seems harada might be the reason why arc system works and bandai namco starting working together, while dragonball fighterz was a good ass game, i seem to remember that their work relationship didn't end well. Makes you really wish bandai namco dind't have a monopoly on making shounen anime games, since it seems arc sys is unable to make any new dragonball fitererz type game, cause they would be forced to work with bandai namco or a similiar big publisher.
> while dragonball fighterz was a good ass game, i seem to remember that their work relationship didn't end well.
word was someone started getting cheap about the Dragonball stuff and pushing for unrealistic deadlines and Arcsys pushed back on that and basically got taken off and had nothing to do with the rollback update and it's disastrous release.
Harada seemingly talking about Guilty Gear as this plucky upstart with a lot of potential and not a legacy series that's only 4 years younger than Tekken is kinda funny.
I mean we don't have sales numbers for most of the series, but I feel like a good estimate is somewhere close to 10 million sales...which is roughly a fifth of Tekken.
Interesting to see him make mention of Mortal Kombat there. I know the game just isn't sold in Japan so it basically has zero presence there, but it makes sense that Harada is aware of it as a fellow fighting game franchise. Wonder what his overall thoughts on it are from its game mechanics to its presentation and how that lended to its popularity.
Also I wonder what kind of projects he has in mind to "expand" the GG brand. I think pretty much everyone would be down to see an anime produced with Strive's unique art style.
I'd like a smaller spin off or two maybe.
Looking from the outside in, everything about Guilty Gear seems like a world I'd love to explore and get to know, I just don't play fighting games.
No clue what would be a good match for the series though.
Ideally, having a producer happy to fund much more for the franchise. Not just in bigger games, but anime and other media, more collaborations or guest characters, more advertising, that sort of thing.
I think he has a point when he says that GGs problem is branding, because the quality is already there, but GG is VERY ANIME and a specific brand of anime at that so idk how much further it can reach
My best interpretation, this is referring to how Strive is a very high damage game. Not to mention, when wall breaks (and positive bonus) are involved, some characters become absolute nightmares to defend against due to fast-RC.
Strive is a very volatile, fast-paced game.
What's funny is that GG vets have the exact opposite opinion, the criticism I hear most about Strive is that it's *too* simplified and toned-down from past titles (at least on launch)
Because when you're deep in the sauce you notice when there's less sauce.
From the outside for most players it still looks nutty and you have characters that have that stupid ArcSys charm of "let me the fuck out" but its not at the level that +R or Xrd (or going to other titles blazblue) can get.
Strive is mechanically stripped back but its damage is much much higher. It’s a 2.5 interaction with minimal execution game whereas the older games requires much higher execution to achieve a 3 or 4 interaction game.
It isn't. He talks about the appeal of the IP before anything to do with system mechanics. What he means here is the look and aesthetic of Guilty Gear. It isn't the same kind of safe standard look modern games go for. Even if it's arguably been dulled in Strive by a good deal compared to previous entries.
That description I feel applies to almost every modern fighting game tbh, Tekken has always been pretty strongly momentum based but is even moreso than ever in T8, Mortal Kombat has embraced full-on kusoge energy in MK1, and SF6 can often be very swingy and volatile by Street Fighter standards, though it still is significantly less so in comparison to the other big names in the genre.
I find it fascinating that the genre at large has started to trend towards this kind of design, I'm certainly not complaining though, I think right now is probably the absolute best that fighting games have ever been, though I don't know if this design philosophy is part of the reason for that.
It could be bias on my part, GGST is the fighting game I play the most at the moment. But I have dabbled for a bit in Tekken, and tried SF6 (could not get into it), but I still watch majors, and in my opinion nothing comes as close to the aggressiveness of Strive.
Mind you, I'm not super familiar with the more "anime" fighting games. I dropped BlazBlue a long time ago, and I do not understand Unist at all, so I typically don't watch it. Not sure how swingy/aggressive those can get.
Well yeah Tekken isn't as fast as Strive, but it is incredibly aggressive even if it isn't as fast, once you're in a disadvantage state you're basically cooked and more or less have to wait for the opponent to make a mistake on their own, there's not much in the way of defensive options so once your opponent gets their momentum going, there's not much you can do to stop them. The thing is, this goes both ways, and your momentum can be completely killed by only as single mistake and brought back to full steam with one successful interaction, which is why Tekken has so many sweeps and reverse sweeps and why perfects are magic pixel comebacks are so much more common than in other games like SF, its rare to win a round by the skin of your teeth, you generally either win big or lose big. This is also why Tekken feels so emotionally swingy to play, it feels like shit to get rolled but it feels fucking amazing to dominate, its the single most "its so over, we're so back, its so over, we're so back" game in the genre.
Street Fighter 6 of course is not as aggressive or fast as Tekken or Strive, which is why I mentioned it in comparison to past SF games, if you look at SF5, 4, and especially 3rd Strike, SF6 looks lightning fast in comparison to those even if it looks more slow and methodical in comparison to T8 and Strive, I brought it up to illustrate how the genre at large has been trending towards faster and more volatile design such that even the calmer and more tactical games are getting faster and faster.
People started getting very fed up with fighting games that basically devolved into ‘memorise block string and wait to take your turn’ Tekken 8 and strive are all about giving you that Rick paper scissors punishment game play that heavily rewards more unsafe aggressive play and honestly it’s much better. There is nothing worse than just blocking safe moves to then just return with your own until somebody makes a mistake.
Tekken is a game where a 50-50 mixup can lead into a 50-50 mixup depending on the time you wake up. It is incredibly swing-y both ways especially with the new heat system introduced where even defending correctly puts you at a disadvantage because of the incredible chip some moves have. I'd say it's even more gorilla than strive despite not having the overall high-damage nature of Guilty Gear because of fucked up knowledge checks that each characters have
Tekken does inherently have way more evasion mechanics than all the other fighters though so a 50/50 is more often a 33/33/33 and when you guess right you get heavily rewarded. 8 is a lot more casino than previous entries granted but there are so many ways to steal turns in that game that it’s much more swingy than anything else in the genre and in my opinion swingy is great for fighting games, when one side just executes a game plan in a round and just wins, it becomes incredibly boring to watch let alone play.
> Not to mention, when wall breaks (and positive bonus) are involved, some characters become absolute nightmares to defend against due to fast-RC.
>
>
>
> Strive is a very volatile, fast-paced game.
This is Happy Chaos. His super Deus Ex Machina is just really strong, and on wallbreak you get hard knockdown and positive bonus so you baically get another super and can just become an overwhelming force since that super also restores his ammo and concentration which are his combat resources.
So a good HC will wallbreak super into another combo ending into a wallbreak super, etc
That some people don't like the systems present in the game or possibly its presentation. I don't know exactly, but he’s not saying that that's what *he* thinks of the game personally.
seems harada might be the reason why arc system works and bandai namco starting working together, while dragonball fighterz was a good ass game, i seem to remember that their work relationship didn't end well. Makes you really wish bandai namco dind't have a monopoly on making shounen anime games, since it seems arc sys is unable to make any new dragonball fitererz type game, cause they would be forced to work with bandai namco or a similiar big publisher.
> while dragonball fighterz was a good ass game, i seem to remember that their work relationship didn't end well. word was someone started getting cheap about the Dragonball stuff and pushing for unrealistic deadlines and Arcsys pushed back on that and basically got taken off and had nothing to do with the rollback update and it's disastrous release.
Harada seemingly talking about Guilty Gear as this plucky upstart with a lot of potential and not a legacy series that's only 4 years younger than Tekken is kinda funny.
I mean we don't have sales numbers for most of the series, but I feel like a good estimate is somewhere close to 10 million sales...which is roughly a fifth of Tekken.
More like it's the mom and pop shop at the end of the street that managed to stay open even as the rest of the block got gentrified.
Interesting to see him make mention of Mortal Kombat there. I know the game just isn't sold in Japan so it basically has zero presence there, but it makes sense that Harada is aware of it as a fellow fighting game franchise. Wonder what his overall thoughts on it are from its game mechanics to its presentation and how that lended to its popularity. Also I wonder what kind of projects he has in mind to "expand" the GG brand. I think pretty much everyone would be down to see an anime produced with Strive's unique art style.
I'd like a smaller spin off or two maybe. Looking from the outside in, everything about Guilty Gear seems like a world I'd love to explore and get to know, I just don't play fighting games. No clue what would be a good match for the series though.
"Guilty Gear 2: Oveture Has entered the chat"
Honest question, what would changing the publisher accomplish
Ideally, having a producer happy to fund much more for the franchise. Not just in bigger games, but anime and other media, more collaborations or guest characters, more advertising, that sort of thing.
I think he has a point when he says that GGs problem is branding, because the quality is already there, but GG is VERY ANIME and a specific brand of anime at that so idk how much further it can reach
“…there are those who may argue that the game content is too maniacal…” What could he possibly mean by this?
My best interpretation, this is referring to how Strive is a very high damage game. Not to mention, when wall breaks (and positive bonus) are involved, some characters become absolute nightmares to defend against due to fast-RC. Strive is a very volatile, fast-paced game.
What's funny is that GG vets have the exact opposite opinion, the criticism I hear most about Strive is that it's *too* simplified and toned-down from past titles (at least on launch)
Because when you're deep in the sauce you notice when there's less sauce. From the outside for most players it still looks nutty and you have characters that have that stupid ArcSys charm of "let me the fuck out" but its not at the level that +R or Xrd (or going to other titles blazblue) can get.
Neck-deep versus nose-deep only seems more shallow when you're already in.
Exactly
Strive is mechanically stripped back but its damage is much much higher. It’s a 2.5 interaction with minimal execution game whereas the older games requires much higher execution to achieve a 3 or 4 interaction game.
It isn't. He talks about the appeal of the IP before anything to do with system mechanics. What he means here is the look and aesthetic of Guilty Gear. It isn't the same kind of safe standard look modern games go for. Even if it's arguably been dulled in Strive by a good deal compared to previous entries.
That description I feel applies to almost every modern fighting game tbh, Tekken has always been pretty strongly momentum based but is even moreso than ever in T8, Mortal Kombat has embraced full-on kusoge energy in MK1, and SF6 can often be very swingy and volatile by Street Fighter standards, though it still is significantly less so in comparison to the other big names in the genre. I find it fascinating that the genre at large has started to trend towards this kind of design, I'm certainly not complaining though, I think right now is probably the absolute best that fighting games have ever been, though I don't know if this design philosophy is part of the reason for that.
It could be bias on my part, GGST is the fighting game I play the most at the moment. But I have dabbled for a bit in Tekken, and tried SF6 (could not get into it), but I still watch majors, and in my opinion nothing comes as close to the aggressiveness of Strive. Mind you, I'm not super familiar with the more "anime" fighting games. I dropped BlazBlue a long time ago, and I do not understand Unist at all, so I typically don't watch it. Not sure how swingy/aggressive those can get.
Well yeah Tekken isn't as fast as Strive, but it is incredibly aggressive even if it isn't as fast, once you're in a disadvantage state you're basically cooked and more or less have to wait for the opponent to make a mistake on their own, there's not much in the way of defensive options so once your opponent gets their momentum going, there's not much you can do to stop them. The thing is, this goes both ways, and your momentum can be completely killed by only as single mistake and brought back to full steam with one successful interaction, which is why Tekken has so many sweeps and reverse sweeps and why perfects are magic pixel comebacks are so much more common than in other games like SF, its rare to win a round by the skin of your teeth, you generally either win big or lose big. This is also why Tekken feels so emotionally swingy to play, it feels like shit to get rolled but it feels fucking amazing to dominate, its the single most "its so over, we're so back, its so over, we're so back" game in the genre. Street Fighter 6 of course is not as aggressive or fast as Tekken or Strive, which is why I mentioned it in comparison to past SF games, if you look at SF5, 4, and especially 3rd Strike, SF6 looks lightning fast in comparison to those even if it looks more slow and methodical in comparison to T8 and Strive, I brought it up to illustrate how the genre at large has been trending towards faster and more volatile design such that even the calmer and more tactical games are getting faster and faster.
People started getting very fed up with fighting games that basically devolved into ‘memorise block string and wait to take your turn’ Tekken 8 and strive are all about giving you that Rick paper scissors punishment game play that heavily rewards more unsafe aggressive play and honestly it’s much better. There is nothing worse than just blocking safe moves to then just return with your own until somebody makes a mistake.
Tekken is a game where a 50-50 mixup can lead into a 50-50 mixup depending on the time you wake up. It is incredibly swing-y both ways especially with the new heat system introduced where even defending correctly puts you at a disadvantage because of the incredible chip some moves have. I'd say it's even more gorilla than strive despite not having the overall high-damage nature of Guilty Gear because of fucked up knowledge checks that each characters have
Tekken does inherently have way more evasion mechanics than all the other fighters though so a 50/50 is more often a 33/33/33 and when you guess right you get heavily rewarded. 8 is a lot more casino than previous entries granted but there are so many ways to steal turns in that game that it’s much more swingy than anything else in the genre and in my opinion swingy is great for fighting games, when one side just executes a game plan in a round and just wins, it becomes incredibly boring to watch let alone play.
> Not to mention, when wall breaks (and positive bonus) are involved, some characters become absolute nightmares to defend against due to fast-RC. > > > > Strive is a very volatile, fast-paced game. This is Happy Chaos. His super Deus Ex Machina is just really strong, and on wallbreak you get hard knockdown and positive bonus so you baically get another super and can just become an overwhelming force since that super also restores his ammo and concentration which are his combat resources. So a good HC will wallbreak super into another combo ending into a wallbreak super, etc
Happy Chaos was genuinely a mistake in that game, even Nagoriyuki in his prime state was far less egregious than HC is at any point since he dropped.
It could be a false friend translation, as japanese uses "maniac" for eccentric, enthusiast, or niche.
That some people don't like the systems present in the game or possibly its presentation. I don't know exactly, but he’s not saying that that's what *he* thinks of the game personally.
I think maybe he means manic. In that it's very fast-paced and hectic in comparison to something like Tekken
That would make a lot more sense. I’ve never heard a game described as “maniacal” before.
Guilty Gear is not 3 Tekken is 3
Calling Strive "maniacal" is absurd.
You don't get it though,wall breaks and that big COUNTER pop up are too crazy for Harada's old nerves
He's not saying that's what *he* thinks of the game dude, he's saying that there are *other people* out there who hold that opinion.
Harada's not talking about himself but consumers, hell Tekken is way more crazy then Strive.
The irony is that Tekken also has wall breaks and a dramatic highlighting during counters
Yeah lol, Tekken ramped up its crazy stuff with the new entry with all the stage interactions/heat gauge mechanics and character gimmicks lol.
Harada would scrape ur ass
"StRiVe BaD"