9/10 Steam Title Gets Game Changing New Mode That Makes It Worth Revisiting

Summary Guilty Gear Strive introduces a new 3v3 mode that adds chaos and party game appeal.

The multiplayer mode allows swapping between characters and assists, catering to a casual audience.

Strive's 3v3 mode features shared health and short cooldowns, making it more volatile than traditional tag fighters.

Three years after its initial release, Guilty Gear Strive continues to add new characters, stages, and story content for players to enjoy - but out of all the game's post-launch additions, an entirely new mode might stand out as a reason to revisit Strive in 2024. Alongside the announcement of a new Season Pass for the game, Strive is currently testing its first (and likely only) new game mode to be added post-launch, adding a new way, even more chaotic way to play matches with friends.

Released in 2021, Guilty Gear Strive is by far the most casual/beginner-friendly entry in the series, streamlining many of its more esoteric mechanics for greater ease of execution — and while the change has been controversial for a subset of long-time Guilty Gear fans, it's also contributed to Strive being by far the most popular and best-selling game in the series. While it hasn't quite reached the heights of the other biggest releases in the genre like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, or Mortal Kombat 1 (2023), Strive has maintained a sizable casual and competitive audience years after release.

Related Guilty Gear Strive Review: Refining the Fighting Genre Guilt Gear Strive reinforces why the series has a top spot in the genre. Its story and gameplay are excellent for veterans and newcomers alike.

A New 6-Player Mode Makes Strive Worth Revisiting In 2024

While many of those who played Guilty Gear Strive at the launch might have lapsed or fallen off the game, the new "Team Of 3" mode might be a good reason to return. Initially announced in 2023, the mode was shown off again at EVO 2024 alongside the upcoming season pass. It also includes guest character Lucy from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and is now considerably closer to releasing in an upcoming update, having already received an open beta that allowed players to experience the mode ahead of its official launch.

As opposed to Strive's normal 1v1 fighting game modes, where two players select one character each, the upcoming 3v3 mode takes many cues from "tag" fighters like Dragon Ball FighterZ, using similar mechanics in terms of swapping between a team of characters and making use of assist attacks from off-screen characters. Unlike most other tag fighters, however, Strive's 3v3 mode is multiplayer, with one player on each team controlling one character each.

Related Guilty Gear Strive: 10 Most Powerful Characters, Ranked All fighters have a large roster of powerful characters, and Guilty Gear Strive is no different. The characters run the gamut from weak to strong

How Strive's 3v3 Mode Works

Guilty Gear Strive's New Mode Takes Cues From Tag Fighters

While it resembles something like the upcoming 2XKO in being a multiplayer tag fighter, however, Guilty Gear Strive's 3v3 mode beta has shown it to be considerably more chaotic and volatile, with a single shared healthbar between all three characters and short cooldowns on assists. Still, improvements are likely to be made for the final release version of the game mode, and it can serve as a fun way for more casual players to play Strive with friends without as much of the pressure that fighting games can impose.

While Strive's expanding roster of DLC characters has kept players coming back to the game in the years since its release, the upcoming 3v3 mode might be an opportunity for it to draw in a slightly more casual audience as well. While the game lacks the beginner-friendly alternate control schemes of later releases like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8, the 3v3 mode seems to be chasing more of a party game appeal, which might make it worthwhile to return to Guilty Gear Strive later on in 2024.