I have always liked fighting games even if I have never been very big into the FGC. I loved games like Mortal Kombat and Tekken but I was always aware of Guilty Gear. It was that game that my friends would tell me about and let me play when I could. Guilty Gear has always been so different from most fighting games, it has been more intense for lack of a better word. If other fighting games are hard rock, then Guilty Gear is death metal. It has been a pioneer in the air-dasher subgenre of fighting games and has brought many other innovations as well. The series has only gotten better with each installment and now in the Xrd subseries Guilty Gear is going all out.
Revelator and its predecessor Sign are two amazing works of art. The blend of 3D graphics and cell-shading to mimic the look of sprite art animation is amazing and creates the perfect look for the games. All of the effects and character animations are spot on and look great and true to the series.
Music wise, Revelator continues the series’ tradition of awesome music. The character themes are great, the background music, menus and more all have great sounds, and the story mode has some amazing audio. The developers at Arc System Works spared no expense at creating an awesome sounding game here. The diverse metal soundtrack the game has is just epic and I could listen to these tunes for hours on end. The only audio part that was a downside for me was the changes in voice acting, with Xrd Revelator not having an English dub. Some didn’t like the English dub of Xrd Sign, but I did and I miss it since I think the voices fit the characters well.
Now that all those details are out of the way, let’s talk about the gameplay. The fighting in Xrd Sign was smooth yet sometimes a little too stiff with random elements popping in that could disrupt the flow of the game. These issues are mostly resolved with Revelator, giving a far smoother experience and much more straightforward. The combat mechanics are greatly refined and allow for more variety of attacks that what was commonly used in Xrd Sign. The matches I had were a big step up from Xrd Sign.
Now to talk about the online play. The netcode is far superior in Revelator than in Xrd Sign and I have had no problems connecting for matches. I experienced no lag, no connection errors, just intense matches. The lobby system is also greatly overhauled, and Arc System Works did a great job with this new lobby system. It is far more inviting and easy to use, but with one downside. The larger the lobby, the weaker the connectivity becomes, and it can lead to the only online issues I have seen in the game. Hopefully this gets worked out soon, because aside from that, the online functions great.
The thing that needs to be mentioned the most, and that many are ecstatic over, is the tutorial mode. The tutorial in Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator is the single greatest tutorial in any fighting game there ever was. I am not exaggerating. It helps walk you through the basics though unique interactions, and gradually helps you get the hang of the more difficult mechanics. The best pat of that is how it is incredibly welcoming to new players and helps them get into the game and not feel overwhelmed. However, the tutorial doesn’t end there and does something I have never seen before. It gives Matchup tutorials. The game will actually teach you how you should fight against other characters (or at least make suggestions for how to do it, since everyone can form their own strategy), which is the most welcome thing in the tutorial.
Many people want to play fighting games, and Revelator wants to be that fighting game you will play. Xrd Sign was good but rough around the edges and didn’t have the best online, but Revelator has addressed this all. Revelator is Xrd Sign taken to the next level and done completely right. If you like fighting games, or even just want to try one, then this is a game for you. I must highly recommend it. This is a great game and I am excited to see what future support they have in mind for this series.