The next chapter for Guilty Gear isn’t going backwards or forwards in its history, instead to somewhere new. General Director Daisuke Ishawatari took to Twitter to describe the new Guilty Gear as “a full-frontal confrontation with the essence of the Fighting Game genre,” and recognizes the “high risk move” being made for the series. Here’s the full message:
A few words from Daisuke Ishiwatari on the new #GuiltyGear…
Official Guilty Gear Website: https://t.co/5t2AD9wFxi pic.twitter.com/Dh20lleKH0
— Arc System Works @ #BBTank (@ArcSystemWorksU) August 9, 2019
It’s important to recognize that Guilty Gear is known for technical complexity. Even as the most recent Guilty Gear Xrd simplified systems, players still have to contend with high execution characters and universal mechanics that demand frame-perfect timing. That being said, Arc System Works is on the trend of “accessible” fighting games in the form of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, Dragon Ball FighterZ and upcoming Granblue Fantasy Versus. Many fans who have ran their thumbs sore over mastering Guilty Gear immediately expressed concerns of “dumbing down” the franchise to appeal to what Ishawatari describes as “new and existing players alike”.
Of course, being Ishawatari’s personal passion and marquee franchise for Arc System Works merits a very cautious decision making process. The development division Team RED has refined the methods devised for Guilty Gear Xrd through Dragon Ball and Granblue respectively. Whatever the new direction of Guilty Gear may be, it has always felt like every masterwork was a stepping stone to this point for the most diehard of fans.
Guilty Gear will be playable at the ArcREVO World Tour Final 2019 this November, and releases in 2020. PS4 is a confirmed target platform.
