Game review: ‘Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- ’ kills the competition in style

Newcomers include Ramlethal, whose giant swords can be sent across the screen and controlled separately, and Bedman, an unconscious, waifish boy strapped to a monstrous bed – by far the most unique concept for a villainous genius, ever.

 

In a genre cluttered with titles that often boast more than 30 fighters, “Xrd” is a little slim at 17 characters (two of which are DLC). Still, it’s quality over quantity, and “Xrd’s” eccentric combatants offer enough variation to make every match feel special.

 

 

Wonderfully complex

 

Because these characters play so differently, it might take a while to become proficient with them. The game has an overabundance of special techniques – from character-specific skills to roster-wide abilities such as Double Jumps, Air Dashes, and Blitz Shields.

 

One of the most effective moves available to all characters is the Dust Attack. This sends opponents flying, which you can follow up with Homing, allowing you to unleash an air combo on foes as they flail about in the air. Another is the Roman Cancel, which interrupts your character’s current action, allowing you to do something else. It also slows down your enemy, letting you string together otherwise impossible combos. Then there’s the Instant Kill Attack, a move so powerful it ends the round should it successfully land.

 

The result is a technical fighting game with a surprising amount of depth. It’s not enough that you mash buttons; you’ll have to master every skill at your disposal, learn how to exploit every circumstance, and above all, use strategy. And, oh, you’ll need to have the reflexes of a mongoose, because this is one fast game. Against an expert? Blink and you’re dead.

 

What’s great is that “Xrd” comes with an expansive tutorial that eases you into the game. Beyond the fundamentals, you’ll learn everything from complex combos to the different tricks the virtuosos use to turn sticky situations to their advantage. The learning curve becomes a steep, uphill slope fairly quickly, but what you take away from these lessons goes beyond “Xrd”; perfect them, and you’ll be a fighting guru whatever title you play.

 

Modes, modes, and more modes

 

Aside from the customary arcade, versus, training, and challenge modes, there’s M.O.M., which pits you against A.I.-controlled opponents to earn medals. The medals allow you to develop your character, RPG-style, which you can then use online against other similarly enhanced characters.

 

Fighting games are often bashed for the weak execution of their stories. “Xrd” attempts to solve this problem by completely divorcing the story from the gameplay. Story Mode is nothing more than a long, non-interactive cut scene. It’s appropriately cheesy given the title’s strong anime foundations, and one can’t help but feel it would have been more interesting had developer Arc System Works incorporated plot and character development into the actual game, a la “Mortal Kombat 9” or even their own “Persona 4 Arena”.

 

Online mode employs a lobby system where you create or enter rooms in your search for an opponent to battle. The interface is a little confusing at first, and latency issues can impact your enjoyment of multiplayer, but overall, it’s a robust mode that should help you hone your skills and give you hours of play.

 

 

A magnificent revival of a fighting game powerhouse

 

Beautiful visuals, zany characters, fast-paced combat, and intricate fighting mechanics make “Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- ” a worthy revival of one of the genre’s wildest franchises. It’s that welcome breath of fresh air in a room that’s become pungent with far too many thrown Hadokens and Sonic Booms. Personally, I’d choose eviscerating my opponent with a giant scalpel over lobbing another generic fireball any day. — TJD, GMA News