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Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- is the game that questions whether you’re actually playing…
Guilty Gear is a series that has been about for a long time. The first one came out on the PS1 back in 1998. Now, at the age of the PS4 – and probably soon the PS4.5 – we are on our 16th game. Saying all that, and considering I have been gaming for the last 22 years, it is a surprise that I hadn’t played a Guilty Gear before. I’ll be very honest and say that I didn’t even know what type of game it was, even though I had seen a Sega Saturn version come up for sale many a time on a Japanese game site. So, if anyone is like me and doesn’t know what type of game it is: it’s a Japanese Anime-styled beat-em-up. I must stress the emphasis on anime and we will come back to that shortly.
The game was developed by Arc System Works, behind all of the Guilty Gears and similar beat-em-ups. If you want to find out more about Arc System works visit their website: http://arcsystemworksu.com/games/ , while Guilty Gear Xrd’s publishers are PQube, who have been involved with a fair share of the series and publish a wide range of stuff. Visit http://www.pqube.co.uk/games/ for more information.
I was absolutely buzzing to play this game. I mean, I love anime and I also enjoy beat-em-ups so I was ready to blast away and beat some stereotypical characters with stunning good looks or… well… bouncing assets.
There is an incredibly complex story behind all of the Gear games and I don’t want to ruin it all for you. So basically, there are people (if you can call them that) who can create gears… Some of these people are trying to destroy all humans, while others are trying to save everyone. The game really divides the idea of good and evil and will have your head spinning in so many places. There is a female character called Valentine who, at one point, seemed like she was going to destroy everyone then, five minutes later,she was good. Some of you may know the story to these games much better than myself and please comment below if you can help me understand in any way, shape or form… I must add that I wasn’t annoyed that much about not really understanding the history behind it – is it a beat-em-up after all.
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- offers a whole host of different modes: You have Battle mode (which you can play online or versus the computer), then within the battle section there’s the Dojo (of course), where you can work through the tutorial or practise combos, learn practical knowledge or just smash people for a workout. You also have the story mode where you can “work” through the story and understand the terminology and timeline to the game – oh and yes I have looked at this and am still none the wiser…
Lastly, you have the Collection mode where you can select replay and watch previous fights, edit your online avatar, buy things from a gallery (including a damn cool character) and go fishing… Yes you read right, you fish for new gear. Amazing, and worth noting that you don’t spend real money, you spend that which you’ve earned through playing. And that concludes the different sections, so it’s time to look at them more closely.
As soon as you switch the game on if invites you to train so I did just that. About 4 parts in and I’ll be honest – the training was too hard for me… I couldn’t do it and gave up. I felt frustrated. Then I thought, I’ll stick it in easy and play the story mode. As you click the mode, a warning pops up basically saying that you can put down your controller because you won’t be needing it: what tomfoolery I thought! How I was wrong. Game spoiler here: the story mode is basically a film. At the start I was annoyed, frustrated and cursed the TV, then about an hour in I realised this was a damn good story. Yes there were faults (at one point he said something in Japanese and there were no subtitles… I decided he said “If I look at you from this angle I can nearly see up your…”) On a serious note, it was actually a pivotal time where there were no subtitles so that was a bit annoying. But, all in all, it’s a very good story – it had its own style to it which I couldn’t relate to any previous anime I had seen. All the characters were beautiful and had their own certain swagger to them and the story, although baffling, was intense. My recommendation is – when you get this game, buy some popcorn and a can of pop and enjoy. You do receive a financial award for watching the whole film.
Even though I was frustrated, I decided to give the arcade a go. Being perplexed by the options I went for the episode mode. Now this is what I was talking about! You have 20 different characters, all with a different story. Whilst writing this review, I have completed the mode with ten characters and I guarantee I will have done them all by the time you’re reading it.
So that’s the story and arcade mode sorted – the other mode worth mentioning is online. Even though I am writing this review seven days before the EU release date it is worth noting that the game was released in Japan on May 26th. Off I clicked to the Japanese servers and up popped some little sprite character. I found the section where I could offer out the nearest joker who wanted a battle and fought my way up the ranks. But seriously, I was fighting all these Japanese gamers who literally kick my backside.
So my advice to all who buy this game – watch the movie, play the arcade mode, buy the unlockable character and win everything. This is as much spoiler as you’re going to get from me about that.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on the game plus conclusions.
Without giving away too much, there are 20 chararacters from the off. They range from Venom – who rocks around with a snooker cue and fires balls at you, to the oddly named Sol Badguy, who has one of the biggest swords I’ve seen since Final Fantasy’s Cloud and his beloved buster sword. Every character plays differently and you will find yourself having a go with each one until you find your chosen one: mine was Ky. Oh, and before I forget, the women are stunning, of course. When you knock down Ramlethal.. yes RAM – LETHAL, she loses her clothes and lies there in angst. I can’t not talk about Faust as well – the guy with something like a paper bag over his head, who randomly finds a front door and opens it right on you… amazing!
I have to admit, that the last beat-em-up I played was Mortal Kombat X, which was visually stunning but this is something else. From the start, you are greeted with bright colours, sharp textures and backgrounds which change and move differently in each stage. Each character has their own unique style and these are all reflected beautifully. It’s pretty much one of the best-styled anime shows I have seen. Reminded me a bit of the old Marvel Vs Capcom games I used to play for hours on the Dreamcast. I honestly can’t pick any faults with the graphics and the only reason I haven’t given it a 10 is because I am sure someone will have a gripe with them, or find something I’ve missed but I absolutely love the way this game looks.
I remember people going on about how the original Guilty Gear games have the best music ever, so I suppose I went in expecting something amazing. Again, I have to be completely honest; I felt slightly let down. I mean, rather than the baby metal (standard anime music), I was greeted to a more English metal that, although was fun, wasn’t quite what I wanted. Being the resilient guy I am, I was stuck on the same part of the training mode for about an hour and the music really grinded my gears – excuse the pun. Away from music, it probably has the best use of the PS4 controller I have heard so far. The start of a fight you are treated to a sound clip sternly saying “Heaven” or “Hell”. But, by far, my favourite part is when you are about to have a fight accepted on the online mode and you hear “are you ready for a challenge?”. You damn right, invisible noise! I’m ready to kick some butt! I feel my score for the sound isn’t higher because of my expectations, but I’m writing the review so I choose. Also, when you complete the arcade mode, there is a song which could only have been written by Elton John… not quite what you expect from an anime-themed game but hey, I ended up singing along.
First things first: when it comes to gameplay, there are a few different ways of playing this so I chose to button bash. I feel this was justified as I found the training mode hard. So I stuck the game in beginner and fought the lives of all involved. It worked, even though I can tell that for a technical gamer you are going to be entertained by the great challenge this game offers. I opted against the challenge and went for the easy route and it let me. I love that it let did because sometimes, games wouldn’t have offered the average fighter a way to feel good about what they are doing – Guilty Gear does. The game runs at a fantastic frame rate – I can’t say this is a fact because my PS4 doesn’t tell me, nor do I know how to check, but even after smashing the same button a thousand times the game never seemed to slow down. Even when I was pummelling the opposition with a 38-hit combo, it still flowed. So why did I only give the gameplay an 8.5 you ask. Well, this game is clearly made for a joystick – I found it hard to dash and at times tricky to move accurately. I think this was a culmination of my dodgy gaming and slightly clunky controls. However, this can’t knock down much of the score because it didn’t affect me much – I mean, I still sat and played for hours.
Enjoyment: Seriously, what can I say; this is the most fun I have had on a game for ages. Yes, at times, it was frustrating fun, but it was fun. I found myself fishing for around 30 minutes and I didn’t really even know what half the stuff I was getting was. It just felt good and reminded me of first fishing in Zelda. This is a game I will keep playing because it is great fun.
Overall, I would say this: if you don’t like beat-em-ups, don’t buy this game. If you do, then buy it, unless you are a volatile character who likes to throw controllers at the screen. In that case, buy the game and get insurance of your television because this is a special kind of fun that you don’t want to miss out on. Believe me.
Thanks to the Youtube channels featured for the gaming footage.
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- is released on Friday June 10th on PS4 and PS3. Click on the packshot for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Publisher: pqube
- Players: 1-2
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
9.5 8 8.5 9.5 |
| OVERALL | 9 |
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.
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