Is it too late for beginners to get into Guilty Gear: Strive?

Thank you for checking out my video! If you like what I do and would like to support me to do more of it, and you have some spare cash, consider donating on Ko-fi (which will also get you access to my Discord server): ko-fi.com/frumiousgaming In November 2022 I saw Maximilian Dood say Strive was no longer a good fighting game for beginners... I see his point, but overall I disagree. Let's get into it!
Thank you to Goh for contributing to this with his experience of playing +R many years after release! Check out his diary series: • I'm Learning A New Fig...
Check out Goh Low's channel: ‪@GohLow‬
And Maximilian Dood's: ‪@Maximilian_Dood‬
I make a lot of videos about fighting games from a noob's perspective, so check them out if you are interested!
RIP the mighty pig.

[@GohLow]

My MVC2 video tackles the last point you made. I realized learning +R alone was a bad idea, so sent out a call for other beginners to learn MVC2 with me, and that's made the experience so much more fun. To any beginner reading this: FIND YOUR FELLOW SCRUB, you'll be playing cleaner by the day.

[@mobius-q873]

Yes that's that's it

[@ThaMxUp]

Yooo no way is that THE GOATLow????

[@GohLow]

@@ThaMxUp

[@Timmcd]

Over 63% of all players who touch the Tower are on Floor 7 or below, and over 40% of all matches happen at Floor 7 or below. The "low skill" or "new player" population is honestly thriving within Strive. You can see numbers at the Rating Update site, in the Player Distribution section.

[@CHEYMIX]

thats actually really intresting. im always at floor 10 and celest and its packed so i never know whats going on down there.

[@tinfoilslacks3750]

Here's the issue. The floors are indicative of players relative to each other, not their absolute skill level. When you go back to play old games where only a hard core fan base is left, the worst players are still at the lowest rank, despite the fact that they may in actuality be highly skilled and well above the skill level of a newcomer. When a game is too old, the skill gulf between the lowest skill level enfranchised player and a new comer is too big not only for a new player to realistically conceivably win against them, but also to realistically improve or learn during the matches. Which means that their only option is to lab, and scrim with enfranchised players intentionally restraining their ability and teaching rather than normal matches.

[@CHEYMIX]

except that if you are in higher floors in strive you get locked out of lower floors preventing that from happening. like for me i can only play in 10 and heaven. if you are too good you get kicked upwards and the only way to go down is to lose. if youre really good than theres not a high likely hood of being in lowerfloors other than 9, 10, or heaven@@tinfoilslacks3750

[@fazehank5311]

60% of all matches are above floor 7 though

[@Timmcd]

Congrats on your ability to do basic math. Did you have a point? @@fazehank5311

[@dice5709]

Just got into Strive a week ago and its hella fun. You can learn quickly and there's a lot of modes that support that. If you really want something you can make it happen.

[@what_did_you_expect]

Yeah. I got strive last week as well, picked up Asuka and am comfortably nestled at floor 7. I don't think it's impossible to get into if you're new to fighting games, people will find a way if they truly want to learn.

[@chilroki]

@@what_did_you_expect is it hard to find matches, because i want to get it but i dont know if the matchmaking will be quick or not

[@Azur3Crims0n]

​@@chilrokiit's lobby based matchmaking, you can find a match in seconds unless you do quick start, which STILL shouldn't take long

[@what_did_you_expect]

@@chilroki For reference, I'm in Europe. Matchmaking is decently fast, you should get a match relatively quickly unless you're playing at a time where most people around you won't be awake. It's fine if you don't mind waiting a couple of minutes.

[@SpilledMug]

​@@what_did_you_expectbro how long it took for you to get to floor 7? I started playing the game recently and got deranked to floor 2 because I lost every single match i played. Any tips on getting better? Or should i just give up?

[@matthew2277]

I’m buying this game right now, it’s on sale and I love the style. I dabbled with a few MK games, but only on a super casual level, wish me luck!

[@frumiousgaming]

Good luck!

[@karisasani7006]

@@frumiousgaming For games that aren't ideal to be your first tournament fighter: Look at older entries of king of fighters like 2002um, especially the arcade version of it.

[@lucebelmont]

Sol said it best: Listen to your heart; not the voice in your head. I picked up Strive back in 2021, just a month or so after its release. I had played FGs before, but I never actually got into one enough to say I was good at it. Even back then I was intimidated by how many people I found who were absurdly good, and despite trying my damndest, I never felt like I got particularly better. Eventually, after stumbling my way in the floors and being unable to even skirt past floor 7, I've recently been able to get to floor 10 pretty consistently, and there's very few fights of mine that are one-sided. If there's any FG players out there who aren't satisfied with themselves, who are doubting whether or not they can actually do, who are discouraged by the fact that it never, EVER feels like you're getting better - hear this: You can do it. You just have to find the way of "doing it" that works for you. Be patient with yourself, and make sure you study plenty practice hard, and celebrate harder.

[@OccuredJakub12]

I started playing Strive when Elphelt came out, I mained Axl, got to lv500 with Axl and got to Celestial, I'm having fun learning and playing with people both on my own skill level and higher.

[@demile2822]

i dont care i love faust and i will play him

[@screenshot8388]

I just started playing GGST a little less than a month ago, and I definitely think its doable for beginners. The only other fighting game I've played in the last 10 years has been Smash Bros, so I was basically starting at rock bottom. None of my skills from other games translated to GGST, it was like learning to ride a bike again for the very first time. I could not do a thing when I started; couldn't remember how to block, constantly struggled to remember the controls, and was absolutely hopeless when it came to movement and special attack inputs... and yet I found it super fun. Seeing incremental improvements each time I play, recognizing that I'm becoming familiar with the controls, and developing muscle memory feels great. The training mode felt adequate in giving me time to experiment with the controls and find binds that I was comfortable with. It let me get familiar with the most basic aspects of the game like movement and specials. The missions helped with game knowledge and taught me what scenarios to look out for and how to react in gameplay. It also helps that the game felt like it wasn't rushing me, and it didn't berate me for failing even simple tasks. I then managed to convince a friend to play it, and he had a blast. He even started playing on his own time, and seems to enjoy it more than I do. It was genuinely so fun seeing him pick Faust as a new player and getting to experience us both figuring out wtf was going on. I do think whether or not a new player will enjoy the game depends on their temperament though. If they get frustrated immediately for not being able to navigate the game as effectively as they want to, they might drop it quickly. That could also be said about any fighting game, though, and I think GGST and older fighting games have an advantage in that you don't necessarily feel the need to "keep up" with the rest of the player base, its a bit easier to go at your own pace. Ultimately I think a new player should play whatever game interests them the most, be it the latest Mortal Kombat or some obscure anime fighter from a decade ago. There's going to be a bit of a struggle and a learning curve regardless of what fighting game someone picks up, especially if they're brand new to the genre.

[@KemsKat]

GG-ST is the first fighting game I ever tried (by trying I mean actually trying to learn because I don't think button mashing in tekken 5 as a 12 year old counts). I bought the game just a week ago and it's been incredibly fun, as long as I stay within 2 floors I can stand my ground and play people within same skill level in the evening hours all floors have tens of players in EU. Though it's important to note one of my best friends being a fighter games head helped me a LOT, taught me all about how shit works and pretty much analyzed my games for me to say what I should learn next cus he enjoyed watching me stream the game for him or just by beating me mercilesly for 2 hours with random characters he didn't know well. Taught me notation, all types of cancels, since i'm playing bridget he taught me to okizeme with yoyo and repeatedly told me to be less scared of jumping; it's easier with a friend but i'm assuming it's still possible enough to learn on floors 1-2 with just youtube tutorials because I improved so rapidly that after fighting bots and my friend for 3 days, first time I went online I settled on floor 3 (I dropped to floor 2 but got out within 3 matches). 30 hours in I'm floor 4-5 and only struggle against characters I never played against before. If you just wanna try strive as a game and aren't that curious in fighting games in general, it's probably not an amazing experience, but if you're willing to actually learn you'll probably do fine.

[@frumiousgaming]

That's awesome, sounds like you are learning super quickly!!

[@noahpauley]

I’d say that Strive has had one of the biggest constant streams of new players in the whole genre. I’m new to the game since December and I’ve had a really great time learning the game.

[@ryanlally8116]

I started playing Strive a few months back and I have had a blast playing with friends, online and in training mode! I’m not that good at the game (haven’t been playing consistently bc of school), but my first few characters have been fun and easy to learn! Well, except my first guy Anji; He took a minute to click with, but once I got it I felt elated!

[@mehdisilini7296]

I started strive recently. It's the first fighting game for me that felt good learning, with the move overview that comes with video examples, to the tutorial that explains everything at a good pace, to the ability to train and play other player's combo's online. I felt good at the game quickly. That and Potemkin is fun af.

[@frumiousgaming]

Totally agree about Potemkin!

[@megoodatgame8535]

I think that Strive is still very beginner friendly even now. There are tons of matches happening on lower floors and even about a year ago when I first got the game, I was able to pick it up pretty easily since I was focused on learning the game. So I think GGST is a very beginner friendly game

[@ADreamingTraveler]

Max was definitely wrong about this. There's still tons of new people buying and playing the game.

[@frumiousgaming]

💯

[@avery.a5948]

Just bought it today lol

[@frumiousgaming]

@@avery.a5948 Awesome, enjoy!

[@AbiMaeve]

I've gotten multiple friends into the game within this month. It's a great game for beginners still, it's community is thriving. Unless you want to spend 50-60 on a game you're unsure you'll enjoy, in a genre you're unsure if you enjoy, you'll always need to buy them later. It has a thriving casual community and is great to learn the genre through honestly

[@MrMonsterKen]

I really hate it when people are against this idea of expanding the audience, a lot of people want to have fun with the game without any depth being sacrificed, whats wrong with that?

[@RavenUwU605]

I started strive about 9 months ago and I’m doing just fine, I got celestial once and I’m currently grinding my way back from a comfy position at floor 8

[@98shitass89]

Gotten recently into GGST thanks to friends I’ve got wanted me to also play it. And I did cave in when having 0 fighting game experience. It’s been roughly 2 weeks now and I went from being bodied by a friend who mains elphelt to completely dumpster them hard. And in their own words. I’m stressful to play against and as well made them be fuming. We’re still playing of course and I’m having a blast especially basically just joking of how I put him at the back of the bus where Rosa Park doesn’t have to be at anymore.

[@zurgtm7715]

A friend of mine got me into the GG series a few months ago. I consider myself to be very inexperienced at fighting games but I really enjoyed the gameplay and artstyle of GG so I stuck with it. I've only been seriously grinding the ranked tower for a couple months and I've been able to reach floor 9 which I'm happy with considering I've never really seriously played any FGs before.

[@Ghostly_scarf]

as a person who got into DBFZ Yea its really hard to find new players like me, so of course I get reduced to atoms every time I verse someone. But what keeps me playing is how the combo challenges are geniunley really helpful, the game is a big reason why it got me into DB in the first place, and the gameplay while hard to master, I still have fun since what I need to learn is clear.

[@AwkwardJump]

In my opinion beginners can get into any fighting game with the right group of friends to have fun on it, I got a friend of mine into Tekken of all things a game he never played before starting with Tekken 7 and now he's actually pretty good at the game and can't wait for T8, so for something like Strive I'd like to think it's not Impossible.

[@frumiousgaming]

I agree! Also funny you say that about tekken, I’m just finishing up editing a video about tekken that I’m hoping to post later today :-)

[@leevee9572]

I just started and it's a blast. Learning quickly and having lots of fun

[@frumiousgaming]

Awesome 😊 what character(s) are you enjoying?

[@leevee9572]

@@frumiousgaming ive been playing ABA she looked the most interesting to me

[@clickbait6646]

I am a complete beginner to classic fighting games, I got into GG:S a week ago, having the time of my life at floor 4 (sometimes 5)

[@Ratharaine]

hay so uh... yeah strive is good for beginners im a beginner(or i was a few months ago now im floor 10) and a lot of my friends are getting into strive for the first time. i have a strive discord server and over half of the almost 30 people joined within a week of getting strive and around 10 of those people have barely touched any fighting games before that. so yea strive is great for newcomers

[@HisHanzo]

if you don’t mind me asking could i get an invite to that server? i’m more of an fps player and i wanna try getting actually good at a fighting game and guilty gear has some of the best character design ive seen, and im wondering if i should commit time and money to it. if not that’s fine

[@loreski7001]

Started like a month ago, always been a tekken fan so 2d fighters were a struggle for me, but guilty gear is really good. I even don't get sad or angry when losing, so fun this game is. Now getting some grip on mechanics, burst, cancels and mini combos and really like it a lot

[@kulsoria9672]

when you talked about community, one term that I think gets a bad rep is "discord fighter". The first fighting game I started getting serious in was guilty gear Xrd rev 2. I saw a video of a guy who hosted a beginner tournament and decided to join the discord and participated in a few of them. I made some buddies and played a lot, it was rough when the game was still using delay based net-code (fighting a Brazilian sol player when delay in averaging in the double digits is very much unplayable) but I had a lot of fun playing fighting games and got into a community. I don't get discouraged when I see the term discord fighter. that tells me there is a group of people I can hang out in calls and play some matches with and possibly find a rival and we both try to improve.

[@AdamJorgensen]

I personally much enjoy the way I get matches in Xrd to how I do in Strive. I can actually talk to the opponent properly and pick up tips and trips, something that is pretty much impossible to do with the Strive lobby chat system (or most other FGs chat really). If you actually want to improve then taking the Discord Fighter approach is hugely beneficial because you get to actually communicate with your opponents, ask for advice, etc.

[@PeskySpyCrab]

I started just before the release of season 3 and I'm doing fine. I'd reccomend trying to find a friend to get it with you, someone who hasn't played either and would be roughly the same skill level. Its nice to learn together and have casual matches now and then

[@droobdreeg]

I just bought strive about a few weeks ago, other than a minor introduction and semi-close following to mortal kombat due to a friend, GGST has been the 1st fighting game I've decided to try and learn. The tech is definitely deep but fun! Getting experience and practice with other players instead of labbing out intense combo strings for minimal damage increases has certainly been the highlight of my learning lol, but the combo strings, conversions, and precise timing have all shown what a mechanically intense but rewarding game Strive is. I definitely recommend buying the game on sale at least and trying it out!

[@joaop5033]

That's something that I really loved about strive when I got it 2 years ago, I want to learn when I'm playing in matches, not in the lab. However when that doesn't work I feel motivated to lab it out now, cause I'm still playing the game. What I'm trying to say is, in strive I don't need to lab to play the game, but some how that makes want to lab when I hit a wall cause I feel motivated to get better at the game

[@sleepfgc]

Strive is great. Welcome!

[@rainbowsixsiegegod1878]

Are these intense combo strings that provide only minimal damage increases in the room with us right now?

[@sleepfgc]

@@rainbowsixsiegegod1878 No, strive damage is a joke. The most basic 3 button presses + special move combos can easily do 30% of their health. Of course theres a lot of optimization you can do (and take 60%-75% of their hp in one bombo), and of course there are the ninja characters (milia and chipp) who deal less damage and do more of what you described, but "strive damage" is a meme for a reason.

[@rainbowsixsiegegod1878]

@@sleepfgcwooooooooooosh

[@AnotherCatGod]

I'm loving being new to Strive. I went from being like "what the fuck is a roman cancel!?" to "I can rc my ult!?"

[@oblivious_kawa]

Been wanting to play this game for like a year since i really loved the art style and animations. Just got it a couple days ago since it was on sale and I'm definitely excited to learn. I have no fighting game experience but i hope enough time and effort will get me good enough to be having fun with it

[@frumiousgaming]

Yeah! It seems like a lot of people are really into the characters and lore and visuals and everything without being too serious about the fighting, and that’s great. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be good and I think you’ll have fun really quick :-)

[@Vernafveik]

I started playing fighting games around 2017, but haven’t gotten seriously invested in one until Strive. I went back and played GGXXAC+R, Rev 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Third Strike, whilst I don’t see myself ever getting involved with them as much as I do Strive I still love labbing and messing around with them with Discord Groups.

[@it-is-no-use]

Thank you for making this video! This is what new and old players alike need to hear.

[@frumiousgaming]

Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words!

[@louisward1746]

YOU GOOOOOO BROOOOOO!!! Sick video, professional quality!

[@frumiousgaming]

Appreciate it!!

[@thatbloodyspy]

Older games also tend to have nicer players

[@yamhead6411]

I also started taking fighting games seriously with +R but I didn't really feel like I didn't have anyone at my skill level to play against. just the other day I had a play session where I basically only fought against people that had just started playing the game (though that might be because the game is on sale right now)

[@frumiousgaming]

That’s cool! How long have you been playing +R?

[@yamhead6411]

since late 2021. it got 91% from my year in review on steam this year, so I feel like I picked a good one to start with :P @@frumiousgaming

[@shmatet]

I’m literally living proof that it’s not too late to get into this game

[@maniacninja0000]

I started playing GG about 6 months ago, I have never ever played a fighting game before hand. I am now arena 9 and have attended my first 2 tournaments ascending 2 ranks in my last tournament. I’m completely self taught outside of the functionality of moves. It is absolutely not too late. I’m ass at most games and have somehow gotten to above average in under half a year of consistent playing, so I have no doubt any average gamer could do the same with a bit of persistence. But then again I play Chipp so perhaps I’m just a masochist.

[@frumiousgaming]

That’s awesome!! Were the tournaments online? Have you found much of a community to play with?

[@Boss-_]

I got into Tekken 7 at around the start of season 3, with basically 0 prior competetive fighting game experience (closest is a local MK9 and MKX tournament filled with casuals, and I wasnt playing those online). I still managed to climb to Tekken God rank with Lee, one of the most technical characters hashtaghumblebrag, and if I didnt get stressed out so much, I think i could climb to TGP. While I dont play Strive, and this is just intuition and guesstimation, if something like that was possible for me, surely it's possible for anyone in any given game, including Strive.

[@thatgoldenguy3272]

I started on strive midway through last year, it was great for me

[@Zadka233]

as a player whos first fighting game full stop is Strive with less than 30 hours playing, heres my experience. The game feels like a sink or swim kind of situation, where the more you have to help you learn and thrive, the more likely you are to swim, but if you dont have friends that play the game, or a sufficient ability to research and retain the knowledge, then its very easy to sink. At times it can feel like the game is just screwing you over, especially when (for example) you get wallbreaked by an Aba on start, on floor 3 of all places. Good on her for being able to do that, but it can easilly screw with your mental and just make you want to give up. A big problem is that for me it feels like, compared to other types of games, like MMOs and Shooters, Strive doesnt feel like a game that you can just pick up and play, at least thats how it feels to me based on playing the game, and the advice given by players. And the biggest thing to me is that at least when it comes to KZbin guides, alot of character guides make an assumption that the player knows at least a little bit about fighting games (what plus on block or minus is, what frame data is, etc.), making it feel like this beginner guide isnt a guide for beginners to the game picking up a character, but rather a guide for players who've played the game before and are making the swap to a new character. Despite all of this however, reaching milestones feels euphoric, completing a combo on a dummy for the first time, landing all your quarter circles, landing your supers on an airborne enemy, doing your first dragon punch input, all felt extremely good and like I was making visible progress which was making me do better than I was when beginning 20 hours ago. I see why people like this game, and it is alot of fun when everything just works out for you, I dont know if I'm gonna stick with Strive or give up on fighting games, but I hope that I can eventually get to a point where I dont have to focus as much on learning as I can just focus on playing.

[@SenpaiStoner]

I recently I just got started it & in new to fighting games & I actually end up playing the hardest character in the game and having a blast!

[@frumiousgaming]

Awesome!!

[@blenky5516]

HELLLLL NOOOO im new to fgs, just got strive a week ago and im having so much fun playing potemkin

[@frumiousgaming]

@@blenky5516 🔥🔥🔥

[@s_callahan]

didnt watch but i got into it 3 days ago as basically my first fighting game i really got into. it's never too late.

[@esseubot]

I got into fighting games in august 2023, I started with Strive since I had already played GG Accent Core (but never got into it, just got it because of the art), and honestly it was SUCH a wonderful way to start fighting games, to the point I think now fighting games is one of my favourite game genres. I tried GFVSR as of late and while I think that game is easier to learn inputs, I still think Strive has such a tight toolbox that characters are easy to learn and extremelly rewarding to perform better inputs. I also need to add, I think Strive's characters are so strangelly unique in their skills and themes that it's far harder for you to not find any character you enjoy in the roster.

[@frumiousgaming]

Totally agree about the unique line up both visually and in play. I really like under night in birth and melty blood but playing those after playing a lot of strive made me feel like they had such bland character designs. My next video will probably be about granblue rising! Are you enjoying it so far?

[@esseubot]

I had a very similar experience with Melty Blood!! And about Granblue, I think it's a great game for begginers to understand the tempo/basics of a fighting game - a lot of my friends are getting into it since they don't need to do motion inputs. I am someone who does enjoy the motion inputs though (I've found myself constantly missing the simplier inputs because its pressing two buttons at once haha). If you're also enjoying Granblue, may I share some trivia in case you don't know the gacha? Nier's theme uses the motif of one of my favourite tracks of the game, New World Order. Another notable theme is Soriz's theme, which is the instrumental version of the "Song of Three Men". I was so hyped when I heard both of their themes! Godspeed friend! And I'm looking forward for more of your videos!!@@frumiousgaming

[@christopherdelrosario1854]

Beginner does not necessarily mean they are new to fighting games. I think there needs to be a distinction between a beginner to a specific game versus a casual fighting game player. I don’t think this is a good game right now for a casual player but for someone who is a beginner, and willing to learn, any fighting game can work.

[@frumiousgaming]

Yes you’re totally right. I usually talk about beginner from the perspective of someone willing to learn, because I think if someone is watching my videos they probably care about “learning” the game rather than just playing casually. Maybe I’ll make a short video on this topic 🤔

[@christopherdelrosario1854]

@@frumiousgaming oh yeah, no I totally agree. I think that your video made that distinction for me but Max’s video was kind of mixing beginner and casual together or didn’t make that distinction.

[@berteck8]

i bought the game last week, after a couple of days I bought bridget(my new main) and the season pass 1(i only like bridget from season pass 2), whenever I get on tower 6 I always fall back down to 4 But I'm slowly improving, I'm starting to make short reliable combos, I gotta remember to use more roman cancels but that's pretty much it

[@Lbcxdg]

Ggst Was my first real fighting game went from F 1 to F 10 pushing for C I started a month after I saw this video. I say this to not just to flex but more importantly to say that Strive is a super polished intuitive fighting game with very strong tutorials

[@lighthouseknight]

I began with +R rather recently. I think there’s no point where you can’t learn or begin with a game.

[@D_Evelyn_cat]

I started playing guilty gear strive when the beta for xbox came out and it was the first fighting game i fell in love with and i felt like i could actually throw punches and special attacks at my enemies. I dont know if its the game but doing combos and special attacks felt easier to do unlike street fighter 4

[@jico5147]

one thing about old fighting games is that there’s two ways to look at it and experience it, some people might like it because there’s fewer people playing so it can have a very casual experience with the game, but it can also be a good first game if they want a lot of challenge by playing veteran players.

[@gamesgone988]

The question you are asking the answer in my opinion. Is no because O got guilty gear just a couple months ago and have learned it pretty well

[@Awesomeaaron2000]

just started strive yesterday...love max but he definitely has that "oldhead" mentality

[@ChibiRuah]

So for me, the first fighting game I took up was sfv between Akira and Luke release. This was very late in its cycle. I mostly picked it up because I finished a hard bullet hell and needed something to cut my teeth on. I very much wanted to learn juri because to me she was cool fast and cocky/confident. I sadly don’t have my first few replays. But I remember find guides for her easy enough. I less think this is because sfv as old and more just the resources are just so much better in the current era. I also find early on that rank is my best friend. Although the game was old, most bronze level players were reasonably compared to casual which anyone can Smurf. Over time I was able to reach my first goal of silver. It felt magic as I did get past the lowest rank but the next one too. If I’m honest, I think I was better at taking loses then vs now. Part of my expectations has changed. I know more what I do wrong and can find disheartening when I fuck up shit I should know. Before I know mistakes were common so I feel I was better on focusing on the wins. I am working on getting back or in a similar mind space. As for which game and character to play as your first, you want to have a drive/passion it first. This trumps all else imo. If you hate the game, it being easier doesn’t make the loses feel good. If you love the game, you can go 0-50 and still laugh at yourself with friends (I know because I been there). Also I’m highly skeptical there are no new player in ggs. Most are way better than me but the players base is huge.

[@legarscringe2853]

As a new player in strive and also fighting games (play it for 5 days) I can get a lot of match in the lower level towers (5) who are fun but also competitive. I recommand strive to any new fighting games players

[@pupilmusic3197]

In my opinion if you have friends who are passionate about the series and your interested in playing it, its never too late to start playing the game. ❤

[@pedroscoponi4905]

As someone who just started playing GGST last week, I still found a decent number of ppl around my level even a full month after the last bump (which I assume is from the Elphelt release). I suspect there's a lot of people like me who bought the game years ago but are only starting it now, or are picking it up while it's on sale.

[@frumiousgaming]

You’re probably right - are you enjoying it so far?

[@Mothman595]

Player returning to GG Strive here, it actually felt strange and i actually came to the video looking for motivation to keep playing, i guess I'll keep trying a little more, although it is difficult because i have no peers who enjoy fighting games and the GG scene in my country is very small, if it exist

[@AMEMORYSAY0]

Great video !!

[@user-vn7rq7dn4x]

My story is that I tried UMvC3 on 360 in 2015 and liked the game but did not have fun as I was getting zero to death every time. I gave up and years later picked up SFV Champion Edition on sale shortly before Akira was released sometime 2021 and gradually fell in love. I got SF6 on launch and just got Strive as well.

[@rctto6876]

Just bought the game last week. It's my first fighting game, and I have 36 hours into it. I'm still on floor 5 and struggling with the 632146 input + still mashing (I play on a keyboard).

[@blockerton1778]

My very first game I played when I first got into fighting games was BBTAG, my only 2 regrets was not playing more often and not realizing the lobbies in that game weren't the ranked mode. I would've loved to keep going because when 2.0 came out Neo was one of the characters they added and she was one of my favorite characters as I'm a RWBY fan. I miss those days

[@frumiousgaming]

What fighting games are you playing nowadays?

[@blockerton1778]

@@frumiousgaming Most days I see myself playing Fighterz and I just recently picked up Guilty Gear Strive. If I could I'd 100% go back to BBTAG just the problem is I have it on switch which doesn't have a huge player count there and its not cross play

[@frumiousgaming]

@@blockerton1778 ahh that’s a shame, I wish crossplay was the norm for fighting games :-( hopefully you can get bbtag on a cheap sale on pc or something some time and play again

[@blockerton1778]

@@frumiousgaming Yeah if I do I'm making it a life mission to use Neo and Yang, it was my main on switch and I dont want to lose that lol.

[@rifway22]

As a casual this is my all time favourite fighting game along with mvc2

[@Frost-tw4qd]

I’ve been wanting to get into playing Strive for a while but I didn’t have the time and alot of the time my PC would crash when playing it. Now that I’ve fixed it my PC I really want to get better at the game and improve at it.

[@frumiousgaming]

They should make a shin megami tensei fighting game

[@Frost-tw4qd]

@@frumiousgaming That would be cool! Demi Fiend and Nahobino would be my mains if Jack Frost isn’t his own character.

[@justinx3537]

I actually started with Strive and SF6 and kinda agree, it’s easier to pick up newer games at lower skilled levels and get a few wins sure but lately I’ve been playing older stuff like Xrd Rev 2 and while I’m getting cooked the game itself just feels more fun? Especially the learning process.

[@Innerste]

I have played several fighting games casually (mashing) at various friend's houses and occasionally at arcades for about a decade now. I was even a big fan of the first Under Night In-Birth. However, when Johnny came out for Strive, I found out that the small group of online friends I had made recently were big Guilty Gear players, and wanting to have something else to play with them, I got Strive. Best decision I've made this year. I rapidly grew from having no fundamentals to being decently competitive within the group in about 6 months. I've even dipped my toes back into Accent Core Plus R and Xrd Rev 2, and I can see my new fundamentals clearly even in those games.

[@ToseRoyal]

I really did like the video, but i feel an alternative title to this could have been "Are older fighting games good for beginners?" because I feel like a good chunk of the video wasn't really about Guilty Gear Strive specifically.

[@frumiousgaming]

Thank you! Yeah it’s kind of about two different things 🤔 I might try to come up with a different thumbnail or something to show better what the video is about

[@frumiousgaming]

What do you think of the current title with the new thumbnail?

[@ToseRoyal]

@@frumiousgaming A lot more accurate, I like it!

[@Hajime_no_Jerma]

I just got into this game with Elphelt's Release and I had to use mission mode and actually pay attention for the first 5 hours of the game. After practicing for a while and grinding the tower for a total of 30 hours, im in Celestial challenge and been kinda stuck there. I only know a handful of character's frame data and I don't use all the techs effieciently (6 Dust, Instant Block, Faultess Def, early roman cancel, movement tech with roman cancel, etc.) but its a fairly standard game. I stayed in floor 6-8 for the majority of the time but after learning the popular match ups with elphelt, I started climbing. Makes me wonder if I'm carried or some people play this game casually and are in Floor 9-10. Beating the celestial challenge is killing me though.

[@cryngycrab]

Is strive your first fighting game? Because 30 hours for celestial challenge is INSANE and def something to be proud of

[@Hajime_no_Jerma]

@@cryngycrab its my 2nd. my first is dbfz and i played that game for over 1000 hours

[@CHEYMIX]

still crazy@@Hajime_no_Jerma

[@__grimmkind__]

my biggest issue as someone THIS close to buy strive is that i fear theres nobody online to fight, but i guess thats not an issue

[@mranxiety9995]

It definitely isn’t an issue!

[@bignoob2726]

I'm a noob and I think that my game plan and neutral has been easy to develop. Gio is simple but big brained at the same time. It's like I'm programming my opponents and once they are programmed the reward is crazy But not knowing the match ups and the system mechanics is really getting me cooked. Feels like studying how to deal with each and every character is a prerequisite to survive longer than 10 seconds 💀

[@frumiousgaming]

Fair enough, at least it’s not like tekken where you have to learn every match up - and every character has 100 moves 😭

[@bignoob2726]

@@frumiousgaming yeah but Tekken has very strong defensive options. So if you understand neutral, your character and the defensive options you can get away with not knowing the match up. But in strive not knowing the match up is like an insta loss.

[@sigadop3492]

Honestly all Fighting Game (NO ARENA FIGHTING GAME), Is hard at their own way, just pick the onee looks cool, you gonna get good after some time

[@MrNoFace]

Honestly i feel this video so much, ive been trying to get into fighting games for like 10 years but kept giving up it took till this year in May that i picked up Thems Fightin Herds. I went in expecting to not like it one but but ended up loving one of the characters and because of this game that i have now put 100s of hours into i have found other fighting games easier to learn all because of this one funny little animal fighter "no joke its so fucking good tho like legit #playTFH right now"

[@frumiousgaming]

That’s awesome! Which character is it?

[@MrNoFace]

@@frumiousgaming Velvet, I just like everything about her and her play style is so fun to me! I ended up making a video because of her she just speaks to me

[@ardidsonriente2223]

I've been playing all kind of fighting games since 1996, specially Tekken, in a fun focused but consistent way. I've dabled with Arakune and Tao in Blazblue, Ghostblade in DNF and Basara in SamSho. 2 years ago I began to play Lei in T7 more seriously, and this year I decided to try to get serious in 2D games too. I picked SF6 when it released, and I consider myself a quite decent Blanka player now. I'm also learning Quan Chi in MK1, and Cagliostro in Granblue Rising. I'm not a pro, but lets say I'm not a newbie either. That being said... I have never been so confused as I were... as I AM right now, trying to understand how the F do you play Guilty Gear Strive. There are so many systems stacked one over the other in the most aparently random way... Each character is very unique, which is great, but each one also add even more specific mechanics to the existing ones, wich is not great at all. It feels like trying to play a collage made with pieces from different games, all of them not exactly made with the same logic, style or objective. Add to that the music (wich is good) have lirics and noticeable mood changes that are super DISTRACTING during the matches (wich is not), the oversaturated colors, huge effects and obnoxious alerts all around... Is a mess. Is a hot pile of mess. A mess that can be fun... but like very frantic, maniac, intrincate fun. The tutorials are decent, but not enough to solve this inherent excess. I don't think the leveling of the players is that important in the end. Is like playing in the arcades: most people is already way better than you, you have to learn a lot before getting any win. But is it Guilty Gear Strive good for begginers? Not in the frozen hell. No. Even Tekken Tag is better, and it doesn't even have tutorials.

[@alejandrogomez1698]

I have multiple friends on the lower floors of Strive and they still get matches with people of the same level

[@AziDoesQuestionableThings]

i'd say no. everyone should try strive and also xrd as well and also +r

[@joaop5033]

I'm worry that what Max said about strive will impact the future sales of the game

[@nemtudom5074]

I respectfully disagree with Max. I found Strive in august of 2023, right around the time johnny came out, because the main theme was recommended to me on youtube, and i read the comments, looked at the game, saw all the interesting, cool, and hot characters, and i immediately ""acquired"" the game. I played for about 25 hours, mained potemkin from the start, didnt even try out the other characters, quit, because the very hard bots were easy and the next skill up bots were destroying me, i bought the game around december, played for a bit, refunded it because of all the server issues, but had a grand time when i could actually play, bought it again a week ago and i've already clocked in 40+ hours, i am at floor 7 now, and players knowing how to play is starting to bite me in the ass because pot has a serious ceiling unless you're a god amongst men, which i am not. However, 100% worth it, first, and best fighting game i ever played, never putting it down again. The first five hours were great, the next 20 hours were absolute hell trying to learn the game and get better, and then something clicked, and i just started to make consistent progress around the 25 hour mark, and i've been slowly getting better since then, and having a blast whenever the match doesnt lag, or actually bloody connects. Less server issues now, thankfully, but i am still not rid of it and thats honestly my only gripe with this game. That, may, and nagoriyuki. Those two can eat shit with their one attack spam. If you're going to beat me atleast beat me because you're a better player not because you spammed two attacks at me until i ran out of health.

[@Peeves22]

I also finally got into fighting games after over a literal decade (starting with SF4!) of trying thanks to Potemkin in Strive! It was around early 2022, but my experience with the lower floors were very similar - just being able to contend without needing combo knowledge other than a few followups was so huge for me

[@curlydolltv]

i don’t play may or nago but if they beat you using the same thing then they probably are better

[@nemtudom5074]

@@curlydolltv The issue with those characters is that they can loop their attacks infinitely so once they hit you, they can keep stunlocking you until you die

[@navidjavan7472]

I love GGST but the biggest problem with it for me is that there is no Frame Data in the game!!! After seeing MK1 and SF6 and all these other games with robust practice modes, It's really dazzling that a fighting game can get released with no frame data ingame. It just makes the game 10 times harder to learn when I have constantly refer to some external website to get info that should be in the game.

[@frumiousgaming]

You’re right, that’s pretty bad - other arcsys games like granblue rising have it so I don’t know why strive doesn’t. Hopefully they might add it

[@insertclevernamehere6607]

Strive is so easy that getting into it rn is easier than gbvsr or UNI2 by leaps and bounds

[@khi92]

I would say strive is still good to get into the only flaw I would say is the inconsistent skill level between floor 8 and 10 and the high damage is easier to get than in other games which I think is a good thing because of the dopamine rush players get when you see big numbers

[@thepear6684]

Great Video

[@zephyrorsomethinh1528]

As someone who only dabbles in fighters other than Dragon ball fighterz which i've put too much time into i recently bought strive and have around 6hrs in it and as someone who has literally never played a guilty gear game or any fighting game to win other than Fighterz with just the basic skills i've managed to hit floor 7. This game is beyond noob friendly. I've spent most of my time losing yeah but losing helps you see what you do wrong

[@spectoestis3106]

I started less than a month ago and I'm already at floor 9, verdict: no, it's definitely not too late to start

[@brandonbarton3200]

I've only played DBFZ and now strive and the switch is so rough. The combo structures feel so weird to me and don't understand real options to use on wakeups or under constant pressure. Today was my first day and ran into a top player Hazen and got washed. I'll try and stick it out

[@frumiousgaming]

Good luck! I am not good enough at Strive to really give you advice unfortunately but are you in any discord servers or anything where people can help you with those?

[@arlwiss5110]

i am completely new to fighting games. strive is my first. this is the single most unpleasant aspect of playing it. the game hates telling you almost anything about how the genre is played and a bunch of little inconsistencies - and no, the tutorial and missions are nowhere near enough. i had to push through more bullshit than when i was getting into tf2 for the first time

[@Pacman_257]

As someone who got into strive basically right as Johnny came out, i would say yeah. Its fairly easy to get good as a casual

[@clashcatastrophe7289]

I suck garbage at strive but I really like the characters so it’s always fun to

[@Krythulu]

Bro, it's got players, so I'm gonna play it. I wanted to learn MkX but that's dead so I'll take what I can get

[@frumiousgaming]

What do you think of mk1?

[@DanTheMagic8Ball]

I think it's much easier to get into a fighting game as a scrub then an FPS as a scrub. Tried playing Apex Legends for the first time since like month 1, and got absolutely mollywhopped. If you have the fundies down for hados, shoryus, and tatsus, you should be fine in most 2d fighters. Just 1 trick a basic character until you learn how the game works.

[@GohLow]

That's good advice. All you need is to understand where to use your specials and such.

[@tovact]

short answer no. i started playing ggst a month before this video was uploaded and although im still pretty bad at the game, ive made significant progress and gotten much better at certain characters that i enjoy and its noticeable too.

[@keymot1491]

Just started playing Strive cuz it’s the only fighting game I know of that was advertised as a beginner-friendly game, plus it looks cool af and the music is hype, tbh Guilty gear lore was one of my main draws to this game and also the good netcode I just felt like I would have years to play it I’ve now played it for 2 days and man it’s so hard i can't do the zig-zag input and i do not understand the RC or the burst, i've just played ky cuz i know he's an all-rounder, i hope i can understand it some or get good at the inputs and play but i can't help but mash it If i could not enjoy this game i will just lose hope in even getting into fighting games

[@frumiousgaming]

For now don’t worry about RC. The zig zag motion takes a while to get used to, if I were you I’d suggest don’t worry too much about it and maybe use your other moves instead. I would also suggest you could try Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising. You can play for free, you don’t get access to all the characters but you can play as Gran who is a classic all rounder character. You can play a good chunk of the story mode which has a tutorial built in, you can play online. And granblue encourages you to use its simplified inputs - instead of a motion input it has a special button (R1 on PlayStation controller) and you just press that and a direction on the d pad. You can also do the special moves with motion inputs which does slightly more damage. But I think if you’re struggling a lot with motion inputs, playing granblue and just playing simple inputs for a while is a good idea. My next video will be about granblue.

[@lucasrichardson3434]

So what if I'm not super experienced in fighting games but I don't have any interest in online competitive play. I own sf6 and love it but am itching to get my hands on Potemkin. Thoughts?

[@frumiousgaming]

Strive has nothing like world tour mode or anything like that, I think you might be disappointed if you only get it for single player. It might be worth checking out some of the older gg games to get your Potemkin fix, I think +R is meant to be relatively good for single player but I haven’t played it much myself so I’m not sure.

[@lucasrichardson3434]

@@frumiousgaming Thanks for the help, although I didn't get much out of world tour mode in sf6. I mainly play sf6 for the arcade mode just to mess around

[@frumiousgaming]

@@lucasrichardson3434 fair enough, if you just need an arcade mode, Strive has that!

[@AFKxMUSIC]

Tried to play for the first time and couldn’t get into a game @ tower 3. Waited an hour in NA EAST

[@frumiousgaming]

Really?? That sucks, I wouldn’t have thought you would have had much trouble. Sorry to hear it

[@AFKxMUSIC]

@@frumiousgaming yea going to try again today! Trying to take what I know from mortal kombat and transfer it over lol.

[@goatmygoat1815]

i started playing when bridget was added (not for them). And i felt it was quite easy to get into especially with friends

[@lux_less]

My approach trying to learn GGST is definitely more of a: "Can I get a hit in on the celestial player in open lobbies" rather than "can I spam buttons to try and win" I personally like playing games where most of the people shit on me because I can notice my skill improving much faster. Also, what you mentioned around 6:55 is how I feel about Guilty Gear. My father introduced my to guilty gear when I was really young, emulating it on his computer and letting me (attempt) to fight him. I don't care how "newcomer friendly" it is (as subjective as I feel that term is), Guilty Gear is the only fighting game that I can truly appreciate the character design and lore of. Oh, and it has the best OST in fighting games.

[@frumiousgaming]

That’s awesome and a great way to learn and improve. Some people would hate to play that way against stronger players, other people would love it - it’s a good illustration that there’s more than one way to enjoy fighting games. Who are you maining?

[@lux_less]

@@frumiousgaming I've been playing Ramlethal and Giovanna. I tried just about every non-dlc character and those are the ones I've felt most comfortable with. Very on-and-off with playing the game, to be honest, but I get into that kick of learning more every few weeks or so. Never wanted to take a fighting game seriously before buying GGST about a year ago.

[@frumiousgaming]

@@lux_less yeah I am similar, I don’t often stick to one game consistently for very long really. But that’s cool

[@bignoob2726]

​@@lux_lessI feel like Gio was designed for me. I was cooking on floor 4 with at most 3 hours of play and 1 hour practice mode. I barely even know the mechanics. But I've always played neutral heavy characters in other games so maybe that's why Gio just makes sense

[@benjaminracelis1992]

I just started learning +R. There is no learning a fighting game too late.

[@powerowl2120]

I got into strive a couple months ago, only really played plat fighters. Really really fun, got to floor 8 with testament, now im just tired of people jumping everywhere lol. Ironic coming from the smash guy, right? Well i left smash for a reason! 😂 Still a great game tho, and dealing with jump ins is easy. What ticks me off is the fact i anti air someone 10 times in a row and their solution? Just jump HIGHER! Its like bro, thats not gonna work either, just come down here and play some footsies PLEASE😂

[@satanworshipperandoveralle4937]

One problem with me getting into strive is that I actually don’t know who tf to play like I grinder ino for like 50 hours but she’s just not doing it anymore and idk who else to choose

[@blujay1294]

I just got into it in January. Yeah you get a few bad games by someone clearly on a new acc (why??), and the vomit-inducing bubble of testament,bridget, and nago players that got there by spamming their fastest and/or longest normals lol. But beyond that? super fucking fun, amazing music, great designs, interesting characters that also work well with the core/system mechanics, that are ALSO fun as shit, and easy to learn baseline? 10/10, my new favourite fighting game. No matter what fighting game you pick, there will be more experienced, some veterans, and a LOT of spammers/noob trap exploiters. That's gonna be in any game, I've seen it as more important that a game makes you want to surpass that initial (and ever decreasing, thankfully!) skill floor. You might have a marginally easier pool in T8, but if you think 3d fighters are lame, hate the graphics, and don't care about any characters beyond a surface level meme, you're probably not going to WANT to play the game. It's illogical to lock yourself out of a game you want to try, or thinks looks cool, in order to put hours into an entirely separate game, as if it's some in-game battlepass or unlock requirement, is silly. That being said, it's also braindead stupid to just go "oh, just think about getting better 4head", as if it solves any mental problems with getting into these games. It's a lot easier for us as people who "got it" to say "just keep playing for a week until it clicks and you get to engage in the game", as we run TOD combos and frame traps they can't escape, while they either get disinterested or frustrated lol. I alt-f4'd so many times in those first few days, even when I'd go in 100% locked in on getting better, you're still getting wall to wall combo'd watching the cutscene (as a noob), so I'd obviously get frustrated and walk off. I'm not saying coddle new players, but this weird playground ass "I'm going to make this as miserable as possible, on purpose, so you can *earn* the right to play", and then wondering why the community is such a bubble, with only the newest modern games having any new blood LMFAO. I went into guilty gear liking the looks of the old games, but interacting with "fans" of those older ones have made me just, annoyed at the thought of those games now, and I haven't even bought them yet LMFAO

[@Kuruseida]

I just started the game 5 days ago😭🤣🤣. Most fun in a fighting game since fighter z released

[@crazykid1325]

I started playing melee in 2024 that’s a 23 year old meta, strive was patched less then a year ago lol you guys will do fine

[@sogga_fan]

keep playing melee you wont regret it. its the best game of all time.

[@elijahbowers1]

So I totally agree with both you and Max. You're both clearly just speaking to slightly different groups and you come around to that at the end. Max is addressing the masses. The normie, average Joe. If they're to get sucked into a fighting game proper a more casual less punishing experience at the start will be better usually. Your focus is more on people who are okay with putting in more effort at the start and you ultimately come to the same conclusion that Max (Idk if he stated it in the video you referenced) has stated many times before and most fgc people worth anything say. Play what you think looks cool or fun. Good vid.

[@frumiousgaming]

Thank you! Yeah I ended up thinking the same, I actually made a video about it recently called “fighting games for beginners vs casuals” where I basically use “beginner” to mean people willing to put more effort in and “casual” to mean people who just want to play and have fun. Basically exactly what you said! Personally I still think max was wrong about Strive because it has managed to maintain a really good spread of abilities in the player base but for a game like +R it makes a lot of sense