New Guilty Gear to be a “brand new experience,” says director

A new Guilty Gear game was revealed last Sunday during EVO 2019. Its teaser trailer was short, but it was clear the game is going to be different than what we’ve seen from the franchise. Beautiful, flowing graphics, stage transitions, and more will highlight the newest addition of the famous fighting series. But will the game be an evolution of Guilty Gear, or par the course? Last night, Daisuke Ishiwatari, the general director of Guilty Gear, left a message to fans on Twitter to hopefully answer those questions and more.

As to the question of the new game evolving the series or staying the same, Ishiwatari says it’s neither. According to him, the game will also not add or subtract what players have known about Guilty Gear. Instead, he said the game will be a “brand new experience.”

“To achieve that goal, we’ve disassembled the current franchise into fragments and sifted out the pieces that make it unique and charismatic,” he added, “using those pieces to have a complete reconstruction of the franchise.”

Stage transitions will be included in the new Guilty Gear.

Risky business

Bringing change to a well-known franchise can also bring uncertainty. After all, many fans would rarely demand a dramatic change to what they’ve become accustomed. NetherRealm Studios should attest to as much, as it once experimented with a full 3D fighting arena in its Mortal Kombat franchise. The series has since returned to its roots. Granted, the changes seen in the new Guilty Gear teaser are not as drastic. Still, Ishiwatari admits that what the team is attempting is a “high-risk move on our part.”

“However, we have an accumulation of the plentiful resources and experience, a clear vision of our ideals, and the excitement towards a future of new possibility,” he wrote. “Although we do not know what this paths awaits us ahead, we as the development team look forward to the future of this never-ending pursuit.”

A few words from Daisuke Ishiwatari on the new #GuiltyGear…

Official Guilty Gear Website: https://t.co/5t2AD9wFxi pic.twitter.com/Dh20lleKH0

— Arc System Works @ #BBTank (@ArcSystemWorksU) August 9, 2019

The new Guilty Gear doesn’t yet have a release date, but it will launch sometime next year.