In what is, for me personally, the most exciting Guilty Gear Strive update since the game was first announced, Arc System Works has unveiled Millia Rage and Zato=1 as the two latest additions to the Strive roster.
As exciting as the character reveals so far have been, I’ve struggled to not be at least a little bit disappointed with each new character reveal that wasn’t Millia Rage. Millia was my first ever Guilty Gear main back in Guilty Gear XX #Reload. She was the first character I ever won a match in an arcade with (in any game!). I’ve switched to different mains at various points in the years and games since, but Millia always held a special place in my heart.
I had to assume that she’d be announced for Guilty Gear Strive at some point; she’s been a staple of Guilty Gear since the very first game, after all. At the same time, she’s a character whose entire gameplan revolves around okizeme—that is, pressuring opponents who are knocked down, and forcing them into situations where they have little choice but to guess what you’re going to do—which is something that Arc System Works seems to want to downplay in general in Strive.
The good news is that, while snippet of game footage we’ve seen for Millia suggests quite a different set of moves to what we’re used to, her trademark Tandem Top attack is still in place. And, crucially, it still looks like it can be used to pressure a downed opponent—you can see this in action in the new trailer. Just how oppressive her okizeme is remains to be seen, but it at least looks like it remains a part of her game.
I’ve never even tried to play Zato=1 or Eddie, so I can’t comment too much on his side of the new trailer. It does look like he’s very much the Zato we all know and love (or hate), with Little Eddie causing havoc all over the place.
Millia and Zato bring the total number of announced characters to eight, joining Sol, Ky, Axl, May, Potemkin, and Faust. There’ll no doubt be more announcements in the lead up to release; my fingers are crossed for Baiken, I-No, and Anji Mito.
Guilty Gear Strive is currently in development for PlayStation 4, and due for release in late 2020. There’s a closed beta scheduled to take place in April, which interested players can register for now.