Platform:
PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PC
Publisher:
Arc System Works, Bandai Namco
Developer:
Arc System Works
Release:
June 11, 2021
Rating:
Teen
Arc System Works’ tournament Arc Revo America has come to the end, and with it brings plenty of announcements for the future of Guilty Gear Strive and more.
Strive’s final first season character was announced, and it’s not what the majority of players expected. The goth, scythe-wielding Testament is back with a slight redesign featuring a new vest, ruffled jabot, and top hat. Like previous iterations, “The Elegant Grim Reaper’s” attacks have a long reach and now have demon familiars to back them up in a fight. Testament hasn’t been part of a Guilty Gear roster since terrorizing competitors in Guilty Gear Accent Core Plus R, but whether they’ll be as dominant in Strive will remain to be seen.
Alongside the release of Testament will be the arrival of a new stage, White House Reborn. Set on the grounds of the Presidential Residence of the United States after the events of Strive’s story mode, the building is being rebuilt and “has already been restored to its position as the center of the government.”
Strive players will only have a short wait to get their hands on Testament and the new White House Reborn stage because they’ll be available starting on March 28 for PS5, PS4, and PC Season Pass owners and for à la carte purchase on PC only. PlayStation players can purchase them separately on March 31.
Also coming on March 28 is Digital Figure Mode, which allows players to place characters, furniture, effects, and more into scenes that can be shared with others online. Character’s facial expressions can be changed as well, image filters can be applied, and camera angles can be altered to add even more creative control to the mode.
While it was announced to be paired with the final character release of the season pass, an expansion to the Story Mode will be released by the end of April. Titled “Another Story,” this new narrative experience will focus on characters who did not appear during the original Story Mode.
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All of the above wraps up the season pass for Guilty Gear Strive, but that won’t be the end of new content coming to the game. Arc System Works has announced a second season is in the works, with four more characters coming to Strive in the future. Cross-play between the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC versions of Strive will be added at an undetermined date, with additional server improvements, including better server connection times and network stability for online modes. There’s no word on when season two may start because it’s obviously very early, but it’s great to know the game will continue to be supported.
Finally, Arc Revo will be continuing with the return of Arc World Tour, a global tournament series that hasn’t been active since the start of the pandemic. Guilty Gear Strive will of course be a main game in the competition, but the upcoming Arc System Works game DNF Duel will also be co-headlining the series of events. With the addition of DNF comes a partnership of Nexon, owner of the Dungeon Fighter Online IP the game is based on, who will be sponsoring Arc World Tour 2022. Competitors who win regional World Tour events will qualify for the World Tour Finals and have the opportunity to fight for part of a $200,000 prize pool ($100,000 for each of the two games).
Arc System Works is one of the companies involved with the upcoming Japan Fighting Game Publishers Roundtable, which occurs very early on Monday morning. You can learn more about the event here, where we may hear more from the developers about Testament and the future plans for Guilty Gear Strive.
Are you excited to get your hands on Testament? Which characters would you like to see in Season Two of Guilty Gear Strive? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Game Informer Testament Returns In Guilty Gear Strive With Second Season Of Characters Coming Later