Have you ever just stopped? You don’t know why you stopped, nor do you have any reason to care, but you did, and now you are done? That pretty much explains my experience with Guilty Gear Strive.
I was enamored with the incredible anime style of the game. The action looked ripped from a Crunchyroll advertisement. I wanted some streamers to play it, and the game looked smooth as eggs and twice as delicious. I built up my anticipation to play Guilty Gear Strive over three months.
I was prepared to try it, but one nagging fact held me back. I am terrible at fighting games. I simply don’t have the hand-eye coordination to be a threat, leading to countless losses against friends or online. I have no trouble saving money on fighting games because, in my heart, I know it is a waste of money for me.
In pops Xbox Game Pass. Guilt Gear Strive landed on the Xbox game subscription service, leaving me little reason not to download and try the gorgeous game. On a random Wednesday, surrounded by my wife and kids, I booted up Strive, selected Sol Badguy (great name), and jumped into a training match. My wife looked on, inquiring about the game, and seemed impressed by its visuals.
First Pause Menu: maybe 1 minute and 20 seconds in
I am rounding up pretty significantly. I began mashing buttons against an unknown opponent as my wife tended to the kids momentarily. When she looked back at the TV, I was in the Xbox menu, scrolling over to Destiny 2. “Wait, did you quit already?” she asked in a very puzzled voice. “…yea.” I replied dryly as the Lightfall theme music filled the living room. “You gave up so fast. You gave it no time at all.” She had the most befuddled look on her face. I chose my Titan and began loading into the Tower to collect some bounties when I replied, “I’d rather play this.”
I deleted Guilty Gear from my SSD that evening and haven’t looked back. I don’t know why I stopped. Maybe it was the input response time. Perhaps I was too tired to start a new game. Whatever it was, I could not do it. I made an executive decision to stop.
What was the pause menu like?
I have no idea. I was on it for three seconds before the Xbox menu took over. I have no insight for you.
Verdict
I dunno.
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