PS5, and PC.
