Guilty Gear 2020 was at TGs 2019 and developers Daisuke and Katano were there to give an interview to 4Gamer. The interview revealed a lot. From May not aging that much and that it is all in her design. To the fact that they have not yet decided on a title for this yet.
Basically besides story we are to look at this as a brand new game. I think this is to separate from the xrd series which rev 1 and 2 were basically updates. The same way Guilty Gear X installments were basically updates from XX. Thus they didn’t just build the game from the ground up for looks they also did so for gameplay.
Gameplay wise we have Sol and Ky showing off moves new and old. But the interview reveals that the development team is looking into making simple for people on arcade sticks and d pads. They also tend to widen there audience by getting them to be as good or at least be able to reach the same level as pros. I have posted about this and you have seen those videos by Max Sajam and the rest. In this interview it sounds like Team Red is aiming to for.
We also learned a little more bit more the new character. In this part of the interview we learn that Daisuke came up with him as he never did this type of character before. Hence why he has dreads. They didn’t go into story but the from the previous interview we know he has something to do with the history of GG.
As for the roaster we know not everyone will make it in from Revelator. But what we need to remember is that we don’t know how this will be applied. Remember we had Raven, Jacko, Valentines, Baiken, Answer, Bedman and Kum introduced here. And with the way fighting games work and the fan based has been demanding the old cast return we need to see how this works on release and then DLC. Just because they didn’t make it in at launch doesn’t mean they won’t make the game at all. With that said check it out interview below.
- They can’t reveal the final title yet or whether it’ll be a numbered entry, but they can confirm that it’s not part of the Xrd series and that Rev 2 is the final entry of the Xrd series. They are trying to emphasize that they’re approaching this as if it’s a completely new Arc System Works fighting game, rather than as a new game in the Guilty Gear series. However, the story will be continuing from where Rev 2 left off.
- They put the new dreadlocked swordsman in the teaser because they wanted to show everyone a visual that has never been seen before, which is a big part of the appeal of a new game. Ishiwatari can’t go into his backstory and things yet because that would be a spoiler. When asked about the inspiration behind the character, Ishiwatari says that it’s partially the result of wanting to do something different from the characters in the current roster.
- A lot of people were saying that May grew up on Twitter, but Ishiwatari says that it’s really just the design that’s changed. It has nothing to do with time passing in the story, this is just how she looks in the new graphical style for this game. Katano jokes that some people have guessed she’s ten years older, but Ishiwatari says that’s way too much. Katano says to look forward to future updates when they’ll reveal more about the story and its timeframe.
- Regarding the roster, Ishiwatari says since they’re rebuilding everything from scratch, it’ll be difficult to complete all the characters in time for launch. Katano acknowledges that everyone is wondering who will return from Rev 2 and that he knows that every character is somebody’s main. He wants to proceed with development and meet players’ expectations as much as possible.
- They are trying to solve fundamental problems that are present in Guilty Gear and fighting games in general, and are trying to introduce systems that change how the game feels to play. The stage transitions are an aspect of that, and no matter what they do, their primary design philosophy is to make a balanced fighting game, so they aren’t doing these things just for show. However, they’re still making a lot of adjustments to the core gameplay systems and aren’t ready to discuss the exact impact they will have. That being said, the stage transitions will definitely be an exciting and important part of the new gameplay system.
- Ishiwatari’s personal opinion is that if a game needs a “beginner’s mode,” that’s probably a sign that the game is already too impenetrable. They want to develop this new title so that it doesn’t need a beginner’s mode. To that end, they’re rethinking the systems that are hard to use or difficult to remember and are rebuilding everything from scratch.
- Katano says it’s more along the lines of “simple” than “beginner-friendly,” and they’re taking a different approach than what was done with BBTag, for example. He wants it to be a game that can be played by a wide variety of players.
- Ishiwatari elaborates, saying they want to keep the depth they’ve developed over the course of the series, while lowering the barrier of entry. In other words, the more you dig, the more things you’ll discover. That’s the idea he wants to protect the most.
- Katano says that he wants to get rid of the stuff that seems difficult. However, he says, that even if an auto combo is undeniably easy, that doesn’t actually help people understand what’s going on in the game. His goal is to try and make a game where people understand what they’re doing even if they don’t normally play fighting games.
- Ishiwatari acknowledges that this is a huge challenge. Thus far, they’ve made every new title by taking the old parts and tweaking them, powering them up, simplifying them, or removing them. This time is different. Their approach for this title is to build everything from scratch, and then incorporate the good stuff from the previous games.
- Katano says that the biggest challenge for him is trying to make sure the game takes off not only in Japan, but all over the world. Up until now, Arc System Works has really only focused on the Japanese audience, and the Japanese players have tended to dominate the competitive scene. This time he wants to broaden the appeal of the game overseas not only through gameplay but through marketing, and to increase the number of fans worldwide. A part of this is that he wants to put more effort into supporting events and tournaments.
- Ishiwatari notes that a lot of people in the West play using pads, even though in Japan it’s mostly played in arcades or at home using arcade sticks. He wants people to be able to play on pads without there being any sort of incongruity.
- Since Ishiwatari mentioned arcades, Katano wanted to add that while they have announced this game as a PS4 title, it’s not a PS4 exclusive, and they will announce other platforms in the future.
- Katano also mentions that, since he forgot to mention it during the stage presentation, Naoki Hashimoto is returning to do the vocals again, like he did for Xrd, and that players should look forward to Ishiwatari’s new music. Ishiwatari says that the character themes will change in the same way their designs have.
- Getting back to the gameplay discussion, Katano acknowledges that there are mechanical skill gaps not only between stick and pad players and Japanese and overseas players, but between veterans and newcomers as well. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, he says, but since this is going to be a “completely new game” he thinks it would be best if they could reset the skill floor.
- Ishiwatari says that, having worked on the series all this time, he knows that there are many problems and issues, but that he hasn’t been able to fix them because “that’s Guilty Gear.” When it comes to these kind of things, part of him has always wanted to just take a scalpel to them.
- An interviewer says that past GG games have placed an emphasis on incorporating difficult combos into your gameplay strategy, and wonders if the new game’s design could potentially go as far as eliminating command inputs altogether, to shift the focus entirely to strategy, away from mechanical execution.
- Katano admits that they are going in that direction to a certain degree, but at the same time, he doesn’t want to stray too far from the idea that a player who takes advantage of advanced techniques should be celebrated. Having combos or special moves that only some players can pull off is one of the coolest aspects of a fighting game.
- Ishiwatari adds that Arc System Works games have a reputation as being more crazy or requiring more complex execution than games by other companies, but he thinks that if a fighting game is made well, it will always be difficult, even if the core systems are simple.
- Ishiwatari makes an analogy with playing the guitar, but being neither a native speaker nor a musician, I don’t entirely understand it. The general thrust is something like, “You can learn to play it quickly, but the deeper you dig into it, the more complexity you’ll uncover.”
- They will reveal more details about the test at ArcRevo America at a later date, including what characters will be playable, and they look forward to receiving feedback.
- Katano says they currently have no plans to announce for Rev 2 updates, but they know there are a lot of people who still enjoy the game and they have no intention of abandoning it just because a new game is out. They would like to continue supporting it for those who are still playing it. Ishiwatari acknowledges that there will be players who like the way the old games play, and if those players aren’t satisfied by the new Guilty Gear, he wants to make sure that the Xrd series is still there for them.
- Finally, they praised Ishiwatari for his versatility as a creator, and asked him what he thinks his best skill is. Ishiwatari responded by saying that he isn’t confident about any of them, but that his personality doesn’t allow him him stop working on something until it’s finished.
Reddit:https://www.reddit.com/r/Guiltygear/comments/d43pw4/extended_tgs_interview_summary/
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