It’s no secret that Guilty Gear Strive is a fantastic fighting game. We talked about all that it had to offer back when it was originally released in 2021, and since then it’s gotten a large number of DLC characters and has been the star of tournaments around the round, including the magnificent EVO in Las Vegas.
Now, the game is finally landing on Switch after being announced last year at PAX West. Back at Brazil Game Show last year I was able to check the port out and was pretty impressed with what I saw. It featured basically the same game with no noticeable drops in visual quality, something that’s very rarely a case when it comes to Switch versions of games.
And we’re talking about a Guilty Gear game here, from a series that’s known to pump out positively beautiful hit after hit. Strive is no exception, as it boasts some of the best animation ever to grace a videogame. That’s especially so when we’re talking about fighting games, where the competition is truly fierce in that department. To top it off, it has some incredible music, with tunes that just rock.
The Switch port feels like a miracle when it comes to its presentation. It’s a game running off Unreal Engine 4 so there’s much that can be attributed to that when it comes to performance, but given that Strive’s one of the busier games visually, the fact that it runs and looks so good both on and off the dock is ridiculous. There’s no overstating how cool it is to see a game like this on an OLED Switch, where it all just pops.

Then again, there are also some limitations when it comes to the Switch’s Joy Cons. They are just not ideal for fighting games since there’s no actual directional pad to speak of, and even the analog sticks aren’t great. Your best bet at doing well and actually getting moves to register reliably is using a Pro Controller or an actual arcade stick which there are actually a few models of for Switch.
Guilty Gear Strive has excellent gameplay, with one of the strongest character lineups in the business, but the overall package is not without its flaws. Back in our original review, Callum went into the details of what made it such a great game, but also took into account some things that fell short back then, like the need to split attacks off when building combos through its innovative but somewhat convoluted new system.
The lack of a more in-depth tutorial in the vein of what we’re now very used to in games like Street Fighter 6, with an ease into every character was also a disappointment to our resident fighting game junkie. That issue is still ever present in the Switch port, as it features basically everything that’s been present on already established platforms the game is on.
That goes both ways, though. Everything else about it is downright awesome, including online multiplayer, which has rollback netcode and feels satisfyingly stable. Getting my butt handed to me by randos has never been better, but it’s a bit of a downer not being able to crossplay with those on other consoles or on PC.
For what there is to be played, I’ve yet to get a laggy match even on Wi-Fi connection at home, and that’s already a great plus for Guilty Gear Strive on Nintendo’s hybrid machine, where others have failed before. Now, we can only hope that the community on Switch stays strong as its successor knocks at the door. With the news that it’ll be backwards compatible, the chances are good.
But if you’re not into the idea of facing off against other people at all, there’s good content for single player-minded people. The story mode has some neat moments as you go through a series of fights and encounters in the long-running saga of Sol Badguy and his frenemies in the bonkers world of Guilty Gear, no doubt colorful and anything but boring to go through.

I also dug GG World, which acts as a huge glossary for the series, going into detail about all the characters that have appeared in the games and their backstories and relationships. For those into customization, they’ll be happy to know that the Collection part of the game lets them literally fish for parts in order to put together their avatar exactly as they want, not to mention style them as figures for taking photos of.
Guilty Gear Strive is a damn miracle on Switch. Arc System Works have gone far and above in bringing their flagship series down to this 8-year old system, something that’s to be commended not only for that simply to be happening alone, but also, and especially so, for the way that it has been done. I have a hard time recalling a better port than this outside of the equally fantastic Dragon Ball FighterZ. Switch owners are sure to have a great time with this one.