Guilty Gear Strive is out on the Nintendo Switch, which offers an opportunity for those who’ve yet to hop onto one of the most popular fighting games out there a chance to do so on new hardware. However, this version of the game offers a neat little feature that’ll sound good to Switch players. But, how good is it really, and will dedicated players actually like it?
For those who don’t know, this feature is the possibility of playing the game locally with a single joycon, allowing folks to play matches sitting next to each other without having to spend cash on another controller. This, without a doubt, is a nice bonus for casual players on the Switch. It lets folks play games against their mates without any barriers. But, given the complexity of Strive in a competitive sense, it will raise eyebrows for pre-existing players.
A single joycon has an anologue stick, four buttons, and two trigger buttons. For those not entirely familar, Strive is a five button fighter. So that’s your four face buttons and one of the triggers taken. That last trigger is probably best used for Roman Cancels, a mechanic that allows for fluid defensive and offensive options. Either that, or players could bind it to burst, a crucial defensive mechanic. You can use these in a match through inputs on the face buttons alone, but doing so is far more inconvenient than hitting a trigger or shoulder button.
And that’s just the basic stuff. With two trigger buttons you’ll be unable to bind a spare button to a selection of fan favourites. I, for example, like binding a button to dash, allowing for easier movement and combo extenders. Others user it for something called an FD Macro, a way of using Faultless Defense (another important defensive mechanic, especially at high skil levels) with ease. You can see now how using a single joycon has its issues.
But here’s an interesting question: who actually cares about this? The answer is, those of a competitive nature, who play Guilty Gear Strive for the love of the game and the sake of self improvement. These players, who make up a sizable quantity of the player base at this point, obviously aren’t the target audience for the single joycon option. No one is getting out of pools with a sole joycon at Evo, folks. Instead, this is clearly aimed at those looking to have a bit of friendly fun with a pal or two. Busting out Strive with the homies, mashing buttons, and smiling. A fun option for the happy and employed, and those with a good credit score.
Indeed this Switch version of Guilty Gear Strive appears a decent deal for those looking for some occasional anime fighter joy. It comes with all the DLC already available – that’s three whole seasons of DLC characters. In addition, Queen Dizzy (the latest character) will be available in February too. It’s a jumping on point for those who aren’t hanging around the Celestial Floor of the online ranked ladder.
So there we have it, a new avenue for clear-eyed, fresh faced gamers curious about this odd game called Guilty Gear Strive. One can only hope they don’t head to the 10th floor of the online tower, lest an online demon with a suspect name like Lil Bussy Man steals their souls forever.
Will you be picking up Guilty Gear Strive on the Switch? Let us know below!