Guilty Gear Strive Tier List

It’s been about a week since the Guilty Gear Strive open beta test ended and I played quite a lot of it during that all too short window. Now, having had some time to sit and reflect on my experience, two things are clear to me. First, the game feels great and I’m very excited to play more of it in April when the full thing comes out. Second, it’s time for a tier list. Look, I know what you’re probably thinking. It was just a beta, it was only a few days, and that’s clearly not enough time to come up with a proper list for which characters are good and which are bad. So that’s not what I’m going to do. Who cares which characters are good? Let’s talk about those sweet redesigns! I’ve gotta put my art degree to use at some point, and this seems like as good a time as any!

So without further ado, here’s my Guilty Gear Strive tier list based solely on how sick their redesign looks and how improved they are over their old costume.

Newcomers

Before we get into the actual numbered tiers, we need to talk about the new characters. Nagoriyuki and Giovanna are the newcomers to Strive, so there’s nothing to compare them to, really. For what it’s worth, they both look pretty cool. Nagoriyuki has a really dope mechanical mask that retracts when he goes into Blood Rage. I wish there were something that clued us in to his vampire nature, but whatever. Giovanna’s design is all about the pose and the way it balances with that spirit wolf that she uses in attacks. I do have to knock off points because she’s a cop, though.

C-Tier

Let’s start from the bottom. C-Tier is reserved for characters whose redesign is worse than the old look, and there’s only one character who matches that description. May has the Harley Quinn problem. Her Xrd design was perfect because it immediately told you everything you needed to know. She’s a cute little pirate girl. In Strive, she ditches the pirate attire for what looks like an oversized sweatshirt and floppy hat. While she does retain a skull and crossbones as a nod to the pirate theme, she kind of just looks like a girl you’d see at the mall who is swinging around an anchor for no apparent reason. If you didn’t already know, you’d never know.

B-Tier

Next up we have characters who aren’t any worse than their old design, but aren’t really any better either. For the most part, it’s characters whose designs have barely even changed. Potemkin, Ramlethal, Millia, Sol, Leo and Ky belong to this tier. Potemkin, Leo and Sol are almost indistinguishable from their Xrd looks, though I do like Sol’s jacket more this time around. I’m not really fond of Leo’s haircut but it’s not a big deal. Ramlethal is very close to her Xrd look. I miss the big ears, but she is at least wearing a shirt now. Millia’s design is pretty similar, but she has more muted colors in her clothes and more of a straight-laced military style. I dig it.

As far as Ky, he’s a little bit of an outlier. Honestly I don’t know where to put him, so the neutral tier felt right. His old design definitely sells the entire “holy knight” look a lot better, but it’s super busy. On a purely aesthetic level I think his Strive look is way cooler with the jacket over the shoulders, even if it doesn’t really tell you as much about him as a character.

A-Tier

Now we’re officially into the characters who I think have decidedly improved. Axl sneaks on here simply because I don’t like his Xrd look. I have no idea what’s even going on with him in that game, but they gave him pants this time and I appreciate that. Zato-1 gets on here despite looking almost identical to his Xrd design, simply because Eddie looks way better. His shadow familiar has really flattened out in a sinister and cartoony way that looks incredible.

Lastly, Anji Mito. Since we haven’t seen him since XX, he easily had the most room to grow. They kept his design mostly the same, just filling in the details. The butterflies on his pants and the baggier clothes in general really make the whole look pop a bit more.

S-Tier

Now we have the best of the best. The characters who have improved the most. I-No, Chipp, and Faust make up this one. Much like Axl, Chipp ranks so high only because I’m not crazy about his old look. Take everything I said about May and flip it. His Xrd design was kind of just a general punk rock guy, but in Strive they went all in on the ninja theme. It may be a little bit busy, but you know exactly what he’s all about from the second you see him.

Weirdly enough, when I first saw I-No’s redesign I didn’t really like it. Something about the half-dress that hangs off the back rubbed me the wrong way, but the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. I like the jacket, I love the big hat, I love the shades. I-No looks super stylish and embodies the whole rock and roll witch idea perfectly.

Finally, Faust. Ok, I may be a little bit biased here. Faust is my favorite Guilty Gear character and I spent the whole beta playing him. His redesign is so good, though. They really pushed the creep factor with him this time around. He stands upright instead of the weird crouch walk he used to do, making him tower over most opponents. Somehow, he always seems to be draped in shadow. As far as his actual costume, he ditched the suit for some doctor’s scrubs in a nice callback to his debut as Dr Baldhead. He just looks so damned good.