Fighting Games Friday: Guilty Gear Is Striving for a Better Beta

Developers like to provide beta sessions, both open and closed, for players to test upcoming games and determine whether their gameplay systems and online netplay are up to par for the current stage in development. It’s normal for aspects of a beta to not go according to plan, the reason why they’re doing a test at all. But even by those standards, it’s evident the Guilty Gear -Strive- closed beta didn’t go as smoothly as Arc System Works hoped. I didn’t get a chance to play it, because my silly ass forgot to register for a chance to get a code. But it was easy to read about how disappointing this went for players and the developer through reading tweets and message board posts.

Testers couldn’t play online when the session was planned to begin, alone an ominous foreboding for how the quality of the online here would fare. But this was only a temporary issue, and players were able to start fighting each other after Arc System Works took the servers down for emergency maintenance. This alone also didn’t make players nervous because the developers previously clarified how this wouldn’t be the online infrastructure they’d use for the final game. Good thing the developers had the foresight to include the option to fight the AI while online play was down, something too many fighting game betas tend to lack.

There was a chance this would all turn out fine once online games started; instead, this was when complaints about the game itself began.

It’s been stated several times by Guilty Gear creator, director, character designer, and music composer Daisuke Ishiwatari that Strive will be easier to play compared to previous installments. The mere confirmation of that was enough to make several players concerned about the final game being oversimplified, playing closer to titles like Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle or the recent Granblue Fantasy: Versus than previous GG games. It doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean players don’t have concerns about the adjusted gameplay systems.

A key complaint is that Strive tries to have its cake and eat it too. Combos are easier to perform (though without resorting to auto-combos) and damage is considerably higher compared to previous games to make neophytes who rely on simpler attacks and combinations feel like they’re doing solid damage against other players. But it also retains mechanics and combos from prior games to ensure that it retains the feel of the GG lineage.

The (possibly?) unintended consequence here is how GG players have a much easier time churning out combos that do ridiculous damage to an opponent’s life bar — 60 to 70 percent in cases. Heck, players were posting videos of ridiculously-damaging combos on the first night of the beta, easily enough to intimidate the potential neophytes Arc System Works wants to attract. All of this has left some players wondering if the developers know what they want this game to be.

I’d be surprised if damage as a whole wasn’t reduced in time for the next beta, well before the final game releases. I understand Arc’s intent with the gameplay systems, but the damage will likely receive adjustments. They could also adjust other parts, like the lack of air dashing and the bland UI. Also feel free to toss out the unintuitive lobby system for a new one, the design for which is bad enough that several fans thought it was joke when it was first announced on April 1st.

Not to imply that all fans were negative about everything. Some liked the changes, but they’re being drowned out by the vocal critics. But other features were universally praised. This is the best-looking game Arc System Works has made yet, with animation more fluid than previous cel-shaded efforts. The music we’ve heard so far is similarly great, with all the tracks having catchy lyrics. Get ready to hear “I’M A CLOWN OF FATE” for a while, regardless of whether that’s what the song is actually saying. (There’s a good chance it is, given that it’s called “Society.”)

There’s speculation that this beta could have done long-lasting damage to the game’s perception, particularly from popular commentator Majin Obama (heh). I understand his concern, because too much importance is placed on first impressions in the gaming sphere. But Arc System Works can overcome this with Strive. They can win skeptical fans back by adjusting gameplay features while keeping it easy to learn for neophytes, though this, to be fair, won’t be an easy task. Several fans and potential fans will also remain on board thanks to the final game having rollback netplay, where the developers fulfilled an understandably heavily-requested feature from a fanbase that’s had it with subpar delay-based netplay in fighting games.

The chance of there being another beta is high, likely to test the new netplay Arc System Works will implement (the beta still relied on their old one). The next one could go better, which should include gameplay adjustments players will like. But that will take the developers a while, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they had to push the game out of 2020 because of that and potential logistics issues thanks to the current pandemic. In the meantime, don’t forget to fill out the survey if you played the beta.

Hopefully they don’t stop the previews anytime soon, despite the chance of a delay and the lack of tournaments to reveal characters at. I’m still waiting for them to provide more details about the cool-looking character from the reveal trailer.