So, what's your takeaways from the latest interview with Ishiwatari and Katano? I'm personally excited to hear that Ishiwatari already has ideas for how he's going to extend the Guilty Gear series beyond Strive and that's he's apparently working on a new IP.
Amid the swirling of doubts and concern people have had over the game, I've had to face the music that this is INDEED a new fighting game in every sense.
It's rather painful for me to admit that I am a bit of a traditionalist with regard to how characters progress and develop, and it was exactly as Ishiwatari said: every character was becoming "versatile", with no weaknesses to make one stand out from another.
Characters that professed to be one type of character could actually do a whole lot more, and while that is expressive and fun from the perspective of skillful players who like it when characters "evolve to the next step"... it also shaves off all the edges that make that character unique from other characters.
This sort of thing is what causes S-Tier characters to begin with... characters who HAVE no weaknesses and HAVE a response to anything. While that sort of thing might work with SNK Superbosses and Unlimited Characters meant to steal your Continues and Eat your quarters... It kills the concept of weakness and counter-matching/counter-picking along with balance.
But what's happening isn't what you'd traditionally call a "nerf"... it's more of a "back to basics" reformation. It's a breakdown understanding of all the things that have transpired so far and focusing on not just the "best" of what a character can do, but the most "interesting/fun" things a character can do.
I've had to admit that EX Characters and Unlimited "Broken" Characters are a heavy addiction for me. It's easy to fall sway under the idea that a character can do anything in the right hands, but from the developers' side, that statement is full of contradictions.
It kills the purpose of what gives a character their specific identity and uniqueness... the "difference" as Ramlethal would put it.
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Back on topic, while I do "miss" all the things that were "cut" out of each character... I have to consider the bigger picture: what does the FULL ROSTER LOOK LIKE?
What is going on in Ishiwatari's Mind right now?
What's he planning for us?
We aren't just getting "returning characters", we're getting NEW characters... new players on the stage of history... WHO DARES TO ENTER THE MAYHEM!?!?
*ahem*
I've always known that the world of Guilty Gear is much MUCH bigger than the world of Sol Badguy... but I really have no idea what to expect from here on out.
We've seen some rather Dark Deuteragonists in GG so far, and their stories are hardly DONE... but what's going to happen moving forwards?
The "Game" isn't OVER yet... we've only just caught a "wiff" of that "Smell".
I also have to wonder what Mori's thinking after he completed Central Fiction and is working on Alternative Dark War... he's known Ishiwatari for a while... and they are known for bouncing ideas off each other.
Just what is Ishiwatari planning? (ᵀʰᵃᵗ ᶜʳᵃᶠᵗʸ ᵒˡᵈ ᵐᵃⁿ...) *mumbles to self*