First: I rarely play fighting games. Most played would be OMF 2097, Soul Calibur 2&4 and Smash Bros. series. I can't be considered fighting game fan by any stantards. Secondly: I. Love. This. Game. I haven't had this much plain fun playing a fighter since I played Super Smash Bros. Melee for the first time years ago. Guilty Gear X2 reload is one of those games that just grab you from the b***s and won't let go until you notice you should probably eat, drink or sleep a bit. That happened to me on my first nonstop 5-6 hours of this game. The fighting system is very fast, quite easy to learn but hard to master. The only slightly similar game I've played is Marvel vs. Capcom 2, but it was surprising how fast the basics came clear while training and playing the arcade mode. The selection of characters... Oh man! Exellent, varied and unique if you ask me. Spunky girl who captains his own airship and bashes her enemies with and anchor. Check! Classy, immortal vampire who just fights for fun and challenge, and just lays down looking bored when you beat him. Check! Hulks brother with devastating throws. Check! Body possesed by dark entity from other dimension. Check! Three meter tall doctor with paper bag on his head, fighting with giant scalpel. Check! I could go on, but you probably get the point. Graphs are very well animated, colorful and vibrant. I personally never get tired of well done sprite graphics, and Guilty Gear is no exception. Music is heavy, rock and jaz mixed together. If you love rock and heavy in general you should not be disappointed. Music fits perfectly in the the fast-paced, over-the-top fights. Only thing I could call negative is that the bosses (namely that foul-mouthed bitch-of-a-witch I-NO) can be a bit cheap at the times. They are not impossible hard but it will take more or less training to beat them. I personally didn't have big problems playing this game with keyboard, but I can understand why gamepad or old-school arcade stick is recommended when possible. So, long in short: Pros: - Exellent audiovisuals - Varied and original roster - Fast paced, over-the-top and fun fights - Easy to learn, hard to master fighting system Cons: - Bosses can be tricky to beat.
