I bought Guilty Gear Strike because I missed playing this game. And I still missed playing this game. So I kept on playing this game.
BlazBlue huh... what pains me the most about writing this review is what it means that I finally concede what I'm about to say:
We are never gonna get another BlazBlue. And I don't mean "we aint gonna get more games from the blazblue series", I mean

"WE ARE NOT EVER GONNA GET A FIGHTING GAME WITH THIS MUCH CARE EVER AGAIN"

BUT, MAN, BUT GUILTY GE-

SHUT UP. Shut the ♥♥♥♥ up. No, it's not comparable. And i'm not talking about mechanics. I SUCK at fighting games.
You sweaty 2000 hour Carl Clover mains can argue about GGS vs BBCF complexity all you want (even tho I'm sure BB is still a better
game, by far, on the mechanical side). I'm talking about the most important thing in a game series: it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ SOUL man.

There is one thing that no fighting game, but BlazBlue is able to do. Maintaining it's identity and vision for years.
Tekken 7? Yeah, here you have a 3 hour campaign with the depth of a puddle. Here you have Kunimitsu as a DLC, a character that
has been present in previous titles, no DLC in mind. Here you have Negan from the ridiculously mocked hit series The Walking Dead, as a
guest.
And, keep in mind something. I'm not throwing shade at Tekken. No one cares about Tekkens campaign. No one cares about the suspension
of disbelief if you can play cool characters like Noctis and Negan. And Kunimitsu was clearly reworked and evolved for this release, also
being the daughter of the original Kunimistu, justifying her as a DLC. I know everything I just complained about, is either something justifiable,
or common in the fighting game genre. And that's what pisses me off. Thats why it pisses me that BlazBlue is not more valued.

BECAUSE BLAZBLUE SAYS "♥♥♥♥ THAT NOISE".

It's not only that the mechanics have gotten better and more in depth for every entry.
It's not only that 75% of the cast is considered either strong or meta, with even low tier characters seeing success on a
competive level.
It's the fact that they really wanted to tell a story and commited to it.

So, you have a strange and convoluted, but cool story in BB1.
Well, what do you do ? You continue it in BB2, make it better, and make the relevant characters in your story which wasn't, playable.
Oh? You added TWO whole DLC characters? Man, they are relevant in the story. Next entry, they are included, no strings attached.
♥♥♥♥ ME MAN, BB3 is a whole anime worth of length? And is ALSO directly continuing the story from the previous 2? Damn we better add
a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of characters that weren't playable now that they are relevant in the story. Also add some fanservice ones and make them
playable and NOT make them DLC. Because this game wants you to be erect.
Oh, wait, the BASE VERSION of BB4 on PC has EVERY CHARACTER IN THE SERIES and the only DLC is Jubei because we kept ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ asking for
him.
And they had the ACTUAL FACTUAL BALLS, TO ACTUALLY END THE STORY OF THE WHOLE SERIES IN BBCF. THE ACTUALLY ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DID IT, THEY
GAVE US CLOSURE. AND SOME OF THE MOST HEARTWRENCHING MOMENTS IVE SEEN IN A GAME.

The fact that at no point there was a compromise in the making of this games and the story was front and center in the priority
chart, IN A FIGHTING GAME, so we didn't leave a single character behind is just mindblowing. It's stupid that we actually got this
series. This is NOT how fighting games work. And still, achieved probably the best gameplay in any fighting game ever, while not compromising
on the story is.....

And they SOMEHOW PULLED IT OFF. The story is GREAT. It's not told greatly, that's for sure, but there is, ironically, a lot of
confusing depth. It had to be a fighting game right? ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ brilliant. And of course it's not perfect. But it's a whole mythos.
A whole world to bite in. A whole family ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tree of a character selection with motivations and goals wich collide or align with
each other. Playing through the whole series is the equivalent of watching a 120 episode anime where the battle scenes are sick and
YOU GET TO PLAY THEM.

And they finished it.

I should be happy about it. But it's still sad. Because I would not risk a sequel. I would not tarnish what has been achieved here.
But i'm just saying that I would give one of my fingers if they released a Guilty Gear graphic style remake of the whole series.
A game where every story from the series can be enjoyed from start to finish. A game where every single one of the amazing characters
can be played.
Have the balls, please. It would ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ smash the whole genre.

But until then, i'll keep playing BlazBlue, and learning how to actually play at a decent level.

Also the titties and booties are pretty based not gonna lie.