Why should you play Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R?

Grabbing an opponent’s Gold Burst in Guilty Gear is akin to pulling off that perfect parry in a triple-A game. It’s an ideal impostor game in Among Us after marinating the victims all game. It’s a sudden euphoria in which the foe’s mind is rendered open. It’s probably one of the best feelings you’ll ever experience.

With the wonderful technology of GGPO, it’s now possible to play Accent Core +R with the best netcode this series has ever seen. Unsurprisingly, users have vastly exceeded the numbers that Xrd REV 2, the newest entry, acquired. A game released in 2007 and revised in 2013 is currently in renaissance mode like no other.

So why, should you, out of all the other fighting games and other Guilty Gear titles, pick this one?

It’s not an easy path. +R’s age seeps out of its hidden crevices, like its lack of input buffer and unforgiving half-circles. Training some characters comes at the expense of wrist pain. Want to play Baiken? Sure, just do 236K 236, hold and time that FRC button, then air dash, releasing a “kire tatami” that instantly sends the opponent into the corner. It’s probably best not to type out I-no’s bread-and-butter combo. Multiply this by diverse character weight and hitboxes, painfully recalling mid-match that this just doesn’t work on A.B.A.

Looking for resources? Good luck with those. Scavenge old forums like ancient ruins, dig up dated conversations from threads forgotten, and find living sages to ask for advice. “Study this, and begone,” the cloaked figure responds, digitally handing you a link to a 3-hour Mikado tournament from 2013 in 360p. This is before Google Docs united knowledge in a resourceful manner. Discord hardly fares better, an organic forum with a handful of pins.

With 25 characters, it’s overwhelming at first, though whittling it down to two or three favorites is the way to go. There’s everyone from a bulky all-out zoner “I like single player games” Justice, to more-than competent grappler Potemkin (really good in this game), to staples like teleporting vampire Slayer, hot-headed Sol, and his alt-ego Order-Sol, up to weirdos like A.B.A., who requires meter management in order to not get Instant Killed. There are off-beat characters like yoyo-wielder Bridget and ghost-stance-switcher Zappa that you won’t find in any other fighting game. Chipp truly feels like a ninja with a triple jump, annoying camouflage skill, and teleports all around the screen. Every character is so expressive, so flavorful, that committing to one is truly rewarding as they hide plenty of complexity and optimization.

Those on the arcane path of Testament’s crow patterns and Zappa’s summon timers will be rewarded with obscurity useful in strangest of ways. It’s a high-speed battle of knowledge, really, as knowing precise strings of attacks in this game can be more fruitful than in others. Only in this Guilty Gear can you show up the opponent with a Slashback, a 3rd Strike-esque parry, declaring with utmost confidence that you read their mind. Maybe, if you played Xrd, you’ll miss the simplicity of YRC, slowing down the pace of the match. But it’s the non-stop adrenaline-inducing tempo of +R that makes everything come together so well.

You’ll jump online to now incredibly smooth and seamless netcode, in the right conditions, replicating an opponent sitting next to you; only to get bodied by their resumé. Maybe they started at the beginning, when +R’s novelty refreshed the game with rebalanced tools and undiscovered combo paths. Or maybe they’ve played since #Reload, a now archaic version in smaller resolution. Though the option remains to play Accent Core in its Vanilla state, with even higher stakes on shorter life bars, only hardened veterans fit into that small spectrum, a small crowd of specific taste.

This player may have more notches on their belt, a mutual understanding drives certain respect in this dated game. +R players don’t play to belittle another, nor do they have egos to massage (well, usual FGC spiritedness aside). This isn’t Fortnite, Apex Legends, or DotA 2. It’s not about humiliating the other. They know that those faithful to this game just want to have a good time with their favorite pastime. Sure, tournaments arose with high stakes, rallying the competitive spirit for this title, growing close to 2,000 spectators on Twitch, recreating an era thought bygone. The rollback patch attracted players in oodles, some brand new, some Xrd “zoomers.” It’s no longer a ghost town, as plenty of new blood logged on to take part in the 2D sprite-based battles, which still hold up graphically.

After the customary “GG,” confess the need for advice. Ask about the mechanics, make new discoveries, reassess the game plan, come back stronger because you come back smarter. Almost everyone is happy to help, willing to answer questions, and take the time, all because they love this game too. Some FGC members devote significant resources and time from their lives to host tournaments, stream content, create guides, and talk. They did this before GGPO existed, and they are still doing this now. And they will continue for as long as they can.

So why, why on earth, should you play this bizarrely arcane, difficult, immensely rewarding, and outdated title, dusted off and newly coated in GGPO’s glow?