Guilty Gear is janky, unfair, and fundamentally broken. There is nothing about this game that could justify a competitive scene. And the story contains some of the most ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ enemies in the history of fighting games.

So, you probably saw Guilty Gear Strive and the praise it received. And now you are wondering: maybe I should start the series at the beginning?
Yes, that sounds like a good idea.
It is not.
The Guilty Gear series is about the gameplay first, music and visuals second, and story last. Do not get me wrong: Guilty Gear has some decent lore that is incredibly fun to explore.
But even the developer of the game, ArcSystemWorks, realized that no one in their right mind should need to spend hours of their life playing old fighting games surpassed by newer titles.
Link to a great story summary series.
These videos were endorsed by ArcSystemWorks and have all the juicy lore you want, presented to you in a great format.
So there is no sensible reason to play the original Guilty Gear.

Well, I was not exactly telling the truth. There is one reason to play the original Guilty Gear: Being fundamentally broken makes the single player less of a fair fighter, but more of a cheese simulator.
Every fight is complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, the enemies input read and can block within milliseconds, yet this is the last remaining reason to play the original Guilty Gear:
Trying to find out what works in a game before over-sanitization
set in, and developers started to realize how to balance everything.
If no fight is fair, and you are supposed to lose in many scenarios, the victory becomes more fulfilling. Against the odds, with the back against the wall, Guilty Gear dares the player to try again and create their own ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to counter the game until you finally beat it.
While the gameplay loop is monotonous and frustrating, it never feels like the game is unbeatable, just a little out of reach.
And when you finally beat these input reading, scum of the earth, spamming and hyper-armoring, frame perfect enemies, this is when Guilty Gear peaks, and you start to feel like a god.
Only to pick the next character and start getting trashed again.

A small selection of things that are wrong with the game and make it unviable for competitive play:
Instant-Kills are actual match-enders and "destroy" any fun for starting players
Most of the cast has at least one infinite combo
After losing 50% HP, supers do not cost meter
Justice and Potemkin are a menace to society
Potemkin completely sucks
You know what, watch this video

Terrible game, objectively broken mechanics, yet any enjoyment stems from that. You want to understand what design principles shaped the series in the future?
Then go for it, and try not to break your controller.

Originally posted by author:

As of now, meme curators dominate Steam. So consider following me for reviews that actually cost me some time (and effort) to create. I don't think this will change much, but the majority of my readers are not followers. I am still going to pump my heart into these reviews.
https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/31884377-If-It-Is-Insane/

[h1]TL;DR[/h1] Guilty Gear is janky, unfair, and fundamentally broken. There is nothing about this game that could justify a competitive scene. And the story contains some of the most bullshit enemies in the history of fighting games. [h1]Coming from Strive?[/h1] So, you probably saw Guilty Gear Strive and the praise it received. And now you are wondering: maybe I should start the series at the beginning? Yes, that sounds like a good idea. It is not. The Guilty Gear series is about the gameplay first, music and visuals second, and story last. Do not get me wrong: Guilty Gear has some decent lore that is incredibly fun to explore. But even the developer of the game, ArcSystemWorks, realized that no one in their right mind should need to spend hours of their life playing old fighting games surpassed by newer titles. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIjtNL7Pfqw&list=PLiSdC6Lp8c7OkrBhzdQsQhGL_7jT0cSTv] Link to a great story summary series.[/url] These videos were endorsed by ArcSystemWorks and have all the juicy lore you want, presented to you in a great format. So there is no sensible reason to play the original Guilty Gear. [h1]Still here?[/h1] Well, I was not exactly telling the truth. There is one reason to play the original Guilty Gear: Being fundamentally broken makes the single player less of a fair fighter, but more of a cheese simulator. Every fight is complete bullshit, the enemies input read and can block within milliseconds, yet this is the last remaining reason to play the original Guilty Gear: Trying to find out what works in a game before over-sanitization set in, and developers started to realize how to balance everything. If no fight is fair, and you are supposed to lose in many scenarios, the victory becomes more fulfilling. Against the odds, with the back against the wall, Guilty Gear dares the player to try again and create their own bullshit to counter the game until you finally beat it. While the gameplay loop is monotonous and frustrating, it never feels like the game is unbeatable, just a little out of reach. And when you finally beat these input reading, scum of the earth, spamming and hyper-armoring, frame perfect enemies, this is when Guilty Gear peaks, and you start to feel like a god. Only to pick the next character and start getting trashed again. [h1]A List of Problems[/h1] A small selection of things that are wrong with the game and make it unviable for competitive play: Instant-Kills are actual match-enders and "destroy" any fun for starting players Most of the cast has at least one infinite combo After losing 50% HP, supers do not cost meter [spoiler]Justice and Potemkin [/spoiler] are a menace to society [spoiler]Potemkin[/spoiler] completely sucks [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zffPqtsKpS0]You know what, watch this video[/url] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Terrible game, objectively broken mechanics, yet any enjoyment stems from that. You want to understand what design principles shaped the series in the future? Then go for it, and try not to break your controller. [quote=author] As of now, meme curators dominate Steam. So consider following me for reviews that actually cost me some time (and effort) to create. I don't think this will change much, but the majority of my readers are not followers. I am still going to pump my heart into these reviews. https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/31884377-If-It-Is-Insane/ [/quote]