Guilty Gear Strive Season 3 is upon us. And we’re getting much more than just a new character. So here is a quick rundown of Season 3 and its updates.
Great change is coming to Guilty Gear Stive. Season 3 kicks off with the return of everyone’s favorite sky pirate Johnny, the introduction of new universal battle mechanics, and a complete overhaul of the Online Lobby system.
Some of the existing cast has learned a few more tricks and there have been sweeping adjustments to the balance of the game. It looks like Season 3 is gearing Guilty Gear Strive up for the imminent future now that it has earned its right to compete with mainstays in the fighting game space.
Guilty Gear Strive Johnny
At EVO 2023 Arc System Works introduced Johnny as the first Daredevil of Season 3. Having been a fan favorite since his debut, it was only a question of time till he’d make an appearance in Strive.
Much of his kit looks like a combination of what he had in Guilty Gear Xrd and Guilty Gear X. Mist Finder and Deal return but this time around he gets to combine the two moves into some nasty combinations.
Esenga also makes a return, only that this time around Johnny only gets to use this vaulting attack on the ground.
Guilty Gear Strive Season 3 Updates
Besides Johnny being added to the game (finally) Season 3 also sees a complete overhaul of Guilty Gear Strive as a game. Starting with the main menu which is now much more accessible and easier to read. Most of the options remain the same, it is just clearer visually.
There has also been an overhaul to Online Matches and Online Lobbies. But we don’t know yet if those changes extend to Guilty Gear Strives troubled matchmaking.
The Lobbies have been visually overhauled, you can now see how many players are online on each floor in the Ranked Tower. A new regional server “Africa” has been added and there have been some changes to the structure of the screen as well.
The character select screen has also been overhauled, as well as the description and classifications of all characters. With the changes to all characters, the Mission Mode has also been updated accordingly, adding, removing, and updating them depending on those changes.
Guilty Gear Strive Battle Changes
The battle version has been updated to version 3.00 which means that some of the combos in the dojo might end up being outdated.
Character changes are far too expansive so list them here so here is a link to all the changes made in 3.00. Generally, most characters have gotten updates to their kits that make sense, Some nerfs but mostly buffs have been applied that will make someone in your friend group very happy or angry and some characters even got to learn a few new moves.
Major changes have been made to Burst Gauge and Psych Burst. The Burst Gauge will now recover much faster over time, the properties of Gold and Blue Burst have been changed.
Gold Psy Burst will no longer increase your Tension Gauge on hit, instead, it will put you in a Positive Bonus State.
Blue Psych Burst has also been revised and will now cover the entire screen. The reasoning is that Blue Burst should become a more viable option across all ranges.
Weight has also been removed as a mechanic. This means that all characters will have the same amount of weight when juggled or thrown. Might look a little weird visually, but now you don’t have to lab specific combos for Potemkin anymore.
Wild Assault & Deflect Shield
Two more moves have been added to the game. Wild Assault and Deflect Shield, both of which cost 50% of the Burst Gauge.
Wild Assault is performed by pressing 236D and can be powered up by holding D for a while. This move can be canceled out of normals and drains the opponent’s Burst Gauge depending on hit or block. Charging allows the player to delay the attack depending on the charge.
Wild Assault can either be used to extend combos, get a Guard Crust effect on block, or offer you some invincibility frames while trading blows.
Deflect Shield is performed by pressing 214D (can also be used in the Air) and is a new defensive option. timing it just right will create significant distance between opponents and is a great alternative to using an RC to get out of the corner. It works for both low and overhead attacks as well as on projectiles.
But be careful, the second half of Deflect Shield will leave you open to a Counter Hit should you misstime the input.
This new Update marks a great time for players to either return to Guilty Gear Strive or pick it up for the first time. Guilty Gear Strive is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC as well as on the Xbox Game Pass. Season 3 kicks off on August 24, 2023.