Guilty Gear Isuka

"Every gem has it's flaws"

Guilty Gear Isuka is a worthy sequel to Guilty Gear X2 featuring unique backgrounds, characters, and game modes. These are all fun but the thing isn't what's new in this game it's what was taken out. Let's look at what the game did wrong and what they did right:

Story: Scored 0
The story mode which was a large part of X2's charm has be inexplicably taked out of this game. Especially with the newest character being a weird mummy girl and carrying a giant key, and one of the weirdest bosses of all time, some story would be nice. Instead the main gameplay (Arcade Mode) is the equivalent of Survival Mode in GGX2. Bad move in my opinion as Survival mode is a hassle as you will be interrupted in the middle of your match with "Here Comes Daredevil"
Which I guess is the equivalent of here comes a new challenger. And then be constantly double teamed and then getting caught in a pincer attack aren't exactly fun experiences. Far be it for the game to give your character an ally once in awhile.

Controls: Scored 8
The controls overall are very smooth and responsive, however the new "turn" button is a hassle. Your enemies can turn perfectly and avoid things on both sides meanwhile you find yourself unfairly taking the brunt of the damage on both sides, a further annoyance is that you can blend into the background. This is pretty cool in itself but becomes very confusing in 2d because they looks similiar to when they aren't in the background. These things aren't a deal breaker but it's becomes annoying.

Gameplay: Score 9
This is where the game shines, despite being infuriating due to the computers cheapness and the whole blending into the background thing, the prospect of having 4 players fighting at the same time and not having to sub out characters (like in Tekken Tag, Marvel vs. Capcom ect.) is indeed cool. The survival mode is very challenging, and one of the extra modes is an extremely challenging streets of rage type side scroller in which you can use all your moves. This mode is very difficult and can get pretty infuriating when the enemy surrounds you and won't let you attack, but very rewarding because of it's difficulty. The game has truly amazing characters my favorite of all fighting games, from the pious Ky-Kiske to the get-out-of-my-face personality of Sol. Extremely unique weapons including, a pool cue, a giant anchor, a giant key, and hair! They are wierd characters, but the tradeoff is that they are extremely unique (ie. no Ryu-Ken-Akuma-Sakura-Dan) variations that all have similiar moves. Another very fun part is you get to custom build a character (Robo Ky 2) and equip him with status upgrades and different techniques and such. I really thought that showed creativity and because of stuff like that, this game is really good.

Sound: Score 10
Minus: It's music was nowhere nears as good as X2
Plus: It still is good enough to warrant a 10
Guilty gear has just incredible music, all of the themes are filled with emotion, from sort of an eerie feel in Frasco, to a refined aura in Paris, I mean these games have great music and that is completely indisputable.

Overall: Great Game, has some moderate flaws.
If your a fan of GG get this game, for the sake of the new characters and customization,
if your not rent in and see what you think.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/05