In a blog post, Arc System Works shared new character and fighting style information for Guilty Gear: Strive‘s Giovanna and Nagoriyuki. The company uses its “Developer’s Backyard” articles to create a dialogue between players and devs, in addition to revealing future plans. In addition, Arc System Works addressed console-PC cross-play requests.
The blog post featured a question and answer segment with fans in which Arc System Works confirmed that although there will be crossplay between PS4 and PS5 versions of the game, there are no console-PC cross-play plans. The company acknowledged the demand it’s received from players regarding this. However, it vaguely cited problems it needs to overcome to implement the feature. There is a bit of hope, though. Arc System Works said it is looking into adding the feature.
Let’s get into the new character details for Guilty Gear -Strive-.
We already heard that she protects the President of the United States, but now we know more about her personality. Hailing from Brazil, Giovanna comes off as curt due to her careful word choice. Despite this, she’s got a good heart. Apparently, Giovanna also comes off as lazy and lacking in social skills occasionally. However, she still handles matters as a professional. As players may have guessed, she gets along well with animals.
On that note, she lets her female wolf spirit companion, Rei, possess her in battle, which grants her incredible speed and strength. Giovanna specializes in close-range combat, though that can be a double-edged sword for her as it can be difficult to get up-close with the opponent. To assist, she has some special moves that can launch her forward. Arc System Works also highlighted her ease-of-use, making her a good fit for new players. The company also clarified that she is not a “mode change” style character. Finally, Giovanna does have a unique mechanic where her damage output increases in tandem with her “Tension Guage” filling, giving experienced players the potential to experiment.
Nagoriyuki is a supernatural vampire samurai from Nigeria. He’s a heavy-hitter with great range, but he can’t dash or double-jump. He can use super jumps or his special move “Fukyo” to approach opponents, though. Additionally, Nagoriyuki can really bring the pain by using special moves one after another. To balance this, his “Blood Gauge” will fill up with each special move he uses. Once filled, he forcibly switches into a “Blood Rage” state, where he becomes vulnerable. Nagoriyuki won’t be able to use special moves and will take damage in this mode. However, his normal moves’ range will improve, and he’ll be able to use an exclusive Overdrive. Thankfully, players can satisfy his bloodlust by using his command grab special move to decrease the gauge for a set amount of time.
Arc System Works intends to have both Guilty Gear -Strive- Giovanna and Nagoriyuki playable in the future. There will be an “arcade version pre-release test” (in Japan) and a “pre-release playable demo” open bet for consoles in early 2021.
Guilty Gear -Strive- will release on the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC on April 9, 2021.
